So I have to prove that 3n is greater than or equal to 3n using induction. The base case is a not a problem, but I can't seem to figure out where to go for (n−1). I've tried saying:
3n=3⋅3n−1>3⋅3(n−1)
3⋅3(n−1)=9n−9
I'm pretty sure my end goal is 3n, but I'm not really sure how to get there.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Answer
I will show that we may assume that the inequality holds for some k and use that to show that it holds for k+1.
Use the base case n=2, 32>3(2), which is obviously true.
Now, assume that for n=k that 3k>3k. This is called the induction hypothesis. Now, we must prove the inequality for k+1.
3k>3k via our induction hypothesis.
3⋅3k>3⋅3k multiplying by 3 on both sides.
3k+1>3⋅3k>3k+3=3(k+1)
Thus, the inductive step and our proof are complete.
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