Math with Bad DrawingsCartoon Archive

Contrapositive Function

July 24, 2018

A cheerful student presents made-up 'converse' and 'contrapositive' functions, mixing up logic vocabulary with function inverses; the teacher facepalms.

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Free for classrooms, worksheets, slides and other non-commercial use under CC BY-NC 4.0, with credit to Ben Orlin.

Cartoon by Ben Orlin, Math with Bad Drawings. https://cartoons.mathwithbaddrawings.com/2018-07-24-contrapositive-function/ (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Transcript

[Board] "suppose f(x) = y / INVERSE FUNCTION: g(y) = x / CONVERSE FUNCTION: f(y) = x / CONTRAPOSITIVE FUNCTION: g(not y) = not x"

Teacher: "That's not how this works. That's... that's not how any of this works."

Topics
Functions › Inverse FunctionsLogic & Proof › Converse & ContrapositiveMath Culture › Vocabulary & Notation
Level
High School
Themes
Common MistakesTeachers & Classroom