CPSC 121: Models of Computation

Assignment #4, due Wednesday, November 18th , 2015 at 17:00

Each of the following questions asks you to prove a theorem. When the theorem is
stated in English, it would be an excellent idea to first rewrite it in predicate logic, and
then think about the proof techniques we discussed in class, and the general structure of
direct proofs for certain types of statements.
[8] 1. Prove that if n is a positive integer, then n2 + 5 is not divisible by 4. Hint: divide
the proof into two cases.
[8] 2. Prove that for every integer n, the product n(n2 1)(n + 2) is divisible by 4.
[8] 3. Prove that for every real number c we pick, there will be some positive integer n
such that 4n > c3n . Hint: the inside back cover of your textbook contains a list of
properties of exponents and logarithms. A web search for logarithm reference will
also turn up many alternative resources.
[8] 4. Mr. Isulo, the alien computer scientist, has written an excellent algorithm whose
execution requires 2n3 + 4n2 + 5 steps, where n is the size of the list the algorithm
is given as its input. Prove that the number of steps of the algorithm is in O(n3 ).
Recall that f O(g) if n0 N c R+ n N, n n0 f (n) cg(n).
[8] 5. Prove that for every three non-zero integers a, b and c, at least one of the three
products ab, ac, bc is positive. Hint: use a proof by contradiction.

[8] 6. Using an indirect proof, show that 3 + 5 is irrational. Recall that an irrational
number is one that can not be written in the form a/b where a is an integer, and b is
a positive integer. You may assume the following theorem has already been proved:

If x is a positive integer, and x is not an integer, then x is irrational.

The remaining questions are for additional practice only. You should not hand them
in. Solutions will be posted at the same time as the solutions to the first six questions.
1. For every non-negative integer x, bx/2c + dx/2e = x.
Additional information:
You will find the definitions of the floor and ceiling functions in your textbook. In
Epps fourth edition, the floor and ceiling functions are defined on page 191. In Epps
third edition, they are defined on page 165. These functions are defined on pages 149
(143) in Rosens seventh (sixth) edition.
You should break the proof down into two cases.

2. Given an arbitrary positive integer n, we can find n consecutive positive integers that
are all composite.
Additional information: a number is composite if it is greater than 1, and is not prime.
Hint: use a trick similar to one we used in class.
3. For any three functions f , g and h, prove that if f O(g) and g O(h), then f O(h).
Additional information: if you assume that a statement such as x D, P (x) is true, then
you can choose the specific value of x (call it x0 ) for which P (x0 ) holds. You dont have to
know what x0 is, as long as you know that such a value exists (you can only call it x0 ;
you can not give it an actual value).
4. Suppose that you are given a group of n children, and that you want to divide them into
two soccer teams. Unfortunately, there are pairs of children that do not like each other,
and you need to make sure that two children who do not like one another do not end up
on the same team. Prove that, if you can achieve this, then for every group of k children
c1 , . . . , ck where c1 does not like c2 , c2 does not like c3 , . . . , ck1 does not like ck , and ck
does not like c1 , then k must be even. Hint: use an indirect proof.
5. Can you draw a quadrilateral (4-sided figure) in which the sum of any two angles no
matter which two you pick is less than 180 ? Explain how to do it, or prove that it can
not be done. Hints: (1) the sum of the angles in a quadrilateral is always 360 . (2) use a
proof by contradiction.