MA304/MA310 (Discrete Mathematics), Solutions to Week 7 exercises

I For each of the following relations, state whether they are reflexive, symmetric or transi-
tive.

1. X is the set of people in the world, and xRy if and only if x and y have a parent in
common. (Symmetric, reflexive, not transitive).

2. X is the set of real numbers, xRy is true when x2 = y 2 . (Symm., refl. and trans.)

3. X is any set, and R = X × X (Symm., refl. and trans.)

4. X = {a, b, c, d} and R = {(a, a), (a, b), (a, c), (d, b), (b, b), (c, d)}.(not refl. since (c, c) 6∈
R, not symm. not trans. (a, c), (c, d) ∈ R but (a, d) 6∈ R.

II Which of the following relations R ⊆ X × Y are indeed functions from X to Y ?

1. R ⊆ R × R, xRy : ⇐⇒ y = x3 ;
this is a function, because for each x there is a unique y with y = x3 .

2. R ⊆ R × R, xRy : ⇐⇒ x = y 3 ;
is a function;

3. R ⊆ N × N, xRy : ⇐⇒ x = y 4 ;
is not a function for two reasons: for x = 2 there is no y ∈ N with x = y 4 and for
x = 16 there are two y’s (y = ±2), instead of a unique one, with x = y 4 .

4. R ⊆ {x ∈ R | |x| ≤ 1} × {y ∈ R | |y| ≤ 1}, xRy : ⇐⇒ x2 + y 2 = 1;

is not a function;

5. R ⊆ {x ∈ R | |x| ≤ 1} × {y ∈ R | 0 ≤ y ≤ 1}, xRy : ⇐⇒ x2 + y 2 = 1;

is a function;

III Which of the following functions are surjective, injective or bijective? If it is bijective,
write down the inverse function.

1. f : R → R : y = f (x) = x3 ;
√
is bijective; y = f −1 (x) = 3 x is the inverse function.

2. f : N → N : y = f (x) = x2 ;
is injective but not surjective;

3. f : R → R : y = f (x) = x2 ;
not injective, not surjective;

4. f : Z5 → Z5 : f ([a]5 ) = [a]5 · [2]5 ;

is bijective; the inverse is given by f −1 ([a]5 ) = [a]5 · [3]5 . Notice that ([2]5 )−1 = [3]5 .

5. f : Z6 → Z6 : f ([a]6 ) = [a]6 · [2]6

is not injective and not surjective: f ([3]6 ) = f ([0]6 ) = [0]6 , [1]6 6∈ Im(f ). Notice that
[2]6 is not invertible, so ([2]6 )−1 or ” [2]16 ” does not exist.
IV Prove that among 100,000 people, there are two who were born at exactly the same
time of day (hour, minute and second). (Hint: consider mappings from the set of 100,000
people into the set of seconds in a day.)
Proof: There are 3600 · 24 = 86400 < 100.000 seconds per day. If the statement was wrong
there would be an injective fuction from a set with 100.000 elements to a set with 86400
elements, which is absurd.

V A mapping f : R \ {2} → R \ {4} is given by

4x + 1
f (x) = .
x−2
Show that f is injective and surjective and construct a two - sided inverse function.
Solution: The equation y = 4x+1
x−2 can be solved for x uniquely, if y 6= 4: 4x + 1 = yx − 2y ⇒
2y+1
x(4 − y) = −2y − 1 ⇒ x = y−4 . This shows that f is bijective with the inverse function
f −1 (x) = 2x+1
x−4 .

VI How many relations are there on X × Y if |X| = n and |Y | = m?

Solution: A relation R on X ×Y is just a subset of X ×Y . Hence there are as many relations
on X × Y as there are elements in the powerset 2X×Y , namely 2m·n many.