When proving divisibility by induction, how does f

ownerweneuf

ownerweneuf

Answered question

2022-05-19

When proving divisibility by induction, how does f ( k + 1 ) f ( k ) help us to prove it?

Answer & Explanation

stormsteghj

stormsteghj

Beginner2022-05-20Added 11 answers

Step 1
In general, for integers M, N and r, if N is divisible by r, then the two statements
- M is divisible by r
- M N is divisible by r
are equivalent. A simple proof (which works if r 0) is that M r being an integer and M N r = M r N r being an integer are equivalent because N r is an integer.
Step 2
If your induction hypothesis is "f(k) is divisible by r", then during the induction step, this is taken as true. Which means f(k) plays the role of N in the above scenario. And f ( k + 1 ) plays the role of M. In other words, assuming that f(k) is divisible by r (as one would do in an induction proof), then
- f ( k + 1 ) is divisible by r
- f ( k + 1 ) f ( k ) is divisible by r are equivalent.
Note that some times, one might even have to subtract other multiples of f(k). The same principle applies, though: whatever multiple of f(k) you subtract, it is still a multiple of r, and thus the proof moves forward.

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