how many reasons can there be for one statement?

Question

I do not understand proofs and my teacher will not help me understand them so I need help, to me they are really difficult. So will someone help me understand what on  Earth I am supposed to be doing? I mean Algebra 1 was easy but Geometry isn't.

Answer 1

Hi Brianna--

 

Yeah, I'm not a real big fan of proofs either, but once you get the hang of it, they're not too bad.

 

To answer the question in your heading, it's possible that a statement could have more than one reason, but if you want to use more than one, you have to re-write the statement for each separate reason. So you should probably answer the above question as "there can be only one reason for each statement."

 

In terms of understanding proofs, it's all about using steps that you already know to prove something new. Think of it as trying to explain something very carefully to someone not quite as advanced in math as you are, so you have to use simple, "you already know" information to lead them where you want to go.

 

This is very general, I know, but I hope it helps with the big picture of what proofs are for, at least...

 

Matt