Chapter 3: Constructing and Writing Proofs in Mathematics

Section 3.1 Direct Proofs

Definition 1. Theorems, propositions, lemmas, and corollaries are all true statements that
can be proved.
1. Theorems are considered the most important.

2. Propositions are “smaller” theorems.

3. Lemmas are mini-theorems used to prove theorems.
4. Corollaries are mini-theorems that follow “directly” from theorems or propositions.

Note: These classifications are very subjective.

To prove theorems we will use:

1. Given premises/hypotheses

2. axioms (assumed truths)

3. previously proven theorems
We will put these statements together using rules of inference, definitions, and complete
sentences.

Definition 2. A conjecture is a statement that is guessed to be true by someone, but not

proven.

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Definition 3. A nonzero integer m divides or is a factor/divisor of an integer n if there
exists an integer q such that m · q = n. In this case, we say n is a multiple of m.
Notation 4. If m divides n, we write m | n.

Example 5.

1. 3 | 3 since 3 = 3 · 1

2. 3 | 39 since 39 = 3 · 13
3. 3 ∤ 37
4. 3 | 0 since 0 = 3 · 0

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Theorem 6. Let a, b, c be integers. Then
1. If a | b and a | c, then a | (b + c).

2. If a | b, then a | bc.
3. If a | b and b | c, then a | c.

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Counterexamples
Definition 7. A counterexample to a universally quantified statement is an example for
which the statement does not hold (and thus proves the statement to be false).

To show that you have a counterexample, you must given the example and explicitly show:
1. The hypotheses have been met.

2. The conclusion does not hold.

Example 8. Suppose a, b are integers. Give a counterexample to the statement:
“If 6 | ab, then 6 | a or 6 | b.”

Example 9. For each integer n, if n is odd, then 8 divides n4 + n2 + 6n.

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Definition 10. If a and b are integers and m is a positive integer, then a is congruent to b
modulo m if m divides a − b.

Notation: We write a ≡ b (mod m) if a is congruent to b modulo m.

Example 11. Let a = 7 and m = 4. What are some values of b that make a ≡ b (mod m)
true?

Theorem 12. If a ≡ 3 (mod 8) and b ≡ 3 (mod 8), then ab ≡ 1 (mod 8).

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 Section 3.2 More Methods of Proof

To prove a statement by contrapositive, we will want to prove a statement of the form

p → q by assuming that q is false and showing that this forces p to be false as well. That is,
we will use a direct proof on the contrapositive ¬q → ¬p.

Lemma 13. Let n ∈ Z. If n2 is even, then n is even.

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Example 14. Prove that if x is irrational, then 2x is also irrational.

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 To prove p ↔ q are equivalent, we need to show both p → q and q → p.

Example 15. Prove that if m, n are integers, then m, n are both odd if and only if mn is odd.

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Theorem 16. Let a and b be integers and let m be a positive integer. Then a ≡ b (mod m)
if and only if there is an integer k such that a = b + km.

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 Section 3.3 Proof by Contradiction

To prove a statement by contradiction, we will want to prove a statement of the form

p → q by assuming that p is true and q is false and showing that this leads to a contradiction.

√
Theorem 17. 2 is irrational.

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Proving something does not exist
To prove something does not exist, we hypothesize that it does and then find a contradiction.
Example 18. Prove there do not exist two numbers, one irrational and the other rational,
whose sum is rational.

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Existence Proofs
Constructive Existence Proofs
A constructive existence proof “constructs” an example for which the statement holds.
This is a proof for an existentially (there exists) quantified statement since you just need the
statement to be true for one example. This does NOT work to prove a universally (for all)
statement.
Example 19. Show that there exist two rational numbers x, y such that x y is irrational.

Example 20. Prove or disprove: There is a positive real number x such that 3x = x 3 .

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Nonconstructive Existence Proofs
A nonconstructive existence proof is an existence proof that does not “construct” an
example for which the statement holds, but proves that there must be an element in the
domain that satisfies the conclusion.

Example 21. Prove that an irrational number raised to a power that is also an irrational
number is not necessarily irrational.
√ √ √2
Proof. Recall 2 is irrational. Consider 2 .
√ √2
Case 1: Suppose 2 is rational. If so, then we are done since this is an example of an
irrational number raised to an irrational power being rational.

√ √ √2
√ √

2 2
Case 2: Suppose 2 is irrational. Then consider 2 .

Notice we have:
√  √2
√ √ √ √ √

2
2 = ( 2)( 2· 2) = ( 2)2 = 2
. √
√ 2
And so in this√case we also have an example of an irrational number, 2 , raised to an
irrational power, 2, being rational 2 = 21 .

Hence there exists a case of an irrational number raised to an irrational power being
rational. (Even if we have no idea which case that is.)

√
√ 2
Note: It is known that 2 is irrational. (In fact, it is transcendental meaning that it is
not the root of any polynomial with integer coefficients.)

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 Section 3.4 Proof by Cases

Sometimes attacking a proof by trying to prove the whole statement at once fails miserably
despite the use of appropriate methods. In these cases we may want to break the statement
into different cases and prove each one separately.

Example 22. Prove or disprove: If n is an integer, n2 − n is even.

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Example 23. Prove or disprove the statement “There are no integer solutions for the equation
2x 2 + 5y 2 = 6.”
Proof. By way of contradiction, suppose there is an integer solution.

Since 2x 2 + 5y 2 = 6 and both 2x 2 ≥ 0 and 5y 2 ≥ 0, we must have 2x 2 ≤ 6 and 5y 2 ≤ 6.

Hence x 2 ≤ 3 and y 2 ≤ 65 .

Thus our integer solution must be a combination of x, y such that x = 0, ±1 and y = 0, ±1.

Case 1: Suppose x, y = 0. Then 2x 2 + 5y 2 = 0 ̸= 6.

Case 2: Suppose x = 0, y = ±1. Then 2x 2 + 5y 2 = 5 ̸= 6.

Case 3: Suppose x = ±1, y = 0. Then 2x 2 + 5y 2 = 2 ̸= 6.

Case 4: Suppose x, y = ±1. Then 2x 2 + 5y 2 = 7 ̸= 6.

Since none of these cases yields a solution, we have a contradiction. There is no integer
solution to 2x 2 + 5y 2 = 6.

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 Section 3.5 The Division Algorithm and Congruence

Definition 24. An algorithm is a finite set of precise instructions for completing a task.

Theorem 25. The Division Algorithm: (Really a theorem.)

Let a be an integer and d be a positive integer. Then there are unique integers q and r
with 0 ≤ r < d such that a = dq + r .

Definition 26. In the equality a = dq + r ,

d is called the divisor,
a is called the dividend,
q is called the quotient, and
r is called the remainder.

Example 27. Find the quotient and remainder when we have the following.

1. 40 divided by 7

2. -40 divided by 7

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Proposition 28. If n is an integer, then 3 divides n3 + 2n.

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Theorem 29. Let m be a positive integer and let a, b, c, d be integers. If a ≡ b (mod m)
and c ≡ d (mod m), then
1. a + c ≡ (b + d) (mod m) and

2. ac ≡ bd (mod m).

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Theorem 30. Let m be a positive integer and let a, b, c ∈ Z. Then the following are all true.
1. a ≡ a (mod m). (reflexive property)

2. If a ≡ b (mod m), then b ≡ a (mod m). (symmetric property)

3. If a ≡ b (mod m) and b ≡ c (mod m), then a ≡ c (mod m). (transitive property)

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Theorem 31. Let n ∈ Z+ and let a ∈ Z. If r is the remainder of a divided by n, that is

a = nq + r where r, q ∈ Z and 0 ≤ r < n, then a ≡ r (mod n).

Corollary 32. If n ∈ Z+ , then every integer is congruent modulo n to exactly one number in
the set {0, 1, 2, . . . , n − 1}. That is, for each integer a, there is a unique integer r such that

a ≡ r (mod n) and 0 ≤ r < n.

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Proposition 33. For each odd integer n, we have n2 ≡ 1 (mod 4).

Note: Section 3.6 gives a summary of the Chapter.

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