Mathematical Induction HSC Questions

Question 3s

1. ’08 3b Use mathematical induction to prove that, for integers n ≥ 1 ,

n
1× 3 + 2 × 4 + 3 × 5 + ... + n ( n + 2) = ( n + 1)(2n + 7)
6

2. ’03 3d Use mathematical induction to prove that

1 1 1 1 n
+ + + ... + =
1× 3 3 × 5 5 × 7 (2n − 1)( 2n + 1) 2n + 1
for all positive integers n .

3. ’98 3a Use the method of mathematical induction to prove that 4n + 14 is a multiple of 6 for n ≥ 1 .

4. ’94 3c Prove by mathematical induction that n 3 + 2n is divisible by 3 for all positive integers n .

5. ’88 3b Prove by mathematical induction that for n ≥ 1 ,

1
12 + 32 + ... + ( 2n − 1) = n ( 2n − 1)( 2n + 1)
2

Question 4s

6. ’07 4b Use mathematical induction to prove that 7 2 n−1 + 5 is divisible by 12 for all integers n ≥ 1 .

7. ’05 4d Use the principle of mathematical induction to show that 4n − 1 − 7 n > 0 for all integers n ≥ 2 .

8. ’04 4a Use mathematical induction to prove that for all integers n ≥ 3 ,

 2 2 2  2 2
1 −  1 −  1 −  ... 1 −  = .
 3   4   5   n  n ( n − 1)

9. ’00 4a Use mathematical induction to prove that

1 1
1 + 3 + 6 + ... + n ( n + 1) = n ( n + 1)( n + 2)
2 6
for all integers n = 1, 2,3,...
10. ’92 4b Let Sn = 1× 2 + 2 × 3 + ... + ( n − 1) × n .

Use mathematical induction to prove that for all integers n with n ≥ 2 ,

1
Sn = (n − 1) n ( n + 1)
3

11. ’91 4a Use mathematical induction to prove that for all integers n ,
1 + 2 + 4 + ... + 2n −1 = 2n − 1

12. ’85 4c Use the principle of mathematical induction to prove that 5n + 2 (11n ) is a multiple of 3 for all
positive integers n .

1
13. ’83 4b The n th term of a series is given by un = .
( 2n − 1)( 2n + 1)
(a) Find u5 and uk +1 .
k
(b) Assuming that the sum S k of the first k terms is given by the formula S k = ,
2k + 1
k +1
prove that S k +1 = .
2k + 3
n
(c) Explain why the sum of the first n terms of the series is .
2n + 1

Question 5s

tan α − tan β
14. ’06 5d (i) Use the fact that tan (α − β) = to show that
1 + tan α tan β
1 + tan nθ tan ( n + 1) θ = cot θ ( tan ( n + 1) θ − tan nθ) .

(ii) Use mathematical induction to prove that, for all integers n ≥ 1 ,

tan θ tan 2θ + tan 2θ tan 3θ + ... + tan nθ tan ( n + 1) θ = − ( n + 1) + cot θ tan ( n + 1) θ

15. ’02 5a Use the principle of mathematical induction to show that

2 ×1! + 5 × 2! + 10 × 3! + ... + ( n 2 + 1) n ! = n ( n + 1) !

for all positive integers n .

16. ’99 5a Prove by induction that, for all integers n ≥ 1 ,

(n + 1)(n + 2) ... (2n − 1) 2n = 2n 1× 3 × ... × ( 2n − 1)
17. ’97 5b (You can’t do this one yet)
(i) For positive integers n and r , with r < n , show that
 n   n   n + 1
 + = 
 r   r + 1  r + 1
n n!
where   = . Do NOT use induction.
 r  r ! (n − r )!

 j − 1  n 
n

(ii) Use mathematical induction to prove that, for n ≥ 3 , ∑ 

j =3
= .
2   3

18. ’93 5a For n = 1, 2,3,... let S n = 12 + 22 + ... + n 2 .

(i) Use mathematical induction to prove that for n = 1, 2,3,... ,

1
S n = n ( n + 1)( 2n + 1)
6

(ii) By using the result of (i) estimate the least n such that S n ≥ 109 .

19. ’89 5b (i) By considering the sum of the terms of an arithmetic series, show that
1 2
(1 + 2 + ... + n) n ( n + 1)
2 2
=
4

(ii) By using the principle of mathematical induction prove that

13 + 23 + ... + n3 = (1 + 2 + ... + n)
2

Question 6s

20. ’11 6a Use mathematical induction to prove that, for n ≥ 1 ,

1
1 × 5 + 2 × 6 + 3 × 7 + n ( n + 4) = n ( n + 1)( 2n + 13)
6

Prove by induction that n3 + ( n + 1) + ( n + 2) is divisible by 9 for n = 1, 2,3,...

3 3
21. ’01 6a

Question 7s

22. ’10 7a Prove by induction that 47 n + 53 ×147 n−1 is divisible by 100 for all integers n ≥ 1 .
 d
23. ’09 7a (i) Use differentiation from first principles to show that ( x) = 1 .
dx

(ii) Use mathematical induction and the product rule for differentiation to prove that
(
d n
dx
x ) = nx n −1 for all positive integers n .

24. ’90 7a Use mathematical induction to prove that for every positive integer n ,
13 × 6n + 2 is divisible by 5

25. ’86 7a Prove by mathematical induction that

1× 20 + 2 × 21 + 3 × 22 + ... + n × 2n −1 = 1 + ( n − 1) 2n

for all integers n ≥ 1 .

26. ’84 7b It is given that A > 0 , B > 0 and n is a positive integer.

(i) Divide An +1 − An B + B n +1 − B n A by A − B , and deduce that An +1 + B n +1 ≥ An B + B n A .

(ii) Using (i), show by mathematical induction that

n
 A+ B An + B n
  ≤ .
 2  2

New Format HSCs

27. ’12 12a Use mathematical induction to prove that 23n − 3n is divisible by 5 for n ≥ 1 .

1 1 1
28. ’13 14a (i) Show that for k > 0 , − + < 0.
(k + 1) k k +1
2

(ii) Use mathematical induction to prove that for all integers n ≥ 2 ,

1 1 1 1 1
2
+ 2 + 2 + ... + 2 < 2 − .
1 2 3 n n

Answers
1
13. (a) u5 =
99
18. (ii) 1442
26. (i) An − B n