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In-Class Assignment 3 Proof by Induction

This document outlines an in-class assignment focused on proof by induction in a mathematical reasoning course. It explains the steps involved in a proof by induction, including the Base Case, Inductive Hypothesis, and Induction Step, and provides an example of proving that n ≤ n² for all natural numbers. Additionally, it introduces Sigma Sum Notation and poses several questions for students to apply the principles of induction to prove a specific equality involving sums.

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Andrew Thomas
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28 views3 pages

In-Class Assignment 3 Proof by Induction

This document outlines an in-class assignment focused on proof by induction in a mathematical reasoning course. It explains the steps involved in a proof by induction, including the Base Case, Inductive Hypothesis, and Induction Step, and provides an example of proving that n ≤ n² for all natural numbers. Additionally, it introduces Sigma Sum Notation and poses several questions for students to apply the principles of induction to prove a specific equality involving sums.

Uploaded by

Andrew Thomas
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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In-class Assignment 3:

Proof by Induction
Math 113 - Mathematical Reasoning

Name: Section:

A proof by induction is, in some ways, a special type of direct proof, which uses a very specific set
of steps and has some of its own vocabulary. These three ‘steps’ are the Base Case, the Inductive
Hypothesis, and the Induction Step, which are best explained by looking at some examples.
Our first example will be proving that for all n ∈ N, n ≤ n2 ; this is a statement we should be
fairly certain is true, but here we will use induction to prove it.
Proof. We begin with the base case of n = 1, and observe that n2 = 12 = 1, with 1 ≤ 1, so n ≤ n2 .

[Here, we begin by picking out an example (in this case, 1, which will be important later), and
verifying that the statement we want to hold, does in fact do so for some value of n.]

Now, we fix k such that k ≤ k 2 , and observe that for k + 1 we have

k ≤ k2
k + 1 ≤ k2 + 1
< k 2 + 2k + 1
= (k + 1)2 .

[What we’ve done here is choose some k at which the statement we want to prove holds, and shown
that given only that it holds for k, it also holds for k + 1. This is the Inductive Hypothesis and the
Induction Step, as we first presume that it works for some k (Hypothesis), and then show that it
working for k implies that it works for k + 1; this is the nature of induction.]

Thus, since the base case k = 1 holds, we have that n ≤ n2 for all n ∈ N.

[What we’ve done in this final line is take all three parts and put them together; the natural
numbers start at 1, so we take this information together with the fact that it working at 1 means
it works at 2, and it working at 2 means it works at 3, and so on and so forth, to conclude that it
works for any natural number.]

1
Now, we are going to introduce some notation, and then we’ll try to prove something else
inductively. We denote
n
X
1 + 2 + 3 + ··· + n = i,
i=1

which we pronounce “the sum from i = 1 to n of i”;Pthis is called “Sigma Sum Notation”, as we
denote long sums by the capital Greek letter sigma ( ). We can also write the sum of things that
aren’t just the natural number up to n, as in the examples
n n
X 2i 2(1) 2(2) 2(n) X
= + + ··· + , or i2 = 12 + 22 + · · · + n2 .
i=1
3 3 3 3 i=1

With that in mind, we seek to prove that for all n ∈ N,


n
X n(n − 1)
i= .
i=1
2

Question 1. First, we want to choose a base case. Pick a suitable number for n, and show that
the equality holds. [Hint: Since we want this to hold for all n ∈ N, we may want to start at the
first natural number.]

Question 2. Now, we make our induction hypothesis: “We fix k such that the equality holds at
n(n − 1)
n = k, and observe k + 1.” Now, we can plug in k + 1 for n in the expression , and try to
2
k(k − 1)
show that it is the same as + (k + 1).
2

k
k(k − 1) X
Question 3. Now that we have the equality from Question 2, we can rewrite = i,
2 i=1
k+1
X
so we can finish showing what we had from Question 2 is equal to i.
n=1

2
Question 4. Now, we can tie everything together: use the base case and the fact that k holding
gives us k + 1 holding to finish the proof. [Hint: This should be similar to the concluding argument
from the proof on the first page.]

Question 5. In your own words, describe what makes a proof by induction work; this question is
more about seeing your thought process than anything else, so don’t worry if your explanation is
exactly right, just say what you think!

(If you need more room for Questions 2 and 3, you can use the space below or on the back.)

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