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Mathematical Induction - Problems With Solutions

The document presents 7 problems with detailed solutions using mathematical induction to prove various statements. The principle of mathematical induction involves first proving the base case for n=1 or some other value, and then assuming the statement holds for some value k and proving it holds for k+1. The problems cover proofs for formulas involving sums, squares, cubes, divisibility tests, inequalities, and De Moivre's theorem.

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Ch Md Tausif
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177 views10 pages

Mathematical Induction - Problems With Solutions

The document presents 7 problems with detailed solutions using mathematical induction to prove various statements. The principle of mathematical induction involves first proving the base case for n=1 or some other value, and then assuming the statement holds for some value k and proving it holds for k+1. The problems cover proofs for formulas involving sums, squares, cubes, divisibility tests, inequalities, and De Moivre's theorem.

Uploaded by

Ch Md Tausif
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Mathematical Induction - Problems With

Solutions
Several problems with detailed solutions on mathematical induction are
presented.
The principle of mathematical induction is used to prove that a given proposition
(formula, equality, inequality) is true for all positive integer numbers greater than or
equal to some integer N.
Let us denote the proposition in question by P (n), where n is a positive integer. The
proof involves two steps:
Step 1: We first establish that the proposition P (n) is true for the lowest possible value
of the positive integer n.
Step 2: We assume that P (k) is true and establish that P (k+1) is also true
Problem 1:
Use mathematical induction to prove that
1 + 2 + 3 + ... + n = n (n + 1) / 2
for all positive integers n.
Solution to Problem 1:

Let the statement P (n) be

1 + 2 + 3 + ... + n = n (n + 1) / 2

STEP 1: We first show that p (1) is true.


Left Side = 1
Right Side = 1 (1 + 1) / 2 = 1

Both sides of the statement are equal hence p (1) is true.

STEP 2: We now assume that p (k) is true


1 + 2 + 3 + ... + k = k (k + 1) / 2

and show that p (k + 1) is true by adding k + 1 to both sides


of the above statement
1 + 2 + 3 + ... + k + (k + 1) = k (k + 1) / 2 + (k + 1)
= (k + 1)(k / 2 + 1)
= (k + 1)(k + 2) / 2

The last statement may be written as


1 + 2 + 3 + ... + k + (k + 1) = (k + 1)(k + 2) / 2

Which is the statement p(k + 1).

Problem 2:
Prove that
1 2 + 2 2 + 3 2 + ... + n 2 = n (n + 1) (2n + 1)/ 6
For all positive integers n.
Solution to Problem 2:

Statement P (n) is defined by


1 2 + 2 2 + 3 2 + ... + n 2 = n (n + 1) (2n + 1)/ 2

STEP 1: We first show that p (1) is true.


Left Side = 1 2 = 1
Right Side = 1 (1 + 1) (2*1 + 1)/ 6 = 1

Both sides of the statement are equal hence p (1) is true.

STEP 2: We now assume that p (k) is true


1 2 + 2 2 + 3 2 + ... + k 2 = k (k + 1) (2k + 1)/ 6

and show that p (k + 1) is true by adding (k + 1) 2 to both


sides of the above statement
1 2 + 2 2 + 3 2 + ... + k 2 + (k + 1) 2 = k (k + 1) (2k + 1)/ 6 + (k + 1) 2

Set common denominator and factor k + 1 on the right side


= (k + 1) [ k (2k + 1)+ 6 (k + 1) ] /6

Expand k (2k + 1)+ 6 (k + 1)


= (k + 1) [ 2k 2 + 7k + 6 ] /6

Now factor 2k 2 + 7k + 6.
= (k + 1) [ (k + 2) (2k + 3) ] /6

We have started from the statement P(k) and have shown


that
1 2 + 2 2 + 3 2 + ... + k 2 + (k + 1) 2 = (k + 1) [ (k + 2) (2k + 3) ] /6

Which is the statement P(k + 1).

Problem 3:
Use mathematical induction to prove that
1 3 + 2 3 + 3 3 + ... + n 3 = n 2 (n + 1) 2 / 4
for all positive integers n.
Solution to Problem 3:

Statement P (n) is defined by


1 3 + 2 3 + 3 3 + ... + n 3 = n 2 (n + 1) 2 / 4

STEP 1: We first show that p (1) is true.


Left Side = 1 3 = 1
Right Side = 1 2 (1 + 1) 2 / 4 = 1

hence p (1) is true.

STEP 2: We now assume that p (k) is true


1 3 + 2 3 + 3 3 + ... + k 3 = k 2 (k + 1) 2 / 4

add (k + 1) 3 to both sides


1 3 + 2 3 + 3 3 + ... + k 3 + (k + 1) 3 = k 2 (k + 1) 2 / 4 + (k + 1) 3

factor (k + 1) 2 on the right side


= (k + 1) 2 [ k 2 / 4 + (k + 1) ]

set to common denominator and group


= (k + 1) 2 [ k 2 + 4 k + 4 ] / 4
= (k + 1) 2 [ (k + 2) 2 ] / 4

We have started from the statement P(k) and have shown


that
1 3 + 2 3 + 3 3 + ... + k 3 + (k + 1) 3 = (k + 1) 2 [ (k + 2) 2 ] / 4

Which is the statement P(k + 1).

Problem 4:
Prove that for any positive integer number n , n 3 + 2 n is divisible by 3
Solution to Problem 4:

Statement P (n) is defined by


n 3 + 2 n is divisible by 3

STEP 1: We first show that p (1) is true. Let n = 1 and


calculate n 3 + 2n
1 3 + 2(1) = 3
3 is divisible by 3

hence p (1) is true.

STEP 2: We now assume that p (k) is true


k 3 + 2 k is divisible by 3
is equivalent to
k 3 + 2 k = 3 M , where M is a positive integer.

We now consider the algebraic expression (k + 1) 3 + 2 (k +


1); expand it and group like terms

(k + 1) 3 + 2 (k + 1) = k 3 + 3 k 2 + 5 k + 3
= [ k 3 + 2 k] + [3 k 2 + 3 k + 3]
= 3 M + 3 [ k2 + k + 1 ] = 3 [ M + k2 + k + 1 ]

Hence (k + 1) 3 + 2 (k + 1) is also divisible by 3 and therefore


statement P(k + 1) is true.

Problem 5:
Prove that 3 n > n 2 for n = 1, n = 2 and use the mathematical induction to prove that 3 n >
n 2 for n a positive integer greater than 2.
Solution to Problem 5:

Statement P (n) is defined by


3n > n2

STEP 1: We first show that p (1) is true. Let n = 1 and


calculate 3 and 1 and compare them
1

31 = 3
12 = 1

3 is greater than 1 and hence p (1) is true.

Let us also show that P(2) is true.


32 = 9
22 = 4

Hence P(2) is also true.

STEP 2: We now assume that p (k) is true


3k > k2

Multiply both sides of the above inequality by 3


3 * 3k > 3 * k2

The left side is equal to 3 k + 1. For k >, 2, we can write


k 2 > 2 k and k 2 > 1

We now combine the above inequalities by adding the left


hand sides and the right hand sides of the two inequalities
2 k2 > 2 k + 1

We now add k 2 to both sides of the above inequality to


obtain the inequality
3 k2 > k2 + 2 k + 1

Factor the right side we can write


3 * k 2 > (k + 1) 2

If 3 * 3 k > 3 * k 2 and 3 * k 2 > (k + 1) 2 then


3 * 3 k > (k + 1) 2

Rewrite the left side as 3 k + 1


3 k + 1 > (k + 1) 2

Which proves tha P(k + 1) is true

Problem 6:
Prove that n ! > 2 n for n a positive integer greater than or equal to 4. (Note: n! is n
factorial and is given by 1 * 2 * ...* (n-1)*n.)
Solution to Problem 6:

Statement P (n) is defined by


n! > 2 n

STEP 1: We first show that p (4) is true. Let n = 4 and


calculate 4 ! and 2 and compare them
n

4! = 24
2 4 = 16

24 is greater than 16 and hence p (4) is true.

STEP 2: We now assume that p (k) is true


k! > 2 k

Multiply both sides of the above inequality by k + 1


k! (k + 1)> 2 k (k + 1)

The left side is equal to (k + 1)!. For k >, 4, we can write


k+1>2

Multiply both sides of the above inequality by 2 k to obtain


2 k (k + 1) > 2 * 2 k

The above inequality may be written


2 k (k + 1) > 2 k + 1

We have proved that (k + 1)! > 2 k (k + 1) and 2 k (k + 1) > 2 k +


1

we can now write

(k + 1)! > 2 k + 1

We have assumed that statement P(k) is true and proved


that statment P(k+1) is also true.

Problem 7:
Use mathematical induction to prove De Moivre's theorem
[ R (cos t + i sin t) ] n = R n(cos nt + i sin nt)
for n a positive integer.
Solution to Problem 7:

STEP 1: For n = 1
[ R (cos t + i sin t) ] 1 = R 1(cos 1*t + i sin 1*t)

It can easily be seen that the two sides are equal.

STEP 2: We now assume that the theorem is true for n = k,


hence
[ R (cos t + i sin t) ] k = R k(cos kt + i sin kt)

Multiply both sides of the above equation by R (cos t + i sin

t)
[ R (cos t + i sin t) ] k R (cos t + i sin t) = R k(cos kt + i sin kt) R (cos t + i sin t)

Rewrite the above as follows


[ R (cos t + i sin t) ] k + 1 = R k + 1 [ (cos kt cos t - sin kt sin t) + i (sin kt cos t + cos kt
sin t) ]

Trigonometric identities can be used to write the


trigonometric expressions (cos kt cos t - sin kt sin t) and (sin kt cos t + cos kt sin
t) as follows
(cos kt cos t - sin kt sin t) = cos(kt + t) = cos(k + 1)t
(sin kt cos t + cos kt sin t) = sin(kt + t) = sin(k + 1)t

Substitute the above into the last equation to obtain


[ R (cos t + i sin t) ] k + 1 = R k + 1 [ cos (k + 1)t + sin(k + 1)t ]

It has been established that the theorem is true for n = 1


and that if it assumed

true for n = k it is true for n = k + 1.

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