MATH2108 HWK 1-SOLUTION

1. Prove the Distribution Laws for sets:

(1) A (B C) = (A B) (A C);
(2) A (B C) = (A B) (A C).
Proof. (1) To prove this equality, we need to prove two parts: A(BC) (AB)(AC)
and (A B) (A C) A (B C).
To prove the rst part, suppose x A (B C), then we have x A and x B C.
This means that x A, and x B or C, this induces that x A and x B, or x A
and x C, so x A B or x A C, and therefore x (A B) (A C). So
A (B C) (A B) (A C).
To prove the second part, suppose x (A B) (A C), then we have x A B or
x A C. This means that x both A and B, or x both A and C. This induces that
x A, and x B or C, so x A (B C). Therefore (A B) (A C) A (B C).
(2) can be proved similarly.

2. Show that the function f dened by f(x) :=

x

x
2
+1
, x R, is a bijection of R onto
{y : 1 < y < 1}.
Proof. To prove f is a bijection from R to {y : 1 < y < 1}, we need to two steps.
First, we want to prove f : R {y : 1 < y < 1} is an injection. To show this,
suppose
x
1

x
1
2
+1
=
x
2

x
2
2
+1
. Square both sides, we have
x
1
2
x
1
2
+1
=
x
2
2
x
2
2
+1
. Then x
1
2
(x
2
2
+ 1) =
x
2
2
(x
1
2
+ 1). Hence x
2
1
= x
2
2
. So x
1
= x
2
. But
x
1

x
1
2
+1
=
x
2

x
2
2
+1
tells us x
1
and x
2
should
have same sign, hence x
1
= x
2
. So f(x
1
) = f(x
2
) x
1
= x
2
, so f is an injection.
Secondly, we want to show f : R {y : 1 < y < 1} is a bijection. To show this, we
need to show that for all y {y : 1 < y < 1}, there exists x R such that f(x) = y, or
equivalently, we need to show that for all y {y : 1 < y < 1}, the equation
x

x
2
+1
= y has
solution. To solve this equation, square both sides, we have
x
2
x
2
+1
= y
2
, or (1 y
2
)x
2
= y
2
.
As 1 < y < 1, 1 y
2
> 0, so x =
y

1y
2
. But
x

x
2
+1
= y tells us x and y should have
same sign, so x =
y

1y
2
. Therefore f : R {y : 1 < y < 1} is a bijection.
The above two steps show that f is a bijection from R onto {y : 1 < y < 1}.
1
3. Prove that
1

1
+
1

2
+ +
1

n
>

n,
for all n N, n > 1.
Proof. We prove by Mathematica Induction. We start from n = 2.
(i) When n = 2, the left hand side is
1

1
+
1

2
= 1 +

2
2
, the right hand side is

2. But
1+

2
2
>

2, this is because (1+

2
2
>

2 1 >

2
2
2 >

2 4 > 2.) So the inequality

holds for n = 2.
(ii) Now suppose the inequality holds for k 2, i.e. we have
1

1
+
1

2
+ +
1

k
>

k.
Then we have
1

1
+
1

2
+ +
1

k
+
1

k + 1
>

k +
1

k + 1
.
But

k +
1

k+1
>

k + 1, this is because

k +
1

k+1
>

k + 1
1

k+1
>

k + 1

k
1

k+1
>
1

k+1+

k
, which is obvious. Hence
1

1
+
1

2
+ +
1

k
+
1

k + 1
>

k + 1.
Therefore by Mathematica Induction, the inequality holds for n > 1.