Inductive & Deductive Reasoning
Name
Period
Decide if each example is inductive or deductive reasoning and check the appropriate box. Then give a reason for your
decision.
Inductive
Reasoning
1. A chemistry experiment produces the
same result 20 times. You conclude
that it will always produce the same
result.
2. Tim is Veronica’s cousin. Since David
is Veronica’s twin brother, Tim is also
David’s cousin.
3. The school librarian notices that
many students are requesting books
about countries in Africa. She
concludes that one of the history
classes must be studying about Africa.
4. Julie notices that each term in the
sequence 1, 3, 9, 27, … is found by
multiplying the previous term by 3.
She concludes that the next two
terms are 81 and 243.
5. Amanda was learning to drive when
her father told her to never run the
car if the overheat light comes on.
Last summer while driving to
Anchorage, her overheat light turned
on so she turned off the car and
called for help.
𝑥−1
6. If 2 = 8 then x – 1 = 16.
Deductive
Reasoning
Reason
7. All numbers ending in 0 or 5 are
divisible by 5. The number 35 ends
with a 5, so it is divisible by 5.
8. Mark notices that the mail came to
his house at 12:00 on Monday, 12:00
on Tuesday, and 12:00 on
Wednesday. He has a letter to mail
on Thursday and concludes he must
get it into the mail box before 12:00.
9. Snakes are reptiles and reptiles are
cold-blooded; therefore, snakes are
cold-blooded.