Postulate

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A postulate (also sometimes called an axiom) is a statement that is agreed by everyone to be obvious and correct. This is useful for creating proofs in mathematics and science, and postulates are often the basic truth of a much larger theory or law.

Postulates themselves can't be proven, but since they are usually obviously correct this isn't a problem. Here is a good example of a postulate (given by Euclid in his studies about geometry).

Two points determine (make) a line.

This is obviously true, because if you connect any two points, you create a line. Using this postulate and four others like it, Euclid brought a new understanding of geometry to the world, and many people think they are some of the most influencial works in geometry even now.

There are also a few characteristics that all postulates should have.

  1. They should be obvious and easy to understand, and shouldn't have too many words that are difficult to explain.
  2. There shouldn't be very many of them.
  3. They should all work together without making any strange results (they should be consistent).
  4. They should also be true when they are alone (so they can be used independently).

Postulates are sometimes proved to be wrong after they have been known for a long time, but this is usually because something new has been discovered, and the original creator couldn't have known any better.


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