Scribd
Upload
26 views24 pages

Further Proof by Mathematical Induction

The document covers various types of proofs by mathematical induction including algebraic, calculus, probability, geometry, and recursive formula proofs. It provides examples of proving properties of sequences, sums, derivatives, probabilities, angles of polygons, and closed-form definitions of recursively-defined functions.

Uploaded by

Thomas Fairleigh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
26 views24 pages

Further Proof by Mathematical Induction

The document covers various types of proofs by mathematical induction including algebraic, calculus, probability, geometry, and recursive formula proofs. It provides examples of proving properties of sequences, sums, derivatives, probabilities, angles of polygons, and closed-form definitions of recursively-defined functions.

Uploaded by

Thomas Fairleigh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 24

Table of Contents

Further Algebraic Induction Proofs ................................................................... 1


Other Induction Proofs ....................................................................................... 8
Using Induction to Prove First-Order Recursive Formulae............................ 16
Further Algebraic Induction Proofs

https://youtu.be/fd2dyjekB_M

In Extension 1 the results we prove always apply to all natural numbers, so 1, 2, 3 etc.

We always test 𝑛 = 1 for the base case and in the inductive step prove that:

𝑃(𝑘) ⇒ 𝑃(𝑘 + 1).

In Extension 2:

- The base case we test can be greater than 1 (not 0 for some unknown reason . . . sigh).

- The numbers we are proving the result for may jump by 2s or any other number. For
example, to prove a result is true for positive even numbers means that we test 𝑛 = 2 as
the base case, then check that 𝑃(𝑘) ⇒ 𝑃(𝑘 + 2) in the inductive step.

- Often will not tell you to use induction

Example 1

Prove that 𝑛 2 + 2𝑛 is a multiple of 8 if 𝑛 is an even positive integer

1
2
Sigma Notation

Sigma notation is not officially part of the Extension 1 course, even though you may have used
it in topics like Polynomials. So in Extension 1 the sum of a series had to be written out in full,
while in Extension 2 we can use sigma notation. Presumably the questions will also be harder!

Example 2:

Prove for 𝑛 ≥ 1
𝑛

∑(2𝑟 + 2𝑟 ) = 𝑛(𝑛 + 1) + 2𝑛+1 − 2


𝑟=1

3
4
Divisibility Proofs by Induction in Extension 2

The only difference between this and Extension 1 is that we will have two different
bases/indices.

Example 3:

Prove that 32𝑛+4 − 2𝑛 is divisible by 5 for any positive integer n

5
Inequality Proofs by Induction

We now look at induction proofs where we bring our skills from direct inequality proofs into
the inductive step. As with any inequality proof, obtaining a deep understanding of inequalities
is the key.

This is where the “hard” induction questions will come from

Example 4:

Prove by induction that 2𝑛 > 𝑛 2 for positive integers 𝑛 > 4

6
7
Other Induction Proofs

https://youtu.be/9zo0ia1d9fQ

These proofs are a bit spooky, hold your horses.

In all of the questions to follow, the trick in solving them involves finding how the relation
being true for 𝑛 = 𝑘 leads to it being true for 𝑛 = 𝑘 + 1. This means we need to find an instance
of the smaller problem in the larger problem. In the first five examples we will use algebraic
and calculus skills to prove 𝑃(𝑘) ⇒ 𝑃(𝑘 + 1), while in the geometry questions we will grow
or change the previous diagram.

Calculus

We will start by looking at using induction to prove calculus results. We need to keep in mind
that although these results are actually true for all real 𝑛, induction only proves that they are
true for the positive integers.

Example 1:

𝑑
Prove that for any positive integer n, (𝑥 𝑛 ) = 𝑛𝑥 𝑛−1
𝑑𝑥

8
9
Probability

Example 2:

Prove that for any positive integer n:


𝑛
𝑛
(𝑥 + 𝑎)𝑛 = ∑ ( ) 𝑥 𝑛−𝑟 𝑎𝑟
𝑟
𝑟=0

10
11
Hold on….

Geometry

Example 3:

Prove that the sum of the exterior angles of an n-sided polygon is 360° (note: 𝑛 ≥ 3)

12
Example 4:

13
14
Example 5:

15
Using Induction to Prove First-Order Recursive Formulae

https://youtu.be/1NQp97bXHb4

A recursive formula is when one term is defined in terms of one or more preceding terms.

A recursive definition of a function allows you to evaluate the function at a certain value of n
using value(s) of the function at some other value(s) of n. For example: 𝑇𝑛 = 2 × 𝑇𝑛−1

A closed form definition allows a function to be evaluated directly from the required value of
n. For example: 𝑇𝑛 = 𝑛 2 + 𝑛 − 1

Example 1:

A sequence {𝑢𝑛 } is defined recursively as 𝑢1 = 2, 𝑢2 = 6, 𝑢𝑛 = 6𝑢𝑛−1 − 5𝑢𝑛−2 for 𝑛 ≥ 3.

Prove by induction the closed form definition 𝑢𝑛 = 5𝑛−1 + 1 for all integers 𝑛 ≥ 1

16
17
Example 2:

a) If 𝑢𝑟+1 = 2𝑢𝑟 + 1 for all positive values of r, prove that 𝑢𝑛 + 1 = 2𝑛−1 (𝑢1 + 1)

18
b) Find the value of the following if 𝑢1 = 1
𝑛

∑ 𝑢𝑟
𝑟=1

19
Example 3:

20
21
Example 4:

22
23

You might also like