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1.1 Proof by Contradiction

Question Paper

Course Edexcel International A Level Maths (Pure 4)

Section 1. Proof
Topic 1.1 Proof by Contradiction
Difficulty Medium

Time Allowed 40
Score /26
Percentage /100

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Question 1
Prove by contradiction that if x 2 is odd, then x must be odd.
[3 marks]

Question 2a
a
When a number is rational, it can be written in the form .
b
(i) Write down the condition that a and b must satisfy.

(ii) Write down a further condition on b .

[2 marks]

Question 2b
p r
Two numbers can be written in the form and such that p , q , r and s meet the necessary conditions so that the two
q s
numbers are rational.

Prove that the product of these numbers is also rational.

[3 marks]

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Question 3
Prove by contradiction that there are an infinite number of even numbers.
[4 marks]

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Question 4a
A student is attempting to answer the following exam question:

“Prove by contradiction that 2 is an irrational number. You may use without proof the fact that if a number n 2 is even,
then n must also be even.”
The student’s proof proceeds as follows:
Line 1: a
Assume , where a and b are
2 is a rational number. Therefore, it can be written in the form 2 =
b
integers with b ≠ 0 , and where a and b may be assumed to have no common factors.

Line 2: a2
Squaring both sides: 4 =
b2
Line 3: ∴ a 2 = 2b 2
Line 4:
Line 5: Therefore a = 2m , for some integer m
Line 6: Then, a 2 = (2m ) 2 = 4m 2
Line 7: ∴ 2b 2 = 4 m 2
Line 8: b 2 = 2m 2
Line 9: So b 2 is even and therefore b is also even.
Line 10: It has been shown that both a and b are even, so they share a common factor of 2.
Line 11: This is a contradiction of the assumption that a and b have no common factors.
Line 12: Therefore, 2 is irrational.
There is an error within the first three lines of the proof.
State what the error is and write the correct line down.
[2 marks]

Question 4b
Line 4 of the proof is missing.
Write down the missing line of the proof.
[2 marks]
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Question 5a
(i) How many distinct factors does a prime number have?

(ii) What can you say about the number of distinct factors a square number has?

(iii) If N is the square of a prime number, then excluding N itself, write down, in terms of N, the largest factor of N.
[3 marks]

Question 5b
A composite number can be written uniquely as the product of its prime factors.i.e., any composite number N can be
written uniquely as N = p 1 × p 2 × p 3 × . . . , where p 1, p 2, p 3, . . . are the prime factors of N.

Show that a composite number N may be written in the form N = pq , where q is an integer and p is a prime factor of N.
By expressing q in terms of the prime factors of N, be sure to explain why q must be an integer.
[2 marks]

Question 6
Prove by contradiction that a triangle cannot have more than one obtuse angle.
[5 marks]

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