Ruler Postulate

Pronunciation: /ˈru lər ˈpɒs tʃə lɪt/ ?

Sorry, the GeoGebra Applet could not be started. Please make sure that Java 1.4.2 (or later) is installed and active in your browser (Click here to install Java now)

Manipulative 1: Ruler postulate

The ruler postulate states that:

1. Every point on a line can be paired with a real number.
2. The number associated with a point A on the line is called the coordinate of A.
3. Two arbitrary points can be paired with the numbers 0 and 1, defining the length of a unit.
4. The distance between any two points A and B is designated AB.
5. The distance between two points is taken to be positive. Note that a directed distance can be positive or negative.
6. The distance between two points A and B can be found by taking the absolute value of the difference of their coordinates.

This postulate allows mathematicians to define coordinate systems. Coordinate systems allow us to graph mathematical models. Notice that this postulate does not define a unit of measure, it only tells us that a unit of measure is defined by assigning the values of 0 and 1 to two points. The 'ruler' used may be a metric ruler, an english ruler or even a clock. As long as a number can be assigned to a point on a dimension, this postulate applies.

References

1. Richard S. Millman, George D. Parker. Geometry: A Metric Approach with Models, 2nd edition, pg 30. Springer, December 17, 1990.

Cite this article as:

Ruler Postulate. 2010-03-15. All Math Words Encyclopedia. Life is a Story Problem.org. http://www.allmathwords.org/en/r/rulerpostulate.html.

Image Credits

• All images and manipulatives are by David McAdams unless otherwise stated. All images by David McAdams are Copyright © Life is a Story Problem.org and are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Revision History

2010-03-15: Initial version (McAdams, David.)