Big Ideas Math Geometry, 2014
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Big Ideas Math Geometry, 2014 View details
Mathematical Practices
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Exercise 4 Page 64

Are there rectangles that are not squares?

Flawed, see solution.

Practice makes perfect
Let's start by identifying the premises and the conclusion in the given syllogism.


  1. Premise: If a polygon ABCD is a square, then it is a rectangle.
  2. Premise: Polygon ABCD is not a square.
  3. Conclusion: Polygon ABCD is not a rectangle.

The first premise lets us know that if a four sided polygon is a square, then it is also a rectangle. However, notice that this does not imply that every rectangle is a square. We cannot conclude if our polygon is a rectangle or not just by knowing if it is or is not a square. Therefore, the deductive reasoning used is flawed.