Equivalence Relations:

Selected Exercises

Equivalence Relation
Let E be a relation on set A.
E is an equivalence relation if & only if it is:
Reflexive
Symmetric
Transitive.
Examples
a E b when a b ( mod 5 ). (Over N)
a E b when a is a sibling of b. (Over humans)

Copyright Peter Cappello

Equivalence Class
Let E be an equivalence relation on A.
We denote aEb as a ~ b. (sometimes, it is denoted a b )
The equivalence class of a is { b | a ~ b }, denoted [a].
What are the equivalence classes of the example equivalence
relations?
For these examples:
Do distinct equivalence classes have a non-empty intersection?
Does the union of all equivalence classes equal the underlying set?
Copyright Peter Cappello

Partition
A partition of set S is a set of nonempty subsets,
S2, . . ., Sn, of S such that:

i j ( i j Si Sj = ).

2. S = S1 U S2 U . . . U Sn.

Copyright Peter Cappello

S 1,

Equivalence Relations & Partitions

Let E be an equivalence relation on S.
Thm. Es equivalence classes partition S.
Thm. For any partition P of S, there is an equivalence
relation on S whose equivalence classes form partition P.

Copyright Peter Cappello

Es equivalence classes partition S.

1.
[a] [b] [a] [b] = .
Proof by contradiction:
Assume [a] [b] [a] [b] :
(Draw a Venn diagram)
Without loss of generality, let c [a] - [b]. Let d [a] [b].
We show that c [b] (which contradicts our assumption above)
1. c ~ d
( c, d [a] )
2. d ~ b
( d [b] )
3. c ~ b
( c ~ d d ~ b E is transitive )

2.

The union of the equivalence classes is S.

Students: Show this use pair proving in class.

Copyright Peter Cappello

For any partition P of S, there is an equivalence relation

whose equivalence classes form the partition P.
Prove in class.
1. Let P be an arbitrary partition of S.
2. We define an equivalence relation whose
equivalence classes form partition P.
(Students: Show this (use pair proving) in class)

Copyright Peter Cappello

Exercise 40
a)

What is the equivalence class of (1, 2) with respect

to the equivalence relation given in Exercise 16?
Exercise. 16:
Ordered pairs of positive integers such that
( a, b ) ~ ( c, d ) ad = bc.

Copyright Peter Cappello

Exercise 40 a) Answer
( a, b ) ~ ( c, d ) ad = bc a/b = c/d
[ ( 1, 2 ) ] = { ( c, d ) | ( 1, 2 ) ~ ( c, d ) }
= { ( c, d ) | 1d = 2c c/d = }.

Copyright Peter Cappello

Exercise 40 continued
b) Interpret the equivalence classes of the equivalence
relation R in Exercise 16.

Copyright Peter Cappello

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Exercise 40 continued
b) Interpret the equivalence classes of the equivalence
relation R in Exercise 16.
Answer
Each equivalence class contains all (p, q), which, as
fractions, have the same value (i.e., the same
element of Q+).
(The fact that 3/7 = 15/35 confuses some small children.)

Copyright Peter Cappello

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Exercise 50
A partition P is a refinement of partition P when
x P y P x y. (Illustrate.)
Let partition P consist of sets of
people living in the same US state.
Let partition P consist of sets of
people living in the same county of a state.
Show that P is a refinement of P.
Copyright Peter Cappello

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Exercise 50 continued
It suffices to note that:
Every county is contained within its state:
No county spans 2 states.

Copyright Peter Cappello

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Exercise 62
Determine the number of equivalent relations on a set
with 4 elements by listing them.
How would you represent the equivalence relations
that you list?

Copyright Peter Cappello

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End 8.5

Copyright Peter Cappello

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10
Suppose A & R is an equivalence relation on A.
Show f X f: A X such that a ~ b f( a ) = f( b ).
Proof.
1. Let f : A X, where
1. X = { [a] | [a] is an equivalence class of R }
2.

a f (a ) = [a].

2. Then, a b a ~ b f( a ) = [a] = [b] = f( b ).

Copyright Peter Cappello

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Exercise 20
Let P be the set of people who visited web page W.
Let R be a relation on P: xRy x & y visit the same
sequence of web pages since visiting W until they exit the
browser.

Is R an equivalence relation?

Let s( p ) be the sequence of web pages p visits since

visiting W until p exits the browser.
Copyright Peter Cappello

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Exercise 20 continued
That is, xRy means s( x ) = s( y ).
x xRx: R is reflexive.
Since x s( x ) = s( x ).

x y ( xRy yRx ): R is symmetric.

Since s( x ) = s( y ) s (y ) = s( x ).

x y z ( ( xRy yRz ) xRz ): R is transitive.

Since ( s( x ) = s( y ) s( y ) = s( z ) ) s( x ) = s( z ).

Therefore, R is an equivalence relation.

Copyright Peter Cappello

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Exercise 30
What are the equivalence classes of the bit strings for the
equivalence relation of Exercise 11?
Ex. 11: Let S = { x | x is a bit string of 3 bits. }
Define xRy such that x agrees with y on the left 3 bits
(e.g., 10111 ~ 101000).
a) 010
b) 1011
c) 11111
d) 01010101
Copyright Peter Cappello

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Exercise 30 Answer

010
(answer: all strings that begin with 010)

1011
(answer: all strings that begin with 101)

11111
(answer: all strings that begin with 111)

01010101
(answer: all strings that begin with 010)
How many equivalence classes are there?
Copyright Peter Cappello

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