MAT 31101-College Algebra
Mathematical Proofs
1. Use a counterexample to
(a) disprove the statement that if m and
n are irrational numbers, then mn is
irrational.
(b) disprove the statement that ∀ inte-
gers m and n, if 2m + n is odd then
m and n are both odd.
(c) disprove the statement
∀ R a and b, if a2 = b2 , then a = b.
2. Prove by cases that
(a) if n ∈ Z, then n3 − n is even.
(b) if x is an integer, then x(x + 1) is even.
(c) 9n2 + 3n − 2 is even ∀ n ∈
3. Prove by contradiction that
(a) if x3 is odd, then x must be odd.
(b) there are no integers a and b such
that 10a + 15b = 1.
√
(c) 3 is irrational.
October 10 to 14, 2022
4. Prove the following statements:
(a) If n is a positive integer, then n is odd
if and only if 5n + 6 is odd.
(b) If n is an integer and n3 + 5 is odd,
then n is even.
(c) ∀ r ∈ R, if r3 is irrational then r is irra-
tional.
that: (d) The sum of any two even integers is
even.
(e) For every integer n, n2 + n is even.
(f) For all integers a, b and c, if a + b and
b + c are even, then a + c is even.
(g) For every integer n, n2 is odd if and
Z+ . only if n is odd.
(i) For all integers m and n, if the prod-
uct of m and n is even, then m is even
or n is even.
(j) If the sum of 2 real numbers is irra-
tional, at least 1 of the numbers is ir-
rational.