Discrete Mathematics - Week 2

1. Which of the following pairs of sets are equal?

(a) X = {x|x ∈ Z; 0 ≤ x ≤ 6} and Y = {x|x ∈ R; x < 7}

(b) A = {−2, −3}, B = {x : x is a Solution of x2 + 5x + 6 = 0}
(c) A = {0}; B = {x : x is a positive integral root of the equation x2 − x − 42}
(d) X, the set of letters in “LANTERN” and Y , the set of letters in “LENDERS”

Correct Answer: (b)

Option A: Set X is {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} and set Y contains all the real numbers less than
7, therefore clearly we can say that these two sets are not equal.
Option B: set A = {−2, −3} set B contains roots of the equation x2 + 5x + 6 = 0 so
set B = {−2, −3}, therefore set A and B are equal.
Option C: set B contains roots of equation x2 − x − 42 i.e., B = {−6, 7}, Hence set
A is not equal to set B.
Option D: set X has elements {L, A, N, T, E, R, N } and set Y has elements {L, E, N, D, E, R, S}
so these two sets are not equal.
Lecture 61:- A Proof technique, time: 1:00

2. If A = {4, 5, 7, 7, 9, 11, 11}, B = {{1, 3}, 12, {1, {x, y}}, {a, b, c}, 55}, C = {ϕ}, X =
{x, y, z} and Y = {a, A, B}. Which of the following statement is true?

(a) Cardinality of A is 7
(b) Cardinality of B is 5
(c) Cardinality of C is 0
(d) Cardinality of X is 1
(e) Cardinality of Y is 2

Correct Answer: (b)

Solution: Elements of set B are {1, 2}, 12, {1, {x, y}}, {a, b, c}, 55.
Hence the cardinality of set B is 5
Lecture 45:- Subset part 3, time: 1:00

3. Let set X = {1, 2, 3, 4} and P (X) denote the power set of X. What is the cardinality
of P (P (X))?

(a) 22
(b) 24
(c) 28
(d) 216

Correct Answer: (d)

X 4
Solution: Cardinality of P (P (X)) is 2|P (X)| = 22 = 22 = 216
Lecture 57:- Power set problem, time: 1:50
4. Let A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, B = {−11, −2, 5, 7, 9} and C = {−3, −3, −1, 0}. Which sets
are not disjoint sets?

(a) A and B
(b) A and C
(c) B and C
(d) C and A ∪ B

Correct Answer: (a)

Solution: Given sets are A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, B = {−11, −2, 5, 7, 9} and C = {−3, −3, −1, 0},
here we can see that all elements in set A are distinct from elements in set C, hence
option (b) is incorrect. Elements in A ∪ B are {−11, −2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9} and Set
C = {−3, −3, −1, 0}, therefore clearly these sets are disjoint hence option (d) is in-
correct. Set A and B have 5 common in them, hence they are not disjoint.
Lecture 49:- Union and intersection part, time: 2:20

5. If A and B are sets and A ∪ B = A ∩ B, then which of the following is(are) true?

(a) Either one of A or B is an empty set.

(b) B is a proper subset of A.
(c) A = B
(d) A is a proper subset of B.

Correct Answer: (c)

Solution: For each element x ∈ A, we have x ∈ (A ∪ B). Since (A ∪ B) = (A ∩ B),
it follows that x ∈ (A ∩ B). Now, (A ∩ B) denotes the elements that belong to
both A and B. Hence x ∈ B. Therefore every element of A must be in B, which
implies that A ⊆ B. Similarly for each element y ∈ B, we have y ∈ (A ∪ B). Since
(A ∪ B) = (A ∩ B), it follows that y ∈ (A ∩ B). Hence y ∈ A. This implies that
every element of B must be in A. Hence B ⊆ A. A ⊆ B and B ⊆ A together implies
A = B.
Lecture 61:- A proof technique

6. In a town with 60 people, 25 people read The Hindu newspaper, 26 read The Times
of India, 26 read Indian Express, 9 read both The Hindu and The Indian Express, 11
read both The Hindu and The Times of India, and 8 read The Times of India and
The Indian Express. How many people read all three newspapers?

(a) 10
(b) 20
(c) 11
(d) 40
 Correct Answer: (c)
Solution:
Let’s denote:

A = Number of people who read The Hindu

B = Number of people who read The Times of India
C = Number of people who read Indian Express

Based on the given information, we have the following:

A = 25
B = 26
C = 26

We can calculate the number of people who read all three newspaper using the for-
mula:
|A ∪ B ∪ C| = |A| + |B| + |C| − |A ∩ B| − |A ∩ C| − |B ∩ C| + |A ∩ B ∩ C|
Now, let’s substitute the values:

60 = 25 + 26 + 26 − 9 − 8 − 11 + |A ∩ B ∩ C|
|A ∩ B ∩ C| = 11

Therefore, 11 people read all three newspaper.

Lecture 43:- Cardinality of union of two sets-part 2, time: 1:30

7. What is the cardinality of a set of odd positive integers less than or equal to 15?

(a) 7
(b) 9
(c) 8
(d) 5

Correct Answer: (c)

Solution: Set of odd positive integers less than or equal to 15 is {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15}

8. Suppose A = {1, 2, 3, 4}. How many subsets of 3 distinct elements are possible?

(a) 4
(b) 5
(c) 6
(d) 7
 Correct Answer: (a)
Solution:
The total number of subsets for any set with n elements is 2n therefore here we have
24 = 16 subsets. Subsets of {1, 2, 3, 4} are:
{{1}, {2}, {3}, {4}, {1, 2}, {2, 3}, {3, 4}, {4, 1}, {1, 3}, {2, 4}, {1, 2, 3}, {2, 3, 4}, {3, 4, 1},
{4, 1, 2}, {1, 2, 3, 4}, {ϕ}}
Here we can observe that the number of subsets with 3 distinct elements is 4.
Lecture 43:- Subsets

9. Let A = {x|x ∈ N ; x ≤ 7} and B = {x|x ∈ N ; x is a prime number}, what is A − B?

(a) {1, 4, 3, 5}
(b) {2, 3, 5, 7}
(c) {1, 4, 6}
(d) {1, 2, 3, 5, 7}

Correct Answer: (c)

Solution: A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7} and B = {2, 3, 5, 7} thus A − B = {1, 4, 6}
Lecture 61:- A Proof technique, time: 1:00

10. Simplify (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ B)

(a) U
(b) A
(c) B
(d) A ∩ B
(e) A ∪ B

Correct Answer: (a)

Solution:
To simplify the expression (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ B), we can use the
distributive law and the complement law.
Recall that A represents the complement of a set A, which includes all elements that
are not in A.
Using the distributive law, we can rewrite the expression as follows:

(A ∪ A) ∩ (B ∪ B) − (A ∩ B) ∩ (A ∩ B)

Since A ∪ A represents the universal set and B ∪ B also represents the universal set,
we can simplify further:

Universal Set − (A ∩ B) ∩ (A ∩ B)

Now, let’s consider the intersections:

 (A ∩ B) ∩ (A ∩ B) = ∅

This is because if an element is in A ∩ B, it cannot be in A ∩ B (since A and A are

disjoint), and vice versa. Thus, their intersection is the empty set.
Therefore, the simplified expression is:

Universal Set

Lecture 62:- Demorgan’s law part 3, time: 1:00