Wednesday, 15 October 2025

Exercise (1.1).19

Let $m$ and $n$ be positive integers. Prove that if $m \mid n$ where $m < n$ ($m$ is a proper divisor) then $m \leq \frac{n}{2}$.


We're given $m \mid n$ so, for some integer $k$

$$ n = km $$

We're also given $m < n$, so $k>1$. Since $k$ is an integer, this also means $k \ge 2$.

$$ 2 \leq k $$

We can multiply both sides by $m$ since it is given as a positive integer,

$$ 2m \leq km = n $$

Dividing both sides by 2 gives us the desired result,

$$ m \leq \frac{n}{2} $$