American Degree Transfer Program

Course: Discrete Math

Course Code: MAT 1650
Assignment Number & Title: Assignment 1
Name of Lecturer: Ms. Rachel

Name(s): Student ID Number(s):

Shaun Ting Chan Keat ADTP1901016

I/We declare that this is my/our own original work and any contributions made by others
have been properly acknowledged and/or referenced.

Signed:

Shaun Ting

Date of Submission: 7/4/ 2021

1,2,3)

4)
5a1)

In the diagram we see a big box filled with small boxes, some colored black. The

diagram you see can be broken down into a few rows of odd numbered boxes. The first row

has an “n” number of boxes (n = 2k+1), which is bent 90 degrees after the k+1 box. The

following row has a lesser number of boxes compared to the first reducing k by 2 (n =

2(k-1)+1 = 2k-1). This is then continued until the number of boxes is only one.
 The length and the width of the boxes form a perfect square. The biggest on is k*k in

size. The area of the biggest square is k^2 boxes. Subsequently, the consecutive smaller square

is (k-1)*(k-1) which equates to k^2 - 2k + 1 boxes. The difference between the two perfect

squares are k^2 - (k^2 - 2k + 1) = 2k + 1. If we repeat these steps and find the difference

between them, the boxes will result in another different odd integer. This proves that every odd

integer is the difference between two perfect squares.

5b1)

Statement p: Length of an odd numbered row (n = 2k+1), which is bent 90 degrees after the

k+1 box.

Statement q: The squares are perfect squares.

Statement r: The difference between two perfect squares is an odd integer.

Premise: p-> q

Premise: q -> r

Conclusion: p -> r

(p -> q) ^ (p -> r) = p -> (q ^ r)

5a2)

To create the diagram above, we have to first create a box and separate it into 4 equal squares.

The bottom left square will be colored green and also label the width and the length of that

square (which has the width and length of ½, which means it has an area of ¼). The top left

would be colored blue, and the bottom right would be colored red.
Next we repeat the process in the top right square, separating into 4, coloring and labeling

(1/16, 1/64, 1/256). Due to this, we know that there are 3 main sections to this square (green,

red, and blue). The big square is divided into 3 colors, thus we can conclude equates to

⅓.

5a2)

Statement p:
Statement q: Box is divided into four equal squares and top right square is divided into four

equal squares.

Statement r: The box is divided into 3 parts. Sum of the series is ⅓.

Premise: p -> q

Premise: q -> r

Conclusion: p -> r

(p -> q) ^ (p -> r) = p -> (q ^ r)

6)

Computers play a prominent role in our everyday lives. It’s importance in the quest for

proof is undeniable. One way computers are used is proof-by-exhaustion; proving that a

statement is true as long as it holds for a huge finite number of cases (Wolchover, 2013).

According to Wolchover in 1998, a 400 year-old problem called the Kepler conjecture

was solved by Thomas Hales with the assistance of a computer (2013). The conjecture states

that the densest way to pack spheres is the usual way oranges are stacked in a crate — an

arrangement called face-centered cubic packing (Wolchover, 2013). Thomas reduced the

infinite possibilities to a list of the few thousand densest graphs, setting up a

proof-by-exhaustion. Unsolvable huge problems can now be solved by programming a

computer to check all of its cases.

Mathematicians assume previous results, they gloss over details they think other

experts will understand, they take shortcuts to make the presentation less tedious, they appeal

to intuition (EurekAlert, 2008). Because of this, the correctness of the arguments is determined

by the criticism of others in informal areas; thus fallible. Nevertheless the history of

mathematics has many stories about false results that went undetected for a long time

(EurekAlert, 2008). In addition, important theorems require long and complicated proofs that

very few people have the time, energy, and necessary background to check through them. To

fight this problem, computer scientists began developing the field of formal proof, in which

every logical inference has been checked from the fundamental axioms of mathematics

(EurekAlert, 2008). Mathematicians do not write formal proofs because such proofs are so

long, cumbersome and it would be impossible for humans. But now with the assistance from

computers it is possible.

Additionally, computers help discover patterns in data, which mathematicians use to

formulate conjectures (Wolchover, 2013). Moreover, algorithms like the Wilf-Zeilberger

method can perform symbolic computations, manipulating variables instead of numbers to

produce exact results without rounding errors. In conclusion, computers are important because

they allow us to solve the unsolvable.

References

EurekAlert. (2008). Proof by computer. EurekAlert.

 https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-11/ams-pbc110608.php

Wolchover, N. (2013). In computers we trust. Quanta Magazine.

https://www.quantamagazine.org/in-computers-we-trust-20130222/