 
  
  
   
Based on what we've said about our definitions, there is a pretty obvious connection between the three definitions give above. That is, we would expect the size of a tree to be the sum of the leaves and the nodes. We can make this precise as follows:
  
 
We will prove this by structural induction. As with natural deduction there are two cases: a base case for leaves, and an induction case for composite trees. Here is how it goes:
Proof:
Let t: TREE. 
 
Base Case: Assume t is a leaf. 
 
  
 
Induction Case: Assume that   and that the
theorem hold for all trees t':TREE such that size(t') < size(t).
  and that the
theorem hold for all trees t':TREE such that size(t') < size(t). 
 
 