Friday, March 27, 2015

Is every positive integer the sum of two distinct positive odd integers?

Is every positive integer the sum of two distinct positive odd integers?
No. You can't derive 2 or any odd number from the sum of 2 positive odd integers. You can't get 2 because you would be forced to add 1 with 1. Which isn't distinct, and you can't get an odd number at all since both the other numbers are odd. Say the first one is of the form 2n+1 and the second is 2m+1. (2n+1)+(2m+1)=2n+2m+2=2(m+n+1) which has to be even.

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