Souldn't use k twice, it makes things very confusing. I always use M or P, letters that don't come up elsewhere.Base Step:
Test true for n = 1
i.e. 8¹ - 1 = 7 (7 is divisible by 7, thus true)
Now, assume the function is true for n = k
i.e. (8^k) - 1 = 7k (k is just some integer)
Prove:
8(8^k) - 1
= 8(7k + 1) - 1 ........... from assumed before (look up) I rearranged (8^k) - 1 = 7k into 7k + 1 = 8^k
= 8(7k) + 8 - 1
= 8(7k) + 7
= 7(8k + 1)
= 7L for some integer L
So we got 8^(k + 1) - 1 = 7L, where we can state that the statement is divisible by 7.