Math 225 004 Indirect Proofs

1. Write a proof by contraposition to show that for any real number x, if x2 + 2x < 0, then x < 0. Proof. Assume that x is a non-negative real number. Then 2x is also non-negative. Since x is real, x2 is always non-negative, regardless of the sign of x. Thus x2 + 2x 0. Therefore, if x2 + 2x < 0, then x < 0. 2. Suppose a and b are positive integers. Write a proof by contradiction to show that if a < b and ab < 3, then a = 1. Proof. Let a and b be positive integers. Suppose that a < b, ab < 3 and a = 1. Then a 2 since a is a positive integer and not equal to 1. This implies that b 3 since b > a. Therefore ab 6, which is a contradiction to the assumption that ab < 3. Thus, if a < b and ab < 3, then a = 1. 3. Suppose a is a positive integer. Prove the biconditional statement a is odd if and only if a + 1 is even. Proof. Assume that a is a positive integer. () First assume that a is odd. Then a = 2k + 1 for some integer k . So a + 1 = 2k + 2 = 2(k + 1) is even since k + 1 is an integer. () Now assume that a + 1 is even. Then a + 1 = 2j for some integer j . So a = 2j 1 = 2j 1 + 1 1 = 2j 2 + 1 = 2(j 1) + 1 is odd since j 1 is an integer. Therefore, a is odd if and only if a + 1 is even. 4. Write a proof by contraposition to show that for any real number x, if x2 5x + 6 < 0, then 2 < x < 3. Proof. Suppose that x is a real number and either x 2 or x 3. Case 1: Let x 2. Then x2 5x + 6 = (x 3)(x 2) 0 since x 3 0 and x 2 0. Case 2: Let x 3. Then x2 5x + 6 = (x 3)(x 2) 0 since x 3 0 and x 2 0. Thus if x2 5x + 6 < 0, then 2 < x < 3. 5. Suppose a and b are positive integers. Write a proof by contradiction to show that if ab is odd, then both a and b are odd. Proof. Assume that a and b are positive integers and that ab is odd. Suppose that either a or b is not odd. Without loss of generality, assume a is even. Then a = 2k for some integer k . So ab = (2k )b = 2(kb) is even since kb is an integer. This is a contradiction to the assumption that ab is odd. Therefore, if ab is odd, then both a and b are odd. 6. Prove by contradiction that if n is a natural number, then n n > . n+1 n+2

Proof. Let n be a natural number. Assume that

n n . So n(n +2) n(n +1). n+1 n+2 This is equivalent to n + 2 n + 1 since n is positive. Subtracting n from both sides of the inequality results in 2 1, which is a contradiction. Thus if n is a natural number, n n then > . n+1 n+2