MATH 104 HOMEWORK 1 SOLUTIONS

(1) MH Page 12 Exercise 1: Prove the following statements:

(a) For every integer x, if x is even, then for every integer y, xy is even.
(b) For every integer x and for every integer y, if x is odd and y is odd, then x + y
is even.
(c) For every integer x, if x is odd then x3 is odd.
What is the negation of each of these statements?
Solutions:
(a) Suppose x is an even integer and y is any integer. Choose an integer w so that
x = 2w. Then wy is an integer such that xy = 2wy, so xy is even. 
Negation: We use this example to show how to obtain negation of a statement.
The original statement is
 


(∀x ∈ Z) (x is even ) ⇒ (∀y ∈ Z)(xy is even )

The negation would be

 


not (∀x ∈ Z) not (x is even ) ⇒ (∀y ∈ Z)(xy is even )

or, using the negation for the “∀”, and negation for “if... then...” statement,
 


(∃x ∈ Z) (x is even ) and not (∀y ∈ Z)(xy is even )
or
 


(∃x ∈ Z) (x is even ) and not (∀y ∈ Z) not (xy is even )

and using that “not (... is odd)” is “(... is even)”, we get

 


(∃x ∈ Z) (x is even ) and (∃y ∈ Z)(xy is odd )

To write it in words: There exists an even integer x and an integer y, such

that xy is odd.
(b) Suppose x and y are two odd integers. Choose two integers w and z such that
x = 2w + 1, y = 2z + 1. Then x + y = 2(w + z + 1), so x + y is even. 
Negation: There exists two odd integers x and y, such that x + y is odd.
(c) Suppose x is odd. Choose an integer y so that x = 2y + 1. Then x3 =
(2y + 1)3 = 8y 3 + 4y 2 + 4y + 1 = 2(4y 3 + 2y 2 + 2y) + 1, so w = 4y 3 + 2y 2 + 2y
is an integer such that x3 = 2w + 1. So x3 is odd. 
Negation: There exists an odd integer x such that x3 is even.
1
2 MATH 104 HOMEWORK 1 SOLUTIONS

(2) Ross 1.9:

(a) Decide for which integers the inequality 2n > n2 is true.
(b) Prove your claim in (a) by mathematical induction.
Solutions:
(a) 2n > n2 holds for n = 0, 1 and any integer n ≥ 5.
(b) When n < 0, we have 2n < 1 while n2 > 1, therefore 2n > n2 is not true.
When n = 0, the statement is 1 > 0; when n = 1, the statement is 2 > 1.
When n = 2, we have 4 = 4; n = 3, we have 8 < 9; therefore in these two cases
the statement does not hold.
We then prove it holds for n ≥ 5 by induction. When n = 5, the statement
is 32 > 25. Now suppose 2n > n2 is true for an integer n ≥ 5. Now consider
n + 1, by induction assumption we have
2n+1 = 2 · 2n > 2 · n2
Since n ≥ 5, we also have
(n − 1)2 > 2, or n2 > 2n + 1
therefore
2n2 > n2 + 2n + 1 = (n + 1)2 .
Therefore
2n+1 > (n + 1)2 .
So by induction we know the statement is true for any integer n ≥ 5. 

(3) MH Page 27 Exercise 3: If a set has exactly n elements, how many subsets does it
have? Why?
Solutions: Suppose the set A has n elements, without loss of generality, we write
A = {a1 , . . . , an }. There are 2n subsets.
Suppose B ⊂ A, then for any 1 ≤ i ≤ n, either ai ∈ B or ai ∈ / B. Therefore we
have 2 choices for each i, and in total 2n choices for n elements. Each choice gives
a different subset, so there are 2n different subsets.

(4) MH Page 27 Exercise 7: Show that A ∩ (B − C) = (A ∩ B) − (A ∩ C). Is it always

true that A ∪ (B − C) = (A ∪ B) − (A ∪ C)?
Solutions: (⊂) Suppose x ∈ A ∩ (B − C). Then x ∈ A. Also x ∈ B, but x ∈ / C.
So x ∈ A ∩ B, and x ∈ / A ∩ C. So x ∈ (A ∩ B) − (A ∩ C).
(⊃) Suppose x ∈ (A ∩ B) − (A ∩ C). Then x ∈ (A ∩ B), but x ∈ / (A ∩ C). Since
x ∈ (A ∩ B), we have x ∈ A and x ∈ B. Since x ∈ / (A ∩ C) and x ∈ A, we have
x∈/ C. Therefore x ∈ A ∩ (B − C).
A ∪ (B − C) = (A ∪ B) − (A ∪ C) is not always true. We just need to find one
counterexample. Suppose A = {1, 2}, B = {1}, C = {2, 3}. Then A ∪ (B − C) =
{1, 2} ∪ {1} = {1, 2}, but (A ∪ B) − (A ∪ C) = {1, 2} − {1, 2, 3} = ∅. So they are
not equal.
 MATH 104 HOMEWORK 1 SOLUTIONS 3

(5) Ross 3.1:

(a) Which of the properties A1-A4, M1-M4, DL, O1-O5 fail for N?
(b) Which of these properties fail for Z?
Solutions:
(a) The following properties fail for N, and we just need to show one counterex-
ample for each of them: (A4) 0 ∈ / N; (M4) 2 ∈ N, but there is no element x in
N such that 2x = 1.
(b) The following property fail for Z: (M4) 2 ∈ Z, but there is no element x in Z
such that 2x = 1.

(6) Ross 3.6:

(a) Prove |a + b + c| ≤ |a| + |b| + |c| for all a, b, c ∈ R. Hint: Apply the triangle
inequality twice. Do not consider eight cases.
(b) Use induction to prove
|a1 + a2 + · · · + an | ≤ |a1 | + |a2 | + · · · + |an |
for n numbers a1 , a2 , . . . , an .
Solutions:
(a) Choose d ∈ R so that d = a + b. Then by triangle inequality
|d + c| ≤ |d| + |c|,
which by putting in d gives
|a + b + c| ≤ |a + b| + |c|.
Apply triangle inequality again to a + b:
|a + b| ≤ |a| + |b|,
so
|a + b + c| ≤ |a| + |b| + |c|.

(b) When n = 1, this is |a1 | ≤ |a1 |. When n = 2, this is the usual triangle
inequality |a1 + a2 | ≤ |a1 | + |a2 |. When n = 3, this is the statement in (a).
Now suppose the statement holds for n. When there are n+1 numbers, choose
d = a1 + · · · + an , and apply the triangle inequality
|a1 + a2 + · · · + an+1 | = |d + an+1 | ≤ |d| + |an+1 |.
By induction assumption we also have
|d| = |a1 + · · · + an | ≤ |a1 | + |a2 | + · · · + |an |.
So putting the two inequalities together
|a1 + a2 + · · · + an+1 | ≤ |a1 | + |a2 | + · · · + |an | + |an+1 |.
Therefore the statement holds for any n ∈ N. 
4 MATH 104 HOMEWORK 1 SOLUTIONS

(7) Ross 4.1 (a)(d)(e)(n)(v): For each set below that is bounded above, list three upper
bounds for the set. Otherwise write “NOT BOUNDED ABOVE” or “NBA.”
(a) [0, 1]
(d) {π, e}
(e) { n1 : n ∈ N}
(n) {r ∈ Q : r2 < 2}
(v) {cos( nπ3 ) : n ∈ N}
Solutions:
(a) 1, 2, 3
(d) π, 4, 5
(e) √
1, 2, 3
(n) 2, 2, 3
(v) 1, 2, 3

(8) Ross 4.3 (a)(d)(e)(n)(v): For each set, give its supremum if it has one. Otherwise
write “NO sup.”
(a) [0, 1]
(d) {π, e}
(e) { n1 : n ∈ N}
(n) {r ∈ Q : r2 < 2}
(v) {cos( nπ 3 ) : n ∈ N}
Solutions:
(a) 1
(d) π
(e) √
1
(n) 2
(v) 1

(9) Ross 4.5: Let S be a nonempty subset of R that is bounded above. Prove if
sup S belongs to S, then sup S = max S. Hint: Your proof should be very short.
Solutions: Let x = sup S. For any y ∈ S, we have y ≤ x by definition of
supremum. By assumption x ∈ S, so x = max S. 

(10) Ross 4.10: Prove that if a > 0, then there exists n ∈ N such that n1 < a < n.
Solutions: Apply Archimedean Property to a > 0 and b = 1, there exists n1 ∈ N
such that n1 a > 1, which is the same as n11 < a. Apply Archimedean Property to
1 > 0 and a > 0, there exists n2 ∈ N such that n2 · 1 > a, which is the same as
a < n2 .
Choose n to be the positive integer n = max{n1 , n2 }, then n1 ≤ n11 and n2 ≤ n.
So
1
< a < n.
n