Saturday, November 14, 2015

proof verification - The square root of a prime number is irrational


If p is a prime number, then p is irrational.



I know that this question has been asked but I just want to make sure that my method is clear. My method is as follows:



Let us assume that the square root of the prime number p is rational. Hence we can write p=ab. (In their lowest form.) Then p=a2b2, and so pb2=a2.



Hence p divides a2, so p divides a. Substitute a by pk. Find out that p divides b. Hence this is a contradiction as they should be relatively prime, i.e., gcd(a,b)=1.


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