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LogicAndProo Solutions132
LogicAndProo Solutions132
Question 1
Which of the following are true, and which are false? For the ones which are true, give a
proof. For the ones which are false, give a counterexample.
If we square x we get:
If we cube y we get:
Counterexample: 2 × 3 is even, but 2 and 3 are not both even, only one of them is!
Proof: Assume that x > 2. We want to show that x2 > 2. Keeping in mind that
x is a positive number (as it is greater than 2), multiplying both sides of the inequality
(x > 2) by x will keep it true.
Doing this we get x2 > 2x. Using the fact that x > 2, we know that 2x > 4. And we
also know that 4 > 2. So we have a chain of inequalities as follows
(g) x2 ∈ Z ⇒ x ∈ Z (False)
√ √
Counterexample: ( 5)2 = 5 ∈ Z, but 5 ∈
/ Z.
(h) x 6= 0 ∧ y 6= 0 ⇒ xy 6= 0 (True)
Proof: This is true by definition. You should google the zero-product property, which
is true by definition. The statement we are dealing with is the contrapositive of the
zero-product property, which must also be true.
(i) x 6= 0 ∧ y 6= 0 ⇒ x + y 6= 0 (False)
Counterexample: Let x = 3 and y = −3. These are two numbers which are both
not equal to zero, however x + y = 3 + (−3) = 0.
(j) x3 = 8 ⇒ x = 2 (True)
Question 2
For each of the statements in question 1, write the converse and state whether it’s true
or not. If true, give a proof. If false, give a counterexample.
√ √
Counterexample: ( 3 8)3 is an even number, but 3 8 is not an even number, as it’s
not even an integer!
Proof: Let x and y both be odd numbers. Then x = 2n + 1 for some integer n, and
y = 2m + 1 for some integer m. If we add x and y together we get
x + y = 2n + 1 + 2m + 1 = 2n + 2m + 2 = 2(n + m + 1)
Proof: Let x and y both be even numbers. Then x = 2n for some integer n, and
y = 2m for some integer m. Multiplying x and y together we get
Proof: Assume that x > 0. As x is positive, we can multiply both sides of the
inequality x > 0 by x, and it will still be true.
(g) x ∈ Z ⇒ x2 ∈ Z (True)
Proof: The fact that squaring an integer results in an integer is a property too basic
to prove! It arises from the definition of the set of integers.
(h) xy 6= 0 ⇒ x 6= 0 ∧ y 6= 0 (False)
Counterexample: If x = 0 and y = 3, then xy = 0, but not both of x and y are
zero!
(i) x + y 6= 0 ⇒ x 6= 0 ∧ y 6= 0 (False)
Counterexample: Let x = 0 and y = 1. Then x+y 6= 0 but not both of our numbers
are not equal to zero!
(j) x = 2 ⇒ x3 = 8 (True)
Question 3
For each of the statements in question 1, write the contrapositive and state whether it’s
true or not. If true, give a proof. If false, give a counterexample.
Note: We are taking the contrapositives of each of the statements from Question
1. This will preserve the truth of each of the statements. There is no need to prove or
disprove each statement, as the truth or falsity of the contrapositive of each statement
has been shown in the solutions to Question 1. However, feel free to come up with an
original proof or counterexample!
(f ) x2 ≤ 2 ⇒ x ≤ 2 (True)
/ Z ⇒ x2 ∈
(g) x ∈ / Z (False)
(h) xy = 0 ⇒ x = 0 ∨ y = 0 (True)
(i) x + y = 0 ⇒ x = 0 ∨ y = 0 (False)
(j) x 6= 2 ⇒ x3 6= 8 (True)
Question 4
Proof: Take two odd numbers 2n + 1 and 2m + 1 where n and m are integers.
Multiplying these together and arranging we get
Proof: Take two square numbers, n2 and m2 , where n and m are integers. Multiplying
these together we get
n2 m2 = (nm)2
which is also a square number.
Proof: Take three consecutive numbers. Here we write these three numbers as
n, n + 1, n + 2
n + (n + 1) + (n + 2) = 3n + 3 = 3(n + 1)
Proof: Take three consecutive even numbers. Here we write these three numbers as
2n, 2n + 2, 2n + 4
Proof: Take an odd number 2n + 1 and an even number 2m, where n and m are both
integers. Adding these together we get
(2n + 1) + 2m = 2n + 2m + 1 = 2(n + m) + 1
Question 5
a b
(a) + ≥ 2 for all a, b ∈ R
b a
However, the square of a number can never be negative so this is a contradiction. Therefore
the original statement is true, but we have only proved it in the case ab > 0.
We have ignored the case where ab < 0, as this implies that exactly one of a or b will
be negative and so both ab and ab will be negative and so ab + ab will be negative and clearly
less than 2.
We also ignore the case where ab = 0 as this implies that at least one of a or b is zero,
and one or more of the fractions will become undefined.
Proof: To prove this, we assume that zero is not an even number. As zero is an
integer, and every integer is either even or odd, we are assuming that zero is odd.
Proof: Assume to the contrary, that there does exist integers a and b for which
18a + 6b = 1. If this is true then:
2(9a) + 2(3b) = 1
The above equation is of the form
2(integer) + 2(integer) = 1
which in turn can be viewed as
even + even = 1
This is a contradiction to the fact that the sum of two even numbers is even. Therefore
the original statement is true.
√ √
Look up the proof that 2 is irrational. Using this as a guide, construct a proof that 3
is irrational.
√
Proof:
√ Assume to the contrary. We assume that 3 is a rational number, that is,
a
that 3 = b where a and b are integers having no common factor (except 1).
√ a
Squaring both sides of 3= b
we get
a2
3= .
b2
We rearrange this to get
3b2 = a2 .
As a2 is the product of 3 and another integer, this means that a2 is a multiple of 3. If a2
is a multiple of 3 then we must conclude that a is also a multiple of 3 (try and prove this
separately!).
This means that we can write a = 3n where n is an integer. Substituting this into our
equation above we get
3b2 = (3n)2 .
Carrying out the square we get
3b2 = 9n2 .
Dividing through by 3 we see that:
b2 = 3n2
As b2 is the product of 3 and another integer, this means that b2 is a multiple of 3. If b2
is a multiple of 3 then we must conclude that b is also a multiple of 3.
So both a and b are multiples of 3, that is, they share a common factor of 3. However,
we assumed√that a and b had no common factors. Thus we have reached a contradiction!
Therefore, 3 is irrational.
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