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This means that is not a rational number; that is to say, is irrational. This proof was hinted at by Aristotle, in his Analytica Priora, §I.23. [12] It appeared first as a full proof in Euclid's Elements, as proposition 117 of Book X.
In mathematics, a proof by infinite descent, also known as Fermat's method of descent, is a particular kind of proof by contradiction [1] used to show that a statement cannot possibly hold for any number, by showing that if the statement were to hold for a number, then the same would be true for a smaller number, leading to an infinite descent and ultimately a contradiction. [2]
Perhaps the numbers most easy to prove irrational are certain logarithms. Here is a proof by contradiction that log 2 3 is irrational (log 2 3 ≈ 1.58 > 0). Assume log 2 3 is rational. For some positive integers m and n, we have =. It follows that / =
This same constant can be used to prove that "an irrational elevated to an irrational power may be rational", even without first proving its transcendence. The proof proceeds as follows: either 2 2 {\displaystyle {\sqrt {2}}^{\sqrt {2}}} is a rational which proves the theorem, or it is irrational (as it turns out to be) and then
Written in 1873, this proof uses the characterization of as the smallest positive number whose half is a zero of the cosine function and it actually proves that is irrational. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] As in many proofs of irrationality, it is a proof by contradiction .
The classic proof that the square root of 2 is irrational is a refutation by contradiction. [11] Indeed, we set out to prove the negation ¬ ∃ a, b ∈ . a/b = √ 2 by assuming that there exist natural numbers a and b whose ratio is the square root of two, and derive a contradiction.
Hippasus is sometimes credited with the discovery of the existence of irrational numbers, following which he was drowned at sea. Pythagoreans preached that all numbers could be expressed as the ratio of integers, and the discovery of irrational numbers is said to have shocked them. However, the evidence linking the discovery to Hippasus is unclear.
convergence of the geometric series with first term 1 and ratio 1/2; Integer partition; Irrational number. irrationality of log 2 3; irrationality of the square root of 2; Mathematical induction. sum identity; Power rule. differential of x n; Product and Quotient Rules; Derivation of Product and Quotient rules for differentiating. Prime number