Chapter 01 Real Numbers Exercise-02
EXERCISE 1.2
1. Prove that $\sqrt{5}$ is irrational.
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Solution
Let $\sqrt{5}$ is a rational number.
Therefore, we can find two integers $a, b(b \neq 0)$ such that $b$
$ \sqrt{5}=\dfrac{a}{b} $
Let $a$ and $b$ have a common factor other than 1 . Then we can divide them by the common factor, and assume that $a$ and bare co-prime.
$a=\sqrt{5} b$
$a^{2}=5 b^{2}$
Therefore, $a^{2}$ is divisible by 5 and it can be said that $a$ is divisible by 5 .
Let $a=5 k$, where $k$ is an integer
$(5 k)^{2}=5 b^{2}$ This means that $b^{2}$ is divisible by 5 and hence, $b$ is divisible by 5 .
$b^{2}=5 k^{2} \quad$ This implies that $a$ and $b$ have 5 as a common factor.
And this is a contradiction to the fact that $a$ and $b$ are co-prime.
Hence, $\sqrt{5}$ cannot be expressed as $\dfrac{p}{q}$ or it can be said that $\sqrt{5}$ is irrational.
2. Prove that $3+2 \sqrt{5}$ is irrational.
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Solution
Let $3+2 \sqrt{5}$ is rational.
Therefore, we can find two integers $a, b(b \neq 0)$ such that
$3+2 \sqrt{5}=\dfrac{a}{b}$
$2 \sqrt{5}=\dfrac{a}{b}-3$
$\sqrt{5}=\dfrac{1}{2}(\dfrac{a}{b}-3)$
Since $a$ and $b$ are integers, $\dfrac{1}{2}(\dfrac{a}{b}-3)$ will also be rational and therefore, $\sqrt{5}$ is rational.
This contradicts the fact that $\sqrt{5}$ is irrational. Hence, our assumption that $3+2 \sqrt{5}$ is rational is false.
Therefore, $3+2 \sqrt{5}$ is irrational.
3. Prove that the following are irrationals :
(i) $\dfrac{1}{\sqrt{2}}$
(ii) $7 \sqrt{5}$
(iii) $6+\sqrt{2}$
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Solution
(i) $\dfrac{1}{\sqrt{2}}$
Let $\dfrac{1}{\sqrt{2}}$ is rational.
Therefore, we can find two integers $a, b(b \neq 0)$ such that
$ \begin{aligned} & \dfrac{1}{\sqrt{2}}=\dfrac{a}{b} \\ & \sqrt{2}=\dfrac{b}{a} \end{aligned} $
$\dfrac{b}{a}$ is rational as $a$ and $b$ are integers.
Therefore, $\sqrt{2}$ is rational which contradicts to the fact that $\sqrt{2}$ is irrational.
Hence, our assumption is false and $\dfrac{1}{\sqrt{2}}$ is irrational.
(ii) $7 \sqrt{5}$
Let $7 \sqrt{5}$ is rational.
Therefore, we can find two integers $a, b(b \neq 0)$ such that
$7 \sqrt{5}=\dfrac{a}{b}$ for some integers $a$ and $b$
$\therefore \sqrt{5}=\dfrac{a}{7 b}$
$\dfrac{a}{7 b}$ is rational as $a$ and $b$ are integers.
Therefore, $\sqrt{5}$ should be rational.
This contradicts the fact that $\sqrt{5}$ is irrational. Therefore, our assumption that $7 \sqrt{5}$ is rational is false. Hence, $7 \sqrt{5}$ is irrational.
(iii) $6+\sqrt{2}$
Let $6+\sqrt{2}$ be rational.
Therefore, we can find two integers $a, b(b \neq 0)$ such that
$6+\sqrt{2}=\dfrac{a}{b}$
$\sqrt{2}=\dfrac{a}{b}-6$
Since $a$ and $b$ are integers, $\dfrac{a}{b}-6$ is also rational and hence, $\sqrt{2}$ should be rational. This contradicts the fact that $\sqrt{2}$ is irrational. Therefore, our assumption is false and hence,