4/16/12

Solution To Examples In Class

GSI: Ralph Morrison

Exercise 1. Determine if each of the following relations R on the integers Z is (i) reflexive, (ii)
symmetric, (iii) antisymmetric, and (iv) transitive.
(a) (x, y) R if and only if x is a multiple of y
(i) Reflexive: yes. x is a multiple of x since x = 1 x.
(ii) Symmetric: no. 4 is a multiple of 2, but 2 is not a multiple of 4.
(iii) Antisymmetric: no. 2 is a multiple of 2 and 2 is a multiple of 2, but 2 6= 2.
(iv) Transitive: yes. If a divides b and b divides c, then a divides c. (Explicitly, c = nb and
b = ma, so c = mna.)
(b) (x, y) R if and only if x y 2 .
(i) Reflexive: no. 2 < 22 , so (2, 2)
/ R.
(ii) Symmetric: no. 2 12 , but it is not the case that 1 22 .
(iii) Antisymmetric: yes. Assume x y 2 and y x2 . We already know that y 2 y and
x2 x (true of any integer). This means that
x2 x y 2 y x2 .
Since the RHS and LHS are equal, everything in between must be equal, so x = y.
(iv) Transitive: yes. Assume x y 2 and y z 2 . Then since y 2 y. we have x y 2
y z2.
(c) (x, y) R if and only if x 6= y.
(i) Reflexive: no. We never have x 6= x.
(ii) Symmetric: yes. If x 6= y, y 6= x.
(iii) Antisymmetric: no. 1 6= 2 and 2 6= 1, but 2 6= 1.
(iv) Transitive: no. 1 6= 2 and 2 6= 1, but it is not the case that 1 6= 1.
(d) (x, y) R if and only if xy 1.
(i) Reflexive: no. (0, 0) is not in R.
(ii) Symmetric: yes, because xy = yx.
(iii) Antisymmetric: no. 1 2 1 and 2 1 1, but 1 6= 2.
(iv) Transitive: yes. If ab 1 and bc 1, then a and b are nonzero with the same sign,
and b and c are nonzero with the same sign, so a and c are nonzero with the same sign.
This means ac is a positive integer, so ac 1.
(e) (x, y) R if and only if x = y + 1 or x = y 1.
(i) Reflexive: no. x is never equal to x + 1 or to x 1.
Math 55: Discrete Mathematics

Spring 2012

4/16/12

Solution To Examples In Class

GSI: Ralph Morrison

(ii) Symmetric: yes. If x = y + 1 then y = x 1, and if x = y 1 then y = x + 1.

(iii) Antisymmetric: No. (1, 0) and (0, 1) are in R, but 0 6= 1.
(iv) Transitive: No. If a = b 1 and b = c 1, then a = c + d, where d is either 2, 0, or
2, so (a, c)
/ R.
(f) (x, y) R if and only if x y mod 7.
(i) Reflexive: yes. Reducing x modulo 7 gives a single number, so x x mod 7.
(ii) Symmetric: yes. If x and y have the same remainder mod 7, then y and x have the
same remainder mod 7.
(iii) Antisymmetric: no. 7 14 mod 7 and 14 7 mod 7, but 7 6= 14.
(iv) Transitive: yes. If a and b reduce to the same thing mod 7 and b and c reduce to the
same thing mod 7, then a and c reduce to the same thing mod 7.
Exercise 2. Is there a nice way to read off of a matrix M or a graph G whether a relation is (i)
reflexive, (ii) symmetric, (iii) antisymmetric, and (iv) transitive?
Matrix

(i) Reflexive: check if the diagonal of M is all 1s. If so, R is reflexive.

(ii) Symmetric: check if M is a symmetric matrix (that is, if aij = aji for all i, j).
(iii) Antisymmetric: make sure that aij 6= aji for all i 6= j.
(iv) Transitive: check that if aij = ajk = 1, then aik = 1. (Thanks to David Law for this
one!)

Graph

(i) Reflexive: make sure every vertex of the graph has a loop going back to itself.
(ii) Symmetric: make sure EVERY arrow from a point a to a different point b has a return
arrow.
(iii) Antisymmetric: make sure that NO arrow from a point a to a different point b has a
return arrlo
(iv) Transitive: make sure that if there are arrows from a to b and b to c, theres also an
arrow from a to c.

Math 55: Discrete Mathematics

Spring 2012