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    				| 1. | Use contradiction method to prove that :“p: √3 is irrational” is a true statement. | 
| Answer» Contradiction statement: √3 is a rational number. Proof: If √3 is a rational number, then √3 = p/q where (p, q) co-prime. or q = p/√3 or q2 = p2/3 ….(1) Thus, p2 must be divisible by 3. Hence p will also be divisible by 3. We can write p = 3k, where k is a constant. ⇒ p2 = 9c2 (1)⇒ q2 = 9c2/3 = 3c2 or c2 = q2/3 Thus, q2 must be divisible by 3, which implies that q will also be divisible by 3. Thus, both p and q are divisible by 3. Which is a contradiction, as we assume that p and q are co-prime. Thus, √3 is irrational. Hence, the statement p is true. | |