Roxana Tinoco

Math 329
Formal Assignment 2
In the mathematics world there exits many postulates, definitions, properties, rules, etc.,
but in the axiomatic system world of mathematics there exists various types of geometries. At a
high school level one would think that there is only one type of geometry, which is the one that
high school students are exposed to. In reality there are a few more types of geometries, and each
one has different axioms to follow as well as different rules that apply to it. To name a few there
exists: Euclidean Geometry, Spherical or Elliptical Geometry, Incidence Geometry, Hyperbolic
Geometry, and Neutral Geometry. Now the question is how do they differ? Do the axiomatic
systems share any similarities, or do all of them have something in common? How does the
axiomatic system of each make each geometry unique? To be able to answer all of these
questions one must need to know what each geometry is and what is included in its axiomatic
system.
To begin with Euclids geometry is the most
known geometry to people. Euclid is known as the father
of geometry, and as one of the greatest mathematician in
history. It is believed that Euclid attended Platos
academy in Athens, and it is also believed that it
influenced his works. Euclid created a famous book that
until this day it is claimed one of the most influential
books of mathematics. The title of the book is The
Elements which was written around 300BC. Euclid was a
major mathematician and it continues to be until this day.
During his lifetime he created various works. His works
included thirteen books about mathematics including
arithmetic, geometry, and number theory. His books are also labeled according to the type of
mathematics the books are about. A list of his books is the following:
Book I -IV and also book VI are about Plane Geometry
Book XI -XIII are about Solid Geometry
Books V and X are about Magnitudes and Ratios

 and books VII-IX are about Whole Numbers

Furthermore, Euclid came up with ten axioms in which he divided into two groups: 1.)
Common Notions, and 2.) his five Postulates. Euclid strongly believed that no axiom should be
accepted without proof. He proved all of his axioms. After Euclid there were other
mathematicians that stated that Euclids Fifth Postulate was not proven true, so they attempted to
write its proof correctly. There were a few mathematicians that attempted to do write Euclids
Fifth Postulate as a true proof, but in their attempts they discovered non Euclidean Geometry.
One of these mathematicians was Saccheri; he attempted to prove the proof by contradiction, but
he found himself with another concept. With his new concept as he called it the mimical acute
angle hypothesis he had discovered non Euclidean Geometry. Other mathematicians that tried to
prove the proof were: Lambert, Legendre, Gauss, Bolyai, and others. Euclid has played an
important role in the world of geometry, that is why he is referred as the father of geometry.
In addition to that Euclids geometry is basically the geometry that everyone knows, the
one that high school students are exposed to. However, in high school we are simply given the
basic facts and definitions; the word axiom is not discussed in high school. Therefore, Euclids
abstract definitions are not given nor are his five postulates, his common notions, or his
prepositions from Book I. More in detail in Euclids geometry everything that you can think of
about geometry it's related to Euclids axiomatic system. In class we discussed that in Euclids
geometry all inner angles of a triangle add up to 180 degrees. Which in fact is something that is
taught in high school. Also as we discussed about other geometries some of Euclids properties
were recalled. It is possible that all geometries are a branch of Euclids. As a matter of fact that
statement is true. After reading an assigned reading, I learned that as mathematicians studied
Euclids 5th postulate some mathematicians discovered non-Euclidean geometry, in other words
other axiomatic systems were discovered.
Another type of axiomatic system is Spherical or Elliptical Geometry. This axiomatic
system has some properties similar to that of Euclids, but overall this type of geometry it's a
world of itself, just like any other type of geometry. In Elliptical geometry the definition of line
changes, the properties of triangles change, the measurement of arcs, and the circumference of a

sphere are also some of the things that differ in spherical geometry. In spherical geometry the
definition of a line is not a straight line in this axiomatic system a line is described as a great
circle on the sphere. In this geometry triangles do not add up to 180 degrees. Also, not all types
of triangles that are known in Euclidean geometry are possible in Spherical geometry. The class
agreed that equilateral right triangles, obtuse, and isosceles triangles were possible in spherical
geometry. The class also agreed that a scalene triangle could possibly exist in elliptical
geometry, but it would be too complex to create one. Therefore, properties of triangles change in
Spherical geometry compared to Euclidean triangles. In addition, in this axiomatic system two
formulas were derived using the formula to find the distance on a Euclidean sphere. These two
formulas are used to find the arc distance in spherical geometry , and to find the Circumference
of a circle in Spherical geometry. In this axiomatic system there doesn't exist any parallel lines;
there will be more about this and parallel lines on other geometries below.
Whereas, in Incidence Geometry the axiomatic system that is associated with this type of
geometry are Hilberts axioms in particular the three incidence axioms in the list. In this
geometry lines in particular play an important role. This axiomatic system focuses on
relationships between point and lines, and allows mathematicians to determine if certain models
and interpretations are examples of Incidence Geometry.
Next, in Hyperbolic Geometry there is one model that is associated with this axiomatic
system, which is the upper half model.The upper half model consists of working in the cartesian
plane above the x-axis on quadrants 1 and 4. In this model the definition of a line is different
than that of Euclids and Spherical geometry. A line is considered to be a semicircle with its
center lying on the x-axis, or a ray that starts at the x-axis. Also in of the uniques characteristics
that this axiomatic has is that the converse of the Alternate Interior Angles (AIA) is not true here.
Now, the last type of axiomatic geometry is basically a combination of all geometries
with unique properties as well. These axiomatic geometry is called Neutral Geometry and
Hilberts axioms apply to it as well as Euclid's geometry, and course a bit of all the others. In this
axiomatics system the converse of the AIA is not true either. The reason why is because it is not

true in Hyperbolic geometry, and since Neutral Geometry is the combination of the other
geometries.
Now, what is is the common thing that all axiomatic systems share besides the fact that
all are in Neutral Geometry? There is something that all may have in common, and that is the
parallel postulate. Do parallel lines exist in all axiomatic systems mentioned above? The answer
is no. In Euclidean Geometry, the parallel postulate is possible, but it is different than that of the
other axiomatic geometries. Euclidean parallel postulate states that EXACTLY ONE parallel line
can exist from line l to point p, point p not lying on line l. In spherical geometry there arent any
parallel lines. Parallel lines do not exist in Spherical Geometry because all great circles will
intersect at a point or two no matter what.. Whereas in Hyperbolic Geometry the parallel
postulate states that there exists AT LEAST 2 parallel lines form line l to point p, point p not
lying on l. In Hilberts axioms the parallel postulate states that there can be AT MOST 1 parallel
line to line l to point p, p not lying on line l. Now, since Hilberts axioms are included in
Incidence Geometry and in Neutral Geometry, then the parallel postulate must also apply to
them. Furthermore, in every geometry Neutral Geometry plus each geometrys parallel postulate
is what makes that geometry possible.Therefore, the parallel postulate plays an important role in
each axiomatic system. Like I mentioned before the discovery of other geometries was due to
mathematicians trying to prove Euclids 5th postulate. Mathematicians thought that Euclids 5th
could not be proven true, and as they started experimenting with it other geometries emerged.
Therefore, since Euclids 5th deal with parallel lines, parallel lines are the cause of why many
geometries exist today. Similarly when studying parallel worlds has created the discovery of
other things! Parallelism sure plays an important role in discovering new things!
Now that I have written about the different geometries that we have talked about in class
what have I learned about this? To start with before I walked into Math 329 College Geometry i
thought that there only existed one type of geometry. I had no clue that the geometry I knew
about was called Euclidean Geometry, and that there were more things to it such as his five
postulates, his common notions, his axioms, and his propositions. I also did not know that there
were other types of geometry. After writing this paper and putting my notes together with
properties that each geometry has I was able to have a clearer picture of all geometries, how each

one worked, and the properties each one had. It was easier to see the connection between all of
them with neutral geometry and the parallel postulate. I think that I had done this with my notes
before homework 7- parallel postulate would have been a bit easier. The fact that I took the time
to organize my notes has made it easier for me to see how each geometry shares something but at
the same time it has its own properties. Through this assignment I learned that axiomatic systems
are based on axioms that make a geometry possible. I also learned that those axioms may be
similar in all geometries, but they have unique characteristics that makes them different from one
another. Also, although, some axioms are similar, they make a unique geometry exist, for
example the axioms in incidence geometry are similar to Euclid's and Hilberts axioms, but the
incidence axioms can make a model fit only into incidence geometry. I also learned that we can
have a model and we can try to figure out in which axiomatic systems does it fit, or which
properties of the figure fit into which geometry. Thinking about all the axiomatic systems,
findings its similarities, its differences, and its unique characteristics has allowed me to have a
better picture of each and how eachs axioms can make a model fit into that geometry, and at the
same time see if that model can also fit into another geometry. It is quite interesting thinking
about these axiomatic systems because I would have never thought that they all arose from one
geometry, Euclidean Geometry. My thinking about geometry has made a 180 degree turn; I now
see that there is a world of geometry out there, and there are different geometries that exist
within.
In this class I recall some concepts back from my high school geometry class, but in this
class we go beyond it and think about it differently. Sometimes it is challenging trying to think
about something you already know in a different way, but its achievable. So far I think Im
doing well in the homeworks, but one specific homework that has changed my view towards
geometry was homework 4- Spheres and Triangle Exploration. Since this was the first
assignment that deal outside Euclidean geometry I had a hard time understanding the concepts
that came with Spherical Geometry. I had to change my way of thinking, I had to keep my
background knowledge of Euclids geometry, but I also had to think of the new concepts that
existed within Spherical Geometry. I had to change the properties of triangles. I had to change
the way I thought of Euclidean geometry and take the new type of geometry in while at the same
time I needed to try to make a relation with Euclidean ideas and Spherical ideas. It was a hard

transition because all my life I thought Euclidean geometry was the only type of geometry. Then,
getting into the classroom and hearing all this new geometries, was a bit nerve racking, I thought
it was going to be super hard to understand everything, but now I can say that in order to
understand these new axiomatic systems I needed that background information that I learned in
high school. What these new axiomatic systems do is go deeper into a concept that everyone
knows and try to apply it into a new form of geometry, or simply determine if it's part of any
other geometry or the one everyone has known, Euclidean geometry.
In addition to the exposure to new geometries this course has this course has allowed me
to explore other means of technology. When the teacher talked about LaTex I had no idea what
she was talking about, or what Geogebra was. I consider myself a person that doesnt really get
along with technology, but I know that if I play around with a new type of technology I will get
the hang of it. I have not experimented with LaTex, but I have attempted to play around with
overleaf.com. Ill confess its different from everything I have worked with, but I know that if i
give it more time I will get the hang of it. Another new technological advance that I have dealt
with in this class is geogebra. I like this program. I got the hang of it quick and its fun to use. I
have used the program in some homework assignments. For this class I believe that
technological knowledge is important because I can use these programs in the future. Also our
world is advancing and technology is also advancing, so working with new programs could
possibly get me a job, if those jobs require me knowledge of those programs. I know that in the
near future I will be using these programs that Dr. Deka asked the class to use. Being a
prospective teacher I will definitely use these programs.
Although, I believe Im doing well on this class I have some difficulties every now and
then. I did struggle with homework 4- Spheres and Triangle exploration a lot. I went for help
With Dr. Deka, but I still had trouble. The question that I had trouble with was the question that
asked to determine the distance between two cities using longitude and latitude coordinates.
Although the class and the teacher came up with a formula I had trouble plugging the numbers in
the correct place. I had to go ask Dr. Deka for help a few times. Once I knew where to plug them
in I still had trouble getting an answer. I knew that I was missing something, and after some time
of struggling I figured what I was doing wrong. I was not using the inverse of the function. I was

able to solve it by myself by spending some time on it and seeking help. Other than that I do
have a few problems in each homework, but I always ask Dr. Deka for clarification. After my
questions are answered I'm able to do my homework. Overall, this class is very different from all
other classes I have taken, but I like it. I'm learning about concepts that I had no idea they
existed, and its very interesting seeing how they relate to thing I learned nine years ago in my
high school geometry class. Except that these new concepts are more in depth and with other
properties.

Resources
Excerpt Chapter 5- History of the Parallel Postulate.
Explorable. Think Outside the Box. Euclid, the Father of Geometry. Retrieved October 28, 2015,
from https://explorable.com/euclid
OConnor, J.J et Robertson, E.F. Non Euclidean Geometry. Retrieved October 28, 2015, from
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/HistTopics/Non-Euclidean_geometry.html