Consider the powers of 3, 4 and 7 in increasing order x1α1≤x2α2≤x3α3≤…
We will prove, by induction on n, that it is possible to represent all the integers from 1 to x1α1+x2α2+⋯+xnαn in the desired way using only the powers x1α1,x2α2,…,xnαn. It is clear that this is true for n=1,2,3. Assuming the property holds for n≥3, we will prove that it is valid for n+1.
If the powers x1α1,x2α2,…,xnαn are {30,31,…,3a}∪{40,41,…,4b}∪{70,71,…,7c}, we have that
x1α1+x2α2+⋯+xnαn=(30+31+⋯+3a)+(40+41+⋯+4b)+(70+71+⋯+7c)==23a+1−1+34b+1−1+67c+1−1≤2xn+1αn+1−1+3xn+1αn+1−1+6xn+1αn+1−1=xn+1αn+1−1.
Then, by the induction assumption, all the positive integers smaller than xn+1αn+1 have a representation using only the powers x1α1,x2α2,…,xnαn. In addition, an integer m such that xn+1αn+1≤m≤x1α1+x2α2+⋯+xnαn+xn+1αn+1 can be expressed as m=(m−xn+1αn+1)+xn+1αn+1,
where 0≤m−xn+1αn+1≤x1α1+x2α2+⋯+xnαn has a representation using only x1α1,…,xnαn. We conclude that all integers from 1 to x1α1+⋯+xnαn+xn+1αn+1 have a representation of the desired form using only the powers x1α1,…,xnαn,xn+1αn+1, which completes the induction.