LECTURE NOTES

Dr.Fatih ÇELİK
October 18, 2020

1 PROOF
The aim of a proof is to show that a deducation is valid, and it does this by
putting together a number of simpler deducation that are already known to be
valid. There are many ways of presenting a proof.

1.1 Direct Proof

From HYPOTHESIS to CONCLUSION.
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Example 1 Prove that (n + 4) − 3n − 4 = (n + 1) (n + 4) + 8.
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Proof 1 In LHS (left hand side), (n + 4) − 3n − 4 = n2 + 5n + 12. In RHS
(right hand side), (n + 1) (n + 4) + 8 = n2 + n + 4n + 4 + 8 = n2 + 5n + 12. So,
LHS=RHS. Therefore, we are done.
1 1 1 1
Example 2 Show that 2 − 4 + 8 − 16 + ... = 13 .

Proof 2 Seperate the given series in LHS into one series with positive terms
and one with negative terms.
1 1 1  1 1 1 
+ + + ... − + + + ... = H1 − H2
2 8 32 4 16 64
where    2
1 1 1 1 1 
H1 = + + + ...
2 2 4 2 4
and    2
1 1 1 1 1 
H2 = + + + ...
4 4 4 4 4
, respectively. Both series H1 and H2 are the geometric series with the common
ratio r = 14 . So, H1 and H2 are convergent. By using the formula for the sum
1
2
of cenverging geometric series, we get for H1 , the sum is 2
1− 41
= 3 and for H2 ,
1
the sum is 4
1− 41
= 13 . Hence, the total sum is 2
3 − 1
3 = 1
3

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Dr. Fatih ÇELİK Vefa Highschool IB

1.2 Proof by Contradiction

The principle of contradiction is based on the fact that any statement is equiv-
alent to its contrapositive statement. That is, if A then B is equivalent to the
statement if not B then not A.

if the whether rains, the ground is wet

is equivalent to

if the ground is not wet, the whether does not rain

When setting out a proof by contradiction we follow the steps:

ˆ Identify what is being implied by the statement.

ˆ Assume that the implication is false

ˆ Use axioms, theorems, etc... to arrive at a contradiction

ˆ This proves that the original statement must be true

√
Example 3 Show that 2 is irrational.
√
Proof 3 Suppose that 2 is rational, that is
√ a
2=
b
where a, b are coprime integers. Then
√
a = 2b −→ a2 = 2b2 .

Since 2b2 is even, a2 is also even and thus a is also even, say a = 2c. This leads
to a2 = 4c2 = 2b2 . Thus, b2 = 2c2 . This means that n is an even integer.
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Example 4 Prove that there is no x ∈ R such that x−2 = 1 − x.
1
Proof 4 Suppose that there exists a real number a such that a−2 = 1 − a. By
solving this equation for a, we get the following second order equation

a2 − 3a + 3 = 0.

Applying the quadratic formula to conclude that a can not be a real number. To
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show this, we find b2 − 4ac = (−3) − 4 × 3 = −3 < 0. So,
√ √
−b ± b2 − 4ac 3 ± −3
= ∈
/R
2a 2
Exercise 1 Prove the following assertion: there are infinitely many prime num-
bers.

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Dr. Fatih ÇELİK Vefa Highschool IB

1.3 Proof by counterexample

A counterexample is an acceptable proof of the fact that a given statement
is false.
Example 5 Show that the following statement is not always true: There are
no positive integer solutions to the equation x2 + y 2 = 10.

Proof 5 For x = 1 and y = 3, we get 12 + 32 = 10 and x, y ∈ Z+

Example 6 Show that the following statement is not always true: 2n − 1 is a

prime number for all natural numbers.

Proof 6 For n = 4, we get 24 − 1 = 15 = 5 × 3. So 15 is not a prime number.

1.4 Proof by induction

For each natural numbers n, we have an assertion P (n) that is either true or
false. Some examples are the followings:
1. Let Podd (n) be the assertion ”n is odd”.
2. Let Pprime (n) be the assertion ”n is a prime number”.
Induction is a smart technique to prove propositions of the form

For any n ∈ N, it holds P (n).

where P (n) is a statement depending on a natural number n.

AXIOM: Suppose P (n) is a proposition of natural numbers. If

1. P (1) is true, and
2. for every k > 1, (P (k) −→ P (k + 1))
then P (n) is true for all n ∈ N+

Terminology:
ˆ (1) is the starting point of the process and is called the basic step
ˆ (2) is the final step of the process and is called the inductive step
ˆ In the induction step, we are proving P (k) −→ P (k + 1), so we assume
that P (k − 1) is true. The assumption P (k) is called the induction
hypothesis
Let us work on the following example:
Example 7 For every n ∈ N, we have
n(n + 1)
1 + 2 + 3 + ... + n =
2

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Dr. Fatih ÇELİK Vefa Highschool IB

Proof 7 Define P (n) to be the assertion

n(n + 1)
1 + 2 + 3 + ... + n =
2
ˆ Basic step: For n = 1, we have
n(n + 1) 1(1 + 1)
1 + 2 + 3 + ... + n = 1 and = =1
2 2
Since, LHS=RHS, P (1) is true.
ˆ Induction step: Assume that the statement is true for some k ∈ N+ , k > 3.
This means that 1 + 2 + 3 + ... + k = k(k+1)
2 . Hence,
1 + 2 + 3 + ... + k + (k + 1) = (1 + 2 + 3 + ... + k) + (k + 1)
k(k + 1)
= + (k + 1) , induction hypothesis
2
k(k + 1) + 2(k + 1)
=
2
(k + 1)(k + 2)
= .
2
So, P (k + 1) is true. Thus, by the principle of mathematical induction
that the statement is true for all positive integers.
Example 8 Use mathematical induction to prove that 11n − 6 is a multiple of
5.
Proof 8 Define P (n) to be the assertion
11n − 6 = 5a, where n, a ∈ Z+ .
ˆ Basic step: For n = 1, we have 11 − 6 = 5. So, P (1) is true.
ˆ Induction step: Assume that the statement is true for n = k. i.e
11k − 6 = 5b, where, n, b ∈ Z+ .
So, 11k = 5b + 6. When n = k + 1,
11k+1 − 6 = 11 × 11k − 6
= 11 (5b + 6) − 6, induction hypothesis
= 55b + 66 − 6
= 55b + 60
= 5 (11b + 12)
So, P (k + 1) is true. Thus, by the principle of mathematical induction
that the statement is true for all positive integers.
Exercise 2 Prove that 2n > n for all n ∈ Z+ .