Tuesday 29 November 2016

Given an induction definition, how to calculate elements?



I'm having difficulty with a mathematical problem.




I've got the following;



The basis is:



 -1 ∈ V


And the induction is;



x ∈ V → x/(1-x) ∈ V



Now, I have made 4 statements and I want to get to know if they're either true, or false.



The statements are;



1. All elements are negative. (under zero)
2. All elements are between -2 and 0
3. -1/7 ∈ V
4. -2/3 ∈ V



There's also an exception;
There are no elements of V that cannot be acquired by applying statement 1 and 2.



Now, I'm not really sure how to start here. How can I effectively sort out elements in a induction definition?


Answer



You can proceed as follows :





  1. Start by computing the first few terms : $x_0 = -1$, then
    $$
    x_1 = -1/(1+1) = -1/2
    $$
    $$
    x_2 = -1/2/(1+1/2) = -1/3
    $$
    $$
    x_3 = -1/3/(1+1/3) = -1/4
    $$

    This gives you an idea as to what $x_n$ should be. ie. $x_n = -1/(n+1)$


  2. Prove your guess by induction :




a) $x_0 = -1 = -1/(0+1)$. Hence your guess is true when $n=0$



b) Assume $x_{n-1} = -1/n$, then
$$
x_n = -1/n/(1+1/n) = -1/(n+1)
$$

Hence, your guess is true for all $n\in \mathbb{N}$.



By your exception, it follows that
$$
V = \{-1, -1/2, -1/3, \ldots \}
$$


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