Problem:
The set of positive integers is partitioned into finitely many subsets. Show that some subset has the following property: for every positive integer , contains infinitely many multiples of .
Problem:
The set of positive integers is partitioned into finitely many subsets. Show that some subset has the following property: for every positive integer , contains infinitely many multiples of .
Solution:
Let the subsets be . Suppose the statement is false and seek a contradiction. Then for each there exists some such that contains only finitely many multiples of . Let ; then every multiple of is a multiple of each and so each can contain only finitely many multiples of . But this means that the sets together contain only finitely many multiples of , and since they partition the positive integers (which contain infinitely many multiples of ), we have our contradiction.