Test Flight Problem Set

Assignment 1
Say whether the following is true or false and support your answer by a proof.
( )( )(3 + 5 = 12)
Proof: By contradiction. Assume that this statement holds. This means that there are natural
numbers , 1. Filling in this minimum requirement renders:
(3 1 + 5 1 = 8)

The remainder cannot be explained by , as 5 would be bigger than 4 (which makes a value of
> 1 not possible). As 4 is also not divisible by 3, there will not be a natural number for that
would solve this statement. Therefore, we reach a contradiction as there are no two values for
, that satisfy the equation.
Hence, by means of a contradiction, the statement is disproven.

Assignment 2
Say whether the following is true or false and support your answer by a proof: The sum of any five
consecutive integers is divisible by 5 (without remainder).
Proof: Define 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 as the five consecutive integers and where 1 < 2 < 3 < 4 <
5 . The statement then states that

5| (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 )
Because we know that the integers are consecutive, we can define the following:
4 = 5 1, 3 = 5 2, 2 = 5 3, 1 = 5 4
Substitute these back into the original function

5| ((5 4) + (5 3) + (5 2) + (5 1) + 5 )

Rearranging this provides

5| (55 10)
Both right-hand terms 55 and 10 are divisible by 5 and by the principle of divisibility, item 7
[ | |, |( + ), , ] this holds for , = 1. Hence, the
statement is proven.
Assignment 3
Say whether the following is true or false and support your answer by a proof: For any integer ,
the number 2 + + 1 is odd.

Proof: There are two possibilities for : it is either even or it is odd. This means that is of either
the form = 2 in case is even or = 2 + 1 in case is odd, for any .

Starting off with is even, substitute = 2 into the original formula.

2 + + 1 = (2)2 + 2 + 1

As the first two terms (2)2 and 2 are clearly even, adding 1 will render an odd result.
Now, assume that is odd and substitute = 2 + 1 into the original formula. Apply algebra to
rearrange the items in the following steps.

2 + + 1 = (2 + 1)2 + (2 + 1) + 1
= (2 + 1)(2 + 1) + (2 + 1) + 1
= ((2)2 + 4 + 1) + 2 + 2
= 4 2 + 6 + 3
Again, the first two terms 4 2 and 6 in the last equation are clearly even. The 3 will make this an
odd number for any given .
Hence, both if is even or odd results in an odd number. Therefore, the statement is proven.

Assignment 4
Prove that every odd natural number is of one of the forms 4 + 1 or 4 + 3, where is an integer.
Proof: by means of the Division theorem, which states the following: let , be integers, > 0.
Then there are unique integers , such that = + , and 0 < .

This means that ( )( )( )( , 0 < )[ = + ].

This holds for any , if all possibilities for are considered. For this statement, choose = 4. Then,
every integer can be written as one of the following (looping through , 0 < 4:
= 4 + 0 = 4 + 2
= 4 + 1 = 4 + 3
Now consider that is an odd natural number, as stated in the theorem. As it can be clearly shown
that the first term of the right-hand side (4) is positive, determines whether is odd, which
implies that should be odd. This happens by = 4 + 1 and = 4 + 3. Therefore, by means of
the division theorem, the statement is proven.
Assignment 5
Prove that for any integer , at least one of the integers , + 2, + 4 is divisible by 3.

Proof: The integer can either be an even or an odd integer.

Start off with being an even integer. In that case, it can be written in the form of 2. The three
options would become 2, 2 + 2, 2 + 4. Use the fact that 6 is divisible by 3. Hence, if the
integer is divisible by 6, it will also be divisible by 3. We would therefore prove the following:
(6|2) (6|[2 + 2]) (6|[2 + 4])

In the set of integers, every third even number can be written as = 3 2 , where , the
3 stands for the third number and 2 for the fact that it is even. This number is therefore divisible
by 6. As we are talking about three consecutive even integers in the statement, at least one of
these numbers should be divisible by 6, and therefore by 3.

For is odd, we can write that = + 3, where . As we know that is odd, should be
even. We know that the statement holds for even number (see above) and clearly 3 is divisible by
3. Therefore, according to the Division theorem, item 7 [ | |, |( +
), , ], we know that 3|[ + 3] for , = 1.
Hence, by the division theorem, this statement is proven!

Assignment 6
A classic unsolved problem in number theory asks if there are infinitely many pairs of twin primes,
pairs of primes separated by 2, such as 3 and 5, 11 and 13, 71 and 73. Prove that the only prime
triple (i.e. three primes, each 2 from the next) is 3, 5, 7.
Proof: By contradiction. Assume that there is another prime triple other than 3, 5, 7. Define
1 , 2 , 3 as the three prime values, where 1 > 3 and 1 < 2 < 3 . According to the definition of
the prime triple, it should hold that 2 = 1 + 2 and 3 = 1 + 4, because the primes should each
be 2 from the next. The problem can therefore be stated in the form 1 , 1 + 2, 1 + 4.
By the proof given in assignment 5 we know that, for any integer , at least one of the integers
, + 2, + 4 is divisible by three. We know that all primes are integers and part of the set of
integers and thus the statement applies here. We therefore know that at least of the following
is divisible by 3: 1 , 1 + 2, 1 + 4. But by the definition of a prime number, at least one of the
1 , 2 , 3 can therefore not be a prime number, because these are only divisible by 1 or themselves.
Hence, this is a contradiction.
The reason that it works for the prime triple 3, 5, 7 is that the only value which is divisible by 3 is
3 itself, which would still be considered a prime according to the definition of a prime number.
Hence, by means of contradiction, the statement is proven!
Assignment 7
Prove that for any natural number ,

2 + 22 + 23 + + 2 = 2+1 2
Proof: by induction. Start by proving that the statement holds for n=1.

: 21 = 2
: 21+1 2 = 2

So, the identity is valid for = 1.

The next step of the induction principle is to prove + 1, given that is true. Therefore, assume
that the statement holds for . Then, the statement of + 1 becomes:

2 + 22 + 23 + + 2 + 2+1 = 2+2 2

Split the 2+2 term on the right-hand side

2 + 22 + 23 + + 2 + 2+1 = 2+1 2 2
Now, by the induction hypothesis,
(2+1 2) + 2+1 = 2+1 2 2
Rewriting gives the equal statement on both sides

2 2+1 2 = 2 2+1 2

Therefore, by the principal of induction, this statement holds and the theorem has been proven.
Assignment 8
Prove (from the definition of a limit of a sequence) that if the sequence { }=1 tends to limit
as , then for any fixed number > 0, the sequence { } =1 tends to the limit .

Proof: By the theory of limits. Let > 0 be given. The statement mentions that if { }
=1 tends

to as , then { =1 tends to the limit for any fixed number > 0. Assume that the
}
first part is true and { }
=1 indeed tends to as . Then, by the definition of a limit, we
know that
( > 0)( )( )[| | < ]

Rewrite the statement for { }

=1 similarly

( > 0)( )( )[| | < ]

As > 0,
( > 0)( )( )[| | < ]

( > 0)( )( ) [| | < ]


The statement for { }
=1 is the same as { }=1 , except for the level of the error . But given
that { }
=1 tends to as , the limit for { }=1 will also reach convergence (just at a
slower pace).
Hence, by the definition of a limit, this statement has been proven!

Assignment 9
Given an infinite collection , = 1, 2, of intervals of the real line, their intersection is defined
to be

= {|()( )}
=1

Give an example of a family of intervals , = 1, 2, , such that +1 for all n and

=1 =
. Prove that your example has the stated property.

Proof: Define as the interval [, ). Then the subset contains all real numbers from to .
Another set +1 will then have the interval [ + 1, ), which clearly lies within, but is not equal
to, the interval of . Hence, we can say that +1 . But there will not be a single value
intersecting all the subsets
=1 , because there is no upper bound to the interval and can

go on forever. Hence =1 = .

This proves that defining the interval as = [, ) shows that there is not a single intersection
of an infinite set where +1 .
Assignment 10
Give an example of a family of intervals , = 1, 2, , such that +1 for all n and
=1
consists of a single real number. Prove that your example has the stated property.
1
Proof: Define as the interval [0, ]. Then the subset contains all real numbers from and
1 1
including 0 to . Another set +1 will then have the interval [0, +1], which clearly lies within the
interval, but is not equal to, the interval of . Hence, we can say that +1 . But 0 will be
included in any subset as the only intersection, no matter the size of .
1
This proves that defining the interval as = [0, ] shows that there is only a single intersection
of an infinite set where +1 .