OCR H240/02 2020 November — Question 5

Exam BoardOCR
ModuleH240/02 (Pure Mathematics and Statistics)
Year2020
SessionNovember
TopicProof

5
  1. Determine the set of values of \(n\) for which \(\frac { n ^ { 2 } - 1 } { 2 }\) and \(\frac { n ^ { 2 } + 1 } { 2 }\) are positive integers. A 'Pythagorean triple' is a set of three positive integers \(a , b\) and \(c\) such that \(a ^ { 2 } + b ^ { 2 } = c ^ { 2 }\).
  2. Prove that, for the set of values of \(n\) found in part (a), the numbers \(n , \frac { n ^ { 2 } - 1 } { 2 }\) and \(\frac { n ^ { 2 } + 1 } { 2 }\) form a Pythagorean triple.