Exercise 1.2.9 (Simplification)

Show that if ac bc , then a b .

Answers

Proof. By Definition 1.1, if ac bc , then ac 0 , so c 0 . Then is some integer k such that bc = kac . Since c 0 , b = ka , so a b . □

Note: in the definition 1.1, a b presuppose a 0 . This restriction is not universal. If we define, for all a , b , a b k , b = ka , then 0 0 , so 2 × 0 3 × 0 , but 2 3 . We must then reformulate Exercise 1.2.9:

“If ac bc and c 0 , then a c .”

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2024-06-16 14:53
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