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Suppose that you would like to prove the following implication: For all numbers n, if n is prime then n is solitary. Write out the beginning and end of the argument if you were to prove the statement, a. Directly b. By contrapositive c. By contradiction You do not need to provide details for the proofs (since you do not know what solitary means). However, make sure that you provide the first few and last few lines of the proofs so that we can see that logical structure you would follow.

User Kalessin
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Final answer:

To prove the implication that prime numbers are solitary, one can embark on a direct proof, a proof by contrapositive, or a proof by contradiction, by starting with the relevant assumption and logically proceeding to show that the statement must hold true.

Step-by-step explanation:

To prove the implication "For all numbers n, if n is prime then n is solitary," we can approach it in different ways, depending on the proof strategy we decide to use. Here are the initial and concluding parts of such proofs, not including the definitions of the terms or the detailed steps, which are based on the logic of valid deductive inferences.

Begin by assuming that we have a number n which is prime. Since being prime is the sufficient condition for our assertion, explicitly state that such an n must then show the solitary property...

After going through logical steps and showing that prime numbers indeed exhibit the property of being solitary, we therefore conclude that for all numbers n, if n is prime, then n is solitary.

To prove this by contrapositive, we start by assuming that n is not solitary. This assumption serves as our beginning premise...

If these steps lead us to the conclusion that n cannot be prime, we would have successfully shown the contrapositive: if n is not solitary, then n is not prime, and therefore the original statement must be true.

For a proof by contradiction, let us assume that the statement is false, that is, there exists a prime number n that is not solitary...

If this leads us to a contradiction with any known properties of prime numbers or solitary nature, then our assumption that the statement is false is incorrect, and thus the original implication stands as true.

User Andrei Lupuleasa
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