INDUCTIVE AND

DEDUCTIVE REASONING

Date:______________________________

Name:_____________________________

Grade:_____________________________

I. Inductive reasoning
1.Definition
Inductive reasoning is the process of observing, recognizing, and describing patterns, and then making
predictions or generalizations from these patterns. Although our guesses are educated, there is still
some level of uncertainty.
2. Examples.
John knows that Mary and Jim are left-handed and use left-handed scissors.
And he also knows Bill is left-handed.
So he concludes : Bill also uses left-handed scissors.
II. Deductive reasoning
1.Definition
Deductive reasoning is the process of using facts to prove the truth of other statements. No guessing
is involved, so we can make our conclusions with certainty.

2.Examples
All numbers ending in 0 or 5 are divisible by 5.
The number 35 ends with a 5, so we conclude that it must be divisible by 5.

II. Practice
LEVEL 1 :
Q1: Determine these following examples are inductive reasoning or deductive reasoning.
1. Ray is a football player. All the other football players on the high school team weigh more than 170
pounds. Therefore, Ray must weigh more than 170 pounds.
2. Acute angles are less than 90 degrees. This angle is 40 degrees, so it must be an acute angle.
3. Jennifer always leaves for school at 7:00 a.m. Jennifer is always on time. Jennifer assumes, then,
that if she leaves at 7:00 a.m. for school today, she will be on time.

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4. The cost of goods was $1.00. The cost of labor to manufacture the item was $0.50. The sales price
of the item was $5.00. So, the item provides a good profit for the stores selling it.
5. Jannal ’ s teacher always hand back exams in the order of best score to worst score. He notices that
his test is on the bottom of the stack. Hence, Jannal thinks that he got an F on the exam.
6. Jack learned from this ecology teacher that fish typically feed most between 7:45 am and 10:45 am.
During his camping trip Jack decides to go fishing during those hours.
7. Line AB and CD intersect at point P. Therefore , points A,B ,C,D are non-collinear.
8. Angle C and angle D are vertical angles. Therefore, angle C = angle D.

Q2: Choose situations that use deductive reasoning.

LEVEL 2
Q3. Use inductive reasoning to predict the next two number in each sequence
1. 4,8 ,12, 16,……. , ………
2. 400, 200 ,100, 50, 25, ……. , ………
3. 3, 9 ,27, 81, ……. , ………
4. -5 , 3, -2, 1, -1, 0, ………, ……….
5.5, 17, 53 , 161,………., ………..
6.1, 4, 9, 16, ………., …………
7.1, 2, 6,24,…………, ………….
Q4.Use inductive reasoning to draw the next shape in each picture
1.

2.

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3.

4.

5.
.

Q5: is equilateral. Is isosceles. What type of reasoning ( inductive or deductive) do you

use when solving this problem?
Q6: ABCD is a rectangular. Is ABCD a parallelogram. What type of reasoning (inductive or deductive)
do you when solving this problem.

Q7: and are complementary. and are also complementary. What can you conclude
about and . What type of reasoning ( inductive or deductive) do you use when solving this
problem?

Q8:A sequence generated by the function (n is the natural number). Work out the first five
numbers in the sequence. What type of reasoning, inductive or deductive, do you use when solving
this problem.
LEVEL 3
Q9: Use inductive reasoning to test each conjecture and decide they are true or false ?
1.The square of a number is always larger than the number.
2. Every odd whole number can be written as the difference of two square.
3. The square of the sum of two numbers is equal to the sum of the squares of the two number.
.
4. All odd numbers are prime numbers.
Q10: A sequence begins -4, 1, 6,11….
Find a rule (a function) that generates the sequence.
Q11: Choose any 3-digit number. Multiply it by 7. Multiply the result by 11. Then multiply the result by
13. Do you notice any thing ? Try other 3-digt numbers and make a conjecture. Use deductive
reasoning to explain why your conjecture is true ?
Q12: Numbers such as 3,4,5 are called consecutive integers. Find a conjecture (or a rule) about the
sum of any three consecutive integers.

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