题目
Problem
A student was asked to prove by exhaustion that
if n is an integer then 2n2+n+1 is not divisible by 3
The start of the student’s proof is shown in the box below.
Consider the case when n=3k
2n2+n+1=18k2+3k+1=3(6k2+k)+1
which is not divisible by 3
Complete this proof.
(4)
解答
(a)
解法一
思路
展开
穷举法(Proof by exhaustion)需要考虑所有可能的整数情况。
任何整数 n 被 3 除后的余数只有三种可能:0, 1 或 2。因此,所有整数可以表示为以下三类:
- n=3k
- n=3k+1
- n=3k+2 (也可以表示为 n=3k−1)
题目中学生已经完成了第 1 种情况(n=3k)。要完成该证明,我们只需要考虑剩下的两种情况并分别证明在该情况下 2n2+n+1 不能被 3 整除:
- 情况二:n=3k+1。将其代入代数式展开并化简,提取出公因子 3,看余数是否为 0。
- 情况三:n=3k+2(或 n=3k−1)。同理代入展开、提取公因子并分析余数。
最后给出结论:由于所有情况下的表达式都不能被 3 整除,原命题得证。
答题过程
展开
To complete the proof by exhaustion, we need to consider the remaining two cases for the integer n, which are n=3k+1 and n=3k+2 (where k is an integer).
Case 2: n=3k+1
Substitute n=3k+1 into the expression:
2n2+n+1=====2(3k+1)2+(3k+1)+12(9k2+6k+1)+3k+218k2+12k+2+3k+218k2+15k+43(6k2+5k+1)+1.
Since k is an integer, 6k2+5k+1 is also an integer. Thus, 2n2+n+1 leaves a remainder of 1 when divided by 3, which means it is not divisible by 3.
Case 3: n=3k+2
Substitute n=3k+2 into the expression:
2n2+n+1=====2(3k+2)2+(3k+2)+12(9k2+12k+4)+3k+318k2+24k+8+3k+318k2+27k+113(6k2+9k+3)+2.
Since k is an integer, 6k2+9k+3 is also an integer. Thus, 2n2+n+1 leaves a remainder of 2 when divided by 3, which means it is not divisible by 3.
(Alternative for Case 3: n=3k−1)
2n2+n+1=====2(3k−1)2+(3k−1)+12(9k2−6k+1)+3k18k2−12k+2+3k18k2−9k+23(6k2−3k)+2,
which leaves a remainder of 2 and is not divisible by 3.
Conclusion
Since 2n2+n+1 is not divisible by 3 for n=3k, n=3k+1, and n=3k+2, which cover all possible integers, it is proved that if n is an integer then 2n2+n+1 is not divisible by 3.