Playfair's axiom

E519271

Playfair's axiom is a reformulation of Euclid’s parallel postulate stating that through a point not on a given line there is exactly one line parallel to the given line, fundamental to Euclidean geometry.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
Euclid's fifth postulate 1

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf geometric axiom
parallel postulate formulation
assumes existence of at least one line through any two distinct points
category axiom of plane geometry
clarityAdvantage more intuitive and concise than Euclid's original fifth postulate
consequence circles of equal radius are congruent in Euclidean geometry
rectangles exist in Euclidean geometry
contradictedBy axioms of elliptic geometry
axioms of hyperbolic geometry
domainOfDiscourse points and lines in a Euclidean plane
equivalentTo various other Euclidean parallel axioms
expresses uniqueness of parallels through an external point
field Euclidean geometry NERFINISHED
formalization can be expressed in first-order logic over incidence and parallelism relations
geometricConsequence angle sum of polygons depends only on number of sides in Euclidean geometry
area of a triangle determined by its base and height in Euclidean geometry
existence of similar figures of arbitrary size
historicalPeriod 18th century formulation
implies Pythagorean theorem in Euclidean geometry
existence of similar but non-congruent triangles in Euclidean geometry
sum of angles in a triangle equals 180 degrees in Euclidean geometry
logicalForm uniqueness axiom for parallels
logicalStatus equivalent to Euclid's parallel postulate in Euclidean geometry
logicalType independent of Euclid's first four postulates
namedAfter John Playfair NERFINISHED
parallelLineCountInEllipticGeometry no parallels through a point not on a given line
parallelLineCountInHyperbolicGeometry infinitely many parallels through a point not on a given line
quantifierProperty asserts existence and uniqueness of a parallel line
reformulationOf Euclid's parallel postulate NERFINISHED
relatedConcept Euclid's Elements NERFINISHED
elliptic geometry
hyperbolic geometry
non-Euclidean geometry
parallel lines
requires notion of incidence between points and lines
notion of parallel lines
roleInTheory distinguishes Euclidean geometry from non-Euclidean geometries
states Through a point not on a given line there is exactly one line parallel to the given line
teachingUse standard form of the parallel postulate in modern geometry education
truthValueInEllipticGeometry false
truthValueInEuclideanGeometry true
truthValueInHyperbolicGeometry false
usedAs modern replacement for Euclid's fifth postulate in many textbooks
usedFor characterizing flat (zero curvature) geometric spaces
usedIn axiomatic treatments of plane geometry
usedWith Euclid's first four postulates

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

John Playfair notableWork Playfair's axiom
Commentary on the Difficulties of Certain Postulates of Euclid critiques Playfair's axiom
this entity surface form: Euclid's fifth postulate