MATH-UA 120 Discrete Mathematics:

Problem Set 4
Sherlock Holmes
Due Monday, October 21st, 2024

Assignment Instructions
• These are to be written up in LATEX and turned in on Gradescope.
• Click here to duplicate this .tex file in Overleaf .
• Write your solutions inside the solution environment.
• You are always encouraged to talk problems through with your peers and your instructor, but your
write up should be done independently.

• Problems are graded on correctness and fluency.

• Unless stated otherwise, all calculations require justification.
• Some tutorials on how to use LATEX can be found here. If you have any questions about LATEX
commands you can always ask your instructor for advice.

Statement on generative AI
In this and other mathematics courses, you are expected to construct clear and concise mathematical argu-
ments based on statements proven in our text and class notes. Large language models such as ChatGPT
are unable to produce this kind of solution. They also frequently generate circular logic and outright false
results.
You may use AI to summarise content, generate study plans, create problems, or do other study-related
activities. You may not ask a chatbot to solve your quiz or homework problems, or do any assessment-related
activities.
You may use AI tools to edit your grammar and punctuation, but remember that mathematical English
is not the same as academic English in other disciplines.

1
Problem 1
Define a relation R on N × N by

(a, b) R (c, d) ⇐⇒ 3a + d = b + 3c.

a) Show that R is an equivalence relation,

b) Describe, as simply as possible, the equivalence classes [(0, 0)], [(1, 2)] and [(2, 1)].

(a)
(a, b) ∈ N × N ⇒ 3a + b = b + 3a ⇒ (a, b)R(a, b). R is reflexive.
(a, b)R(c, d) ⇒ 3a + d = b + 3c, which is exactly 3c + b = 3a + d, therefore (c, d)R(a, b). R is symmetric.
(a, b)R(c, d), (c, d)R(e, f ) ⇒ 3a + d = b + 3c, 3c + f = d + 3e, which implies 3a − b = 3c − d, 3c − d =
3e − f ⇒ 3a − b = 3e − f ⇒ 3a + f = b + 3e. This means (a, b)R(e, f ) , R is transitive.
In conclusion R is an equivalence relation.
(b)
The equivalence classes [(0, 0)] contains every pair (a, b) that satisfies 0 + b = 0 + 3a. Thus

[(0, 0)] = {(a, b) ∈ N × N : b = 3a}.

The equivalence classes [(1, 2)] contains every pair (a, b) that satisfies 3 + b = 2 + 3a. Thus

[(1, 2)] = {(a, b) ∈ N × N : 1 + b = 3a}.

The equivalence classes [(2, 1)] contains every pair (a, b) that satisfies 6 + b = 1 + 3a. Thus

[(1, 2)] = {(a, b) ∈ N × N : 5 + b = 3a}.

2
Problem 2
Determine if the given relations have the following properties:
• irreflexive,
• antisymmetric,
• transitive.

Either prove they have the property or provide a counterexample.

a) For x, y ∈ Z, x R y ⇐⇒ |x − y| > 0.
b) For x, y ∈ Z, x R y means that x and y have a common prime factor, that is, a prime number that divides
both x and y.

c) For x, y ∈ 2Z , x R y ⇐⇒ x ∩ y = ∅.

(a)
R is irreflexive.x ∈ Z, |x − x| = 0, x ̸R x .
R is not antisymmetric. Let x = 3, y = 1, they are different but |x − y| > 0, |y − x| > 0 ⇒ x R y and
y R x.
R is not transitive. let x = 2, y = 3, z = 2 ,easy to show x R y, y R z , but x = z so x R z doesn’t hold.
(b)
R is not irreflexive. Let x = 7 then x has a prime factor 7 so x R x.
R is not antisymmetric. Let x = 7, y = 14, then they have a common prime factor 7. x R y and y R x,
but x ̸= y.
R is not transitive. Let x = 3, y = 12, z = 4. Then x, y have a common prime factor 3, y, z have z a
common prime factor 4, so x R y, y R z. But x, y don’t have common prime factor. So x ̸R z.
(c)
R is not irreflexive. Because x = ∅ ∈ 2Z , x ∩ x = ∅, x R x.
R is not antisymmetric. Letx = {1, 2}, y = {3, 4} then x ∩ y = y ∩ x = ∅, x R y, y R x, but x ̸= y.
R is not transitive. Let x = {1, 2}, y = {3, 4}, z = {2}, then x ∩ y = y ∩ z = ∅, x R y, y R z, but
x ∩ z = {2} ≠ ∅. So x ̸R z.

3
Problem 3
Determine all of the (distinct) equivalence classes of the following equivalence relations. Provide a brief
justification on how you found all of the equivalence classes for each relation.
There is no need to prove that they are equivalence relations; but you are encourage to prove they are
equivalence relations in your own practice.

a) Consider the set A = {0, 1, 2, . . . , 8}. Define a relation R on A by a R b ⇐⇒ a2 ≡ b2 (mod 9).

b) Consider Z × Z. Define a relation on R by (a, b) R (c, d) ⇐⇒ a + b = c + d.

(a)
{a2 : a ∈ A} = 0, 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64.
Now, we look at the remainders when we divide these squares by 9:

02 mod 9 = 0 12 mod 9 = 1
2 2
2 mod 9 = 4 3 mod 9 = 0
2 2
4 mod 9 = 1 5 mod 9 = 4
2 2
6 mod 9 = 0 7 mod 9 = 4
2
8 mod 9 = 1

From these remainders, we can see that [0], [1].[2] are all of equivalence classes.
(b)
(a, b) R (c, d) means they have the same sum, therefore all equivalence classes are [(n, 0)] where n ∈ Z.

4
Problem 4
Let R be a relation on a set A. Prove R ∪ R−1 is symmetric.

We need to prove that (a, b) ∈ R ∪ R−1 means that (b, a) is also in R ∪ R−1 . Note that R−1 = {(b, a) :
(a, b) ∈ R}. The following is the formal proof process
(a, b) ∈ R ∪ R−1 implies (a, b) ∈ R or (a, b) ∈ R−1 . If (a, b) ∈ R then (b, a) ∈ R−1 . Therefore
(b, a) ∈ R ∪ R−1 . If (a, b) ∈ R−1 then (b, a) ∈ R. Therefore (b, a) ∈ R ∪ R−1 .
We see that (a, b) ∈ R ∪ R−1 implies (b, a) ∈ R ∪ R−1 . Thus R ∪ R−1 is symmetric.

5
Problem 5
a) Let X be a set with n elements. How many possible reflexive relations on X are there?
b) Let A be a set of size n. For x, y ∈ 2A , x R y ⇐⇒ x ∩ y = ∅. What is the cardinality of R?
c) What is the total number of partitions of {1, 2, . . . , 100} that have exactly two parts in the partition?
Remember, both parts should be non-empty.

d) Suppose that a single character is stored in a computer using eight bits. How many bit patterns have at
least two 1’s? (Bits can either be 0 or 1).
e) Twenty people are to be divided into two teams with ten players on each team. In how many ways can
this be done?

f) Thirty-five discrete maths students are to be divided into seven discussion groups, each consisting of five
students. In how many ways can this be done?

(a) If R is reflexive then (x, x), ∀x ∈ X must be in R. R is a subset of X × X. We need to count all
subsets R within X × X that satisfy {(x, x) : ∀x ∈ X} ⊂ R. Note that after removing {(x, x) : ∀x ∈ X} from
2
R, we are left with subsets that do not include {(x, x) : ∀x ∈ X}. There are a total of 2n −n such subsets.
2
Therefore, the number of relations that are reflexive totals 2n −n .
(b)
We have this set relation R = {(x, y) : x, y ∈ 2A , x ∩ y = ∅}. Now let’s count the cases, first considering

when neither x nor y are empty sets. If x contains i elements where i = 1, 2, · · · , n − 1, then there are ni
such xs. For y to be disjoint from x, y can only be a non-empty subset containing part of the remaining
n − i elements, giving us a total of 2n−i − 1 options for y. So, if we’re looking at cases where neither x nor
y are empty, we have:
n−1
X 
n
(2n−i − 1)
i=1
i
Now, if x is the empty set and y isn’t, there are 2n − 1 possibilities. Likewise, if x isn’t empty but y is,
we also have 2n − 1 possibilities. And finally, if both x and y are empty sets, there’s just one possibility.
Add all these situations up and the answer are as follow:
n−1
X 
n
(2n−i − 1) + 2(2n − 1) + 1.
i=1
i

(c)
Pn−i

There are i=1 ni partitions.
(d)
There are a total of 28 options. If at most one byte is 1, then there are 1 + 8 choices (considering all
bytes being 0 and one byte being 1). So, there are 28 − 9 bit patterns have at least two 1’.
(e)
There are 20


10 ways.
(f)
There are              
35 30 25 20 15 10 5
· · · · · ·
5 5 5 5 5 5 5
ways.

6
Problem 6
We are to place five posters along the wall of a corridor. There are six movie posters, five music posters and
eight maths posters to choose from. In each of the following cases, determine the number of arrangements
and give a brief justification in words.
a) How many arrangements of posters are there if there are no restrictions?

b) How many arrangements of posters are there if we cannot have more than two maths posters?
c) How many arrangements of posters are there if we cannot have two music posters side-by-side?
You can (and should) leave your answers in terms of factorials and binomial coefficients where appropriate.

(a) Without any restrictions, we can select any 5 posters from the total of 6 + 5 + 8 = 19. There are 19


5
ways to choose these posters. After choosing, we arrange them, giving us a total of 19


5 · 5! arrangements.
(b) Given the condition that no more than two math posters can be used, we handle this through a
case-by-case analysis:
If no math poster is selected, we choose all 5 from music and movie posters, which gives us 11


5 options.
If one math poster is selected, we choose 4 from music and movie posters and 1 from math posters,
resulting in 8 · 11


4 selections.
If two math posters are selected, we choose 2 from math posters and 3 from music and movie posters,
yielding 82 · 11



3 selections.
Adding these selection methods together, we get 11 11 8



11

5 + 8 · 4 + 2 · 3 ways to choose the posters.
11

11

8

11

After choosing, we arrange them, giving us a total of 5 +8· 4 + 2 · 3 · 5! arrangements.
(c) Certainly, here is the translation into English:
Since music posters cannot be adjacent, there can be at most three music posters. Let’s break this down
by cases:
If there are three music posters, these posters can only be placed in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th positions, with
5 · 4 · 3 placement methods. The posters in the 2nd and 4th positions must be chosen from the math and
movie posters, with 14 · 13 placement methods. Therefore, there are a total of 5 · 4 · 3 · 14 · 13 arrangements.
If there are two music posters, the possible positions for these two music posters are:

(1, 3), (1, 4), (1, 5), (2, 4), (2, 5), (3, 5),

totaling 6 methods. Placing music posters in these two positions can be done in 5 · 4 ways. Placing movie
and math posters in the remaining positions can be done in 14 · 13 · 12 ways. Therefore, there are a total of
6 · 5 · 4 · 14 · 13 · 12 arrangements.
If there is one music poster, any arrangement will satisfy the condition. So, first, select one music poster
and
then
select four from the math and movie posters, followed by arranging them. There are a total of
5 14
1 · 4 · 5! arrangements.
If there are no music
posters, then simply select five from the math and movie posters and arrange them.
There are a total of 14 5 · 5! arrangements.
Summarizing all cases, the total number of arrangements is:
     
5 14 14
5 · 4 · 3 · 14 · 13 + 6 · 5 · 4 · 14 · 13 · 12 + · · 5! + · 5!.
1 4 5

7
Problem 7
Let n be a nonnegative integer. Give a combinatorial proof of the identity
       
n n n n
3n = · 2n + · 2n−1 + · 2n−2 + · · · + · 20 .
n n−1 n−2 0

You may not manipulate the question algebraically. Only a combinatorial proof will be accepted.

Step 1.To give a combinatorial proof, let’s think about it like this. Imagine we have a list of length n,
and each element in the list can be either 1, 2, or 3. We want to find out how many different lists we can
make.
Step 2. If we just count them directly, for each element in the list, we have 3 choices (1, 2, or 3). Since
there are n positions, the total number of lists is 3n .
Step 3. Now, let’s try to count them in a different way. Suppose we have k positions that are not zero.
First, we need to choose which k positions out of n will not be zero. There are nk ways to do this . Then,

for each of these k positions, we can choose either 1 or 2 (since we said the position is not zero). This means
there are 2k ways to fill these positions. The remaining n − k positions are zero.
So, if we sum up the possibilities for all k from 0 to n, we get the total number of lists:
       
n n n n
· 2n + · 2n−1 + · 2n−2 + · · · + · 20 .
n n−1 n−2 0

Step 4. By comparing the results from Method 1 and Method 2, we can see that they are the same:
       
n n n n
3n = · 2n + · 2n−1 + · 2n−2 + · · · + · 20 .
n n−1 n−2 0

8
Problem 8
Let n be a positive integer. Give a combinatorial proof of the identity
 
n+2
1 · n + 2 · (n − 1) + 3 · (n − 2) + · · · + (n − 1) · 2 + n · 1 = .
3

You may not manipulate the question algebraically. Only a combinatorial proof will be accepted.

Step 1. We pose a question: How many ways are there to select 3 numbers from the set {1, 2, · · · , n + 2}?
Step 2. The straightforward combinatorial answer is n+2


3 .
Step 3. We analyze the problem through a case-by-case approach. Assume that among the three selected
numbers, the middle number is j. Hence, j can range from 2 to n + 1. Given that the middle number is
j, we must choose one number from the set {1, · · · , j − 1} and another from the set {j + 1, · · · , n + 2}.
Consequently, there are (j − 1) · (n + 2 − j) possible selections for each j. Summing these possibilities gives
us the total number of selection methods:

1 · n + 2 · (n − 1) + 3 · (n − 2) + · · · + (n − 1) · 2 + n · 1.

Step 4. Both approaches yield the same result, thereby confirming that:
 
n+2
1 · n + 2 · (n − 1) + 3 · (n − 2) + · · · + (n − 1) · 2 + n · 1 = .
3