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Proof that √2 is Irrational

√ is not a rational number. The proof assumes, for contradiction, that √ can be written as a fraction in lowest terms of two integers a and b, with b not equal to 0. This means a^2 is even and divisible by 2, so a must also be even. But if both a and b are even, they cannot be relatively prime. This contradiction shows the original assumption is false, so √ cannot be written as a rational number.

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Donna Ambalong
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118 views1 page

Proof that √2 is Irrational

√ is not a rational number. The proof assumes, for contradiction, that √ can be written as a fraction in lowest terms of two integers a and b, with b not equal to 0. This means a^2 is even and divisible by 2, so a must also be even. But if both a and b are even, they cannot be relatively prime. This contradiction shows the original assumption is false, so √ cannot be written as a rational number.

Uploaded by

Donna Ambalong
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Kemuel M.

Quindala III BS Math 3 ; Math 126 Algebraic Structures 2 Problem Set 2

Prove: is not a rational number. Proof (Contradiction): Suppose, on the contrary, that is a rational number. Then we can write a and b are positive integers and b is not zero. We further assume that the fraction reduced in its lowest terms, i.e, a and b are relatively prime . It follows that or ( ) such that is even. Furthermore, this means that where is already

a is also even. Since a is even, a=2k for some integer k. Thus we have, 2= ( )

2= 2

, which means that is even and b is also even. But this is a contradiction to the assumption that a and b are relatively prime. Hence we cannot have that is a rational number. Therefore, proving the given statement.

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