- #1
mrchris
- 31
- 0
Homework Statement
The set of squares of rational numbers is inductive
Homework Equations
definition of an inductive set
The Attempt at a Solution
sorry i know this is probably very easy to most but I am just learning analysis. Okay, so we can see that 1 is in the set because it is rational and 12 exists. Am I correct in thinking that it doesn't matter whether or not 12 is rational? I mean obviously it is, but aren't we really just checking to make sure that S(1) is defined? Then for the second part, we can take S(x) to be x2 whenever x=m/n, where m,n are integers and either m or n is odd. Again, aren't we basically proving that if S(x) exists, or (m2/n2) exists, then S(x+1), or [(m+n)2/n2] also exists. But then don't I also need to show that if x is rational, then so is x+1? Maybe i am reading way too much into this, but again I am new to these and I'm trying to understand exactly what I need to show.