I had a little back and forth with my logic professor earlier today about proving a number is irrational. I proposed that 1 + an irrational number is always irrational, thus if I could prove that 1 + irrational number is irrational, then it stood to reason that was also proving that the number in question was irrational.
Eg. $\sqrt2 + 1$ can be expressed as a continuous fraction, and through looking at the fraction, it can be assumed $\sqrt2 + 1$ is irrational. I suggested that because of this, $\sqrt2$ is also irrational.
My professor said this is not always true, but I can't think of an example that suggests this.
If $x+1$ is irrational, is $x$ always irrational?
Actually, a better question is: if $x$ is irrational, is $x+n$ irrational, provided $n$ is a rational number?
x
is irrational?" Knowing that 2<sup>1/2</sup> + 1 is irrational is enough to prove the irrationality of all numbers of the form 2<sup>1/2</sup> + x, x rational, but what about the rest of them? While it is true thatx+r
irrational impliesx
is irrational whenr
is irrational, you don't have another way of proving thatx+r
is irrational in the first place. $\endgroup$Actually, a better question is: if x is irrational, is x+n irrational, provided n is a rational number?
Directly from the question. $\endgroup$