Inductive or Deductive?
Date_________
Period_____
Name___________________________
Decide if the conclusion given is a result of inductive reasoning or deductive reasoning.
1. There is a myth that toilets and sinks drain in opposite directions in Southern and Northern
Hemispheres. However, if you were to observe sinks draining in the two hemispheres, you
would see that this myth is false.
2. There is a myth that you should not touch a baby bird that has fallen from its nest because the
mother bird will disown the baby if she detects human scent. However, biologists have shown
that birds cannot detect human scent. Therefore, the myth cannot be true.
3. There is myth that an eelskin wallet will demagnetize credit cards because the skin of the
electric eels used to make the wallet holds an electric charge. However, eelskin products are not
made from electric eels. Therefore, the myth cannot be true.
4. At Bell High School, students must take Biology before they take Chemistry. Sam is in Chemistry,
so Marcia concludes that he has taken Biology.
5. A detective learns that his main suspect was out of town the day of the crime. He concludes that
the suspect is innocent.
6. All of the students in Henry’s Geometry class are juniors. Alexander takes Geometry, but has
another teacher. Henry concludes that Alexander is also a junior.
7. The sum of the angle measures of a triangle is 180. Two angles of a triangle measure 40 and
60, so Kandy concludes that the third angle measures 80.
8. The Supershots scored over 75 points in each of ten straight games. The newspaper predicts
that they will score more than 75 points tonight.