UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCES
HCF104/HDS104 DISCRETE MATHEMATICS — TUTORIAL 1
Mr G.S Maridza
1. Express the following recurring decimals in the form p/q where p and q are integers
(i) 2, 1434̇3̇ (ii) 0, 2̇1̇3̇.
2. Express 0, mnmnmnmn . . . = 0, ṁṅ, where m and n are distinct integers, in the form p/q
where p and q are integers.
3. State, giving a reason, whether each of the following numbers is rational or irrational.
(i) 0.20200200020 . . . (ii) 537.137137137 . . . .
4. Does the decimal 0, 1234567891011121314151617181920 . . . whose digits are natural numbers
strung end-to-end represent a rational or an irrational number? Give a reason for your answer.
22
5. You are told π = . Is this true or false? Give a reason.
7
6. Show that x2 + y 2 + z 2 ≥ xy + yz + zx, for all x, y, z ∈ R.
1
7. Show that x2 + ≥ 2 for all real numbers x 6= 0.
x2
1
8. Show that x + ≥ 2 for all real numbers x 6= 0.
x
9. Show that if a, b, c, d ∈ R, a2 + b2 = 1 and c2 + d2 = 1, then ac + bd ≤ 1.
10. Show that if 0 < a < b then a2 < b2 . If a2 < b2 , is it necessarily true that a < b? Give an
example to illustrate your answer.
1 √
11. If a ≥ 0 and b ≥ 0, prove that (a + b) ≥ ab.
2
12. Prove that |ab| = |a||b| for all a, b ∈ R.
13. Show that |a + b| ≤ |a| + |b| for all a, b ∈ R.
14. Prove that |x|2 = x2 for any real number x.
15. If x and y are real numbers, prove that |x| − |y| ≤ |x − y|.
1 1 1 1
16. Prove that + + + · · · + n−1 < 1 for all positive integers n > 1.
2 4 8 2
17. Prove the following by induction.
(a) n! > 2n for all n ≥ 4.
1
(b) For all n ≥ 1 and f (x) = xn , then f 0 (x) = nxn−1 .
(c) n2 ≤ 2n for all n ≥ 5.
n
X rn+1 − 1
(d) The sum of terms in a geometric series is ri = , if r 6= 0, r 6= 1, n ∈ N.
i=0
r−1
n(n + 1)
(e) 1 + 2 + · · · + n = .
2
(f) For any positive integer n, n3 + 2n is divisible by 3.
(g) 3n > n2 for n > 2.
(h) All numbers of the form 8n − 2n are divisible by 6.
(i) 11n − 4n is divisible by 7 for all n ∈ Z+ .
(j) | sin nx| ≤ n| sin x| for all x ∈ R, n ∈ Z+ .
n2 (n + 1)2
(k) 13 + 23 + 33 + · · · + n3 = .
4
(l) Prove Bernoulli’s inequality, (1 + x)n > 1 + nx, for n = 2, 3, . . . , if x > −1, x 6= 0.
1
(m) 12 + 22 + 32 + · · · + n2 = n(n + 1)(2n + 1).
6
(n) Prove that if a1 , a2 , a3 , . . . , an are real numbers, then
|a1 + a2 + · · · + an | ≤ |a1 | + |a2 | + · · · + |an |.
(p) Prove that, if sin x 6= 0 and n is a natural number, then
n−1 sin 2n x
cos x · cos 2x · · · · cos 2 x= n .
2 sin x