Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and the Yahoo Answers website is now in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.

Is this relation reflexive, symmetric, or transitive? S={(1,1),(1,2)} is a subset of Z X Z?

Is this relation reflexive, symmetric, or transitive?

S={(1,1),(1,2)} C(exists in) Z X Z

Please show or explain why for each

1 Answer

Relevance
  • 8 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    S is not reflexive. A relation R on Z (that is, a subset of Z x Z) is reflexive if for all n in Z it is true that (n,n) is in R. In the case of your relation S, note for example that 2 is in Z, but (2,2) is not in S. So S is not reflexive. [Note: even if you added (2,2) in, S would still not be reflexive, because e.g. 3 is in Z but (3,3) is not in S. The only way a relation on Z can be reflexive is if (n,n) is in it for _all_ integers n.]

    S is not symmetric. Generally, a relation R on Z is symmetric if and only if whenever (x,y) is in R, (y,x) is also in R. Note that (1,2) is in your relation S, but (2,1) is not in S. This shows that S is not symmetric.

    S is transitive. Generally, a relation R on Z is symmetric if and only if whenever (x,y) and (y,z) are in R, the pair (x,z) is also in R. Note that in the case of your relation S, the only triples (x,y,z) for which (x,y) and (y,z) are both in S are the triples (1,1,2) and (1,1,1), and in each of these cases the triple (x,z) (which is either (1,2) or (1,1), in those cases) is also in S. So S is transitive.

Still have questions? Get your answers by asking now.