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Questions on mathematical induction- why can it not be used for real numbers? I know it is used to prove using?

positive numbers, so what is the situation with real numbers? Please do not say that is the assumption. For example, (X^m)(X^n) = X^(m+n)? 2. Why is 41^2 or 41 squared not a prime number? 3. How do you determine a prime number again by not listing all the numbers for 1 to google? I was hoping for the answer why will it not work using real numbers for the given example. Please address also the issue given in the example.

Public Comments

1. Mathematical induction can be used an a WIDE variety of proofs, and therefore, in order to accommodate most of them, which need that assumption, it is forced on the proving method itself. If you ask the right people, you can find an example where using real numbers does not work but positive numbers does. 2. 41 is prime. 41^2 is not prime, because it is 41*41. 3. You can list all the number from 1 to the square root of the number. In programming, you can check if the floor of the quotient is equal to the quotient.