ECON 5100 Assignment 1 Solution

HKUST
September 9, 2022

Problem 1. S is a set that has n < ∞ elements. How many subsets does S have? Explain.

Solution. 2n .
By way of induction:
1. n = 0 : S = ∅, we only have 1 subset (20 = 1)
2. Assume it is correct for n = k. If n = k + 1, every subset in the new set can either be represented as S 0
or S 0 ∪ {an+1 }, where S 0 is a set of all previous elements and an+1 is a new element. So additional of an
element increases the number of subsets twice.

Problem 2. Prove that (A ∩ B) ∩ C = A ∩ (B ∩ C) = A ∩ B ∩ C

Solution. First, we prove (A ∩ B) ∩ C = A ∩ (B ∩ C)

Step 1:
Let us take the L.H.S, (A ∩ B) ∩ C
Let x ∈ (A ∩ B) ∩ C. If x ∈ (A ∩ B) ∩ C then x ∈(A and B) and x ∈ C
x ∈(A and B) and x ∈ C
x ∈(A and B) implies x ∈ A and x ∈ B
So, we have x ∈ A, x ∈ B and x ∈ C
x ∈ A and x ∈ (B and C)
x ∈ A and (B and C)
x ∈ A ∩ (B ∩ C)
x ∈ (A ∩ B) ∩ C => x ∈ A ∩ (B ∩ C)
(A ∩ B) ∩ C ⊂ A ∩ (B ∩ C) – (1)

Step 2: Let us take the R.H.S, (A ∩ B) ∩ C

Let x ∈ A ∩ (B ∩ C). If x ∈ A ∩ (B ∩ C) then x ∈ A and x ∈ (B and C)
x ∈ A and x ∈ (B and C)
x ∈ (B and C) implies x ∈ B and x ∈ C
So, we have x ∈ A, x ∈ B and x ∈ C
x ∈ (A and B) and x ∈ C
x ∈ (A and B) and C
x ∈ (A ∩ B) ∩ C
x ∈ A ∩ (B ∩ C) => x ∈ (A ∩ B) ∩ C
A ∩ (B ∩ C) ⊂ (A ∩ B) ∩ C— (2)

From equation (1) and (2) (A ∩ B) ∩ C = A ∩ (B ∩ C)

Then, we prove (A ∩ B) ∩ C = A ∩ B ∩ C
Step 1:
Let us take the R.H.S. A ∩ B ∩ C
Let x ∈ A ∩ B ∩ C, then x ∈ A and x ∈ B and x ∈ C
Then x ∈ (A and B) and x ∈ C
So x ∈ (A ∩ B) ∩ C
A ∩ B ∩ C ⊂ A ∩ (B ∩ C) – (3)

1
 Step 2:
Let us take the L.H.S. (A ∩ B) ∩ C
Let x ∈ (A ∩ B) ∩ C, then x ∈ (A and B) and x ∈ C
This implies x ∈ A and x ∈ B and x ∈ C
So x ∈ A ∩ B ∩ C
A ∩ (B ∩ C) ⊂ A ∩ B ∩ C – (4)
From equation (3) and (4), we have (A ∩ B) ∩ C = A ∩ B ∩ C

Problem 3. Prove that A ∪ (B ∩ C) = (A ∪ B) ∩ (A ∪ C)

Solution. Since B ∩ C ⊆ B and B ∩ C ⊆ C, we have

A ∪ (B ∩ C) ⊆ A ∪ B
and
A ∪ (B ∩ C) ⊆ A ∪ C
This shows that A ∪ (B ∩ C) is contained in both A ∪ B and A ∪ C, so it is contained in their intersection:
A ∪ (B ∩ C) ⊆ (A ∪ B) ∩ (A ∪ C)
This proves containment in one direction.
For the opposite direction, suppose that x ∈ (A ∪ B) ∩ (A ∪ C). There are two possibilities: either x ∈ A or
x 6∈ A.
If x ∈ A then certainly x ∈ A ∪ (B ∩ C).
On the other hand, if x 6∈ A, then x must be in both B and C, since x ∈ (A ∪ B) ∩ (A ∪ C). Consequently,
x ∈ B ∩ C, and therefore x ∈ A ∪ (B ∩ C).
In both cases we have x ∈ A ∪ (B ∩ C). This proves the containment (A ∪ B) ∩ (A ∪ C) ⊆ A ∪ (B ∩ C)

Problem 4. A and B are both finite sets, and |A| = |B|. Prove that there exists a bijective mapping
f : A → B.

Solution. Since A and B are finite and |A| = |B|, there is a natural number n such that A and B both have
exactly n elements. We can index the elements in A as {a1 , ..., an } where n = |A|. Similarly, we can index
the elements in B as {b1 , ..., bn }. Consider the mapping f : A → B where f (ai ) = bi ∀i = 1, ..., n. f is
one-to-one because f (ai ) = bi 6= bj = f (aj ) if ai 6= aj . f is onto because for any bi ∈ B we have f (ai ) = bi .

Problem 5. Find a bijective mapping from N to Z, and explain why it is bijective.

Solution. If n is even, f (n) = − n2 ; if n is odd, f (n) = n+1

2 . f is clearly one-to-one. To show that it is onto,
pick any z ∈ Z. If z > 0 then z = f (2z − 1). If z ≤ 0 then z = f (−2z). Thus for any z ∈ Z there is some
n ∈ N where z = f (n).