Congruence Properties

This section will cover Chapter 2 of SST, which proves many facts about the congruence relation.

Theorems

Our first three theorems justify that if we think about the congruence relation not as a tertiary relation between four points, but as a binary relation between line segments, then congruence is an equivalence relation.

NoteTheorem 2.1 (Congruence Reflexivity)

ab \equiv ab

From (A1) we have that ba \equiv ab. Then by (A2) we have

ba \equiv ab \land ba \equiv ab \implies ab \equiv ab.

NoteTheorem 2.2 (Congruence Symmetry)

ab \equiv cd \implies cd \equiv ab

By our hypothesis, ab \equiv cd. Then by congruence reflexivity we have ab \equiv ab. Applying (A2) gives us

ab \equiv cd \land ab \equiv ab \implies cd \equiv ab.

NoteTheorem 2.3 (Congruence Transitivity)

ab \equiv cd \land cd \equiv ef \implies ab \equiv ef

By our hypothesis, ab \equiv cd and cd \equiv ef. By applying congruency transitivity we have cd \equiv ab. Then by (A2) we have

cd \equiv ab \land cd \equiv ef \implies ab \equiv ef.

We can now also show that congruence is commutative on the left and right hand sides, that is

NoteTheorem 2.4 (Congruence LHS Commutativity)

ab \equiv cd \implies ba \equiv cd

By our hypothesis, ab \equiv cd. Then by (A1) we have ab \equiv ba. From (A2) we have

ab \equiv ba \land ab \equiv cd \implies ba \equiv cd.

NoteTheorem 2.5 (Congruence RHS Commutativity)

ab \equiv cd \implies ab \equiv dc

By our hypothesis, ab \equiv cd. Then by (A1) we have cd \equiv dc. From transitivity of congruence we have

ab \equiv cd \land cd \equiv dc \implies ab \equiv dc.

We now continue to Theorem 2.8. The gap in the theorem numbers is due to SST’s including definitions and remarks in the same numbering sequence as theorems.

NoteTheorem 2.8 (Congruence of Null Segments)

aa \equiv bb

Here we use (A4) to assert the existence of x such that

Bbax \land ax \equiv bb.

Then by (A3) we have x = a, and thus aa \equiv bb

NoteTheorem 2.11 (Segment Addition)

(Babc \land Ba^\prime b^\prime c^\prime \land ab \equiv a^\prime b^\prime \land bc \equiv b^\prime c^\prime) \implies ac \equiv a^\prime c^\prime

We have from logic that a = b \lor a \not = b. If a \not = b, then the proof is simply (A5). If a = b, then we have aa \equiv a^\prime b^\prime. Then by congruence symmetry we have a^\prime b^\prime \equiv aa and (A3) we have a^\prime = b^\prime. Then bc \equiv b^\prime c^\prime \implies ac \equiv a^\prime c^\prime.

NoteTheorem 2.12 (Uniqueness of Segment Construction)

q \not = a \implies \exists! x (Bqax \land ax = bc)