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GeneralRe: Another Math Question Pin
0x01AA21-Jan-22 10:18
mve0x01AA21-Jan-22 10:18 
GeneralRe: Another Math Question Pin
j snooze21-Jan-22 11:34
j snooze21-Jan-22 11:34 
GeneralRe: Another Math Question Pin
0x01AA21-Jan-22 11:49
mve0x01AA21-Jan-22 11:49 
GeneralRe: Another Math Question Pin
Nelek21-Jan-22 12:02
protectorNelek21-Jan-22 12:02 
GeneralRe: Another Math Question Pin
0x01AA21-Jan-22 12:11
mve0x01AA21-Jan-22 12:11 
GeneralRe: Another Math Question Pin
Gary R. Wheeler21-Jan-22 11:30
Gary R. Wheeler21-Jan-22 11:30 
GeneralRe: Another Math Question Pin
Jon McKee21-Jan-22 12:23
professionalJon McKee21-Jan-22 12:23 
GeneralRe: Another Math Question Pin
Stefan_Lang22-Jan-22 13:37
Stefan_Lang22-Jan-22 13:37 
I would have to look up some translations to be precise, but it looks like your question is much more general than something about specific types of morphism:

First of all, while Mathemtatics is mostly about the art to describe and solve problems separate from concrete examples, examples are still often used to illustrate corner cases, to disprove a false assumption, and occasionally even as a basis for a proof (see Mathematical induction[^])

As for morphisms, concrete examples can only help as counter examples, or to illustrate some behaviour. But morphisms can be very odd, and you can't really make a statement about them by looking just at examples - simply because you can never be sure whether you considered all relevant cases.

What you have to do instead is analyze the facts you know about the morphisms in question, and, only based on these facts, consider the logical consequences.

I'll give an example of a proof from a mathematical school contest I did 40 years ago. I still remember it because the statement to proof is so beautifully simple, and yet only a few 100 pupils in all of Germany were able to solve it correctly (i hope my translation skills don't let me down:

Given is a bijective morphism of the euclidian plane, f : R^2 -> R^2 that projects any circle onto a circle. Prove that f will also project any straight line onto a straight line.

A lot of pupils failed on this proof because of one mistake: they assumed that f would not only project circles on to circle, but also the center of the circle onto the center of the projected circle. However, the task does not give that information, and a proof based on that assumption is therefore wrong.

The solution takes several steps:
1. consider the method: there are several method to do mathematical proofs, but the only one I could come up with that fits this task was Reductio ad absurdum - Wikipedia[^] : I will assume the opposite of the statement. Then I will disprove this assumption.

2. Carefully formulate your assumption: The opposite of the statement is that not all straight lines are projected onto straight lines, or that there is at least one case of a straight line that is not projected onto a straight line.

3. We now need to deduct logically that our assumption from step 2 contradicts the precondition. I don't recall the details; back then it took me few days to find the solution. I only recall that I considered this exception, deducted that the non-straight projection must have three points that are on a circle, and then considered that that the inverse image of f for this circle must also be a circle, and therefore the three points must have been on a circle before the projection - and therefore couldn't have been on one straight line.

So, while I did take an 'abstract' example that I looked at to disprove the false (inverse) assumption, I did not in fact put in any more details into that example than the facts I had, and the assumption I tried to disprove.


Did that in any way answer the question?
GOTOs are a bit like wire coat hangers: they tend to breed in the darkness, such that where there once were few, eventually there are many, and the program's architecture collapses beneath them. (Fran Poretto)

GeneralRe: Another Math Question Pin
Jon McKee23-Jan-22 14:47
professionalJon McKee23-Jan-22 14:47 
GeneralMath Terminology: Can you tell me? Pin
raddevus21-Jan-22 8:55
mvaraddevus21-Jan-22 8:55 
GeneralRe: Math Terminology: Can you tell me? Pin
NeverJustHere21-Jan-22 9:01
NeverJustHere21-Jan-22 9:01 
GeneralRe: Math Terminology: Can you tell me? Pin
raddevus21-Jan-22 9:11
mvaraddevus21-Jan-22 9:11 
PraiseRe: Math Terminology: Can you tell me? Pin
0x01AA21-Jan-22 9:22
mve0x01AA21-Jan-22 9:22 
GeneralRe: Math Terminology: Can you tell me? Pin
0x01AA21-Jan-22 9:04
mve0x01AA21-Jan-22 9:04 
GeneralRe: Math Terminology: Can you tell me? Pin
raddevus21-Jan-22 9:13
mvaraddevus21-Jan-22 9:13 
GeneralRe: Math Terminology: Can you tell me? Pin
0x01AA21-Jan-22 9:28
mve0x01AA21-Jan-22 9:28 
GeneralRe: Math Terminology: Can you tell me? Pin
raddevus21-Jan-22 9:39
mvaraddevus21-Jan-22 9:39 
GeneralRe: Math Terminology: Can you tell me? Pin
0x01AA21-Jan-22 9:50
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GeneralRe: Math Terminology: Can you tell me? Pin
PIEBALDconsult21-Jan-22 9:06
mvePIEBALDconsult21-Jan-22 9:06 
GeneralRe: Math Terminology: Can you tell me? Pin
raddevus21-Jan-22 9:14
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GeneralRe: Math Terminology: Can you tell me? Pin
PIEBALDconsult21-Jan-22 9:17
mvePIEBALDconsult21-Jan-22 9:17 
GeneralRe: Math Terminology: Can you tell me? Pin
megaadam21-Jan-22 9:17
professionalmegaadam21-Jan-22 9:17 
GeneralRe: Math Terminology: Can you tell me? Pin
obermd21-Jan-22 10:19
obermd21-Jan-22 10:19 
GeneralRe: Math Terminology: Can you tell me? Pin
englebart21-Jan-22 11:07
professionalenglebart21-Jan-22 11:07 
GeneralRe: Math Terminology: Can you tell me? Pin
Leo5623-Jan-22 20:56
Leo5623-Jan-22 20:56 

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