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Methods of Proof

Method of proof in reasoning

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34 views4 pages

Methods of Proof

Method of proof in reasoning

Uploaded by

sanico724
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Methods of Proof

Direct Proof: In a direct proof, we assume the antecedent is true, then use rules of inference, axioms,
definitions and/or previously proven theorems to show the consequent is true.

Example. Prove that if n is an odd integer, then n2 is odd.

Proof: Assume n is an odd integer. Then by definition of an odd integer, n = 2k + 1, k 2 Z.

Now,

n = 2k + 1
n2 = (2k + 1)2
n2 = 4k 2 + 4k + 1
n2 = 2(2k 2 + 2k) + 1
n2 = 2r + 1, where r = 2k 2 + 2k, r 2 Z
Hence, n2 is odd.

⌅
Example. Prove that the sum of two even integers is even.

Proof: Assume a and b are even integers. Then by definition of an even integer, a = 2k for some k 2 Z
and b = 2m for some m 2 Z.

Now,

a + b = 2k + 2m
= 2(k + m)
= 2r, where r = k + m, r 2 Z
Hence, the sum of two even integers is even.

Example. Prove that for all integers m and n, if m and n are odd integers, then m+n is an even integer.

Proof: Let m and n be an arbitrary odd integers. Then m and n can be written in the form

m = 2a + 1 and n n = 2b + 1,
where a and b are also integers.

Then

m + n = (2a + 1) + (2b + 1)
= 2a + 2b + 2
= 2(a + b + 1)
Since m + n is twice another integer this implies that m + n is an even integer. ⌅

1
Indirect Proof: An indirect proof is a roundabout way of proving that a theory is true. When we use
the indirect proof method, we assume the opposite of our theory to be true. In other words, we assume
our theory is false.

(Proof by Contradiction)
Example. Prove the statement is true: Let x and y be real numbers. If 5x + 25y = 1723, then x or y is
not an integer.

Proof: Suppose x and y are real numbers such that 5x + 25y = 1723, and suppose that both x and y
are integers. We have,

5(x + 5y) = 1723, by distributive law


Since x and y are integers, this implies 1723 is divisible by 5. Now, the integer 1723, however, is clearly
not divisible by 5 which is a contradiction.

(Proof by Contrapositive)
Example. Prove that if 3n + 7 is odd, then n is even.

Proof: Suppose n is odd. We want to show that 3n + 7 is even. By definition of an odd integer,
n = 2k + 1 for some k 2 Z

We have,

n = 2k + 1
3n + 7 = 3(2k + 1) + 7
= 6k + 3 + 7
= 6k + 10
= 2(3k + 5)
= 2`, where ` = 3k + 5, 8k 2 Z

Thus, 3n + 7 is even which is a contradiction. Hence, if 3n + 7 is odd, then n is even. ⌅

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