McGraw Hill Glencoe Algebra 1 Texas, 2016
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McGraw Hill Glencoe Algebra 1 Texas, 2016 View details
Extend: Algebra Lab, Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
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Exercise 1 Page 196

Review the definition of inductive and deductive reasoning.

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Inductive reasoning is used to derive a general rule after observing many events, whereas with deductive reasoning we come to a conclusion by accepting facts. Therefore, we can conclude that with inductive reasoning we end with a general rule, and with deductive reasoning we begin with a general rule.

Let's think of an example of each. We will begin with deductive reasoning, and then we can think of an example of inductive reasoning.

Deductive reasoning

With deductive reasoning, we want to begin with a general rule of fact. It is a fact that all numbers ending with 0 of 5 are divisible by 5. Let's take a specific case, which will be the number 45. As we can see, it ends with 5. Thus, we conclude that 45 is divisible by 5. We started with a general rule that is true, and then we made a conclusion about a specific case.

Inductive reasoning

With inductive reasoning, we want to begin with specific cases. Let's say that there is a group of 5 people, and each of them has a dog. After spending some time with the dogs, we notice that each of them barks. Thus, we make a conclusion that all dogs bark. It is a general rule which we came up with after observing specific cases.