GROUPS 222–224. SEMINAR 1.

MATHEMATICAL INDUCTION, BOUNDED SETS,

SEQUENCES

PRINCIPLE OF MATHEMATICAL INDUCTION To prove that P (n) is true for all positive
integers n, where P (n) is a set of propositions, we complete two steps:
BASIS STEP: We verify that P (1) is true.
INDUCTIVE STEP: We show that the conditional statement P (k) → P (k + 1) is true for all positive
integers k.

1. Prove, by induction, Bernoulli’s inequality:

if x > −1, n ∈ N, then (1 + x)n > 1 + nx.

For any positive integers n, k with 0 6 k 6 n, we define binomial coefficients:

 
n n!
= nCk = C(n, k) = Cnk = .
k k!(n − k)!

2*. Prove, by induction, the binomial theorem:

       
n n n n−1 n n−2 2 n n−k k n
(a + b) = a + a b+ a b + ··· + a b + ··· + abn−1 + bn ,
1 2 k n−1

where n is a positive integer and x a real number.

3. Verify whether the following set is bounded or not:

n + (−1)n
   
2n − 1
(a) : n∈N ; (b) (HW) :n∈N .
2+n 3n − 1

4. Define an unbounded set. Prove that the following set is unbounded:

(a) {(−1)n n : n ∈ N} ; (b) (HW) n2 : n ∈ N .



5. Prove that the following sequence is bounded and find inf X, sup X:
( n )
 
1

(−1)n n
 X 1 n√ √ o
(a) , (b) (HW) , (c) , (d) (HW*) n+1− n .
n n+1 k=1
k(k + 1)

6. Prove that the following sequence is monotone, starting from some term:
n√ √ o

n+2

(a) n+1− n , (b) (HW) .
5n + 1