Proof by Contradiction

Procedure for proving statements by the method of contradiction:

1) Assume that the opposite of what youre trying to prove is true

2) Work towards proving that this opposite statement is false
(Reductio ad absurdum)
3) Conclude that the original statement is true because the opposite is false
 Proof by Contradiction
Prove by contradiction that the difference of any rational number and any irrational number is irrational.

If we have a rational number x and an irrational number y such that their difference (x y) is rational.
By definition of a rational number, we have

x= for some integers a and b with b 0.

and x = for some integers c and d with d 0.

Starting with x = (We need to prove this result will give a rational number)

= Substitute for x

()
==
Add fractions and simplify

Now the result (ad bc) is an integer (because a, b, c, d are all integers and products and differences of integers are
integers), and bd 0 (by zero product property).

Therefore, by definition of a rational number, y is rational.

However, this finding contradicts our original supposition that y is irrational.
Hence, the supposition is false and the theorem is true.
 Proof by Contradiction
Prove that is irrational.

Lets start by asserting that the opposite is true, viz. 2 is a rational number.
This means that 2 can be written as the ratio of two integers, a and b such that

2= Equation 1

From this statement we can assume that a and b have no common factors (if there were any
common factors, these could be cancelled in both numerator and denominator).

If we square both sides of Equation 1 we obtain

2
2= Equation 2
2

And rearranging gives 22 = 2 Equation 3

which implies that 2 is even.
 Continued
It now needs to be shown that a itself must be even using another method of contradiction:

Letting = 2n + 1 (which by definition is an odd number)

we can obtain 2 = 42 + 4 + 1 = 2 22 + 2 + 1 = 2 + 1 (where = 22 + 2).
Thus, a is not a multiple of 2 (in fact for this case it will be odd).
This does sit well with the previous statement that 22 = 2 was even.

Looking further we see that if a is a multiple of 2, then = 2 for some natural number d
i.e. 2 = 4 2 (but 2 = 22 )
22 = 4 2
2 = 2 2
which implies that b is even (without using the same process for a)

It has been shown that that both a and b are multiples of 2 as they have the common factor of 2.

This contradicts the original assumption that was fully cancelled down.

In summary, 2 cannot be written as a fraction and hence 2 is irrational.

Proof by contradiction
What would happen if we made a more generalised statement:
If n is an integer, then 2 + 2 is not divisible by 4
This cannot be proved by exhaustion since it involves infinitely many objects (integers).

Statement: If n is an integer then 2 + 2 is not divisible by 4

Method of Proof: Proof by Contradiction.

The negation of the statement is: n is an integer and 2 + 2 is divisible by 4

This is now our hypothesis.

As a handy remark, recall that since n is an integer, n may be either even or odd.

Lets consider both cases and make some conclusions.

 Evens & odds
1. Assume first that n is even.
Then n = 2m, for some integer m
2. Thus, 2 + 2 = (2)2 + 2 = 42 + 2 2. Thus, 2 + 2 = (2 + 1)2 + 2 = 42 + 4 + 3
3. Since 2 + 2 is divisible by 4, we have that
42 + 2 = 4 , for some integer k.
4. By dividing both sides by 2 we get
22 + 1 = 2, k and 2 integers.
5. So, there is an odd number that is equal to an even
number (The conclusion is false)
1. Assume now that n is odd.
Then n = 2m + 1, for some integer m
3. Since 2 + 2 is divisible by 4, we have that
42 + 4 + 3 = 4, for some integer k.
4. By dividing both sides by 2 we get
22 + 2 + 1.5 = 2 2 + + 1.5 = 2k
5. So again, there is a decimal number that is equal to an
even number
Your Turn
Using a Proof by Contradiction approach, investigate the following statement:

If (3)2 is even, then n is even.