IT235 Discrete Structure

Discrete StructureTU Board 2023

List the negation of quantifier with example. Prove that √2 is irrational.

10

Answer


Negation of Quantifiers with Example

Quantifiers are logical operators used to express the quantity of elements in a set or domain that satisfy a given predicate. There are two primary types of quantifiers:

  1. Universal Quantifier (∀): "For all" or "For every."

    • Symbol: ∀
    • Example: ∀x ∈ S, P(x) means "For all x in set S, P(x) is true."
  2. Existential Quantifier (∃): "There exists" or "For some."

    • Symbol: ∃
    • Example: ∃x ∈ S, Q(x) means "There exists an x in set S such that Q(x) is true."

Negation of Quantifiers

The negation of a quantified statement follows these rules:

  1. Negation of Universal Quantifier (∀)

    • Original: ∀x ∈ S, P(x)
    • Negation: ∃x ∈ S, ¬P(x)
    • Explanation: The negation of "all x satisfy P(x)" is "there exists at least one x that does not satisfy P(x)."

    Example:

    • Original: ∀x ∈ ℕ, x² ≥ x (For all natural numbers x, x² is greater than or equal to x.)
    • Negation: ∃x ∈ ℕ, x² < x (There exists a natural number x such that x² is less than x.)
    • Verification: For x = 0 (if included in ℕ), 0² = 0 is not greater than 0. Thus, the negation holds.
  2. Negation of Existential Quantifier (∃)

    • Original: ∃x ∈ S, Q(x)
    • Negation: ∀x ∈ S, ¬Q(x)
    • Explanation: The negation of "there exists an x such that Q(x)" is "for all x, Q(x) is not true."

    Example:

    • Original: ∃x ∈ ℤ, x + 5 = 0 (There exists an integer x such that x + 5 = 0.)
    • Negation: ∀x ∈ ℤ, x + 5 ≠ 0 (For all integers x, x + 5 is not equal to 0.)
    • Verification: The original statement is true for x = -5. The negation is false because x = -5 satisfies x + 5 = 0.

Proof that √2 is Irrational

An irrational number is a real number that cannot be expressed as a ratio of two integers (i.e., a fraction where and are integers and ). We will prove that is irrational using proof by contradiction.

Proof Steps

  1. Assume the opposite: Suppose is rational. Then, it can be written as a reduced fraction: where and are integers with no common factors (i.e., the fraction is in its simplest form), and .

  2. Square both sides:

  3. Analyze the equation :

    • This implies that is even (since it is equal to , which is clearly even).
    • If is even, then must also be even (because the square of an odd number is odd).
    • Let for some integer .
  4. Substitute into the equation:

  5. Analyze :

    • This implies that is even, and thus must also be even.
  6. Contradiction:

    • We have shown that both and are even, meaning they have a common factor of 2.
    • This contradicts our initial assumption that is in its simplest form (i.e., and have no common factors).
  7. Conclusion:

    • Since our assumption that is rational leads to a contradiction, the assumption must be false.
    • Therefore, is irrational.

Key Takeaways

  • The negation of quantifiers flips the type (∀ becomes ∃ and vice versa) and negates the predicate.
  • Proof by contradiction is a powerful technique in mathematics, especially for proving the irrationality of numbers.
  • The proof of being irrational is foundational in number theory and demonstrates the importance of logical rigor.

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