Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Mathematical induction can be informally illustrated by reference to the sequential effect of falling dominoes. [1] [2]Mathematical induction is a method for proving that a statement () is true for every natural number, that is, that the infinitely many cases (), (), (), (), … all hold.
In proof by mathematical induction, a single "base case" is proved, and an "induction rule" is proved that establishes that any arbitrary case implies the next case. Since in principle the induction rule can be applied repeatedly (starting from the proved base case), it follows that all (usually infinitely many) cases are provable. [ 15 ]
Direct proof methods include proof by exhaustion and proof by induction. History and etymology. A direct proof is the simplest form of proof there is.
We prove commutativity (a + b = b + a) by applying induction on the natural number b. First we prove the base cases b = 0 and b = S (0) = 1 (i.e. we prove that 0 and 1 commute with everything). The base case b = 0 follows immediately from the identity element property (0 is an additive identity ), which has been proved above: a + 0 = a = 0 + a .
Proof by exhaustion, also known as proof by cases, proof by case analysis, complete induction or the brute force method, is a method of mathematical proof in which the statement to be proved is split into a finite number of cases or sets of equivalent cases, and where each type of case is checked to see if the proposition in question holds. [1]
The argument is proof by induction. First, we establish a base case for one horse ( n = 1 {\displaystyle n=1} ). We then prove that if n {\displaystyle n} horses have the same color, then n + 1 {\displaystyle n+1} horses must also have the same color.
English: Shows recursive definitions of addition (+) and multiplication (*) on natural numbers and inductive proofs of commutativity, associativity, distributivity by Peano induction; also indicates which property is used in the proof of which other one.
This is perhaps the simplest known proof, requiring the least mathematical background. It is an attractive example of a combinatorial proof (a proof that involves counting a collection of objects in two different ways). The proof given here is an adaptation of Golomb's proof. [1] To keep things simple, let us assume that a is a positive integer.