Math AA SL

Questionbank

Topic 1

Number & Algebra

Deductive Proofs

All Sub-topics

Sequences, Series & Financial Math

Exponents & Logarithms

The Binomial Theorem

Deductive Proofs

Question difficulty level:


Basic


Moderate


Challenging


Difficult


Genius :)


Basic


Moderate


Challenging


Difficult


Genius :)

Question 1 

Paper 1 – No Calculator

[Maximum mark: 3]

Consider two positive integers, k and k + 2.

Show that the sum of these integers is even.

Markscheme

The sum of the integers is:

k + (k + 2) = 2k + 2 = 2(k + 1)

Therefore the sum of these integers is even.

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Video Solution

Question 2 

Paper 1 – No Calculator

[Maximum mark: 5]

Let a and b represent two positive integers.

Show that the product of the sum and the difference of these integers is equal to the difference of their squares.

Markscheme

To express the product of the sum and the difference of these integers we can write:

(a + b)(a - b)

Working further and simplifying, we get:

(a + b)(a - b) = a^{2} + ab - ab - b^{2} = a^{2} -  b^{2}

Therefore the product of the sum and the difference of these integers is equal to the difference of their squares.

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Video Solution

Question 3 

Paper 1 – No Calculator

[Maximum mark: 4]

Consider two consecutive integers, n and n + 1.

Show that the sum of the squares of these integers is odd.

Markscheme

The sum of the squares of the integers is:

n^{2} + (n + 1)^{2} = n^{2} + n^{2} + 2n + 1 =

= 2n^{2} + 2n + 1 = 2(n^{2} + n) + 1

Therefore the sum of these integers is odd.

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Video Solution

Question 4 

Paper 1 – No Calculator

[Maximum mark: 6]

Four consecutive integers are n, n+1, n+2 and n+3.

(a)   Prove that the sum of these integers is an even number.

[2]

(b)   Prove that the sum of the squares of these integers is not divisible by 4.

[4]

Markscheme

(a)

Finding the sum of the integers:

n + n + 1 + n + 2 + n + 3 = 4n + 6

Factorising we get 2(2n + 3), therefore the sum of these four integers is divisible by 2, so it is an even number.

 

(b)

Finding the sum of the squares:

n^{2} + (n + 1)^{2} + (n + 2)^{2} + (n + 3)^{2}

n^{2} + (n^{2} + 2n + 1) + (n^{2} + 4n + 4) + (n^{2} + 6n + 9)

4n^{2} + 12n + 14

4n^{2} + 12n + 12 + 2 = 4(n^{2} + 3n + 3) + 2

Since 4(n^{2} + 3n + 3) is divisible by 4, 4(n^{2} + 3n + 3) + 2 is not divisible by 4.

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Video Solution (a)

Video Solution (b)

Question 5 

Paper 1 – No Calculator

[Maximum mark: 4]

Consider two consecutive positive odd integers, n and n + 2.

Show that the sum of their squares is an even number.

Markscheme

Sum of squares:

n^{2} + (n+2)^{2} = n^{2} + n^{2} + 4n + 4

Collecting terms and factorising 2:

2(n^{2} + 2n + 2)

Therefore the sum of the squares is divisible by two, hence it is an even number.

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Video Solution

Question 6 

Paper 1 – No Calculator

[Maximum mark: 4]

Show that the difference of the squares of two consecutive positive integers is equal to the sum of the integers.

Markscheme

Let’s represent the integers as n and n + 1

For the difference of the squares of the integers we get: 

(n + 1)^{2} - n^{2} = (n^{2} + 2n + 1) - n^{2} =

= n^{2}  + 2n + 1 - n^{2} = 2n + 1

For the sum of the integers we get:

n + (n + 1) = 2n + 1

Since 2n + 1 = 2n + 1, the difference of the squares of two consecutive positive integers is equal to the sum of the integers.

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Video Solution

Question 7 

Paper 1 – No Calculator

[Maximum mark: 4]

Show that \frac{1}{\sqrt{x} - 1} - \frac{1}{\sqrt{x} + 1} = \frac{2}{x - 1}

Markscheme

Finding the common denominator and simplifying:

\frac{1}{\sqrt{x} - 1} - \frac{1}{\sqrt{x} + 1} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{x} - 1} \times \frac{\sqrt{x} + 1}{\sqrt{x} + 1} - \frac{1}{\sqrt{x} + 1} \times \frac{\sqrt{x} - 1}{\sqrt{x} - 1} =

= \frac{\sqrt{x} + 1}{(\sqrt{x} + 1)(\sqrt{x} - 1)} - \frac{\sqrt{x} - 1}{(\sqrt{x} + 1)(\sqrt{x} - 1)} = \frac{\sqrt{x} + 1}{x - 1} - \frac{\sqrt{x} - 1}{x - 1} =

= \frac{\sqrt{x} + 1 - (\sqrt{x} - 1)}{x - 1} = \frac{2}{x - 1}

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Video Solution

Question 8 

Paper 1 – No Calculator

[Maximum mark: 6]

Consider three consecutive positive integers. 

Show that

(a)   the sum of these integers is divisible by 3.

[2]

(b)   the sum of the squares of these integers is never divisible by 3.

[4]

Markscheme

Let’s represent the integers as n, n + 1, and n + 2

(a)

The sum of the integers is:

n + (n + 1) + (n + 2) = 3n + 3

Factorising, we get that the sum is 3(n + 1), therefore the sum of three consecutive integers is divisible by 3.

 

(b)

The sum of the squares of the integers is:

n^{2} + (n + 1)^{2} + (n + 2)^{2} =

= n^{2} + (n^{2} + 2n + 1) + (n^{2} + 4n + 4)

= 3n^{2} + 6n + 5

Factorising 3 from the first two terms we get:

3(n^{2} + 2n) + 5

Since 3(n^{2} + 2n) is divisible by 3 while 5 is not divisible by 3, the sum of the squares of three consecutive integers is never divisible by 3.

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Video Solution (a)

Video Solution (b)

Question 9 

Paper 1 – No Calculator

[Maximum mark: 5]

Consider a positive even integer.

Show that if you multiply this integer by the sum of its square and its reciprocal and subtract 1 from the result, you get a number that is divisible by 8.

Markscheme

Let’s represent the integer as n.

Based on the information given in the question we can write:

\left ( n^{2} + \frac{1}{n} \right ) \times n  - 1= n^{3} + 1 - 1 = n^{3}

Since n is an even integer so divisible by 2, n^{3} is divisible by 8.

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Video Solution

Question 10 

Paper 1 – No Calculator

[Maximum mark: 5]

Prove that the mean of four consecutive positive integers is equal to the median of these integers.

Markscheme

Let’s represent the integers as n, n + 1, n + 2, and n + 3

The mean of the integers can be written as:

\frac{n +(n + 1)+(n + 2)+(n + 3)}{4} = \frac{4n + 6}{4} = \frac{2n + 3}{2}

The median of the four integers is:

\frac{(n + 1)+(n + 2)}{2} = \frac{2n + 3}{2}

Since \frac{2n + 3}{2} = \frac{2n + 3}{2}, the mean of four consecutive positive integers is equal to the median of these integers.

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Video Solution