Page 1 of 6

1.2 Inductive Reasoning

Goal Scientists and mathematicians look for patterns and try to draw
Use inductive reasoning conclusions from them. A conjecture is an unproven statement that
to make conjectures. is based on a pattern or observation. Looking for patterns and making
conjectures is part of a process called inductive reasoning .
Key Words
• conjecture
• inductive reasoning Geo-Activity Making a Conjecture
• counterexample
Work in a group of five. You will count how many ways various numbers
of people can shake hands.

2 people can shake 3 people can shake

hands 1 way. hands 3 ways.

●
1 Count the number of ways that 4 people can shake hands.
Student Help ●
2 Count the number of ways that 5 people can shake hands.
STUDY TIP
Copy this table in your ●
3 Organize your results in a table like the one below.
notebook and complete
it. Do not write in your People 2 3 4 5
textbook.
Handshakes 1 3 ? ?

●
4 Look for a pattern in the table. Write a conjecture about the number
of ways that 6 people can shake hands.

Much of the reasoning in geometry consists of three stages.

●
1 Look for a Pattern Look at several examples. Use diagrams and
tables to help discover a pattern.

●
2 Make a Conjecture Use the examples to make a general
conjecture. Modify it, if necessary.

●
3 Verify the Conjecture Use logical reasoning to verify that the
conjecture is true in all cases. (You will do this in later chapters.)

8 Chapter 1 Basics of Geometry

 Page 2 of 6

EXAMPLE 1 Make a Conjecture

Science Complete the conjecture.
Conjecture: The sum of any two odd numbers is __?__.

Solution
Begin by writing several examples.
11152 51156 3 1 7 5 10
3 1 13 5 16 21 1 9 5 30 101 1 235 5 336

Each sum is even. You can make the following conjecture.

ANSWER © The sum of any two odd numbers is even.

SCIENTISTS use inductive EXAMPLE 2 Make a Conjecture

reasoning as part of the
scientific method. They Complete the conjecture.
make observations, look for Conjecture: The sum of the first n odd positive integers is __?__.
patterns, and develop
conjectures (hypotheses) that
Solution
can be tested.
List some examples and look for a pattern.

1 113 11315 1131517

1 5 12 4 5 22 9 5 32 16 5 42

ANSWER © The sum of the first n odd positive integers is n2.

Make a Conjecture

Complete the conjecture based on the pattern in the examples.

1. Conjecture: The product of any two odd numbers is __?__.

EXAMPLES
13151 3 3 5 5 15 3 3 11 5 33
Student Help 7 3 9 5 63 11 3 11 5 121 1 3 15 5 15
READING TIP 2. Conjecture: The product of the numbers (n 2 1) and (n 1 1) is __?__.
Recall that the symbols
3 and p are two ways EXAMPLES
of expressing 1 p 3 5 22 2 1 3 p 5 5 42 2 1 5 p 7 5 62 2 1
multiplication. 7 p 9 5 82 2 1 9 p 11 5 102 2 1 11 p 13 5 122 2 1

1.2 Inductive Reasoning 9

 Page 3 of 6

IStudent Help Counterexamples Just because something is true for several

ICLASSZONE.COM examples does not prove that it is true in general. To prove a
MORE EXAMPLES conjecture is true, you need to prove it is true in all cases.
More examples at A conjecture is considered false if it is not always true. To prove a
classzone.com conjecture is false, you need to find only one counterexample.
A counterexample is an example that shows a conjecture is false.

EXAMPLE 3 Find a Counterexample

Show the conjecture is false by finding a counterexample.
Conjecture: The sum of two numbers is always greater than the larger
of the two numbers.

Solution
Here is a counterexample. Let the two numbers be 0 and 3.
The sum is 0 1 3 5 3, but 3 is not greater than 3.
ANSWER © The conjecture is false.

EXAMPLE 4 Find a Counterexample

Show the conjecture is false by finding a counterexample.
Conjecture: All shapes with four sides the same length are squares.

Solution
Here are some counterexamples.

These shapes have four sides the same length, but they are
not squares.
ANSWER © The conjecture is false.

Find a Counterexample

Show the conjecture is false by finding a counterexample.

3. If the product of two numbers is even, the numbers must be even.

4. If a shape has two sides the same length, it must be a rectangle.

10 Chapter 1 Basics of Geometry

 Page 4 of 6

1.2 Exercises
Guided Practice
Vocabulary Check 1. Explain what a conjecture is.

2. How can you prove that a conjecture is false?

Skill Check Complete the conjecture with odd or even.

3. Conjecture: The difference of any two odd numbers is __?__.

4. Conjecture: The sum of an odd number and an even number

is __?__.

Show the conjecture is false by finding a counterexample.

5. Any number divisible by 2 is divisible by 4.

6. The difference of two numbers is less than the greater number.

7. A circle can always be drawn around a four-sided shape so that it

touches all four corners of the shape.

Practice and Applications

Extra Practice 8. Rectangular Numbers The dot patterns form rectangles with a
See p. 675. length that is one more than the width. Draw the next two figures
to find the next two “rectangular” numbers.

2 6 12 20

9. Triangular Numbers The dot patterns form triangles. Draw the

next two figures to find the next two “triangular” numbers.

1 3 6 10

Homework Help Technology Use a calculator to explore the pattern. Write a

Example 1: Exs. 8−16 conjecture based on what you observe.
Example 2: Exs. 8−16
10. 101 3 25 5 __?__ 11. 11 3 11 5 __?__ 12. 3 3 4 5 __?__
Example 3: Exs. 17–19
Example 4: Exs. 17–19 101 3 34 5 __?__ 111 3 111 5 __?__ 33 3 34 5 __?__
101 3 49 5 __?__ 1111 3 1111 5 __?__ 333 3 334 5 __?__

1.2 Inductive Reasoning 11

 Page 5 of 6

IStudent Help Making Conjectures Complete the conjecture based on the pattern
ICLASSZONE.COM you observe.
HOMEWORK HELP 13. Conjecture: The product of an odd number and an even number
Extra help with problem is __?__.
solving in Exs. 13–14 is
at classzone.com 3 p 6 5 18 22 p 13 5 286 43 p 102 5 4386
5 p 12 5 60 25 p 2 5 210 254 p 63 5 16,002
14 p 9 5 126 211 p (24) 5 44

14. Conjecture: The sum of three consecutive integers is always three

times __?__.

3141553p4 6171853p7 9 1 10 1 11 5 3 p 10
4151653p5 7181953p8 10 1 11 1 12 5 3 p 11
5161753p6 8 1 9 1 10 5 3 p 9 11 1 12 1 13 5 3 p 12

15. Counting Diagonals In the shapes below, the diagonals are

shown in blue. Write a conjecture about the number of diagonals
of the next two shapes.

0 2 5 9
Science
16. Moon Phases A full moon occurs when the moon is on the
opposite side of Earth from the sun. During a full moon, the
moon appears as a complete circle. Suppose that one year, full
sun moons occur on these dates:

August r October vember December

July 19 S e ptem b e
Earth 1 No
21day Friday 1 8day Mon7 da y 15
1n6esday Thursday
moon Thurs S M T W
1 2 3 Sun
T F S S M
T W

Wed
T F
7 8 9 10 4 5 6 2 3 S

Earth’s S M T T F
W
6 7 8
1
S
2
9
14 15 16 17 11 12 13
21 22 23 24 18 19 20
28 29 30 31 25 26 27 S M T WT
1
F S
2 3
9 10
9 10 4 5 6 7
16 17 11 12 13 14 8
23 24 18 19 20 21 15
1

W T
F S
4 5
S M T W T F S
1 2 3

orbit moon’s 3 4 5 13 14 15
10 11 12 20 21 22
17 18 19 27 28 29
26
16
23
30
7 8
4 5 6 14 15
11 12 13 21 22
18 19 20 28 29
16 17
23 24
30
30 31 25 26 27 28 22
29 S M T1 2 3 11 12
10
8 9 17 18 26
6 7 15 16 24 25
14 23
19
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31

orbit 24 25
31
25 26 27 13
27 28
22
20 21 29 30

Not drawn to scale

FULL MOONS happen when

Determine how many days are between these full moons and
Earth is between the moon predict when the next full moon occurs.
and the sun.
Application Links Error Analysis Show the conjecture is false by finding a
CLASSZONE.COM counterexample.
17. Conjecture: If the product of two numbers is positive, then the
two numbers must both be positive.
18. Conjecture: All rectangles with a perimeter of 20 feet have the
same area. Note: Perimeter 5 2(length 1 width).
19. Conjecture: If two sides of a triangle are the same length, then the
third side must be shorter than either of those sides.

12 Chapter 1 Basics of Geometry

 Page 6 of 6

20. Telephone Keypad Write a conjecture about the letters you

expect on the next telephone key. Look at a telephone to see
whether your conjecture is correct.

21. Challenge Prove the conjecture below by writing a variable

statement and using algebra.
Conjecture: The sum of five consecutive integers is always
divisible by five.
x 1 (x 1 1) 1 (x 1 2) 1 (x 1 3) 1 (x 1 4) 5 __?__

Standardized Test 22. Multiple Choice Which of the following is a counterexample of

Practice the conjecture below?
Conjecture: The product of two positive numbers is always
greater than either number.

1
X
A 2, 2 B }}, 2
X X
C 3, 10 D 2, 21
X
2

23. Multiple Choice You fold a large piece of paper in half four times,
then unfold it. If you cut along the fold lines, how many identical
rectangles will you make?

X
F 4 G 8
X X
H 16 J 32
X

Mixed Review Describing Patterns Sketch the next figure you expect in the
pattern. (Lesson 1.1)
24. 25.
1 Y X

Z 2 3

Algebra Skills Using Integers Evaluate. (Skills Review, p. 663)

26. 8 1 (23) 27. 22 1 9 28. 9 2 (21) 29. 27 2 3

30. 3(25) 31. (22)(27) 32. 20 4 (25) 33. (28) 4 (22)

Evaluating Expressions Evaluate the expression when x 5 3.

(Skills Review, p. 670)
34. x 1 7 35. 5 2 x 36. x 2 9 37. 2x 1 5

38. x 2 1 6 39. x 2 2 4x 40. 3x 2 41. 2x 3

1.2 Inductive Reasoning 13