ADP

Subject: Discrete Structure

Semester 3rd Lecture #5,6
Date: /12/2023. Mid Term
Proof Techniques (Proof By Induction,
Contraposition, Contradiction, Implication)

❖ Topic: Proof By Induction

What is Proof By Induction?
Proof by induction is a way of proving that something is true for every positive
integer.

Definition;
Proof by induction is a way of proving that a certain statement is true for every
positive integer.

Proof by induction has four steps:

➢ Prove the base case: this means proving that the statement is true for the
initial value, normally n=1 or n=0
➢ Assume that the statement is true for the value n=k This is called the
inductive hypothesis.
➢ Prove the inductive step: prove that if the assumption that the statement is
true for n=k, it will also be true for n=k+1
 ➢ Write a conclusion to explain the proof, saying: “If the statement is true for
n=k, the statement is also true for n=k+1. Since the statement is true for
n=1, it must also be true for n=2 , n=3, and for any other positive integer.”

Examples of Proof By Induction

First, let’s look at an example of a divisibility proof using induction.

Example;
Prove that for all positive integers n, 32𝑛+2 + 8𝑛 − 9 is divisible by 8.
Solution
First define f(n) = 32𝑛+2 + 8𝑛 − 9

Step 1: Now consider the base case. Since the question says for all positive
integers, the base case must be f(1).
You can substitute n=1 into the formula to get
𝑓(1) = 32+2 + 8 − 9 = 34 − 1
81-1=80
80 is clearly divisible by 10, hence the condition is true for the base case.
Step 2: Next, state the inductive hypothesis. This assumption is that f(k) =
3(2𝑘+2) + 8𝑘 − 9 is divisible by 8.
Step 3: Now, consider f(k + 1) The Formula will be:
𝐹(𝑘 + 1) = 3 2(𝑘+1)+2 + 8(𝑘 + 1) – 9 = 3 (2𝑘+4) + 8𝑘 – 9 + 8
= 3(2𝑘+4) + 8𝑘 + 8 – 9
It may seem weird to write it like this, without simplifying the 8 – 9 to become -1.
There is a good reason to do this: you want to keep the formula as similar to the
formula of f(k) as you can since you need to transform it into this somehow.
To do this transformation, notice that the first term in f(k + 1) is the same as the
first term in f(k) but multiplied by 32 = 9 Hence, you can split this up into two
separate parts.

𝐹(𝑘 + 1) = 9 × 3(2𝑘+2) + 8𝑘 – 9 + 8
= 3(2𝑘+2) + (8 × 3(2𝑘+2) ) + 8𝑘 – 9 + 8
= (3(2𝑘+2) + 8𝑘 – 9) + (8 × 3 (2𝑘+2) + 8)
= 𝑓(𝑘) + 8 × 3(2𝑘+2) + 8 .

The first term in this is divisible by 8 because of the assumption, and the second
and third terms are multiples of 8. Thus they are divisible by 8 too.
Since this is the sum of different terms that are all divisible by 8, f(k + 1) must also
be divisible by 8 too, assuming the inductive hypothesis is true. Hence, you have
proven the inductive step.
Step 4: Finally, remember to write the conclusion. This should sound something
like:
If it is true that f(k) is divisible by 8, then it will also be true that f(k + 1) is divisible
by 8. Since it is true that f(1) is divisible by 8, it is true that f(n) is divisible by 8 for
all positive integers n.

❖ Topic: Proof By Contraposition

Indirect Proof Definition
An indirect proof doesn’t require us to prove the conclusion to be true. Instead, it
suffices to show that all the alternatives are false.
There are two forms of an indirect proof.
➢ Proof By Contraposition
➢ Proof By Contradiction
Proof By Contraposition
A proof by contraposition, which is sometimes called a proof by contrapositive,
flips the script. Instead of assuming the hypothesis to be true and the proving that
the conclusion is also true, we instead, assumes that the conclusion to be false
and prove that the hypothesis is also false. Remember, we know from our study of
equivalence that the conditional statement of “if p then q” has the same truth
value of “if not q then not p.” Therefore, a proof by contraposition says, let’s
assume “not q” is true and let’s prove “not p.” And consequently, if we can show
“not q then not p” to be true, then the statement “if p then q” must be true.
Contrapositive inequality proof:
Example #1

Contrapositive proof- Even and Odd integers

Now I want to draw your attention to the critical word “or” in the claim above.
Here’s a BIG hint…
…whenever you are given an “or” statement, you will always use proof by
contraposition.
Why?
Because trying to prove an “or” statement is extremely tricky, therefore, when
we use contraposition, we negate the “or” statement and apply De Morgan’s
law, which turns the “or” into an “and” which made our proof-job easier!

Example #2
Let’s look at another problem.

❖ Topic: Proof By Contradiction

Proof By Contradiction
Now it is time to look at the other indirect proof — proof by contradiction.Like
contraposition, we will assume the statement, “if p then q” to be false. In other
words, the negation of p leads to a contradiction because if the negation of p is
false, then it must true.

The steps for proof by contradiction are as follows:

➢ Assume the hypothesis is true and the conclusion to be false.

➢ Then show that this assumption is a contradiction, thus proving the
original statement to be true.
Contradiction Proof — N and 𝑵𝟐 Are Even

Example #1

Proof By Contradiction — Not Equal

As you can see, it’s much easier to assume that something does equal a specific
value than trying to show that it doesn’t. This is the beauty of the proof of
contradiction. Together, we will work through countless examples of proofs by
contrapositive and contradiction, including showing that the square root of 2 is
irrational!
Example #2

❖ Proof By Implication

Definition;
An implication statement can be represented in the form “if….then”. The symbol
⇒ is used to show the implication. Suppose there are two statements, P and Q. In
this case, the statement “if P then Q” can also be written as P ⇒ Q or P → Q, and
it will be read as “P implies Q”. In this implication, the statement P is a hypothesis,
which is also known as premise and antecedent, and the statement Q is
conclusion, which is also known as the consequent.

Some examples of implications are described as follows:

➢ “If the weather of GOA is sunny, then we will go to beach”.
➢ “If the club has discount system, then we will go to that club”.
➢ “If it is sunny while going beach, then we will be tanned”.
The logical implication can be expressed in various ways, which are described as
follows:
P⇒Q
➢ IF it is sunny THEN I will go to the beach
➢ IF it is sunny, I will go to the beach
➢ I will go to the beach WHEN it is sunny
Table;

P Q P⇒q

T T T
T F F
F T T
F F T

Ambiguity
There can be an ambiguity in the implied operator. So when we use the imply
operator (⇒), at this time, we should use the parenthesis.

For example:
In this example, we have an ambiguous statement P ⇒ Q ⇒ R. Now, we have two
ambiguous statements ((P ⇒ Q) ⇒ R) or (P ⇒ (Q ⇒ R)), and we have to show
whether these statements are similar or not.

Solution:
We will prove this with the help of a truth table, which is described as follows:
 P Q R (P ⇒ Q) (Q ⇒ R) P ⇒ (Q ⇒ R) (P ⇒ Q) ⇒ R

F F F T T T F

F F T T T T T
F T F T F T F
F T T T T T T
T F F F T T T
T F T F T T T
T T F T F F F
T T T T T T T
In the above truth table, we can see that the truth table of P ⇒ (Q ⇒ R) and (P ⇒
Q) ⇒ R are not similar. Hence, they both will generate different outputs or results.