Chapter 0

Introduction and Preliminaries

Welcome to Discrete Mathematics. If this is your first time encountering

the subject, you will probably find discrete mathematics quite different
from other math subjects. You might not even know what discrete math is!
Hopefully this short introduction will shed some light on what the subject
is about and what you can expect as you move forward in your studies.

0.1 What is Discrete Mathematics?

dis·crete / dis’krët.
Adjective: Individually separate and distinct.
Synonyms: separate - detached - distinct - abstract.

Defining discrete mathematics is hard because defining mathematics is hard.

What is mathematics? The study of numbers? In part, but you also
study functions and lines and triangles and parallelepipeds and vectors
and . . . . Or perhaps you want to say that mathematics is a collection of
tools that allow you to solve problems. What sort of problems? Okay,
those that involve numbers, functions, lines, triangles, . . . . Whatever your
conception of what mathematics is, try applying the concept of “discrete”
to it, as defined above. Some math fundamentally deals with stuff that is
individually separate and distinct.
In an algebra or calculus class, you might have found a particular set of
numbers (maybe the set of numbers in the range of a function). You would
represent this set as an interval: [0, ∞) is the range of f (x)  x 2 since the
set of outputs of the function are all real numbers 0 and greater. This set
of numbers is NOT discrete. The numbers in the set are not separated by
much at all. In fact, take any two numbers in the set and there are infinitely
many more between them which are also in the set.
Discrete math could still ask about the range of a function, but the set
would not be an interval. Consider the function which gives the number
of children of each person reading this. What is the range? I’m guessing it
is something like {0, 1, 2, 3}. Maybe 4 is in there too. But certainly there is
nobody reading this that has 1.32419 children. This output set is discrete
because the elements are separate. The inputs to the function also form a
discrete set because each input is an individual person.
One way to get a feel for the subject is to consider the types of problems
you solve in discrete math. Here are a few simple examples:

1
2 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

Investigate!
Note: Throughout the text you will see Investigate! activities like this
one. Answer the questions in these as best you can to give yourself a feel
for what is coming next.
1. The most popular mathematician in the world is throwing
a party for all of his friends. As a way to kick things off,
they decide that everyone should shake hands. Assuming
all 10 people at the party each shake hands with every other
person (but not themselves, obviously) exactly once, how
many handshakes take place?
2. At the warm-up event for Oscar’s All Star Hot Dog Eating
Contest, Al ate one hot dog. Bob then showed him up by
eating three hot dogs. Not to be outdone, Carl ate five. This
continued with each contestant eating two more hot dogs
than the previous contestant. How many hot dogs did Zeno
(the 26th and final contestant) eat? How many hot dogs were
eaten all together?
3. After excavating for weeks, you finally arrive at the burial
chamber. The room is empty except for two large chests. On
each is carved a message (strangely in English):

If this chest is This chest is filled

empty, then the with treasure or the
other chest’s other chest contains
message is true. deadly scorpions.

You know exactly one of these messages is true. What should

you do?
4. Back in the days of yore, five small towns decided they
wanted to build roads directly connecting each pair of towns.
While the towns had plenty of money to build roads as long
and as winding as they wished, it was very important that
the roads not intersect with each other (as stop signs had
not yet been invented). Also, tunnels and bridges were not
allowed. Is it possible for each of these towns to build a
road to each of the four other towns without creating any
intersections?

! Attempt the above activity before proceeding !

One reason it is difficult to define discrete math is that it is a very broad
description which encapsulates a large number of subjects. In this course
 0.1. What is Discrete Mathematics? 3

we will study four main topics: combinatorics (the theory of ways things
combine; in particular, how to count these ways), sequences, symbolic
logic, and graph theory. However, there are other topics that belong
under the discrete umbrella, including computer science, abstract algebra,
number theory, game theory, probability, and geometry (some of these,
particularly the last two, have both discrete and non-discrete variants).
Ultimately the best way to learn what discrete math is about is to do it.
Let’s get started! Before we can begin answering more complicated (and
fun) problems, we must lay down some foundation. We start by reviewing
mathematical statements, sets, and functions in the framework of discrete
mathematics.
4 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

0.2 Mathematical Statements

Investigate!
While walking through a fictional forest, you encounter three trolls
guarding a bridge. Each is either a knight, who always tells the
truth, or a knave, who always lies. The trolls will not let you pass
until you correctly identify each as either a knight or a knave. Each
troll makes a single statement:
Troll 1: If I am a knave, then there are exactly two
knights here.
Troll 2: Troll 1 is lying.
Troll 3: Either we are all knaves or at least one of us is
a knight.

Which troll is which?

! Attempt the above activity before proceeding !

In order to do mathematics, we must be able to talk and write about
mathematics. Perhaps your experience with mathematics so far has mostly
involved finding answers to problems. As we embark towards more
advanced and abstract mathematics, writing will play a more prominent
role in the mathematical process.
Communication in mathematics requires more precision than many
other subjects, and thus we should take a few pages here to consider the
basic building blocks: mathematical statements.

Atomic and Molecular Statements

A statement is any declarative sentence which is either true or false.
A statement is atomic if it cannot be divided into smaller statements,
otherwise it is called molecular.

Example 0.2.1

These are statements (in fact, atomic statements):

• Telephone numbers in the USA have 10 digits.
• The moon is made of cheese.
• 42 is a perfect square.
• Every even number greater than 2 can be expressed as the
sum of two primes.
 0.2. Mathematical Statements 5

• 3 + 7  12

And these are not statements:

• Would you like some cake?

• The sum of two squares.
• 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + · · · + 2n + 1.
• Go to your room!
• 3 + x  12

The reason the sentence “3 + x  12” is not a statement is that it

contains a variable. Depending on what x is, the sentence is either true
or false, but right now it is neither. One way to make the sentence into a
statement is to specify the value of the variable in some way. This could be
done by specifying a specific substitution, for example, “3 + x  12 where
x  9,” which is a true statement. Or you could capture the free variable
by quantifying over it, as in, “for all values of x, 3 + x  12,” which is false.
We will discuss quantifiers in more detail at the end of this section.
You can build more complicated (molecular) statements out of simpler
(atomic or molecular) ones using logical connectives. For example, this is
a molecular statement:

Telephone numbers in the USA have 10 digits and 42 is a perfect

square.

Note that we can break this down into two smaller statements. The
two shorter statements are connected by an “and.” We will consider 5
connectives: “and” (Sam is a man and Chris is a woman), “or” (Sam is a
man or Chris is a woman), “if. . . , then. . . ” (if Sam is a man, then Chris is
a woman), “if and only if” (Sam is a man if and only if Chris is a woman),
and “not” (Sam is not a man). The first four are called binary connectives
(because they connect two statements) while “not” is an example of a
unary connective (since it applies to a single statement).
These molecular statements are of course still statements, so they must
be either true or false. The absolutely key observation here is that which
truth value the molecular statement achieves is completely determined
by the type of connective and the truth values of the parts. We do not
need to know what the parts actually say, only whether those parts are
true or false. So to analyze logical connectives, it is enough to consider
propositional variables (sometimes called sentential variables), usually
capital letters in the middle of the alphabet: P, Q, R, S, . . .. We think of
these as standing in for (usually atomic) statements, but there are only two
6 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

values the variables can achieve: true or false.1 We also have symbols for
the logical connectives: ∧, ∨, →, ↔, ¬.
Logical Connectives.
• P ∧ Q is read “P and Q,” and called a conjunction.
• P ∨ Q is read “P or Q,” and called a disjunction.
• P → Q is read “if P then Q,” and called an implication or
conditional.
• P ↔ Q is read “P if and only if Q,” and called a biconditional.

• ¬P is read “not P,” and called a negation.

The truth value of a statement is determined by the truth value(s) of

its part(s), depending on the connectives:
Truth Conditions for Connectives.
• P ∧ Q is true when both P and Q are true.
• P ∨ Q is true when P or Q or both are true.
• P → Q is true when P is false or Q is true or both.
• P ↔ Q is true when P and Q are both true, or both false.
• ¬P is true when P is false.

Note that for us, or is the inclusive or (and not the sometimes used
exclusive or) meaning that P ∨ Q is in fact true when both P and Q are true.
As for the other connectives, “and” behaves as you would expect, as does
negation. The biconditional (if and only if) might seem a little strange,
but you should think of this as saying the two parts of the statements are
equivalent in that they have the same truth value. This leaves only the
conditional P → Q which has a slightly different meaning in mathematics
than it does in ordinary usage. However, implications are so common and
useful in mathematics, that we must develop fluency with their use, and
as such, they deserve their own subsection.

1In computer programming, we should call such variables Boolean variables.

 0.2. Mathematical Statements 7

Implications

Implications.
An implication or conditional is a molecular statement of the form

P→Q

where P and Q are statements. We say that

• P is the hypothesis (or antecedent).
• Q is the conclusion (or consequent).

An implication is true provided P is false or Q is true (or both),

and false otherwise. In particular, the only way for P → Q to be false
is for P to be true and Q to be false.

Easily the most common type of statement in mathematics is the

implication. Even statements that do not at first look like they have this form
conceal an implication at their heart. Consider the Pythagorean Theorem.
Many a college freshman would quote this theorem as “a 2 + b 2  c 2 .” This
is absolutely not correct. For one thing, that is not a statement since it has
three variables in it. Perhaps they imply that this should be true for any
values of the variables? So 12 + 52  22 ??? How can we fix this? Well, the
equation is true as long as a and b are the legs of a right triangle and c is
the hypotenuse. In other words:

If a and b are the legs of a right triangle with hypotenuse c,

then a 2 + b 2  c 2 .

This is a reasonable way to think about implications: our claim is that the
conclusion (“then” part) is true, but on the assumption that the hypothesis
(“if” part) is true. We make no claim about the conclusion in situations
when the hypothesis is false.2
Still, it is important to remember that an implication is a statement,
and therefore is either true or false. The truth value of the implication is
determined by the truth values of its two parts. To agree with the usage
above, we say that an implication is true either when the hypothesis is
false, or when the conclusion is true. This leaves only one way for an
implication to be false: when the hypothesis is true and the conclusion is
false.
2However, note that in the case of the Pythagorean Theorem, it is also the case that if
a 2 + b 2  c 2 , then a and b are the legs of a right triangle with hypotenuse c. So we could
have also expressed this theorem as a biconditional: “a and b are the legs of a right triangle
with hypotenuse c if and only if a 2 + b 2  c 2 .”
8 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

Example 0.2.2

Consider the statement:

If Bob gets a 90 on the final, then Bob will pass the class.

This is definitely an implication: P is the statement “Bob gets a 90

on the final,” and Q is the statement “Bob will pass the class.”
Suppose I made that statement to Bob. In what circumstances
would it be fair to call me a liar? What if Bob really did get a 90
on the final, and he did pass the class? Then I have not lied; my
statement is true. However, if Bob did get a 90 on the final and
did not pass the class, then I lied, making the statement false. The
tricky case is this: what if Bob did not get a 90 on the final? Maybe
he passes the class, maybe he doesn’t. Did I lie in either case? I
think not. In these last two cases, P was false, and the statement
P → Q was true. In the first case, Q was true, and so was P → Q.
So P → Q is true when either P is false or Q is true.

Just to be clear, although we sometimes read P → Q as “P implies Q”,

we are not insisting that there is some causal relationship between the
statements P and Q. In particular, if you claim that P → Q is false, you are
not saying that P does not imply Q, but rather that P is true and Q is false.

Example 0.2.3

Decide which of the following statements are true and which are
false. Briefly explain.
1. If 1  1, then most horses have 4 legs.
2. If 0  1, then 1  1.
3. If 8 is a prime number, then the 7624th digit of π is an 8.
4. If the 7624th digit of π is an 8, then 2 + 2  4.

Solution. All four of the statements are true. Remember, the only
way for an implication to be false is for the if part to be true and the
then part to be false.
1. Here both the hypothesis and the conclusion are true, so
the implication is true. It does not matter that there is no
meaningful connection between the true mathematical fact
and the fact about horses.
2. Here the hypothesis is false and the conclusion is true, so the
implication is true.
 0.2. Mathematical Statements 9

3. I have no idea what the 7624th digit of π is, but this does
not matter. Since the hypothesis is false, the implication is
automatically true.
4. Similarly here, regardless of the truth value of the hypothesis,
the conclusion is true, making the implication true.

It is important to understand the conditions under which an implication

is true not only to decide whether a mathematical statement is true, but in
order to prove that it is. Proofs might seem scary (especially if you have
had a bad high school geometry experience) but all we are really doing
is explaining (very carefully) why a statement is true. If you understand
the truth conditions for an implication, you already have the outline for a
proof.
Direct Proofs of Implications.
To prove an implication P → Q, it is enough to assume P, and from
it, deduce Q.

Perhaps a better way to say this is that to prove a statement of the form
P → Q directly, you must explain why Q is true, but you get to assume P
is true first. After all, you only care about whether Q is true in the case
that P is as well.
There are other techniques to prove statements (implications and
others) that we will encounter throughout our studies, and new proof
techniques are discovered all the time. Direct proof is the easiest and most
elegant style of proof and has the advantage that such a proof often does a
great job of explaining why the statement is true.

Example 0.2.4

Prove: If two numbers a and b are even, then their sum a + b is even.
Solution.
Proof. Suppose the numbers a and b are even. This means that
a  2k and b  2j for some integers k and j. The sum is then
a + b  2k + 2j  2(k + j). Since k + j is an integer, this means that
a + b is even. 
Notice that since we get to assume the hypothesis of the impli-
cation, we immediately have a place to start. The proof proceeds
essentially by repeatedly asking and answering, “what does that
mean?” Eventually, we conclude that it means the conclusion.
10 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

This sort of argument shows up outside of math as well. If you ever

found yourself starting an argument with “hypothetically, let’s assume
. . . ,” then you have attempted a direct proof of your desired conclusion.
An implication is a way of expressing a relationship between two state-
ments. It is often interesting to ask whether there are other relationships
between the statements. Here we introduce some common language to
address this question.
Converse and Contrapositive.
• The converse of an implication P → Q is the implication Q →
P. The converse is NOT logically equivalent to the original
implication. That is, whether the converse of an implication is
true is independent of the truth of the implication.
• The contrapositive of an implication P → Q is the statement
¬Q → ¬P. An implication and its contrapositive are logically
equivalent (they are either both true or both false).

Mathematics is overflowing with examples of true implications which

have a false converse. If a number greater than 2 is prime, then that
number is odd. However, just because a number is odd does not mean it
is prime. If a shape is a square, then it is a rectangle. But it is false that if a
shape is a rectangle, then it is a square.
However, sometimes the converse of a true statement is also true. For
example, the Pythagorean theorem has a true converse: if a 2 + b 2  c 2 ,
then the triangle with sides a, b, and c is a right triangle. Whenever you
encounter an implication in mathematics, it is always reasonable to ask
whether the converse is true.
The contrapositive, on the other hand, always has the same truth value
as its original implication. This can be very helpful in deciding whether
an implication is true: often it is easier to analyze the contrapositive.

Example 0.2.5

True or false: If you draw any nine playing cards from a regular
deck, then you will have at least three cards all of the same suit. Is
the converse true?
Solution. True. The original implication is a little hard to analyze
because there are so many different combinations of nine cards. But
consider the contrapositive: If you don’t have at least three cards all
of the same suit, then you don’t have nine cards. It is easy to see
why this is true: you can at most have two cards of each of the four
suits, for a total of eight cards (or fewer).
 0.2. Mathematical Statements 11

The converse: If you have at least three cards all of the same suit,
then you have nine cards. This is false. You could have three spades
and nothing else. Note that to demonstrate that the converse (an
implication) is false, we provided an example where the hypothesis
is true (you do have three cards of the same suit), but where the
conclusion is false (you do not have nine cards).

Understanding converses and contrapositives can help understand

implications and their truth values:

Example 0.2.6

Suppose I tell Sue that if she gets a 93% on her final, then she will
get an A in the class. Assuming that what I said is true, what can
you conclude in the following cases:
1. Sue gets a 93% on her final.
2. Sue gets an A in the class.
3. Sue does not get a 93% on her final.
4. Sue does not get an A in the class.

Solution. Note first that whenever P → Q and P are both true

statements, Q must be true as well. For this problem, take P to
mean “Sue gets a 93% on her final” and Q to mean “Sue will get an
A in the class.”

1. We have P → Q and P, so Q follows. Sue gets an A.

2. You cannot conclude anything. Sue could have gotten the A
because she did extra credit for example. Notice that we do
not know that if Sue gets an A, then she gets a 93% on her
final. That is the converse of the original implication, so it
might or might not be true.
3. The contrapositive of the converse of P → Q is ¬P → ¬Q,
which states that if Sue does not get a 93% on the final, then
she will not get an A in the class. But this does not follow from
the original implication. Again, we can conclude nothing. Sue
could have done extra credit.
4. What would happen if Sue does not get an A but did get a
93% on the final? Then P would be true and Q would be
false. This makes the implication P → Q false! It must be that
12 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

Sue did not get a 93% on the final. Notice now we have the
implication ¬Q → ¬P which is the contrapositive of P → Q.
Since P → Q is assumed to be true, we know ¬Q → ¬P is
true as well.

As we said above, an implication is not logically equivalent to its

converse, but it is possible that both the implication and its converse are
true. In this case, when both P → Q and Q → P are true, we say that
P and Q are equivalent and write P ↔ Q. This is the biconditional we
mentioned earlier.
If and only if.

P ↔ Q is logically equivalent to (P → Q) ∧ (Q → P).

Example: Given an integer n, it is true that n is even if and only if n 2

is even. That is, if n is even, then n 2 is even, as well as the converse:
if n 2 is even, then n is even.

You can think of “if and only if” statements as having two parts: an
implication and its converse. We might say one is the “if” part, and
the other is the “only if” part. We also sometimes say that “if and only
if” statements have two directions: a forward direction (P → Q) and
a backwards direction (P ← Q, which is really just sloppy notation for
Q → P).
Let’s think a little about which part is which. Is P → Q the “if” part or
the “only if” part? Consider an example.

Example 0.2.7

Suppose it is true that I sing if and only if I’m in the shower. We

know this means both that if I sing, then I’m in the shower, and
also the converse, that if I’m in the shower, then I sing. Let P be the
statement, “I sing,” and Q be, “I’m in the shower.” So P → Q is the
statement “if I sing, then I’m in the shower.” Which part of the if
and only if statement is this?
What we are really asking for is the meaning of “I sing if I’m in
the shower” and “I sing only if I’m in the shower.” When is the first
one (the “if” part) false? When I am in the shower but not singing.
That is the same condition on being false as the statement “if I’m in
the shower, then I sing.” So the “if” part is Q → P. On the other
hand, to say, “I sing only if I’m in the shower” is equivalent to saying
“if I sing, then I’m in the shower,” so the “only if” part is P → Q.
 0.2. Mathematical Statements 13

It is not terribly important to know which part is the “if” or “only if”
part, but this does illustrate something very, very important: there are many
ways to state an implication!

Example 0.2.8

Rephrase the implication, “if I dream, then I am asleep” in as many

different ways as possible. Then do the same for the converse.
Solution. The following are all equivalent to the original implica-
tion:

1. I am asleep if I dream.
2. I dream only if I am asleep.
3. In order to dream, I must be asleep.
4. To dream, it is necessary that I am asleep.
5. To be asleep, it is sufficient to dream.
6. I am not dreaming unless I am asleep.

The following are equivalent to the converse (if I am asleep, then I

dream):

1. I dream if I am asleep.
2. I am asleep only if I dream.
3. It is necessary that I dream in order to be asleep.
4. It is sufficient that I be asleep in order to dream.
5. If I don’t dream, then I’m not asleep.

Hopefully you agree with the above example. We include the “neces-
sary and sufficient” versions because those are common when discussing
mathematics. In fact, let’s agree once and for all what they mean.
14 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

Necessary and Sufficient.

• “P is necessary for Q” means Q → P.
• “P is sufficient for Q” means P → Q.
• If P is necessary and sufficient for Q, then P ↔ Q.

To be honest, I have trouble with these if I’m not very careful. I find it
helps to keep a standard example for reference.

Example 0.2.9

Recall from calculus, if a function is differentiable at a point c, then

it is continuous at c, but that the converse of this statement is not
true (for example, f (x)  |x| at the point 0). Restate this fact using
“necessary and sufficient” language.
Solution. It is true that in order for a function to be differentiable
at a point c, it is necessary for the function to be continuous at c.
However, it is not necessary that a function be differentiable at c for
it to be continuous at c.
It is true that to be continuous at a point c, it is sufficient that the
function be differentiable at c. However, it is not the case that being
continuous at c is sufficient for a function to be differentiable at c.

Thinking about the necessity and sufficiency of conditions can also help
when writing proofs and justifying conclusions. If you want to establish
some mathematical fact, it is helpful to think what other facts would be
enough (be sufficient) to prove your fact. If you have an assumption, think
about what must also be necessary if that hypothesis is true.
 0.2. Mathematical Statements 15

Predicates and Quantifiers

Investigate!
Consider the statements below. Decide whether any are equivalent
to each other, or whether any imply any others.
1. You can fool some people all of the time.
2. You can fool everyone some of the time.
3. You can always fool some people.
4. Sometimes you can fool everyone.

! Attempt the above activity before proceeding !

It would be nice to use variables in our mathematical sentences. For
example, suppose we wanted to claim that if n is prime, then n + 7 is not
prime. This looks like an implication. I would like to write something like

P(n) → ¬P(n + 7)

where P(n) means “n is prime.” But this is not quite right. For one
thing, because this sentence has a free variable (that is, a variable that we
have not specified anything about), it is not a statement. A sentence that
contains variables is called a predicate.
Now, if we plug in a specific value for n, we do get a statement. In
fact, it turns out that no matter what value we plug in for n, we get a true
implication in this case. What we really want to say is that for all values of
n, if n is prime, then n + 7 is not. We need to quantify the variable.
Although there are many types of quantifiers in English (e.g., many, few,
most, etc.) in mathematics we, for the most part, stick to two: existential
and universal.
Universal and Existential Quantifiers.
The existential quantifier is ∃ and is read “there exists” or “there is.”
For example,
∃x(x < 0)
asserts that there is a number less than 0.
The universal quantifier is ∀ and is read “for all” or “every.” For
example,
∀x(x ≥ 0)
asserts that every number is greater than or equal to 0.
16 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

As with all mathematical statements, we would like to decide whether

quantified statements are true or false. Consider the statement

∀x∃y(y < x).

You would read this, “for every x there is some y such that y is less than x.”
Is this true? The answer depends on what our domain of discourse is: when
we say “for all” x, do we mean all positive integers or all real numbers or
all elements of some other set? Usually this information is implied. In
discrete mathematics, we almost always quantify over the natural numbers,
0, 1, 2, . . . , so let’s take that for our domain of discourse here.
For the statement to be true, we need it to be the case that no matter
what natural number we select, there is always some natural number that
is strictly smaller. Perhaps we could let y be x − 1? But here is the problem:
what if x  0? Then y  −1 and that is not a number! (in our domain
of discourse). Thus we see that the statement is false because there is a
number which is less than or equal to all other numbers. In symbols,

∃x∀y(y ≥ x).

To show that the original statement is false, we proved that the negation
was true. Notice how the negation and original statement compare. This
is typical.
Quantifiers and Negation.

¬∀xP(x) is equivalent to ∃x¬P(x).

¬∃xP(x) is equivalent to ∀x¬P(x).

Essentially, we can pass the negation symbol over a quantifier, but that
causes the quantifier to switch type. This should not be surprising: if
not everything has a property, then something doesn’t have that property.
And if there is not something with a property, then everything doesn’t
have that property.

Implicit Quantifiers.
It is always a good idea to be precise in mathematics. Sometimes though,
we can relax a little bit, as long as we all agree on a convention. An example
of such a convention is to assume that sentences containing predicates
with free variables are intended as statements, where the variables are
universally quantified.
For example, do you believe that if a shape is a square, then it is a
rectangle? But how can that be true if it is not a statement? To be a little
more precise, we have two predicates: S(x) standing for “x is a square”
 0.2. Mathematical Statements 17

and R(x) standing for “x is a rectangle”. The sentence we are looking at is,

S(x) → R(x).

This is neither true nor false, as it is not a statement. But come on! We all
know that we meant to consider the statement,

∀x(S(x) → R(x)),

and this is what our convention tells us to consider.

Similarly, we will often be a bit sloppy about the distinction between
a predicate and a statement. For example, we might write, let P(n) be the
statement, “n is prime,” which is technically incorrect. It is implicit that
we mean that we are defining P(n) to be a predicate, which for each n
becomes the statement, n is prime.

Exercises
1. For each sentence below, decide whether it is an atomic statement, a
molecular statement, or not a statement at all.
(a) Customers must wear shoes.
(b) The customers wore shoes.
(c) The customers wore shoes and they wore socks.
2. Classify each of the sentences below as an atomic statement, a molecular
statement, or not a statement at all. If the statement is molecular, say
what kind it is (conjunction, disjunction, conditional, biconditional,
negation).
(a) The sum of the first 100 odd positive integers.
(b) Everybody needs somebody sometime.
(c) The Broncos will win the Super Bowl or I’ll eat my hat.
(d) We can have donuts for dinner, but only if it rains.
(e) Every natural number greater than 1 is either prime or composite.
(f) This sentence is false.
3. Suppose P and Q are the statements: P: Jack passed math. Q: Jill
passed math.
(a) Translate “Jack and Jill both passed math” into symbols.
(b) Translate “If Jack passed math, then Jill did not” into symbols.
(c) Translate “P ∨ Q” into English.
(d) Translate “¬(P ∧ Q) → Q” into English.
18 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

(e) Suppose you know that if Jack passed math, then so did Jill.
What can you conclude if you know that:

i. Jill passed math?

ii. Jill did not pass math?
4. Determine whether each molecular statement below is true or false, or
whether it is impossible to determine. Assume you do not know what
my favorite number is (but you do know that 13 is prime).
(a) If 13 is prime, then 13 is my favorite number.
(b) If 13 is my favorite number, then 13 is prime.
(c) If 13 is not prime, then 13 is my favorite number.
(d) 13 is my favorite number or 13 is prime.
(e) 13 is my favorite number and 13 is prime.
(f) 7 is my favorite number and 13 is not prime.
(g) 13 is my favorite number or 13 is not my favorite number.
5. In my safe is a sheet of paper with two shapes drawn on it in colored
crayon. One is a square, and the other is a triangle. Each shape is
drawn in a single color. Suppose you believe me when I tell you that if
the square is blue, then the triangle is green. What do you therefore know
about the truth value of the following statements?
(a) The square and the triangle are both blue.
(b) The square and the triangle are both green.
(c) If the triangle is not green, then the square is not blue.
(d) If the triangle is green, then the square is blue.
(e) The square is not blue or the triangle is green.
6. Again, suppose the statement “if the square is blue, then the triangle
is green” is true. This time however, assume the converse is false.
Classify each statement below as true or false (if possible).
(a) The square is blue if and only if the triangle is green.
(b) The square is blue if and only if the triangle is not green.
(c) The square is blue.
(d) The triangle is green.
 0.2. Mathematical Statements 19

7. Consider the statement, “If you will give me a cow, then I will give you
magic beans.” Decide whether each statement below is the converse,
the contrapositive, or neither.
(a) If you will give me a cow, then I will not give you magic beans.
(b) If I will not give you magic beans, then you will not give me a
cow.
(c) If I will give you magic beans, then you will give me a cow.
(d) If you will not give me a cow, then I will not give you magic
beans.
(e) You will give me a cow and I will not give you magic beans.
(f) If I will give you magic beans, then you will not give me a cow.
8. Consider the statement “If Oscar eats Chinese food, then he drinks
milk.”
(a) Write the converse of the statement.
(b) Write the contrapositive of the statement.
(c) Is it possible for the contrapositive to be false? If it was, what
would that tell you?
(d) Suppose the original statement is true, and that Oscar drinks
milk. Can you conclude anything (about his eating Chinese
food)? Explain.
(e) Suppose the original statement is true, and that Oscar does
not drink milk. Can you conclude anything (about his eating
Chinese food)? Explain.
9. You have discovered an old paper on graph theory that discusses the
viscosity of a graph (which for all you know, is something completely
made up by the author). A theorem in the paper claims that “if a
graph satisfies condition (V), then the graph is viscous.” Which of
the following are equivalent ways of stating this claim? Which are
equivalent to the converse of the claim?
(a) A graph is viscous only if it satisfies condition (V).
(b) A graph is viscous if it satisfies condition (V).
(c) For a graph to be viscous, it is necessary that it satisfies condition
(V).
(d) For a graph to be viscous, it is sufficient for it to satisfy condition
(V).
20 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

(e) Satisfying condition (V) is a sufficient condition for a graph to

be viscous.
(f) Satisfying condition (V) is a necessary condition for a graph to
be viscous.
(g) Every viscous graph satisfies condition (V).
(h) Only viscous graphs satisfy condition (V).
10. Write each of the following statements in the form, “if . . . , then . . . .”
Careful, some of the statements might be false (which is alright for the
purposes of this question).
(a) To lose weight, you must exercise.
(b) To lose weight, all you need to do is exercise.
(c) Every American is patriotic.
(d) You are patriotic only if you are American.
(e) The set of rational numbers is a subset of the real numbers.
(f) A number is prime if it is not even.
(g) Either the Broncos will win the Super Bowl, or they won’t play
in the Super Bowl.
11. Which of the following statements are equivalent to the implication,
“if you win the lottery, then you will be rich,” and which are equivalent
to the converse of the implication?
(a) Either you win the lottery or else you are not rich.
(b) Either you don’t win the lottery or else you are rich.
(c) You will win the lottery and be rich.
(d) You will be rich if you win the lottery.
(e) You will win the lottery if you are rich.
(f) It is necessary for you to win the lottery to be rich.
(g) It is sufficient to win the lottery to be rich.
(h) You will be rich only if you win the lottery.
(i) Unless you win the lottery, you won’t be rich.
(j) If you are rich, you must have won the lottery.
(k) If you are not rich, then you did not win the lottery.
(l) You will win the lottery if and only if you are rich.
 0.2. Mathematical Statements 21

12. Let P(x) be the predicate, “3x + 1 is even.”

(a) Is P(5) true or false?
(b) What, if anything, can you conclude about ∃xP(x) from the truth
value of P(5)?
(c) What, if anything, can you conclude about ∀xP(x) from the truth
value of P(5)?
13. Let P(x) be the predicate, “4x + 1 is even.”
(a) Is P(5) true or false?
(b) What, if anything, can you conclude about ∃xP(x) from the truth
value of P(5)?
(c) What, if anything, can you conclude about ∀xP(x) from the truth
value of P(5)?
14. For a given predicate P(x), you might believe that the statements
∀xP(x) or ∃xP(x) are either true or false. How would you decide if
you were correct in each case? You have four choices: you could give
an example of an element n in the domain for which P(n) is true or
for which P(n) if false, or you could argue that no matter what n is,
P(n) is true or is false.
(a) What would you need to do to prove ∀xP(x) is true?
(b) What would you need to do to prove ∀xP(x) is false?
(c) What would you need to do to prove ∃xP(x) is true?
(d) What would you need to do to prove ∃xP(x) is false?
15. Suppose P(x, y) is some binary predicate defined on a very small
domain of discourse: just the integers 1, 2, 3, and 4. For each of the 16
pairs of these numbers, P(x, y) is either true or false, according to the
following table (x values are rows, y values are columns).
1 2 3 4
1 T F F F
2 F T T F
3 T T T T
4 F F F F
For example, P(1, 3) is false, as indicated by the F in the first row,
third column.
Use the table to decide whether the following statements are true
or false.

(a) ∀x∃yP(x, y).

22 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

(b) ∀y∃xP(x, y).

(c) ∃x∀yP(x, y).
(d) ∃y∀xP(x, y).
16. Translate into symbols. Use E(x) for “x is even” and O(x) for “x is
odd.”
(a) No number is both even and odd.
(b) One more than any even number is an odd number.
(c) There is prime number that is even.
(d) Between any two numbers there is a third number.
(e) There is no number between a number and one more than that
number.
17. Translate into English:
(a) ∀x(E(x) → E(x + 2)).
(b) ∀x∃y(sin(x)  y).
(c) ∀y∃x(sin(x)  y).
(d) ∀x∀y(x 3  y 3 → x  y).
18. Suppose P(x) is some predicate for which the statement ∀xP(x) is true.
Is it also the case that ∃xP(x) is true? In other words, is the statement
∀xP(x) → ∃xP(x) always true? Is the converse always true? Assume
the domain of discourse is non-empty.
19. For each of the statements below, give a domain of discourse for which
the statement is true, and a domain for which the statement is false.
(a) ∀x∃y(y 2  x).
(b) ∀x∀y(x < y → ∃z(x < z < y)).
(c) ∃x∀y∀z(y < z → y ≤ x ≤ z).
20. Consider the statement, “For all natural numbers n, if n is prime, then
n is solitary.” You do not need to know what solitary means for this
problem, just that it is a property that some numbers have and others
do not.
(a) Write the converse and the contrapositive of the statement,
saying which is which. Note: the original statement claims that
an implication is true for all n, and it is that implication that we
are taking the converse and contrapositive of.
 0.2. Mathematical Statements 23

(b) Write the negation of the original statement. What would you
need to show to prove that the statement is false?
(c) Even though you don’t know whether 10 is solitary (in fact,
nobody knows this), is the statement “if 10 is prime, then 10 is
solitary” true or false? Explain.
(d) It turns out that 8 is solitary. Does this tell you anything about
the truth or falsity of the original statement, its converse or its
contrapositive? Explain.
(e) Assuming that the original statement is true, what can you say
about the relationship between the set P of prime numbers and
the set S of solitary numbers. Explain.
24 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

0.3 Sets
The most fundamental objects we will use in our studies (and really in
all of math) are sets. Much of what follows might be review, but it is
very important that you are fluent in the language of set theory. Most of
the notation we use below is standard, although some might be a little
different than what you have seen before.
For us, a set will simply be an unordered collection of objects. Two
examples: we could consider the set of all actors who have played The
Doctor on Doctor Who, or the set of natural numbers between 1 and 10
inclusive. In the first case, Tom Baker is an element (or member) of the set,
while Idris Elba, among many others, is not an element of the set. Also,
the two examples are of different sets. Two sets are equal exactly if they
contain the exact same elements. For example, the set containing all of the
vowels in the declaration of independence is precisely the same set as the
set of vowels in the word “questionably” (namely, all of them); we do not
care about order or repetitions, just whether the element is in the set or
not.

Notation
We need some notation to make talking about sets easier. Consider,

A  {1, 2, 3}.

This is read, “A is the set containing the elements 1, 2 and 3.” We use
curly braces “{, }” to enclose elements of a set. Some more notation:

a ∈ {a, b, c}.

The symbol “∈” is read “is in” or “is an element of.” Thus the above
means that a is an element of the set containing the letters a, b, and c. Note
that this is a true statement. It would also be true to say that d is not in
that set:
d < {a, b, c}.
Be warned: we write “x ∈ A” when we wish to express that one of the
elements of the set A is x. For example, consider the set,

A  {1, b, {x, y, z}, ∅}.

This is a strange set, to be sure. It contains four elements: the number

1, the letter b, the set {x, y, z}, and the empty set ∅  {}, the set containing
no elements. Is x in A? The answer is no. None of the four elements in A
are the letter x, so we must conclude that x < A. Similarly, consider the set
B  {1, b}. Even though the elements of B are elements of A, we cannot
 0.3. Sets 25

say that the set B is one of the elements of A. Therefore B < A. (Soon we
will see that B is a subset of A, but this is different from being an element of
A.)
We have described the sets above by listing their elements. Sometimes
this is hard to do, especially when there are a lot of elements in the set
(perhaps infinitely many). For instance, if we want A to be the set of all
even natural numbers, would could write,

A  {0, 2, 4, 6, . . .},

but this is a little imprecise. A better way would be

A  {x ∈ N : ∃n ∈ N(x  2n)}.

Let’s look at this carefully. First, there are some new symbols to digest:
“N” is the symbol usually used to denote that natural numbers, which we
will take to be the set {0, 1, 2, 3, . . .}. Next, the colon, “:”, is read such that;
it separates the elements that are in the set from the condition that the
elements in the set must satisfy. So putting this all together, we would
read the set as, “the set of all x in the natural numbers, such that there
exists some n in the natural numbers for which x is twice n.” In other
words, the set of all natural numbers, that are even. Here is another way
to write the same set.

A  {x ∈ N : x is even}.

Note: Sometimes mathematicians use | or  for the “such that” symbol

instead of the colon. Also, there is a fairly even split between mathemati-
cians about whether 0 is an element of the natural numbers, so be careful
there.
This notation is usually called set builder notation. It tells us how
to build a set by telling us precisely the condition elements must meet to
gain access (the condition is the logical statement after the “:” symbol).
Reading and comprehending sets written in this way takes practice. Here
are some more examples:

Example 0.3.1

Describe each of the following sets both in words and by listing out
enough elements to see the pattern.
1. {x : x + 3 ∈ N}.
2. {x ∈ N : x + 3 ∈ N}.
3. {x : x ∈ N ∨ −x ∈ N}.
4. {x : x ∈ N ∧ −x ∈ N}.
26 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

Solution.

1. This is the set of all numbers which are 3 less than a natural
number (i.e., that if you add 3 to them, you get a natural num-
ber). The set could also be written as {−3, −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, . . .}
(note that 0 is a natural number, so −3 is in this set because
−3 + 3  0).
2. This is the set of all natural numbers which are 3 less than a
natural number. So here we just have {0, 1, 2, 3 . . .}.
3. This is the set of all integers (positive and negative whole
numbers, written Z). In other words, {. . . , −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, . . .}.
4. Here we want all numbers x such that x and −x are natural
numbers. There is only one: 0. So we have the set {0}.

There is also a subtle variation on set builder notation. While the

condition is generally given after the “such that”, sometimes it is hidden
in the first part. Here is an example.

Example 0.3.2

List a few elements in the sets below and describe them in words.
The set Z is the set of integers; positive and negative whole numbers.
1. A  {x ∈ Z : x 2 ∈ N}
2. B  {x 2 : x ∈ N}

Solution.

1. The set of integers that pass the condition that their square
is a natural number. Well, every integer, when you square it,
gives you a non-negative integer, so a natural number. Thus
A  Z  {. . . , −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .}.
2. Here we are looking for the set of all x 2 s where x is a natural
number. So this set is simply the set of perfect squares.
B  {0, 1, 4, 9, 16, . . .}.
Another way we could have written this set, using more
strict set builder notation, would be as B  {x ∈ N : x 
n 2 for some n ∈ N}.
 0.3. Sets 27

We already have a lot of notation, and there is more yet. Below is a

handy chart of symbols. Some of these will be discussed in greater detail
as we move forward.
Special sets.
∅ The empty set is the set which contains no elements.
U The universe set is the set of all elements.
N The set of natural numbers. That is, N  {0, 1, 2, 3 . . .}.
Z The set of integers. That is, Z  {. . . , −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .}.
Q The set of rational numbers.
R The set of real numbers.
P(A) The power set of any set A is the set of all subsets of A.

Set Theory Notation.

{, } We use these braces to enclose the elements of a set. So

{1, 2, 3} is the set containing 1, 2, and 3.
: {x : x > 2} is the set of all x such that x is greater than 2.
∈ 2 ∈ {1, 2, 3} asserts that 2 is an element of the set {1, 2, 3}.
< 4 < {1, 2, 3} because 4 is not an element of the set {1, 2, 3}.
⊆ A ⊆ B asserts that A is a subset of B: every element of A is
also an element of B.
⊂ A ⊂ B asserts that A is a proper subset of B: every element
of A is also an element of B, but A , B.
∩ A ∩ B is the intersection of A and B: the set containing all
elements which are elements of both A and B.
∪ A ∪ B is the union of A and B: is the set containing all
elements which are elements of A or B or both.
× A × B is the Cartesian product of A and B: the set of all
ordered pairs (a, b) with a ∈ A and b ∈ B.
\ A \ B is set difference between A and B: the set containing
all elements of A which are not elements of B.
A The complement of A is the set of everything which is not
an element of A.
|A| The cardinality (or size) of A is the number of elements in
A.
28 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

Investigate!
1. Find the cardinality of each set below.

(a) A  {3, 4, . . . , 15}.

(b) B  {n ∈ N : 2 < n ≤ 200}.
(c) C  {n ≤ 100 : n ∈ N ∧ ∃m ∈ N(n  2m + 1)}.

2. Find two sets A and B for which |A|  5, |B|  6, and

|A ∪ B|  9. What is |A ∩ B|?
3. Find sets A and B with |A|  |B| such that |A ∪ B|  7 and
|A ∩ B|  3. What is |A|?
4. Let A  {1, 2, . . . , 10}. Define B2  {B ⊆ A : |B|  2}. Find
|B2 |.
5. For any sets A and B, define AB  {ab : a ∈ A ∧ b ∈ B}. If
A  {1, 2} and B  {2, 3, 4}, what is |AB|? What is |A × B|?

! Attempt the above activity before proceeding !

Relationships Between Sets
We have already said what it means for two sets to be equal: they have
exactly the same elements. Thus, for example,

{1, 2, 3}  {2, 1, 3}.

(Remember, the order the elements are written down in does not
matter.) Also,

{1, 2, 3}  {1, 1 + 1, 1 + 1 + 1}  {I, II, III}  {1, 2, 3, 1 + 2}

since these are all ways to write the set containing the first three positive
integers (how we write them doesn’t matter, just what they are).
What about the sets A  {1, 2, 3} and B  {1, 2, 3, 4}? Clearly A , B,
but notice that every element of A is also an element of B. Because of this
we say that A is a subset of B, or in symbols A ⊂ B or A ⊆ B. Both symbols
are read “is a subset of.” The difference is that sometimes we want to say
that A is either equal to or is a subset of B, in which case we use ⊆. This is
analogous to the difference between < and ≤.
 0.3. Sets 29

Example 0.3.3

Let A  {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, B  {2, 4, 6}, C  {1, 2, 3} and D  {7, 8, 9}.

Determine which of the following are true, false, or meaningless.
1. A ⊂ B. 4. ∅ ∈ A. 7. 3 ∈ C.
2. B ⊂ A. 5. ∅ ⊂ A. 8. 3 ⊂ C.
3. B ∈ C. 6. A < D. 9. {3} ⊂ C.

Solution.

1. False. For example, 1 ∈ A but 1 < B.

2. True. Every element in B is an element in A.
3. False. The elements in C are 1, 2, and 3. The set B is not equal
to 1, 2, or 3.
4. False. A has exactly 6 elements, and none of them are the
empty set.
5. True. Everything in the empty set (nothing) is also an element
of A. Notice that the empty set is a subset of every set.
6. Meaningless. A set cannot be less than another set.
7. True. 3 is one of the elements of the set C.
8. Meaningless. 3 is not a set, so it cannot be a subset of another
set.
9. True. 3 is the only element of the set {3}, and is an element of
C, so every element in {3} is an element of C.

In the example above, B is a subset of A. You might wonder what other

sets are subsets of A. If you collect all these subsets of A into a new set, we
get a set of sets. We call the set of all subsets of A the power set of A, and
write it P(A).

Example 0.3.4

Let A  {1, 2, 3}. Find P(A).

Solution. P(A) is a set of sets, all of which are subsets of A. So

P(A)  {∅, {1}, {2}, {3}, {1, 2}, {1, 3}, {2, 3}, {1, 2, 3}}.
30 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

Notice that while 2 ∈ A, it is wrong to write 2 ∈ P(A) since none

of the elements in P(A) are numbers! On the other hand, we do
have {2} ∈ P(A) because {2} ⊆ A.
What does a subset of P(A) look like? Notice that {2} * P(A)
because not everything in {2} is in P(A). But we do have {{2}} ⊆
P(A). The only element of {{2}} is the set {2} which is also an
element of P(A). We could take the collection of all subsets of P(A)
and call that P(P(A)). Or even the power set of that set of sets of
sets.

Another way to compare sets is by their size. Notice that in the example
above, A has 6 elements and B, C, and D all have 3 elements. The size of a
set is called the set’s cardinality . We would write |A|  6, |B|  3, and so
on. For sets that have a finite number of elements, the cardinality of the set
is simply the number of elements in the set. Note that the cardinality of
{1, 2, 3, 2, 1} is 3. We do not count repeats (in fact, {1, 2, 3, 2, 1} is exactly
the same set as {1, 2, 3}). There are sets with infinite cardinality, such as N,
the set of rational numbers (written Q), the set of even natural numbers,
and the set of real numbers (R). It is possible to distinguish between
different infinite cardinalities, but that is beyond the scope of this text. For
us, a set will either be infinite, or finite; if it is finite, the we can determine
its cardinality by counting elements.

Example 0.3.5

1. Find the cardinality of A  {23, 24, . . . , 37, 38}.

2. Find the cardinality of B  {1, {2, 3, 4}, ∅}.
3. If C  {1, 2, 3}, what is the cardinality of P(C)?

Solution.

1. Since 38 − 23  15, we can conclude that the cardinality of the

set is |A|  16 (you need to add one since 23 is included).
2. Here |B|  3. The three elements are the number 1, the set
{2, 3, 4}, and the empty set.
3. We wrote out the elements of the power set P(C) above, and
there are 8 elements (each of which is a set). So |P(C)|  8.
(You might wonder if there is a relationship between |A| and
|P(A)| for all sets A. This is a good question which we will
return to in Chapter 1.)
 0.3. Sets 31

Operations On Sets
Is it possible to add two sets? Not really, however there is something
similar. If we want to combine two sets to get the collection of objects that
are in either set, then we can take the union of the two sets. Symbolically,

C  A ∪ B,

read, “C is the union of A and B,” means that the elements of C are exactly
the elements which are either an element of A or an element of B (or an
element of both). For example, if A  {1, 2, 3} and B  {2, 3, 4}, then
A ∪ B  {1, 2, 3, 4}.
The other common operation on sets is intersection. We write,

C A∩B

and say, “C is the intersection of A and B,” when the elements in C are
precisely those both in A and in B. So if A  {1, 2, 3} and B  {2, 3, 4},
then A ∩ B  {2, 3}.
Often when dealing with sets, we will have some understanding as
to what “everything” is. Perhaps we are only concerned with natural
numbers. In this case we would say that our universe is N. Sometimes
we denote this universe by U. Given this context, we might wish to
speak of all the elements which are not in a particular set. We say B is the
complement of A, and write,

BA

when B contains every element not contained in A. So, if our universe is

{1, 2, . . . , 9, 10}, and A  {2, 3, 5, 7}, then A  {1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10}.
Of course we can perform more than one operation at a time. For
example, consider
A ∩ B.
This is the set of all elements which are both elements of A and not
elements of B. What have we done? We’ve started with A and removed
all of the elements which were in B. Another way to write this is the set
difference:
A ∩ B  A \ B.
It is important to remember that these operations (union, intersection,
complement, and difference) on sets produce other sets. Don’t confuse
these with the symbols from the previous section (element of and subset
of). A ∩ B is a set, while A ⊆ B is true or false. This is the same difference
as between 3 + 2 (which is a number) and 3 ≤ 2 (which is false).
32 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

Example 0.3.6

Let A  {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, B  {2, 4, 6}, C  {1, 2, 3} and D  {7, 8, 9}.

If the universe is U  {1, 2, . . . , 10}, find:
1. A ∪ B. 4. A ∩ D. 7. (D ∩ C)∪A ∩ B.
2. A ∩ B. 5. B ∪ C. 8. ∅ ∪ C.
3. B ∩ C. 6. A \ B. 9. ∅ ∩ C.

Solution.

1. A ∪ B  {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}  A since everything in B is already

in A.
2. A ∩ B  {2, 4, 6}  B since everything in B is in A.
3. B ∩ C  {2} as the only element of both B and C is 2.
4. A ∩ D  ∅ since A and D have no common elements.
5. B ∪ C  {5, 7, 8, 9, 10}. First we find that B ∪ C  {1, 2, 3, 4, 6},
then we take everything not in that set.
6. A \ B  {1, 3, 5} since the elements 1, 3, and 5 are in A but not
in B. This is the same as A ∩ B.
7. (D ∩ C) ∪ A ∩ B  {1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10}. The set contains all
elements that are either in D but not in C (i.e., {7, 8, 9}), or not
in both A and B (i.e., {1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10}).
8. ∅ ∪ C  C since nothing is added by the empty set.
9. ∅ ∩ C  ∅ since nothing can be both in a set and in the empty
set.

Having notation like this is useful. We will often want to add or remove
elements from sets, and our notation allows us to do so precisely.

Example 0.3.7

If A  {1, 2, 3}, then we can describe the set we get by adding

the number 4 as A ∪ {4}. If we want to express the set we get by
removing the number 2 from A we can do so by writing A \ {2}.
Careful though. If you add an element to the set, you get a new
set! So you would have B  A ∪ {4} and then correctly say that B
contains 4, but A does not.
 0.3. Sets 33

You might notice that the symbols for union and intersection slightly
resemble the logic symbols for “or” and “and.” This is no accident. What
does it mean for x to be an element of A ∪ B? It means that x is an element
of A or x is an element of B (or both). That is,

x ∈A∪B ⇔ x ∈ A ∨ x ∈ B.

Similarly,
x ∈A∩B ⇔ x ∈ A ∧ x ∈ B.
Also,
x∈A ⇔ ¬(x ∈ A).
which says x is an element of the complement of A if x is not an element
of A.
There is one more way to combine sets which will be useful for us: the
Cartesian product, A × B. This sounds fancy but is nothing you haven’t
seen before. When you graph a function in calculus, you graph it in
the Cartesian plane. This is the set of all ordered pairs of real numbers
(x, y). We can do this for any pair of sets, not just the real numbers with
themselves.
Put another way, A × B  {(a, b) : a ∈ A ∧ b ∈ B}. The first coordinate
comes from the first set and the second coordinate comes from the second
set. Sometimes we will want to take the Cartesian product of a set with
itself, and this is fine: A × A  {(a, b) : a, b ∈ A} (we might also write A2
for this set). Notice that in A × A, we still want all ordered pairs, not just
the ones where the first and second coordinate are the same. We can also
take products of 3 or more sets, getting ordered triples, or quadruples,
and so on.

Example 0.3.8

Let A  {1, 2} and B  {3, 4, 5}. Find A × B and A × A. How many

elements do you expect to be in B × B?
Solution. A × B  {(1, 3), (1, 4), (1, 5), (2, 3), (2, 4), (2, 5)}.
A × A  A2  {(1, 1), (1, 2), (2, 1), (2, 2)}.
|B × B|  9. There will be 3 pairs with first coordinate 3, three
more with first coordinate 4, and a final three with first coordinate
5.

Venn Diagrams
There is a very nice visual tool we can use to represent operations on sets.
A Venn diagram displays sets as intersecting circles. We can shade the
region we are talking about when we carry out an operation. We can
34 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

also represent cardinality of a particular set by putting the number in the

corresponding region.

A B A B

C
Each circle represents a set. The rectangle containing the circles
represents the universe. To represent combinations of these sets, we shade
the corresponding region. For example, we could draw A ∩ B as:

A B

Here is a representation of A ∩ B, or equivalently A \ B:

A B

A more complicated example is (B ∩ C) ∪ (C ∩ A), as seen below.

A B

C
Notice that the shaded regions above could also be arrived at in another
way. We could have started with all of C, then excluded the region where
C and A overlap outside of B. That region is (A ∩ C) ∩ B. So the above
 
Venn diagram also represents C ∩ (A ∩ C) ∩ B . So using just the picture,
we have determined that
 
(B ∩ C) ∪ (C ∩ A)  C ∩ (A ∩ C) ∩ B .
 0.3. Sets 35

Exercises
1. Let A  {1, 4, 9} and B  {1, 3, 6, 10}. Find each of the following sets.
(a) A ∪ B.
(b) A ∩ B.
(c) A \ B.
(d) B \ A.
2. Find the least element of each of the following sets, if there is one.
(a) {n ∈ N : n 2 − 3 ≥ 2}.
(b) {n ∈ N : n 2 − 5 ∈ N}.
(c) {n 2 + 1 : n ∈ N}.
(d) {n ∈ N : n  k 2 + 1 for some k ∈ N}.
3. Find the following cardinalities:
(a) |A| when A  {4, 5, 6, . . . , 37}.
(b) |A| when A  {x ∈ Z : −2 ≤ x ≤ 100}.
(c) |A ∩ B| when A  {x ∈ N : x ≤ 20} and B  {x ∈ N : x is prime}.
4. Find a set of largest possible size that is a subset of both {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
and {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}.
5. Find a set of smallest possible size that has both {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and
{2, 4, 6, 8, 10} as subsets.
6. Let A  {n ∈ N : 20 ≤ n < 50} and B  {n ∈ N : 10 < n ≤ 30}.
Suppose C is a set such that C ⊆ A and C ⊆ B. What is the largest
possible cardinality of C?
7. Let A  {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and B  {2, 3, 4}. How many sets C have the
property that C ⊆ A and B ⊆ C.
8. Let A  {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, B  {3, 4, 5, 6, 7}, and C  {2, 3, 5}.
(a) Find A ∩ B.
(b) Find A ∪ B.
(c) Find A \ B.
(d) Find A ∩ (B ∪ C).
9. Let A  {x ∈ N : 4 ≤ x < 12} and B  {x ∈ N : x is even}.
(a) Find A ∩ B.
(b) Find A \ B.
36 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

10. Let A  {x ∈ N : 3 ≤ x ≤ 13}, B  {x ∈ N : x is even}, and

C  {x ∈ N : x is odd}.
(a) Find A ∩ B.
(b) Find A ∪ B.
(c) Find B ∩ C.
(d) Find B ∪ C.
11. Find an example of sets A and B such that A ∩ B  {3, 5} and
A ∪ B  {2, 3, 5, 7, 8}.
12. Find an example of sets A and B such that A ⊆ B and A ∈ B.
13. Recall Z  {. . . , −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, . . .} (the integers). Let Z+  {1, 2, 3, . . .}
be the positive integers. Let 2Z be the even integers, 3Z be the multiples
of 3, and so on.
(a) Is Z+ ⊆ 2Z? Explain.
(b) Is 2Z ⊆ Z+ ? Explain.
(c) Find 2Z ∩ 3Z. Describe the set in words, and using set notation.
(d) Express {x ∈ Z : ∃y ∈ Z(x  2y ∨ x  3y)} as a union or
intersection of two sets already described in this problem.
14. Let A2 be the set of all multiples of 2 except for 2. Let A3 be the set of
all multiples of 3 except for 3. And so on, so that A n is the set of all
multiples of n except for n, for any n ≥ 2. Describe (in words) the set
A2 ∪ A3 ∪ A4 ∪ · · ·.
15. Draw a Venn diagram to represent each of the following:
(a) A ∪ B
(b) (A ∪ B)
(c) A ∩ (B ∪ C)
(d) (A ∩ B) ∪ C
(e) A ∩ B ∩ C
(f) (A ∪ B) \ C
16. Describe a set in terms of A and B (using set notation) which has the
following Venn diagram:
A B
 0.3. Sets 37

17. Let A  {a, b, c, d}. Find P(A).

18. Let A  {1, 2, . . . , 10}. How many subsets of A contain exactly one
element (i.e., how many singleton subsets are there)? singleton set
How many doubleton subsets (containing exactly two elements)
are there? doubleton set
19. Let A  {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}. Find all sets B ∈ P(A) which have the property
{2, 3, 5} ⊆ B.
20. Find an example of sets A and B such that |A|  4, |B|  5, and
|A ∪ B|  9.
21. Find an example of sets A and B such that |A|  3, |B|  4, and
|A ∪ B|  5.
22. Are there sets A and B such that |A|  |B|, |A∪B|  10, and |A∩B|  5?
Explain.
23. Let A  {2, 4, 6, 8}. Suppose B is a set with |B|  5.
(a) What are the smallest and largest possible values of |A ∪ B|?
Explain.
(b) What are the smallest and largest possible values of |A ∩ B|?
Explain.
(c) What are the smallest and largest possible values of |A × B|?
Explain.
24. Let X  {n ∈ N : 10 ≤ n < 20}. Find examples of sets with the
properties below and very briefly explain why your examples work.
(a) A set A ⊆ N with |A|  10 such that X \ A  {10, 12, 14}.
(b) A set B ∈ P(X) with |B|  5.
(c) A set C ⊆ P(X) with |C|  5.
(d) A set D ⊆ X × X with |D|  5
(e) A set E ⊆ X such that |E| ∈ E.
25. Let A, B and C be sets.
(a) Suppose that A ⊆ B and B ⊆ C. Does this mean that A ⊆ C?
Prove your answer. Hint: to prove that A ⊆ C you must prove
the implication, “for all x, if x ∈ A then x ∈ C.”
(b) Suppose that A ∈ B and B ∈ C. Does this mean that A ∈ C?
Give an example to prove that this does NOT always happen
(and explain why your example works). You should be able to
give an example where |A|  |B|  |C|  2.
38 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

26. In a regular deck of playing cards there are 26 red cards and 12
face cards. Explain, using sets and what you have learned about
cardinalities, why there are only 32 cards which are either red or a
face card.
27. Find an example of a set A with |A|  3 which contains only other sets
and has the following property: for all sets B ∈ A, we also have B ⊆ A.
Explain why your example works. (FYI: sets that have this property
are called transitive.)
28. Consider the sets A and B, where A  {3, |B|} and B  {1, |A|, |B|}.
What are the sets?
29. Explain why there is no set A which satisfies A  {2, |A|}.
30. Find all sets A, B, and C which satisfy the following.

A {1, |B| , |C|}

B {2, |A| , |C|}
C {1, 2, |A| , |B|}.
 0.4. Functions 39

0.4 Functions
A function is a rule that assigns each input exactly one output. We call the
output the image of the input. The set of all inputs for a function is called
the domain. The set of all allowable outputs is called the codomain. We
would write f : X → Y to describe a function with name f , domain X and
codomain Y. This does not tell us which function f is though. To define
the function, we must describe the rule. This is often done by giving a
formula to compute the output for any input (although this is certainly
not the only way to describe the rule).
For example, consider the function f : N → N defined by f (x)  x 2 + 3.
Here the domain and codomain are the same set (the natural numbers).
The rule is: take your input, multiply it by itself and add 3. This works
because we can apply this rule to every natural number (every element of
the domain) and the result is always a natural number (an element of the
codomain). Notice though that not every natural number is actually an
output (there is no way to get 0, 1, 2, 5, etc.). The set of natural numbers
that are outputs is called the range of the function (in this case, the range
is {3, 4, 7, 12, 19, 28, . . .}, all the natural numbers that are 3 more than a
perfect square).
The key thing that makes a rule a function is that there is exactly one
output for each input. That is, it is important that the rule be a good rule.
What output do we assign to the input 7? There can only be one answer
for any particular function.

Example 0.4.1

The following are all examples of functions:

1. f : Z → Z defined by f (n)  3n. The domain and codomain
are both the set of integers. However, the range is only the set
of integer multiples of 3.
2. g : {1, 2, 3} → {a, b, c} defined by g(1)  c, g(2)  a and
g(3)  a. The domain is the set {1, 2, 3}, the codomain is the
set {a, b, c} and the range is the set {a, c}. Note that g(2) and
g(3) are the same element of the codomain. This is okay since
each element in the domain still has only one output.
3. h : {1, 2, 3, 4} → N defined by the table:

x 1 2 3 4
h(x) 3 6 9 12
Here the domain is the finite set {1, 2, 3, 4} and to codomain
is the set of natural numbers, N. At first you might think this
40 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

function is the same as f defined above. It is absolutely not.

Even though the rule is the same, the domain and codomain
are different, so these are two different functions.

Example 0.4.2

Just because you can describe a rule in the same way you would
write a function, does not mean that the rule is a function. The
following are NOT functions.
1. f : N → N defined by f (n)  n2 . The reason this is not a
function is because not every input has an output. Where
does f send 3? The rule says that f (3)  32 , but 32 is not an
element of the codomain.
2. Consider the rule that matches each person to their phone
number. If you think of the set of people as the domain and
the set of phone numbers as the codomain, then this is not a
function, since some people have two phone numbers. Switch-
ing the domain and codomain sets doesn’t help either, since
some phone numbers belong to multiple people (assuming
some households still have landlines when you are reading
this).

Describing Functions
It is worth making a distinction between a function and its description.
The function is the abstract mathematical object that in some way exists
whether or not anyone ever talks about it. But when we do want to talk
about the function, we need a way to describe it. A particular function can
be described in multiple ways.
Some calculus textbooks talk about the Rule of Four, that every function
can be described in four ways: algebraically (a formula), numerically (a
table), graphically, or in words. In discrete math, we can still use any of
these to describe functions, but we can also be more specific since we are
primarily concerned with functions that have N or a finite subset of N as
their domain.
Describing a function graphically usually means drawing the graph of
the function: plotting the points on the plane. We can do this, and might
get a graph like the following for a function f : {1, 2, 3} → {1, 2, 3}.
 0.4. Functions 41

It would be absolutely WRONG to connect the dots or try to fit them to

some curve. There are only three elements in the domain. A curve would
mean that the domain contains an entire interval of real numbers.
Here is another way to represent that same function:

1 2 3

1 2 3
This shows that the function f sends 1 to 2, 2 to 1 and 3 to 3: just follow
the arrows.
The arrow diagram used to define the function above can be very
helpful in visualizing functions. We will often be working with functions
with finite domains, so this kind of picture is often more useful than a
traditional graph of a function.
Note that for finite domains, finding an algebraic formula that gives
the output for any input is often impossible. Of course we could use a
piecewise defined function, like

x+1 if x  1




f (x)  x − 1 if x  2 .



if x  3

x


This describes exactly the same function as above, but we can all agree is a
ridiculous way of doing so.
Since we will so often use functions with small domains and codomains,
let’s adopt some notation to describe them. All we need is some clear way
of denoting the image of each element in the domain. In fact, writing a
table of values would work perfectly:

x 0 1 2 3 4
f (x) 3 3 2 4 1
We simplify this further by writing this as a “matrix” with each input
directly over its output:

0 1 2 3 4
 
f  .
3 3 2 4 1
42 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

Note this is just notation and not the same sort of matrix you would find in
a linear algebra class (it does not make sense to do operations with these
matrices, or row reduce them, for example).
One advantage of the two-line notation over the arrow diagrams is
that it is harder to accidentally define a rule that is not a function using
two-line notation.

Example 0.4.3

Which of the following diagrams represent a function? Let X 

{1, 2, 3, 4} and Y  {a, b, c, d}.
f :X→Y g:X→Y h:X→Y
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

a c a b c d a b c d
b d

Solution. f is a function. So is g. There is no problem with an

element of the codomain not being the image of any input, and
there is no problem with a from the codomain being the image of
both 2 and 3 from the domain. We could use our two-line notation
to write these as

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
   
f  g .
d a c b d a a b

However, h is NOT a function. In fact, it fails for two reasons.

First, the element 1 from the domain has not been mapped to any
element from the codomain. Second, the element 2 from the domain
has been mapped to more than one element from the codomain (a
and c). Note that either one of these problems is enough to make a
rule not a function. In general, neither of the following mappings
are functions:

It might also be helpful to think about how you would write the
two-line notation for h. We would have something like:

1 2 3 4
 
h .
a, c? d b

There is nothing under 1 (bad) and we needed to put more than one
thing under 2 (very bad). With a rule that is actually a function, the
two-line notation will always “work”.
 0.4. Functions 43

We will also be interested in functions with domain N. Here two-line

notation is no good, but describing the function algebraically is often
possible. Even tables are a little awkward, since they do not describe the
function completely. For example, consider the function f : N → N given
by the table below.

x 0 1 2 3 4 5 ...
f (x) 0 1 4 9 16 25 ...
Have I given you enough entries for you to be able to determine f (6)?
You might guess that f (6)  36, but there is no way for you to know this for
sure. Maybe I am being a jerk and intended f (6)  42. In fact, for every
natural number n, there is a function that agrees with the table above, but
for which f (6)  n.
Okay, suppose I really did mean for f (6)  36, and in fact, for the rule
that you think is governing the function to actually be the rule. Then
I should say what that rule is. f (n)  n 2 . Now there is no confusion
possible.
Giving an explicit formula that calculates the image of any element in
the domain is a great way to describe a function. We will say that these
explicit rules are closed formulas for the function.
There is another very useful way to describe functions whose domain
is N, that rely specifically on the structure of the natural numbers. We can
define a function recursively!

Example 0.4.4

Consider the function f : N → N given by f (0)  0 and f (n + 1) 

f (n) + 2n + 1. Find f (6).
Solution. The rule says that f (6)  f (5) + 11 (we are using 6  n + 1
so n  5). We don’t know what f (5) is though. Well, we know that
f (5)  f (4) + 9. So we need to compute f (4), which will require
knowing f (3), which will require f (2),. . . will it ever end?
Yes! In fact, this process will always end because we have N as
our domain, so there is a least element. And we gave the value of
f (0) explicitly, so we are good. In fact, we might decide to work up
to f (6) instead of working down from f (6):

f (1)  f (0) + 1  0+11

f (2)  f (1) + 3  1+34
f (3)  f (2) + 5  4+59
f (4)  f (3) + 7  9 + 7  16
f (5)  f (4) + 9  16 + 9  25
44 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

f (6)  f (5) + 11  25 + 11  36

It looks that this recursively defined function is the same as the

explicitly defined function f (n)  n 2 . Is it? Later we will prove that
it is.

Recursively defined functions are often easier to create from a “real

world” problem, because they describe how the values of the functions
are changing. However, this comes with a price. It is harder to calculate
the image of a single input, since you need to know the images of other
(previous) elements in the domain.
Recursively Defined Functions.
For a function f : N → N, a recursive definition consists of an
initial condition together with a recurrence relation. The initial
condition is the explicitly given value of f (0). The recurrence relation
is a formula for f (n + 1) in terms for f (n) (and possibly n itself).

Example 0.4.5

Give recursive definitions for the functions described below.

1. f : N → N gives the number of snails in your terrarium n
years after you built it, assuming you started with 3 snails and
the number of snails doubles each year.
2. g : N → N gives the number of push-ups you do n days after
you started your push-ups challenge, assuming you could do
7 push-ups on day 0 and you can do 2 more push-ups each
day.
3. h : N → N defined by h(n)  n!. Recall that n!  1 · 2 · 3 · · · · ·
(n − 1) · n is the product of all numbers from 1 through n. We
also define 0!  1.

Solution.

1. The initial condition is f (0)  3. To get f (n + 1) we would

double the number of snails in the terrarium the previous
year, which is given by f (n). Thus f (n + 1)  2 f (n). The
full recursive definition contains both of these, and would be
written,
f (0)  3; f (n + 1)  2 f (n).
 0.4. Functions 45

2. We are told that on day 0 you can do 7 push-ups, so g(0)  7.

The number of push-ups you can do on day n + 1 is 2 more
than the number you can do on day n, which is given by g(n).
Thus
g(0)  7; g(n + 1)  g(n) + 2.

3. Here h(0)  1. To get the recurrence relation, think about how

you can get h(n + 1)  (n + 1)! from h(n)  n!. If you write out
both of these as products, you see that (n + 1)! is just like n!
except you have one more term in the product, an extra n + 1.
So we have,

h(0)  1; h(n + 1)  (n + 1) · h(n).

Surjections, Injections, and Bijections

We now turn to investigating special properties functions might or might
not possess.
In the examples above, you may have noticed that sometimes there are
elements of the codomain which are not in the range. When this sort of the
thing does not happen, (that is, when everything in the codomain is in the
range) we say the function is onto or that the function maps the domain
onto the codomain. This terminology should make sense: the function
puts the domain (entirely) on top of the codomain. The fancy math term
for an onto function is a surjection, and we say that an onto function is a
surjective function.
In pictures:

Surjective Not surjective

Example 0.4.6

Which functions are surjective (i.e., onto)?

1. f : Z → Z defined by f (n)  3n.
1 2 3
 
2. g : {1, 2, 3} → {a, b, c} defined by g  .
c a a
3. h : {1, 2, 3} → {1, 2, 3} defined as follows:
46 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

1 2 3

1 2 3

Solution.

1. f is not surjective. There are elements in the codomain which

are not in the range. For example, no n ∈ Z gets mapped to
the number 1 (the rule would say that 13 would be sent to 1,
but 13 is not in the domain). In fact, the range of the function
is 3Z (the integer multiples of 3), which is not equal to Z.
2. g is not surjective. There is no x ∈ {1, 2, 3} (the domain) for
which g(x)  b, so b, which is in the codomain, is not in the
range. Notice that there is an element from the codomain
“missing” from the bottom row of the matrix.
3. h is surjective. Every element of the codomain is also in the
range. Nothing in the codomain is missed.

To be a function, a rule cannot assign a single element of the domain

to two or more different elements of the codomain. However, we have
seen that the reverse is permissible: a function might assign the same
element of the codomain to two or more different elements of the domain.
When this does not occur (that is, when each element of the codomain is
the image of at most one element of the domain) then we say the function
is one-to-one. Again, this terminology makes sense: we are sending at
most one element from the domain to one element from the codomain.
One input to one output. The fancy math term for a one-to-one function is
an injection. We call one-to-one functions injective functions.
In pictures:

Injective Not injective

Example 0.4.7

Which functions are injective (i.e., one-to-one)?

1. f : Z → Z defined by f (n)  3n.
 0.4. Functions 47

1 2 3
 
2. g : {1, 2, 3} → {a, b, c} defined by g  .
c a a
3. h : {1, 2, 3} → {1, 2, 3} defined as follows:
1 2 3

1 2 3

Solution.

1. f is injective. Each element in the codomain is assigned to at

most one element from the domain. If x is a multiple of three,
then only x/3 is mapped to x. If x is not a multiple of 3, then
there is no input corresponding to the output x.
2. g is not injective. Both inputs 2 and 3 are assigned the output
a. Notice that there is an element from the codomain that
appears more than once on the bottom row of the matrix.
3. h is injective. Each output is only an output once.

Be careful: “surjective” and “injective” are NOT opposites. You can see
in the two examples above that there are functions which are surjective but
not injective, injective but not surjective, both, or neither. In the case when
a function is both one-to-one and onto (an injection and surjection), we
say the function is a bijection, or that the function is a bijective function.
To illustrate the contrast between these two properties, consider a more
formal definition of each, side by side.
Injective vs Surjective.
A function is injective provided every element of the codomain is
the image of at most one element from the domain.
A function is surjective provided every element of the codomain
is the image of at least one element from the domain.

Notice both properties are determined by what happens to elements of

the codomain: they could be repeated as images or they could be “missed”
(not be images). Injective functions do not have repeats but might or might
not miss elements. Surjective functions do not miss elements, but might
48 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

or might not have repeats. The bijective functions are those that do not
have repeats and do not miss elements.

Image and Inverse Image

When discussing functions, we have notation for talking about an element
of the domain (say x) and its corresponding element in the codomain (we
write f (x), which is the image of x). Sometimes we will want to talk about
all the elements that are images of some subset of the domain. It would
also be nice to start with some element of the codomain (say y) and talk
about which element or elements (if any) from the domain it is the image
of. We could write “those x in the domain such that f (x)  y,” but this is
a lot of writing. Here is some notation to make our lives easier.
To address the first situation, what we are after is a way to describe
the set of images of elements in some subset of the domain. Suppose
f : X → Y is a function and that A ⊆ X is some subset of the domain
(possibly all of it). We will use the notation f (A) to denote the image of A
under f , namely the set of elements in Y that are the image of elements
from A. That is, f (A)  { f (a) ∈ Y : a ∈ A}.
We can do this in the other direction as well. We might ask which
elements of the domain get mapped to a particular set in the codomain. Let
f : X → Y be a function and suppose B ⊆ Y is a subset of the codomain.
Then we will write f −1 (B) for the inverse image of B under f , namely
the set of elements in X whose image are elements in B. In other words,
f −1 (B)  {x ∈ X : f (x) ∈ B}.
Often we are interested in the element(s) whose image is a particular
element y of in the codomain. The notation above works: f −1 ({ y}) is the
set of all elements in the domain that f sends to y. It makes sense to think
of this as a set: there might not be anything sent to y (if y is not in the
range), in which case f −1 ({ y})  ∅. Or f might send multiple elements to
y (if f is not injective). As a notational convenience, we usually drop the
set braces around the y and write f −1 (y) instead for this set.
WARNING: f −1 (y) is not an inverse function! Inverse functions only
exist for bijections, but f −1 (y) is defined for any function f . The point:
f −1 (y) is a set, not an element of the domain. This is just sloppy notation
for f −1 ({ y}). To help make this distinction, we would call f −1 (y) the
complete inverse image of y under f . It is not the image of y under f −1
(since the function f −1 might not exist).
 0.4. Functions 49

Example 0.4.8

Consider the function f : {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} → {a, b, c, d} given by

1 2 3 4 5 6
 
f  .
a a b b b c

Find f ({1, 2, 3}), f −1 ({a, b}), and f −1 (d).

Solution. f ({1, 2, 3})  {a, b} since a and b are the elements in the
codomain to which f sends 1 and 2.
f −1 ({a, b})  {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} since these are exactly the elements
that f sends to a and b.
f −1 (d)  ∅ since d is not in the range of f .

Example 0.4.9

Consider the function g : Z → Z defined by g(n)  n 2 + 1. Find

g(1) and g({1}). Then find g −1 (1), g −1 (2), and g −1 (3).
Solution. Note that g(1) , g({1}). The first is an element: g(1)  2.
The second is a set: g({1})  {2}.
To find g −1 (1), we need to find all integers n such that n 2 + 1  1.
Clearly only 0 works, so g −1 (1)  {0} (note that even though there
is only one element, we still write it as a set with one element in it).
To find g −1 (2), we need to find all n such that n 2 + 1  2. We see
g (2)  {−1, 1}.
−1

Finally, if n 2 + 1  3, then we are looking for an n such that

2
n  2. There are no such integers so g −1 (3)  ∅.

Since f −1 (y) is a set, it makes sense to ask for f −1 (y) , the number of
elements in the domain which map to y.

Example 0.4.10

Find a function f : {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} → N such that f −1 (7)  5.

Solution. There is only one such function. We need five elements
of the domain to map to the number 7 ∈ N. Since there are only five
elements in the domain, all of them must map to 7. So

1 2 3 4 5
 
f  .
7 7 7 7 7
50 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

Function Definitions.
Here is a summary of all the main concepts and definitions we use when
working with functions.

• A function is a rule that assigns each element of a set, called the

domain, to exactly one element of a second set, called the codomain.
• Notation: f : X → Y is our way of saying that the function is called
f , the domain is the set X, and the codomain is the set Y.
• To specify the rule for a function with small domain, use two-line
notation by writing a matrix with each output directly below its
corresponding input, as in:

1 2 3 4
 
f  .
2 1 3 1

• f (x)  y means the element x of the domain (input) is assigned to

the element y of the codomain. We say y is an output. Alternatively,
we call y the image of x under f .
• The range is a subset of the codomain. It is the set of all elements
which are assigned to at least one element of the domain by the
function. That is, the range is the set of all outputs.
• A function is injective (an injection or one-to-one) if every element
of the codomain is the image of at most one element from the domain.
• A function is surjective (a surjection or onto) if every element of
the codomain is the image of at least one element from the domain.
• A bijection is a function which is both an injection and surjection.
In other words, if every element of the codomain is the image of
exactly one element from the domain.
• The image of an element x in the domain is the element y in the
codomain that x is mapped to. That is, the image of x under f is
f (x).
• The complete inverse image of an element y in the codomain, written
f −1 (y), is the set of all elements in the domain which are assigned to
y by the function.
• The image of a subset A of the domain is the set f (A)  { f (a) ∈ Y :
a ∈ A}.
• The inverse image of a subset B of the codomain is the set f −1 (B) 
{x ∈ X : f (x) ∈ B}.
 0.4. Functions 51

Exercises
1. Consider the function f : {1, 2, 3, 4} → {1, 2, 3, 4} given by

1 2 3 4
 
f (n)  .
4 1 3 4

(a) Find f (1).

(b) Find an element n in the domain such that f (n)  1.
(c) Find an element n of the domain such that f (n)  n.
(d) Find an element of the codomain that is not in the range.
2. The following functions all have {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} as both their domain and
codomain. For each, determine whether it is (only) injective, (only)
surjective, bijective, or neither injective nor surjective.
1 2 3 4 5
 
(a) f  .
3 3 3 3 3

1 2 3 4 5
 
(b) f  .
2 3 1 5 4
(c) f (x)  6 − x.
(
x/2 if x is even
(d) f (x)  .
(x + 1)/2 if x is odd

3. The following functions all have domain {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and codomain

{1, 2, 3}. For each, determine whether it is (only) injective, (only)
surjective, bijective, or neither injective nor surjective.
1 2 3 4 5
 
(a) f  .
1 2 1 2 1

1 2 3 4 5
 
(b) f  .
1 2 3 1 2
(
x if x ≤ 3
(c) f (x)  .
x−3 if x > 3

4. The following functions all have domain {1, 2, 3, 4} and codomain

{1, 2, 3, 4, 5}. For each, determine whether it is (only) injective, (only)
surjective, bijective, or neither injective nor surjective.
1 2 3 4
 
(a) f  .
1 2 5 4
52 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

1 2 3 4
 
(b) f  .
1 2 3 2
(c) f (x) gives the number of letters in the English word for the
number x. For example, f (1)  3 since “one” contains three
letters.
5. Write out all functions f : {1, 2, 3} → {a, b} (using two-line notation).
How many functions are there?
How many are injective?
How many are surjective?
How many are bijective?
6. Write out all functions f : {1, 2} → {a, b, c} (in two-line notation).
How many functions are there?
How many are injective?
How many are surjective?
How many are bijective?
7. Consider the function f : {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} → {1, 2, 3, 4} given by the table
below:
x 1 2 3 4 5
f (x) 3 2 4 1 2

(a) Is f injective? Explain.

(b) Is f surjective? Explain.
(c) Write the function using two-line notation.
8. Consider the function f : {1, 2, 3, 4} → {1, 2, 3, 4} given by the graph
below.
f (x)
4

1 2 3 4 x

(a) Is f injective? Explain.

(b) Is f surjective? Explain.
(c) Write the function using two-line notation.
9. Consider the function f : N → N given recursively by f (0)  1 and
f (n + 1)  2 · f (n). Find f (10).
 0.4. Functions 53

10. Suppose f : N → N satisfies the recurrence f (n + 1)  f (n) + 3. Note

that this is not enough information to define the function, since we
don’t have an initial condition. For each of the initial conditions below,
find the value of f (5).
(a) f (0)  0.
(b) f (0)  1.
(c) f (0)  2.
(d) f (0)  100.
11. Suppose f : N → N satisfies the recurrence relation
( f (n)
2 if f (n) is even
f (n + 1)  .
3 f (n) + 1 if f (n) is odd

Note that with the initial condition f (0)  1, the values of the function
are: f (1)  4, f (2)  2, f (3)  1, f (4)  4, and so on, the images
cycling through those three numbers. Thus f is NOT injective (and also
certainly not surjective). Might it be under other initial conditions?3
(a) If f satisfies the initial condition f (0)  5, is f injective? Explain
why or give a specific example of two elements from the domain
with the same image.
(b) If f satisfies the initial condition f (0)  3, is f injective? Explain
why or give a specific example of two elements from the domain
with the same image.
(c) If f satisfies the initial condition f (0)  27, then it turns out that
f (105)  10 and no two numbers less than 105 have the same
image. Could f be injective? Explain.
(d) Prove that no matter what initial condition you choose, the
function cannot be surjective.

12. For each function given below, determine whether or not the function
is injective and whether or not the function is surjective.
(a) f : N → N given by f (n)  n + 4.
(b) f : Z → Z given by f (n)  n + 4.
(c) f : Z → Z given by f (n)  5n − 8.
3It turns out this is a really hard question to answer in general. The Collatz conjecture is
that no matter what the initial condition is, the function will eventually produce 1 as an
output. This is an open problem in mathematics: nobody knows the answer.
54 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

(
n/2 if n is even
(d) f : Z → Z given by f (n) 
(n + 1)/2 if n is odd.

13. Let A  {1, 2, 3, . . . , 10}. Consider the function f : P(A) → N given

by f (B)  |B|. That is, f takes a subset of A as an input and outputs
the cardinality of that set.
(a) Is f injective? Prove your answer.
(b) Is f surjective? Prove your answer.
(c) Find f −1 (1).
(d) Find f −1 (0).
(e) Find f −1 (12).
14. Let X  {n ∈ N : 0 ≤ n ≤ 999} be the set of all numbers with three
or fewer digits. Define the function f : X → N by f (abc)  a + b + c,
where a, b, and c are the digits of the number in X (write numbers
less than 100 with leading 0’s to make them three digits). For example,
f (253)  2 + 5 + 3  10.
(a) Let A  {n ∈ X : 113 ≤ n ≤ 122}. Find f (A).
(b) Find f −1 ({1, 2})
(c) Find f −1 (3).
(d) Find f −1 (28).
(e) Is f injective? Explain.
(f) Is f surjective? Explain.

15. Consider the set N2  N × N, the set of all ordered pairs (a, b) where a
and b are natural numbers. Consider a function f : N2 → N given by
f ((a, b))  a + b.
(a) Let A  {(a, b) ∈ N2 : a, b ≤ 10}. Find f (A).
(b) Find f −1 (3) and f −1 ({0, 1, 2, 3}).
(c) Give geometric descriptions of f −1 (n) and f −1 ({0, 1, . . . , n}) for
any n ≥ 1.
(d) Find f −1 (8) and f −1 ({0, 1, . . . , 8}) .

16. Let f : X → Y be some function. Suppose 3 ∈ Y. What can you say

about f −1 (3) if you know,
(a) f is injective? Explain.
(b) f is surjective? Explain.
 0.4. Functions 55

(c) f is bijective? Explain.

17. Find a set X and a function f : X → N so that f −1 (0) ∪ f −1 (1)  X.

18. What can you deduce about the sets X and Y if you know,
(a) there is an injective function f : X → Y? Explain.
(b) there is a surjective function f : X → Y? Explain.
(c) there is a bijective function f : X → Y? Explain.
19. Suppose f : X → Y is a function. Which of the following are possible?
Explain.
(a) f is injective but not surjective.
(b) f is surjective but not injective.
(c) |X|  |Y| and f is injective but not surjective.
(d) |X|  |Y| and f is surjective but not injective.
(e) |X|  |Y|, X and Y are finite, and f is injective but not surjective.
(f) |X|  |Y|, X and Y are finite, and f is surjective but not injective.
20. Let f : X → Y and g : Y → Z be functions. We can define the
composition of f and g to be the function g ◦ f : X → Z for which
the image of each x ∈ X is g( f (x)). That is, plug x into f , then plug
the result into g (just like composition in algebra and calculus).
(a) If f and g are both injective, must g ◦ f be injective? Explain.
(b) If f and g are both surjective, must g ◦ f be surjective? Explain.
(c) Suppose g ◦ f is injective. What, if anything, can you say about
f and g? Explain.
(d) Suppose g ◦ f is surjective. What, if anything, can you say about
f and g? Explain.
(
n+1 if n is even
21. Consider the function f : Z → Z given by f (n) 
n−3 if n is odd.
(a) Is f injective? Prove your answer.
(b) Is f surjective? Prove your answer.
22. At the end of the semester a teacher assigns letter grades to each of
her students. Is this a function? If so, what sets make up the domain
and codomain, and is the function injective, surjective, bijective, or
neither?
56 0. Introduction and Preliminaries

23. In the game of Hearts, four players are each dealt 13 cards from a deck
of 52. Is this a function? If so, what sets make up the domain and
codomain, and is the function injective, surjective, bijective, or neither?
24. Seven players are playing 5-card stud. Each player initially receives
5 cards from a deck of 52. Is this a function? If so, what sets make
up the domain and codomain, and is the function injective, surjective,
bijective, or neither?
25. Consider the function f : N → N that gives the number of handshakes
that take place in a room of n people assuming everyone shakes hands
with everyone else. Give a recursive definition for this function.
26. Let f : X → Y be a function and A ⊆ X be a finite subset of the
domain. What can you say about the relationship between |A| and
f (A) ? Consider both the general case and what happens when you
know f is injective, surjective, or bijective.
27. Let f : X → Y be a function and B ⊆ Y be a finite subset of the
codomain. What can you say about the relationship between |B| and
f −1 (B) ? Consider both the general case and what happens when you
know f is injective, surjective, or bijective.
28. Let f : X → Y be a function, A ⊆ X and B ⊆ Y.
(a) Is f −1 f (A)  A? Always, sometimes, never? Explain.

(b) Is f f −1 (B)  B? Always, sometimes, never? Explain.

(c) If one or both of the above do not always hold, is there something
else you can say? Will equality always hold for particular types
of functions? Is there some other relationship other than equality
that would always hold? Explore.
29. Let f : X → Y be a function and A, B ⊆ X be subsets of the domain.
(a) Is f (A∪B)  f (A)∪ f (B)? Always, sometimes, or never? Explain.
(b) Is f (A∩B)  f (A)∩ f (B)? Always, sometimes, or never? Explain.
30. Let f : X → Y be a function and A, B ⊆ Y be subsets of the codomain.
(a) Is f −1 (A ∪ B)  f −1 (A) ∪ f −1 (B)? Always, sometimes, or never?
Explain.
(b) Is f −1 (A ∩ B)  f −1 (A) ∩ f −1 (B)? Always, sometimes, or never?
Explain.