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MATH 135 F 2014: Assignment 3

Due: 8:30 AM, Wed., 2014 Oct. 1 in the dropboxes outside MC 4066
Family Name:
First Name:
I.D. Number:
Section:
Your grade is recorded on page 2.
If you used any references beyond the course text and lectures (such as other texts, discussions with
colleagues or online resources), indicate this information in the space below. If you did not use any aids,
state this in the space provided.
Notes. Recall that for Math 135, we are using the notation
N= {1, 2, 3, 4, . . .}
to denote the set of positive integers. This may be dierent from your CS course, where the set of natural
numbers is often said to include zero as well.
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Mark: (/30) (For the marker only.)
1. Let S and T be two sets. Consider the following implication:
If S T = and S T = T, then S = .
Prove the given implication by using the method of contradiction.
2. Prove that for all x, y Z, x
2
4y 2.
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3. Mathematicians are really fun to invite at a party. Suppose you are invited to a frosh party with some
friends. Upon arrival, you notice that there are lots of people at the party. To see how popular you
are, you decide to count how many friends each person has. To your surprise, you nd out that
there is another person with the same number of friends as you. Being a mathematician, you start
wondering whether this will always be the case in any party.
Prove that at every party of n people, where n 2, there exist at least two people with the same
number of friends at the party.
(Hint: What would happen if this were not true? Try a proof by contradiction. Also, note that
friendship has to be between two people, you cannot be friends with yourself.)
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4. Prove that for any n N, 13 | (3
n+2
+ 4
2n+1
).
5. Discuss what is wrong with each of the proofs of the statements given below.
(a) Statement: For all n N, n > n + 1.
Proof. Assume there is some k N, such that k > k+1. Adding 1 to both sides gives k+1 > k+2.
Thus, by mathematical induction, for all n N, n > n + 1.
(b) Statement: For all n N, 1
n1
= 2
n1
.
Proof. Let P(n) be the open sentence 1
n1
= 2
n1
. When n = 1 we have 1
0
= 1 = 2
0
, so P(1) is
true. Assume there exists a positive integer k such that P(i) is true for all 1 i k. Then by
induction hypothesis, P(2) is true, so 1
1
= 2
1
. Also, P(k) is true, so 1
k1
= 2
k1
. Multiplying
these two equations gives us 1
k
= 2
k
, so the result is true when n = k + 1. Thus by the Principle
of Strong Induction, 1
n1
= 2
n1
for all n N.
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6. Dene a sequence {a
n
}
n0
as follows:
a
0
= 1, a
1
= 3, a
2
= 9, a
n
= a
n1
+ a
n2
+ a
n3
for n 3.
Prove that for any non-negative integer n, a
n
3
n
.