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Solutions For Week 2

1. The document discusses solutions to mathematical problems involving logic and number theory. It uses truth tables to show that certain implications are logically equivalent. It also uses algebraic expansions and implications to prove mathematical statements. 2. Problem 2 uses truth tables to show that (P → Q) and (Q → R) implies P → R, and that a statement is equivalent to its contrapositive. 3. Later problems use algebraic expansions and implications to prove statements about divisibility, sums of squares, and proving a number is not divisible by 7.

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20 views2 pages

Solutions For Week 2

1. The document discusses solutions to mathematical problems involving logic and number theory. It uses truth tables to show that certain implications are logically equivalent. It also uses algebraic expansions and implications to prove mathematical statements. 2. Problem 2 uses truth tables to show that (P → Q) and (Q → R) implies P → R, and that a statement is equivalent to its contrapositive. 3. Later problems use algebraic expansions and implications to prove statements about divisibility, sums of squares, and proving a number is not divisible by 7.

Uploaded by

Pi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Solutions for week 2

1. Let Girl denote the statement the student is a girl, and Good denote
the statement the student is good at mathematics. Then (i) reduces to the
statement Girl Good. So its negation is the statement Girl ; Good.
There must therefore be some girl who is not good at mathematics; in other
words, (v) holds.
The contrapositive of (i) is the statement not Good not Girl; that is,
not Good Boy, where Boy denotes the statement the student is a boy.
This is (vii).

2. (i) P Q R P Q Q R (P Q) and (Q R) P R
T T T T T T T
T T F T F F F
T F T F T F T
T F F F T F F
F T T T T T T
F T F T F F T
F F T T T T T
F F F T T T T
Since the entries in the sixth and seventh columns satisfy the truth table (2.1.1)
for (in other words, the pair T | F never appears), the required implication
holds.
(ii) P Q P Q not Q not P (not Q) (not P )
T T T F F T
T F F T F F
F T T F T T
F F T T T T
Since the entries in the third and sixth columns are identical the corresponding
statements are logically equivalent: an implication is equivalent to its contrapos-
itive.

(iii) P Q P Q not P (not P ) or Q


T T T F T
T F F F F
F T T T T
F F T T T
Since the entries in the third and fifth columns are identical the corresponding
statements are logically equivalent.This is sometimes useful in constructing proofs
that P Q.

1
3. (i) We simplify each side by multiplying out.
(a + b c)2 = a2 + b2 + c2 + 2ab 2ac 2bc,
(a + b)2 + (a c)2 + (b c)2 a2 b2 c2
= a2 + b2 + c2 + 2ab 2ac 2bc.
Therefore (a + b c)2 = (a + b)2 + (a c)2 + (b c)2 a2 b2 c2 .
(ii) As with Proposition 3.2.1 we start with the goal and work backwards taking
care to get the implications in the right direction.
bc + ac + ab a2 + b2 + c2 0 a2 + b2 + c2 bc ac ab
0 2a2 + 2b2 + 2c2 2bc 2ac 2ab
0 (b c)2 + (a c)2 + (a b)2
0 (b c)2 and 0 (a c)2
and 0 (a b)2
and this final statement is certainly true for all real numbers a, b and c. Hence
bc + ac + ab a2 + b2 + c2 .

4. Given an integer n such that n2 is not divisible by 7, suppose for contradiction


that n is divisible by 7. Then n = 7q for some integer q, and n2 = 49q 2 = 7(7q 2 ).
So n2 is divisible by 7, contradicting the statement that n2 is not divisible by 7.
Hence our assumption that n is divisible by 7 must be false; so n is not divisible
by 7, as required.
An alternative framework for the main step is:
Suppose for contradiction that
(n2 not divisible by 7) = P 6 Q = (n is not divisible by 7).
Then the truth table for P Q shows that P must be true and Q false; in other
words, n2 is not divisible by 7, and n is divisible by 7 a contradiction! So our
assumption that P 6 Q must be false, and P Q as required.

5. (i) Since a divides b and a divides c, there are integers p and q such that
b = ap and c = aq. So b + c = ap + aq = a(p + q), which implies that a divides
b + c.
(ii) Suppose that a divides b or a divides c. Then there is an integer p such
that b = ap, or there is an integer q such that c = aq. In the former case
bc = (ap)c = a(pc), and in the latter case bc = b(aq) = a(bq). In both cases a
divides bc.

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