47.6k views
1 vote
Suppose we have the following sequence defined as

• a1 = 1
• a2 = 3
• ak = 2ak−2 + ak−1 for all integers ≥ 3
(a) Find the next 4 terms of the sequence a3, a4, a5, a6.
(b) State a property about the sequence ak that might be true ∀ k ≥ 1.
(c) Prove your conjecture (or property) using strong induction.

User Gakio
by
7.4k points

1 Answer

4 votes

Step-by-step explanation:

(a) Use the following recursive definition to get the next four terms in the sequence a3, a4, a5, a6:

a3 = 2a1 + a2 = 2(1) + 3 = 2 + 3 = 5

a4 = 2a2 + a3 = 2(3) + 5 = 6 + 5 = 11

a5 = 2a3 + a4 = 2(5) + 11 = 10 + 11 = 21 a6 = 2a4 + a5 = 2(11) + 21 = 22 + 21 = 43

As a result, the sequence's next four terms are a3 = 5, a4 = 11, a5 = 21, and a6 = 43.

(b) One property that may apply to all k 1 is that the sequence ak is an integer.

(c) To demonstrate the property that the sequence ak is an integer for all k 1, we'll need to present two base cases and the inductive step:

**Standard Cases:**

1. When k = 1, a1 equals 1, which is an integer.

2. a2 = 3 for k = 2, which is also an integer.

**Inductive Step:** Assume that aj is an integer for any integers j such that 1 j n. We'd like to demonstrate that an+1 is also an integer.

Using the sequence's recursive definition: an+1 = 2an-1 + an

By the inductive hypothesis, an-1 and an are both integers because we believed that aj is an integer for 1 j n. As a result, 2an-1 is an integer (since the product of two integers is an integer). Adding an integer (an) to another integer (2an-1) yields another integer, demonstrating that an+1 is an integer.

We demonstrated that the property "ak is an integer for all k 1" is true for this sequence using the strong induction method.

User Muhammad Hewedy
by
7.9k points