# Check your mathematical induction concepts

Discuss the following “proof” of the (false) theorem:

If n is any positive integer and S is a set containing exactly n real numbers, then all the numbers in S are equal:

PROOF BY INDUCTION:

Step 1:

If $n=1$, the result is evident.

Step 2: By the induction hypothesis the result is true when $n=k$; we must prove that it is correct when $n=k+1$. Let S be any set containing exactly $k+1$ real numbers and denote these real numbers by $a_{1}, a_{2}, a_{3}, \ldots, a_{k}, a_{k+1}$. If we omit $a_{k+1}$ from this list, we obtain exactly k numbers $a_{1}, a_{2}, \ldots, a_{k}$; by induction hypothesis these numbers are all equal:

$a_{1}=a_{2}= \ldots = a_{k}$.

If we omit $a_{1}$ from the list of numbers in S, we again obtain exactly k numbers $a_{2}, \ldots, a_{k}, a_{k+1}$; by the induction hypothesis these numbers are all equal:

$a_{2}=a_{3}=\ldots = a_{k}=a_{k+1}$.

It follows easily that all $k+1$ numbers in S are equal.

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