3.

Addition of Natural Numbers

If A is a set, a (binary) operation ∗ on A is a rule that assigns to each a and b in A a unique
element a ∗ b in A. More precisely, such an operation can be defined as a function from A × A to
A. The results of §1 show that operations can be regarded as certain types of sets, and that their
existence is assured by the axioms adopted in that section. In this section and the next, we define
two operations on N, and establish familiar algebraic properties of these operations.
Definition. We define an operation of addition on N by saying that for all a and b in N,
(1) a + ∅ = a,
(2) a + S(b) = S(a + b).
Remark. In proofs below, we will refer to conditions (1) and (2) of the definition as (A1) and (A2)
respectively.
Proposition 3.1. Addition is an operation on N.
Proof. We need to show that for every a and b in N, a + b is a unique element of N. For a fixed a
in N, let M be the set of all b ∈ N for which a + b is an element of N. Then ∅ is in M by (A1),
and (A2) implies that if b is in M , then S(b) is in M . So M = N, and a + b is an element of N for
all a and b in N.
Now suppose that for some elements a and b of N, we have that a + b = d and a + b = e with
d 6= e in N. Holding a fixed, we may assume, by the well-ordering principle, that b is the smallest
element of N for which a + b can take on two different values. Then b 6= ∅, since ∅ is not the
successor of any element of N, and we are given that a + ∅ = a. Therefore b = S(c) for some c ∈ N,
by Proposition 2.1. So now d = a + S(c) = e. By (A2), it follows that d = S(a + c) = e. Then
neither d nor e can equal ∅, so that d = S(f ) and e = S(g) for some f and g in N. But now with
S(f ) = S(a + c) = S(g), we conclude that f = a + c = g by Proposition 2.3 Since c < S(c), we
must conclude that f = g, but then d = S(f ) = S(g) = e, contrary to assumption. So a + b must
be a unique element of N, and addition is thus an operation on N. 
Example. Since a2 = S(a1 ), we have that a3 +a2 = S(a3 +a1 ) by (A2). Similarly, since a1 = S(a0 ),
then a3 + a1 = S(a3 + a0 ) = S(a3 + ∅) = S(a3 ) by (A2) and (A1). So a3 + a2 = S(S(a3 )) = S(a4 ) =
a5 .
Exercise 3.1. Use the approach of this example to calculate a2 + a3 .
Since a3 = S(a2 ), a2 + a3 = S(a2 + a2 ) by (A2); and since a2 = S(a1 ), then a2 + a2 = S(a2 + a1 );
and since a1 = S(a0 ), then a2 + a1 = S(a2 + a0 ) = S(a2 + ∅) = S(a2 ) = a3 , and
S(a2 + a1 ) = S(a3 ) = a4 . Therefore a3 + a2 = S(a2 + a2 ) = S(a4 ) = a5 .

In the following propositions, we establish the main algebraic properties of addition in N.

Lemma 3.2. For all a in N, ∅ + a = a.
Proof. Let M be the set of all a ∈ N for which ∅ + a = a. Then ∅ ∈ M , since ∅ + ∅ = ∅ by (A1).
Now let a be in M . Then ∅ + S(a) = S(∅ + a) = S(a) by (A2) and the assumption that a ∈ M .
So M = N and ∅ + a = a for all a ∈ N. 
Remark. In future proofs of this type, rather than explicitly defining a subset M of N, we will speak
of proving a statement about all a ∈ N by induction on a. By this, we mean that the statement is
true when ∅ is substituted for a, and that under the assumption (called the inductive hypothesis)
that the statement is true for some a ∈ N, it is also true with S(a) in place of a.
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Lemma 3.3. For every a and b in N, S(a) + b = S(a + b).

Proof. Let a be an element of N, and proceed by induction on b. First note that
S(a) + ∅ = S(a) = S(a + ∅),
both equations by (A1). Now suppose that S(a) + b = S(a + b) for some b in N. Then
S(a) + S(b) = S(S(a) + b) by (A2)
= S(S(a + b)) by the inductive hypothesis
= S(a + S(b)) by (A2).
So by induction, S(a) + b = S(a + b) for all a and b in N. 
Proposition 3.4. Addition is commutative on N. That is, a + b = b + a for all a, b ∈ N.
Exercise 3.2. Prove Proposition 3.4 by induction on b.
Proof. Let a be a fixed element of N and proceed by induction on b. Note that a + ∅ = a by (A1)
and ∅ + a = a by Lemma 3.2 so that a + ∅ = ∅ + a. Now suppose that a + b = b + a for some b in
N. We want to show that S(b) ∈ N; that is, a + S(b) = S(b) + a. Note that a + S(b) = S(a + b) by
(A2) and S(b) + a = S(b + a) by Lemma 3.3. But a + b = b + a by the inductive hypothesis and so
S(a + b) must be equal to S(b + a). So by induction, a + b = b + a for all a, b ∈ N. 
Proposition 3.5. Addition is associative on N. That is, a + (b + c) = (a + b) + c for all a, b, c ∈ N.
Exercise 3.3. Prove Proposition 3.5 by induction on c.
Proof. Let a, b, c ∈ N and fix a and b. Now proceed by induction that a + (b + c) = (a + b) + c.
Note that a + (b + ∅) = a + (b) = a + b and (a + b) + ∅ = (a + b) = a + b. Now suppose that
a + (b + c) = (a + b) + c for some c in N. We want to show that a + (b + S(c)) = (a + b) + S(c).
Note that a + (b + S(c)) = a + S(b + c) by (A2); and that (a + b) + S(c) = S((a + b) + c). But
per the inductive hypothesis, (a + b) + c = a + (b + c) so that S((a + b) + c) = S(a + (b + c), and
S(a + (b + c)) = a + S(b + c) by (A2). Then clearly, a + (b + S(c)) = (a + b) + S(c). So by induction,
a + (b + c) = (a + b) + c. 
Proposition 3.6. Addition has the following cancellation property: For all a, b, and c in N, if
a + c = b + c, then a = b.
Remark. Note that we must prove this proposition without reference to subtraction or to the
negative of c, since these are concepts that are undefined in the set of natural numbers.
Proof. We use induction on c. First note that if a + ∅ = b + ∅, then a = b is obviously true
since a + ∅ = a and b + ∅ = b by (A1). Suppose now that for some c ∈ N, the assumption that
a + c = b + c implies that a = b. Then suppose that a + S(c) = b + S(c). By (A2), it follows that
S(a + c) = S(b + c), so that a + c = b + c by Proposition 2.3. But then we must conclude that a = b
by the inductive hypothesis. So the cancellation property holds for all a, b, and c in N. 
Proposition 3.7. For all a, b ∈ N, a ≤ b if and only if there is a unique element c ∈ N such that
a + c = b.
Proof. We use induction on b to show that the statement “If a ≤ b, then there is a c ∈ N such that
a + c = b” is true for all b in N. Note that the statement is vacuously true when b < a, so we can
begin the induction process with the case in which b = a. But in that case, we can let c = ∅ since
a + ∅ = a by (A1). Now suppose that for some b with a ≤ b, we know that a + c = b for some c ∈ N.
We want to establish the existence of a d ∈ N such that a+d = S(b). But S(b) = S(a+c) = a+S(c)
by (A2). So we can let d = S(c).
The proofs of the uniqueness of c, and of the converse are left for the following exercises. 
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Exercise 3.4. Use induction on c to show that a ≤ a + c for all c ∈ N.

Proof. Let a, c ∈ N and fix a. We will show by induction that a ≤ a + c for all c in N. Note that
a ≤ a + ∅, since a + ∅ = a (A1) and a ≤ a. Now assume that a ≤ a + c for some c ∈ N. We want
to show that a ≤ a + S(c). Note that a + S(c) = S(a + c) by (A2) and S(a + c) = S(a) + c by
Lemma 3.3. If we ignore c, it is clear from the definition of S that a ≤ S(a); so a ≤ a + c for any
a, c ∈ N. 
Exercise 3.5. Show that if a ≤ b in N, then the natural number c for which b = a + c is unique.
Proof. Let a, b, c ∈ N with a ≤ b. We want to show that the c for which a + c = b is unique.
Suppose, though, that c is not unique and that there is some d ∈ N such that a + d = b. Then
a + c = a + d, which we may rewrite as c + a = d + a since addition is commutative. Now it is clear,
by Proposition 3.6, that c = d and so we must conclude that c is unique. 
Exercise 3.6. Let a, b, and c be natural numbers. Show that a ≤ b if and only if a + c ≤ b + c, and
that a < b if and only if a + c < b + c. (If possible, use Proposition 3.7 to prove these statements,
rather than an inductive argument.)
Proof. Let a, b, c ∈ N. We want to show that a ≤ b if and only if a + c ≤ b + c; and that a < b if
and only if a + c < b + c. We know that a ≤ b if and only if there is some unique c ∈ N so that
a + c = b, so assume that a ≤ b and that c is that element in N for which a + c = b. Then certainly
there is some d ∈ N for which b + c = d, so that b ≤ d; and since a + c = b, a + c ≤ b, so that
a + c ≤ d also (Axiom 2); that is, a + c ≤ b + c.
Now assume that a < b so that a 6= b and c is that element of N for which a + c = b. We know
that a 6= b, so we can conclude that c 6= ∅, but if we let d ∈ N be that element for which b + c = d,
then it is clear again that b < d (since c 6= ∅), so since a + c = b, a + c < d; that is, a + c < b + c.