Undergraduate Topics in Computer Science

Quentin Charatan · Aaron Kans

Maths For
Computing
A Beginner’s Guide
Undergraduate Topics in Computer
Science

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Chris Hankin , Department of Computing, Imperial College London, London, UK
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Quentin Charatan · Aaron Kans

Maths For Computing

A Beginner’s Guide
Quentin Charatan Aaron Kans
School of Architecture, Computing School of Architecture, Computing
and Engineering and Engineering
University of East London University of East London
London, UK London, UK

ISSN 1863-7310 ISSN 2197-1781 (electronic)

Undergraduate Topics in Computer Science
ISBN 978-3-031-69233-8 ISBN 978-3-031-69234-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69234-5

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To Cheeto and Pabla
—Quentin Charatan

To my sister Madhu
—Aaron Kans
Preface

This book is written for students embarking on an undergraduate or foundation

degree course in computer science (or related discipline) and aims to provide the
basic skills and knowledge of discrete mathematics required for such a course.
Whereas many textbooks tend to teach this subject in a way that is more suitable
for mathematicians, this text specifically targets first-year students on computing
courses and aims to teach only the basic material that they will need for their
computing degree.
It is geared towards students who are less confident in mathematics, and topics
are taught using everyday language, avoiding lengthy mathematical explanations.
Familiar scenarios are used throughout the text to introduce mathematical con-
cepts, and formal definitions are provided only when a particular concept has been
fully explored and understood. Additionally, each chapter discusses the reasons
why the particular topic is relevant to the world of computing.
The text covers all the mathematical concepts that are traditionally thought to
be necessary for a computing degree but restricts itself only to the material needed
for the fundamentals of such a computing programme and does not delve into
the higher mathematical concepts; nor does it attempt to cover the more complex
areas required for specialisms such as AI or graphical imaging, because it is the
authors’ experience that these concepts are usually taught on specialist modules
when necessary.
Thus, the text begins with set theory, number theory and groups and proceeds to
explore relations and functions. It then deals with mathematical logic and proofs,
followed by combinatorics and probability. Finally, it covers the essential aspects
of graph theory.
Each chapter contains worked examples, as well as end-of-chapter exercises
with solutions, which could map ideally onto a lecture/tutorial delivery model.
We would like to thank our publisher, Springer, for the encouragement and
guidance that we have received throughout the production of this book. Addition-
ally, we would especially like to thank the computing students at the University

vii
viii Preface

of East London for their thoughtful comments and feedback. For support and
inspiration, special thanks are due once again to our families and friends.

London, UK Quentin Charatan

Aaron Kans
Contents

1 Set Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 What is a Set? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.4 Ordering in a Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.5 Repetition in a Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.6 Number Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.7 Specifying a Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.8 The Universal Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.9 The Empty Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.10 Cardinality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.11 Finite Sets and Infinite Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.12 Subsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.13 Proper Subsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.14 Set Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.14.1 Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.14.2 Intersection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.14.3 Difference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.14.4 Complement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.14.5 Cartesian Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.15 Venn Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.16 Symmetric Difference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.17 De Morgan’s Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.18 Classes of Sets and Power Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.19 Russell’s Paradox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.20 Application to Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.21 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2 Sets and Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.2 The Algebra of Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.3 Number Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.3.1 Natural Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

ix
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2.3.2 Integers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.3.3 Rational Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.3.4 Real Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.3.5 Complex Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.4 Number Types and Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.5 Working with Complex Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.6 Number Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.7 Discrete Versus Continuous Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.8 Countable and Non-countable Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.9 Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.9.1 Commutative Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.9.2 Associative Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.10 Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.11 Notation and Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.12 Relevance to Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.13 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3 Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.2 Relations: Definition and Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.3 Inverse Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.4 Relations on a Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.5 Digraphs of Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.6 Symmetric Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.7 Reflexive Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.8 Transitive Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.9 Equivalence Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.10 Equivalence Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.11 Binary Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.12 n-Ary Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.13 Relevance to Computing: Relational Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3.14 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4 Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.2 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.3 Functions as Mappings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.3.1 Practical Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.3.2 Using the Password Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.4 A Function as an Input/Output Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.5 Functions as Formulae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.5.1 Applying our Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Contents xi

4.5.2 Another Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

4.6 Functions as Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.7 The Signature of a Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.8 Specifying a Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.9 Specifying Formulaic Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.10 Not all Mappings are Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.11 Functions with More than One Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
4.12 Function Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
4.13 Injective Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
4.14 Surjective Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
4.15 Bijective Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
4.16 Application to Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4.16.1 Computer Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4.16.2 Business Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
4.17 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
5 Propositional Logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
5.2 Mathematical Logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
5.3 Propositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
5.4 Logical Operators (Connectives) Ʌ ............................. 66
5.4.1 The AND operator ( ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
5.4.2 The OR Operator (∨) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
5.4.3 The NOT Operator (¬) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
5.5 Constructing Truth Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
5.6 Logical Equivalence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
5.7 De Morgan’s Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
5.8 Commutativity and Associativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
5.9 The Implication Operator (⇒) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
5.10 The Equivalence Operator (⇔) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.11 The Equivalence Operator Versus Logical Equivalence . . . . . . . 74
5.12 Order of Precedence of Logical Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
5.13 Tautologies and Contradictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
5.14 The EXCLUSIVE OR Operator (⊕) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.15 Converse, Inverse and Contrapositive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.16 Algebra of Propositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
5.17 Some More Algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
5.18 Application to Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
5.18.1 Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
5.18.2 Digital Electronics and Logic Gates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
5.19 Three-Valued Logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
5.20 Notation in other Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
5.21 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
xii Contents

6 Predicate Logic and Proofs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
6.2 Predicate Logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
6.3 Examples of Predicates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
6.4 The Domain of Discourse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
6.5 Giving Values to the Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
6.5.1 Substitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
6.5.2 Quantification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
6.5.3 Negating Quantified Predicates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
6.6 Proof by Natural Deduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
6.6.1 Modus Ponens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
6.6.2 Modus Tollens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
6.6.3 The Chain Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
6.6.4 Alternative Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
6.6.5 Some Other Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
6.7 Application to Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
6.8 Proof by Induction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
6.9 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
7 Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
7.2 Definition and Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
7.3 Matrix Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
7.3.1 Transposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
7.3.2 Addition and Subtraction of Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
7.3.3 Scalar Multiplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
7.3.4 Matrix Multiplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
7.4 The Determinant of a Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
7.4.1 Calculating the Determinant of a 3 × 3 Matrix . . . . . . 106
7.5 Identity Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
7.6 The Inverse of a Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
7.6.1 Finding the Inverse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
7.7 Application to Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
7.8 Using Matrices to Solve Linear Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
7.9 Row Operations on a Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
7.10 Solving Equations Using the Gauss-Jordan Elimination
Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
7.11 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Contents xiii

8 Combinatorics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
8.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
8.2 Placing Items in Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
8.3 Factorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
8.4 Choosing just Some of the Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
8.5 The Formula for Permutations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
8.6 Combinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
8.7 The Formula for Combinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
8.8 What Is the Value of 0!? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
8.9 Allowing Repetition (When Order Is Important) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
8.10 Allowing Repetition (When Order Is Not Important) . . . . . . . . . 121
8.11 Summary of Formulae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
8.12 Deriving the Formula for Choosing Items when Order Is
Not Important and Repetition Is Allowed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
8.13 Pascal’s Triangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
8.14 Binomial Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
8.15 Application to Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
8.16 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
9 Probability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
9.2 Terminology and Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
9.3 Outcomes, Sample Space and Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
9.4 Calculating Probability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
9.5 Probability that One or Another Event Happens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
9.6 Mutually Exclusive Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
9.6.1 The Addition Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
9.6.2 The Addition Rule for Mutually Exclusive
Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
9.7 Probability Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
9.7.1 Non-uniform Probability Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
9.8 Independent Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
9.9 Random Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
9.10 Expected Value (Mean Value) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
9.11 Conditional Probability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
9.11.1 Tree Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
9.12 Bayes’ Theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
9.13 Binomial Probability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
9.13.1 The Binomial Probability Formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
9.14 Application to Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
9.15 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
xiv Contents

10 Graph Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

10.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
10.2 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
10.3 Multigraphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
10.4 Connected and Unconnected Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
10.5 Degree of a Vertex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
10.5.1 Sum of Degrees of Vertices Theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
10.6 Distance Between Two Vertices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
10.7 Eccentricity of a Vertex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
10.8 Radius and Diameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
10.9 Subgraphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
10.10 Paths, Trails, Circuits and Cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
10.11 Isomorphic and Homeomorphic Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
10.12 Traversable Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
10.12.1 Eulerian Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
10.12.2 Hamiltonian Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
10.13 Weighted Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
10.14 Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
10.14.1 Spanning Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
10.14.2 Binary Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
10.15 Planar Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
10.16 Directed Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
10.17 Application to Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
10.18 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
11 Solutions to Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
11.1 Chapter 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
11.2 Chapter 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
11.3 Chapter 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
11.4 Chapter 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
11.5 Chapter 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
11.6 Chapter 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
11.7 Chapter 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
11.8 Chapter 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
11.9 Chapter 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
11.10 Chapter 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Set Theory
1

At the end of this chapter you should be able to:

• give a definition of a set and provide examples of sets;

• recognise and utilise the notation that forms the body of set theory;
• specify a set using set comprehension;
• explain the meaning of the universal set and the empty set;
• determine the cardinality of a set;
• explain the meaning of the terms subset and proper subset;
• perform standard set operations and recognise the various set operators;
• use Venn diagrams to represent sets;
• provide a statement of De Morgan’s law;
• find the power set of a given set.

1.1 Introduction

In the world of computing we very often have to write applications that han-
dle collections. These could be collections of customers, bank accounts, students,
patients, network users, invoices and many many more.
In this chapter we will be studying set theory, and as we shall see, a set is
a particular type of collection; we will be exploring ways of defining sets and
performing operations on sets, and in the next chapter we will go on to study a
number of laws associated with set theory.
As we progress, you will see that an understanding of set theory is extremely
important when studying other areas of mathematics such as probability, which
you will encounter in this text.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025 1

Q. Charatan and A. Kans, Maths For Computing, Undergraduate Topics in Computer
Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69234-5_1
2 1 Set Theory

1.2 What is a Set?

A set is an unordered collection of distinct objects. These objects are called the
elements or members of the set. The objects can be anything—people, words,
numbers, animals or even other sets.
Examples of possible sets could be:

• students at a particular university;

• positive integers less than ten;
• countries in the European Union;
• words in the English language.

1.3 Notation

We often use upper-case letters to refer to sets. When we list the members of a
set we enclose them in curly brackets, separating each element of the set with a
comma.

Examples
If A is the set of all the countries in the UK, we could write:

A = {WALES, SCOTLAND, ENGLAND, NORTHERN IRELAND}

If B is the set of even numbers greater than zero and less than ten, then:

B = {2, 4, 6, 8}

When reasoning about sets in mathematics, we often use lower case letters to
represent the elements of a set. For example, we might have:

C = {a, d , f , e, x, g}

The following notation is used to indicate that an object is a member of a set:

x ∈ A means x is an element of A.
x∈/ A means x is not an element of A.

Two sets are said to be equal if and only if they contain exactly the same elements
(no more and no fewer).
1.7 Specifying a Set 3

1.4 Ordering in a Set

A set is an unordered collection of elements. Therefore the order in which the

elements is listed in a set is irrelevant. There is no notion of “first element” or
“second element” etc.
Example

{a, b, c, d , e} = {e, d , b, c, a}

These two sets are identical—they contain exactly the same elements. We can
list them in any order we choose.

1.5 Repetition in a Set

Elements of a set are named only once.

If A is the set {1, 2, 3}, we could add 3 to this set as many times as we wanted,
and the set would remain unchanged.

1.6 Number Sets

It is common to refer to the sets of numbers by the following letters:

N is the set of natural numbers (positive whole numbers, including zero)

Z is the set of integers (positive and negative whole numbers, including zero)
Q is the set of rational numbers (this will be explained in the next chapter)
R is the set of real numbers (decimal numbers)
C is the set of complex numbers (this will be explained in the next chapter).

1.7 Specifying a Set

There are three ways to specify a set:

1. By listing the elements

A = {CAT, DOG, HORSE, MOUSE}

B = {a, c, g, m, z}

2. By describing the elements

S = {Students at The University of East London}

E = {even numbers greater than 0 and less than 10}

4 1 Set Theory

3. By comprehension

A = {x ∈ N|x < 10}

The bar (|) is read as “such that”. So this reads:

The set of x’s which are elements of N (natural numbers) such that x is less
than 10.
So in this case: A = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}.

Worked Example 1
Express the following specification of a set M in words:

M = {x ∈ R |x ≥ 100}

Solution
M is the set of real numbers greater than or equal to 100.

Worked Example 2
Using set comprehension, specify a set D that contains all the negative integers.

Solution

D = {x ∈ Z |x < 0}

1.8 The Universal Set

Consider the following set:

{ROSE, LILY, IRIS, HYACINTH, VIOLET}

What kind of objects are these?

Flowers?
Names?
Words in the English language?
It is important to know what sort of objects a set contains. When we specify a
set, we should always be aware of a bigger set from which our set takes its objects.
This bigger set is called the universal set. It is usually given the letter U.
Examples
1.11 Finite Sets and Infinite Sets 5

• If we take the set of students on a particular course, the universal set could be
the set of people.
• If we take the set {ELEPHANT, LION, DOG}, the universal set could be the
set of animals.
• If we have a set of positive whole numbers, the universal set could be natural
numbers. But it could also be integers, or real numbers. We need to make it
clear which one it is.

1.9 The Empty Set

It is possible for a set to contain no members. A set that contains no members is

called the empty set and is referred to by this symbol: ∅

Note
A set containing only one member is often referred to as a unitary set.

1.10 Cardinality

The number of elements that a set contains is called the cardinality of that set.
There are two ways of referring to the cardinality of a set A.
Either: n(A).
Or: |A|
In this text we will use the first one.
Examples

A = {a, b, c, d , e, f } n(A) = 6
B = {1, 4, 6} n(B) = 3
C=∅ n(C) = 0
D = {0} n(D) = 1

1.11 Finite Sets and Infinite Sets

In the previous examples we were able to state the cardinality of the sets easily.
This is because when we counted the members, the counting came to an end and
we had a final result.
Such sets are called finite sets.
However there are certain sets where this is not so straightforward, because we
never finish counting. Such sets are called infinite sets.
All of the number sets that we referred to earlier are infinite sets.
6 1 Set Theory

Worked Example 3
State whether each of the following sets is finite or infinite:

(a) The set of positive odd integers greater than 10.

(b) The set of positive odd integers less than 10.
(c) The set of all the people in the world.

Solution

(a) Infinite—it will range from 11 up to infinity.

(b) Finite—it is the set {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}
(c) Finite.

1.12 Subsets

Consider a set A and a larger set B.

If all the elements contained in A are also elements of B, then A is a subset of
B.
The following notation is used to mean A is a subset of B: A ⊂ B.
The following means A is not a subset of B: A ⊈ B.

Example
Consider the following sets:

C = {RED, BLUE, YELLOW, GREEN, PURPLE}

A = {RED, BLUE, GREEN}
B = {RED, BLUE, YELLOW, PINK}

In this case A ⊂ C but B /⊂ C.

1.13 Proper Subsets

Strictly speaking the expression:

A⊂B

means A is a proper subset of B. This means that we exclude the possibility that
A could be equal to B. In other words, there is always at least one more element
in B than there is in A. If we want to include the possibility that the two sets are
equal, then we use the symbol ⊆.
So: A ⊆ B means that A is a subset of B or is equal to B.
1.14 Set Operations 7

Worked Example 4
Consider the following sets of natural numbers:

A = {1, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10}
B = {6, 7, 9, 10}
C = {3, 7, 9, 10}
D = {10, 7, 6, 9}

For each of the following, state whether the expression is true or false:

(a) B⊂A
(b) A⊂B
(c) B=D
(d) C /⊂ A
(e) D⊂B
(f) B⊆A

Solution

(a) True
(b) False
(c) True
(d) True
(e) False
(f) True

1.14 Set Operations

In arithmetic, the basic operations we can perform are:

• addition
• subtraction
• multiplication
• division.

We are now going to study the following operations that we can perform on sets:

• union
• intersection
• difference
• complement
• Cartesian product.
8 1 Set Theory

1.14.1 Union

The union of two sets, A and B is the set which contains all the elements of A and
all the elements of B. We use the following notation:

A ∪ B means A union B

Example

if A = {JOHN, DELROY, ADEWALE, MOHAMMED}.

and B = {JOHN, SHEILA, DELROY, ZELDA}.
then A∪B = {JOHN, SHEILA, ADEWALE, MOHAMMED, DELROY, ZELDA}.

Note
Although John and Delroy appear in both sets, they only appear once in the final
set: as we know, we do not record duplicates in a set.

1.14.2 Intersection

The intersection of two sets, A and B is the set which contains all the elements
that are common to both A and B.
We use the following notation:
A ∩ B means A intersection B
Example

if A = {JOHN, DELROY, ADEWALE, MOHAMMED}.

and B = {JOHN, SHEILA, DELROY, ZELDA}.
then A ∩ B = {JOHN, DELROY}.

Note
If two sets have no common elements, then the intersection is the empty set.
So:

if X = {a, b, d, e, g}.
and Y = {m, n}.
then X ∩ Y = ∅.

1.14.2.1 The Exclusion Principle

When we find the union of two sets, we don’t include duplicates.
1.14 Set Operations 9

So the cardinality of the union is found be adding the cardinality of the two sets
and subtracting the cardinality of the intersection (otherwise we would be counting
the common elements twice).

n(A ∪ B) = n(A) + n(B) − n(A ∩ B)

For example:

if A = {a, b, d , e, g} n(A) = 5
and B = {a, b, c, f } n(B) = 4
A ∩ B = {a, b} n(A ∩ B) = 2
n(A ∪ B) = 5 + 4−2 = 7

This is correct because: A ∪ B = {a, b, d , e, g, c, f } so n(A ∪ B) = 7.

1.14.3 Difference

The difference of two sets, A and B, is the set which contains the elements that
belong to A but do not belong to B.
We use the following notation:

A\B means A difference B.

Example

if A = {JOHN, DELROY, ADEWALE, MOHAMMED}.

and B = {JOHN, SHEILA, DELROY, ZELDA}.
then A\B = {ADEWALE, MOHAMMED}.

1.14.4 Complement

The complement of a set A is the set which contains all the elements in the
universal set except for those that belong to A.
There are several different notations for the complement of A:

A or A, or Ac

We will use the first one.

Example
If the universal set, U, is all the students at the University of East London.
10 1 Set Theory

and A = {All students who study computing at the University of East London}.
A = {All the students at the University of East London
then .
who do not study computing}

Another way of describing the complement is: A = U \A

You should be able to see that: A ∪ A = U A ∩ A = ∅
and: ∅ = U U = ∅.

Note
In some texts you will see this described as the absolute complement, while the
difference is referred to as the relative complement.

1.14.5 Cartesian Product

The Cartesian product of a set A and a set B is written as: A × B.

It is best explained by an example:

if A = {a, b, c} and B = {d , e}.

Then A × B = {(a, d ) , (a, e), (b, d ), (b, e), (c, d ), (c, e)}.

The Cartesian product results in a set of all possible ordered pairs, made up of
one element from the first set, followed be one element from the second.

Worked Example 5
Consider the following sets:

A = {b, d , f , g, h, x, y}
B = {f , g}
C = {g, x, z}
D = {z}

(a) Evaluate the following:

(i) A ∪ C
(ii) B ∪ C
(iii) B\C
(iv) B ∩ D
(v) B × C
(b) If the universal set is {b, d, f, g, h, x, y, z, w}, what is the value of A?
1.15 Venn Diagrams 11

Solution

(a)
(i) A ∩ C = {g, x}
(ii) B ∪ C = {f, g, x, z}
(iii) B \ C = {f }
(iv) B ∩ D = ∅
(v) B x C = {( f, g), ( f, x), ( f, z), (g, g), (g, x), (g, z)}
(b) A = {z, w}.

1.15 Venn Diagrams

A Venn diagram is a way to represent sets pictorially. The universal set is repre-
sented by a rectangle, and a set is represented by a circle. Examples are shown in
Figs. 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 and 1.6.

Fig. 1.1 The shaded area

represents the intersection of
A and B, A ∩ B

Fig. 1.2 The shaded area

represents the union of A and
B, A ∪ B
12 1 Set Theory

Fig. 1.3 The shaded area

represents A difference B, A\B

Fig. 1.4 The shaded area

represents the complement of
A, A

Fig. 1.5 In this diagram, A

and B, have no common
elements. They are said to be
disjoint. A ∩ B = ∅

Fig. 1.6 In this diagram, A is

a proper subset of B. A ⊂ B
1.16 Symmetric Difference 13

1.16 Symmetric Difference

Symmetric difference, represented by the symbol Δ (or sometimes ⊕) is defined

as:

AΔB = (A\B) ∪ (B\A)

The shaded area in the Venn diagram in Fig. 1.7 represents the symmetric
difference:

Worked Example 6
Consider the following sets:

A = {a, b, c, d , e, f }
B = {x, b, c, d , y, w, z}

The universal set, U = {a, b, c, d , e, f , x, y, w, z, p, q, r}.

Represent this information on a Venn diagram.

Solution
See Fig. 1.8.

Fig. 1.7 Symmetric

difference

Fig. 1.8 Solution to Worked

example 6
14 1 Set Theory

Fig. 1.9 Solution to Worked

example 7(a)

Worked Example 7
This question refers to students at a particular sixth-form college, where there is
total of 100 students.
P is the set of students who take physics, and C is the set of students who take
chemistry.
30 students take physics, and 25 take chemistry. 20 students take both.

(a) Represent this information on a Venn diagram.

(b) Give values for the following:
(i) n(P ∩ C)
(ii) n(P ∪ C)
(iii) n(P\C)
( )
(iv) n P ∪ C

Solution

(a) See Fig. 1.9

(b)
(i) n(P ∩ C) = 20
(ii) n(P ∪ C) = 35
(iii) n(P\C)
( )= 10
(iv) n P ∪ C = 65.

Worked Example 8
This question refers the same college as the previous question, where there are
100 students.
P is the set of students who take physics, and C is the set of students who take
chemistry, and M is the set of students who take mathematics.
30 students take physics, and 25 take chemistry and 22 take mathematics.
20 students take both physics and chemistry. 18 students take physics and
mathematics. 15 students take chemistry and mathematics.
1.16 Symmetric Difference 15

Fig. 1.10 Solution to

Worked example 8(a)

12 students take physics, chemistry and mathematics.

(a) Represent this information on a Venn diagram.

(b) Give values for the following:
(i) n(P ∩ C ∩ M )
(ii) n(P ∪ C ∪ M )
(iii) n(P\M
( ) )
(iv) n P ∩ C ∩ M

Solution

(a) See Fig. 1.10.

(b)
(i) n(P ∩ C ∩ M ) = 12
(ii) n(P ∪ C ∪ M ) = 36
(iii) n(P\M
( ) = 12)
(iv) n P ∩ C ∩ M = 88

Worked Example 9
Use Venn diagrams to prove the following:

A∩B=A∪B

See Fig. 1.11.

16 1 Set Theory

This is the left hand side of the equation:

This is the right hand side of the equation:

+ + =

We can see that in both diagrams the shaded areas are the same.

Fig. 1.11 Solution to worked example 9

1.17 De Morgan’s Law

In the last slide we used Venn Diagrams to show that:

A∩B=A∪B

It can also be shown that:

A∪B=A∩B

These two identities are two versions of an important law in set theory known
as De Morgan’s Law.

1.18 Classes of Sets and Power Sets

In set theory we often use the word class to describe a collection of sets (or a set
of sets). For example the class C might be defined as follows:

C = {{1, 2, 3}, {4, 5}, {1, 4, 6}}

1.19 Russell’s Paradox 17

The power set of a set A is the class of all the subsets of A (including the empty
set and A itself). This is written as:

P(A)

Example
if: A = {CAT, DOG, PARROT}.
Then:
P(A) = {∅, {CAT}, {DOG}, {PARROT}, {CAT, DOG}, {CAT, PARROT},
.
{PARROT, DOG}, {CAT, DOG, PARROT}}

Note
If a set has a cardinality of n, then the number of elements in the power set is 2n .

Worked Example 11
If A is the set {x, y}, what is the power set, P(A)?

Solution

P(A) = {∅, {x}, {y}, {x, y}}

Worked Example 12

(a) If a set has a cardinality of 5, then how many elements will be in the power
set?
(b) How many proper subsets does the above set have?

Solution

(a) Number of subsets = 25 = 32

(b) The number of proper subsets will be one fewer, 31 (because it does not
include the set itself).

1.19 Russell’s Paradox

The British philosopher Bertrand Russell realised that there was a potential
problem with the notion of a “set of sets”. This is described below:
If T is the set of all the sets which are not elements of themselves, then is T itself
an element of T ?
18 1 Set Theory

If T is an element of T then our definition of T no longer stands, therefore T

cannot be an element of T.
However, if T is not an element of T, then by definition it must be an element of
T!
This is known as Russell’s Paradox. Using the word class in this context instead
of set, is a neat way of avoiding Russell’s Paradox.

1.20 Application to Computing

Different types of collections such as sequences and sets occur very frequently
in every day situations which, as computer scientists, we need to model in our
applications. However, the importance of set theory in computing lies not only in
direct application, but also in other areas of mathematics that are central to the
understanding of computer science. We will see in future chapters how set theory
is vital to our understanding of functions, of logic and of probability all of which
are of huge importance to computer science.

1.21 Exercises

1. Express the following specification of a set M in words:

M = {x ∈ N|x ≥ 50}

2. Using set comprehension, specify a set A that contains all the integers greater
than − 5 and less than 5.
3. State whether each of the following sets is finite or infinite:
(a) The set of natural numbers between 50 and 100.
(b) The set of real numbers less than 10.
(c) The set of chemical elements discovered so far.
4. Consider the following sets:

A = {a, b, d , e, g, h, x}
B = {a, b , c, d }
C = {g, h, x, a}
D = {h, x, a, g}

For each of the following, state whether the expression is true or false:
(a) C ⊂ A (b) A ⊂ C (c) C = D (d) B /⊂ A (e) D ⊂ C
(f) C ⊆ D
5. Consider the following sets:

A = {APPLE, ORANGE, PEAR, BANANA, PLUM, LEMON}

1.21 Exercises 19

B = {APPLE, MANGO, ORANGE}

C = {ORANGE, GRAPE, CHERRY}
D = {BANANA}

(a) Evaluate the following:

(i) A ∪ B (ii) B ∩ C (iii) A\B (iv) B ∩ D (v) B × D (vi) n(C)
(b) If the universal set is:

{APPLE, ORANGE, PEAR, BANANA, PLUM, LEMON,

MANGO, GRAPE, CHERRY, PINEAPPLE},

what is the value of A?

6. A = {a, b, c, d , e} B = {f , d , e, g, h}
The universal set U = {a, b, c, d , e, f , g, h, i, j}.
Represent this information on a Venn diagram.
7. Consider the following sets:

A = {APPLE, ORANGE, PEAR, BANANA, PLUM, LEMON}

B = {APPLE, MANGO, ORANGE}

Evaluate the following:

AΔB
8. This question refers to 30 people who were surveyed about the type of vehicles
they own.
B is the set of people who own bicycles, and C is the set of people who
own cars.
15 people own bicycles, and 12 own cars. 4 people own both.
(a) Represent this information on a Venn diagram.
(b) Give values for the following:
(i) n(B ∩ C) (ii) n(B ∪ C) (iii) n(B\C) (iv) n(B ∪ C)
9. By drawing a Venn diagram show that: A\B = A ∩ B̄
10. If A is the set {x, y, z}, what is the power set, P(A)?
11.
(a) If a set has a cardinality of 4, then how many elements will be in the
power set?
(b) How many proper subsets does the above set have?
Sets and Groups
2

At the end of this chapter you should be able to:

• solve problems using set algebra;

• distinguish between natural numbers, integers, rational numbers, real num-
bers and complex numbers;
• distinguish between discrete and continuous values;
• determine whether an operation is commutative and/or associative;
• perform simple algebra using complex numbers;
• define the meaning of the term group and state the criteria that determine
whether a set is a group under a particular operation;
• use the above criteria to decide whether a set and an operation constitute a
group;
• explain the meaning of the term Abelian group;
• explain the terms semigroup and monoid.

2.1 Introduction

In this chapter we expand on the work we did in chapter 1, and describe some
laws of set algebra which we can use to solve problems. We apply our knowledge
of sets to sets of numbers, and learn to distinguish between different types of
numbers. Finally we explore the important mathematical concept of a group.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025 21

Q. Charatan and A. Kans, Maths For Computing, Undergraduate Topics in Computer
Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69234-5_2
22 2 Sets and Groups

2.2 The Algebra of Sets

There are a number of laws that follow directly from the definitions that we
covered in the last chapter:

Idempotent Laws Identity Laws Complement Laws

A∪A=A A∪∅=A A∪A=U
A∩A=A A∪U =U A∩A=∅
A∩∅=∅ ∅=U
A∩U =A U =∅

Two other laws which are not quite so obvious are:

Distributive law De Morgan’s law

A ∪ (B ∩ C) = (A ∪ B) ∩ (A ∪ C) A∪B=A∩B
A ∩ (B ∪ C) = (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C) A∩B=A∪B

It can be seen that the above pairs are duals of each other. This is a fact of
set algebra called the principle of duality.

Worked Example 1
Show that:

A ∩ (A ∪ B) = A ∩ B

Solution

A ∩ (A ∪ B)
= (A ∩ A) ∪ (A ∩ B) Distributive Law
= ∅ ∪ (A ∩ B) Complement Law
= A∩B Identity Law

Worked Example 2
Show that:

(A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ B) = A

Solution

(A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ B)
= A ∩ (B ∪ B) Distributive Law
=A ∩ U Complement Law
=A Identity Law
2.3 Number Types 23

2.3 Number Types

Numbers can be categorised into five distinct types as we saw in the previous
chapter.

2.3.1 Natural Numbers

Natural numbers are the numbers that we use for counting. That is to say, whole
numbers from 0 to infinity.
Examples of natural numbers are:

3, 10, 289, 1098.

2.3.2 Integers

Integers include the natural numbers, but also include the numbers less than zero
(negative numbers). Integers are therefore whole numbers from minus infinity to
plus infinity.
Examples of integers are:

−1, 34, −235, 0, 195.

2.3.3 Rational Numbers

Rational numbers are numbers that can be expressed as:

p
q

where p and q are integers.

Some numbers occur naturally in nature but cannot be expressed as rational
numbers—they are irrational numbers (also called surds). Examples of irrational
numbers are:
√
• 2
• π (the number of times the diameter of a circle goes into the circumference)
• Euler’s number, e, which is a very important mathematical constant.
24 2 Sets and Groups

2.3.4 Real Numbers

Real numbers are numbers that have a fractional part. They include rational num-
bers but also include irrational numbers. They also include integers (and therefore
natural numbers) because integers can be expressed as, for example, 2.0, 3.0, −
5.0 and so on.
Examples of real numbers are:

−3.127, 34.987, 0.001, −108.7, 3.0.

2.3.5 Complex Numbers

Complex numbers are used in advanced mathematics and consist of a real part
and an imaginary part. The imaginary part contains a special number i, which is
defined as:
√
−1

Of course there is no real number that gives − 1 when squared, which is why
we use the term "imaginary number".
A typical complex number might look like this: 3 + 2i.
The set of complex numbers also contains real numbers (the coefficient of i is
0).

Worked Example 3
Consider the following numbers:
−4.82 33 − 262 45.987 0.3
Which of these numbers are:
(a) Real numbers (b) Integers (c) Natural numbers
Solution

(a) All of them are real numbers.

(b) 33 and − 262 are integers (as well as being real numbers)
(c) 33 is a natural number (as well as being an integer and a real number).

2.4 Number Types and Programming

In most programming languages we have to declare the type of a variable before

we use it. This is because different number types are stored in different ways in
memory. It takes up a lot more memory to store a real number than an integer for
instance. As an example, the available types for the Java programming language
are shown in Table 2.1.
2.5 Working with Complex Numbers 25

Table 2.1 Java number types

Java type Range of values Allows for
Byte Very small integers − 128 to 127
Short Small integers − 32,768 to 32,767
Int Big integers − 2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
Long Very big integers − 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807
Float Real numbers ± 1.4 * 10–45 to 3.4 * 1038
Double Very big real numbers ± 4.9 * 10–324 to 1.8 * 10308

2.5 Working with Complex Numbers

Addition
We add the two parts separately.
For example

(3 + 2i) + (4−i) = 7 + i

Multiplication
We do a normal binomial multiplication.
For example:

(3 + 2i)(4−2i) = 12 − 6i + 8i−4i2
= 12 + 2i− 4i2

But

i2 = −1

so our final answer is 12 + 2i + 4 or 16 + 2i.

Division
Consider the following example:

3+i
1 − 3i
We need to find a way to remove the imaginary part from the denominator. We
can do this by multiplying both numerator and denominator by (1 + 3i).

3+i (3 + i)(1 + 3i)

=
1 − 3i (1 − 3i)(1 + 3i)
26 2 Sets and Groups

3 + 9i + i + 3i2
=
1 + 3i − 3i − 9i2
3 + 10i + 3i2
= Because i2 = −1
1 − 9i2
3 + 10i − 3
=
10
10i
=
10
=i

2.6 Number Sets

As mentioned in the previous chapter, it is common to refer to the sets of numbers

by the following letters:

N The set of natural numbers

Z The set of integers
Q The set of rational numbers
R The set of real numbers
C The set of complex numbers.

We see that: N ⊂ Z ⊂ Q ⊂ R ⊂ C.

2.7 Discrete Versus Continuous Values

Imagine turning on a tap just enough so that the tap drips. You can count the
individual drops of water that come out of the tap.
Now imagine you turn the tap further, so that the water comes in a continuous
stream. Now it is not possible to count anything.
Discrete values are like the drops of water. They come in separate packets, and
you can count them. Natural numbers and integers are discrete. You can count how
many integers there are between, say, 1 and 10.
Continuous values are like the stream of water coming from the tap. There
are no separate items that you can count. Real numbers are continuous. It is not
possible to say how many items there are between, say, 2.1 and 2.2.

2.8 Countable and Non-countable Sets

Consider the set of positive numbers greater than or equal to 5 and less than or
equal to 10. This set would contain 6 numbers—we can count them from 5 up to
10.
2.9 Operations 27

But what if we put no upper limit on the set? We could still count the mem-
bers—the only thing is that we would never finish counting, because the number
of elements is infinite. A set like this is said to be countable and infinite.
Now consider the set of real numbers from 5 to 10. How could we count these?
If we started with 5.0, then counted 5.1, what about 5.01, 5.02 etc.? And what
about the numbers between 5.01 and 5.02? You can see we can never count real
numbers—and in fact it can be mathematically proven that if we take any two real
numbers, there is always another number in between.
The set of real numbers, R, is non-countable and infinite—whereas the set of
natural numbers, N, and the set of integers, Z, are countable and infinite.
So you can see that there are in fact two types of infinity—countable infinity
and non-countable infinity.

2.9 Operations

In mathematics, an operation is a calculation from a number of input values

(called operands) to an output value.
The basic arithmetic operations are:

• Addition (+)
• Subtraction (−)
• Multiplication (× or *)
• Division (÷ or /)

2.9.1 Commutative Operations

When we perform an operation on two terms, the operation is commutative if it

doesn’t matter which of the terms is placed first and which one is placed second.
In arithmetic the following operations are commutative:

Addition

x+y =y+x

For example: 2 + 3 = 3 + 2 = 5
Multiplication

x×y =y×x

For example: 2 × 3 = 3 × 2 = 6
The following arithmetic operations are not commutative:
28 2 Sets and Groups

Subtraction

x + y /= y + x

For example: 10 – 3 = 7 but 3 – 10 = –7

10−3 /= 3−10

Division

x ÷ y /= y ÷ x

For example: 10 ÷ 5 = 2 but 5 ÷ 10 = 0.5

10 ÷ 5 /= 5 ÷ 10.

2.9.2 Associative Operations

When we perform an operation on more than two terms, the operation is asso-
ciative if it doesn’t matter how we group the terms. In arithmetic the following
operations are associative:
Addition

x + (y + z) = (x + y) + z

For example: 2 + (3 + 4) = (2 + 3) + 4 = 9
Multiplication

x × (y × z) = (x × y) × z

For example: 2 × (3 × 4) = (2 × 3) × 4 = 24
The following arithmetic operations are not associative:

Subtraction

x − (y − z) = (x − y) − z

For example: 12 – (6 – 2) = 8 but (12 – 6) – 2 = 4

12−(6−2) /= (12−6)−2.
2.9 Operations 29

Division

x ÷ (y ÷ z) = (x ÷ y) ÷ z

For example: 12 ÷ (6 ÷ 2) = 4 but (12 ÷ 6) ÷ 2 = 1

12 ÷ (6 ÷ 2) /= (12 ÷ 6) ÷ 2

In set theory the following operations are commutative:

Union

A∪B=B∪A

Intersection

A∩B=B∩A

The following operations are not commutative:

Difference

A\B /= B\A

Cartesian product

A × B /= B × A

The following set operations are associative:

Union

(A ∪ B) ∪ C = A ∪ (B ∪ C)

Intersection

(A ∩ B) ∩ C = A ∩ (B ∩ C)

The following set operation is not associative:

Difference

(A\B)\C /= A\(B\C)
30 2 Sets and Groups

2.9.2.1 Cartesian Product and Associativity

If Cartesian product is associative then:

(A × B) × C = A × (B × C)

Strictly speaking it is not associative, as illustrated by the following example:

Let A = {a, m, n} B = {b, x, y} C = {c, d , e, f , g}.

The left hand side would give us:

{((a, b), c), ((a, b), d ), ((a, b), e)...}

The right side would give as a set such as:

{(a, (b, c)), (a, (b, d )), (a, (b, e))...}

However, we often assume that the Cartesian product of three sets just gives as
triples.
In this case it is associative as both sides would gives us:

{(a, b, c), (a, b, d ), (a, b, e)...}

2.10 Groups

A group is a set combined with an operation. For example:

The set of integers with the operation addition

However, a set and an operation do not constitute a group unless it satisfies the
following criteria, all of which are explained in the subsequent sections:

1. The group contains an identity.

2. The group contains inverses.
3. The operation is associative.
4. The group is closed under the operation.

We will now explore each of these in turn.

1. A group must contain an identity

2.10 Groups 31

The set must contain an element known as the identity element. If the operation
is applied to any element and the identity, the element will be unchanged.

For example
For the set of integers and addition, the identity is 0:

5+0 = 5 0+5 = 5
7+0 = 7 0+7 = 7
−5 + 0 = −5 −5 + 0 = −5 etc.

• the identity element must be an element of the set;

• there is only one identity element for every group;
• the symbol that is usually used for the identity element is e.

Formally:
For a set G under the operation *:
There exists an e in G, such that a * e = a and e * a = a, for all elements a in
G.

2. A group must contain inverses

For every element of the group, there’s another element of the group such that
when we use the operator on both of them, we get e, the identity.

For example
For the integers and addition, the inverse of 5 is − 5 (because 5 + − 5 = 0); the
inverse of − 5 is 5.

• if a is the inverse of b, then it must be that b is the inverse of a;

• inverses are unique—for example, there is no other x, apart from − 5, such that
5 + x = 0.

Notation
The inverse of a is written as a−1 . In the above example, a−1 = b.
Formally:
For all a in G, there exists a b in G, such that a ∗ b = e and b ∗ a = e.

3. A group must be associative

We already know the meaning of this.

32 2 Sets and Groups

For example
For the set of integers, addition is an associative operation.
Formally:
For all a, b, and c in G, a ∗ (b ∗ c) = (a ∗ b) ∗ c.

4. A group must be closed under the operation

• if there are two elements in the group, a and b, and * represents the operation,
then it must be the case that a * b is also in the group.
• we say that the group is closed under the operation.

For example
With integers and addition, the group is closed because whatever the value of a
and b, a + b is always an integer.
Formally:
For all a, b in G, a * b is in G.
We see that the group integers with addition is formally a group because it has
all of the required properties.

2.11 Notation and Terminology

You will often see a group written like this:

(G, *) where G represents the set, and * the operation.
For example:

• The set of integers with addition: (Z, +)

• The set {1} with multiplication: ({1}, x)

Note

• sometimes you will see the symbol ° used instead of *;

• if a group is also commutative, it is referred to as an abelian group;
• a group that has associativity and closure only is called a semigroup;
• a semigroup that has an identity element is called a monoid.

Worked Example 4
Is the set {− 1, 1} under multiplication a group?
2.11 Notation and Terminology 33

Solution

Is there an identity element?

The identity element is 1 because 1 × 1 = 1 and − 1 × 1 = − 1.

Are there inverses?

1 × 1 = 1 and − 1 × − 1 = 1, so there is an inverse for each element.

Is the operation associative?

We already know that multiplication is associative with any integers.

Is there closure?
It is closed because the results of all of the following are in the group:

1×1 –1 × − 1 1×− 1 − 1 × 1.
Therefore the set {− 1, 1} under multiplication is a group.

Worked Example 5
Is the set {− 1, 0, 1} under addition a group?

Solution

Is there an identity element?

The identity element is 0.

Are there inverses?

− 1 + 1 = 0, 1 + − 1 = 0 and 0 + 0 = 0, so there is an inverse for each
element.

Is the operation associative?

We already know that addition is associative with any integers.

Is there closure?
It is not closed because the result of adding − 1 to itself is not in the group –
neither is the result of adding 1 to itself.

Therefore the set {− 1, 0, 1} under addition is not a group.

34 2 Sets and Groups

Worked Example 6
Is the set of integers under multiplication a group?

Solution

Is there an identity element?

The identity element is 1.

Are there inverses?

If you take an integer such as 7, there is no integer that will result in 1 if
multiplied by 7. This applies to all integers except 1. So it does not satisfy the
inverse property.

The set of integers under multiplication is therefore not a group.

Worked Example 7
Is the set of rational numbers excluding zero under multiplication a group?

Solution

Is there an identity element?

The identity element is 1.

Are there inverses?

We can find an inverse for every element.

For example: The inverse of 57 is 75 because 57 × 75 = 1.

The same applies to every rational number (excluding zero).

Is the operation associative?

We already know that multiplication is associative with all numbers.

Is there closure?
It is closed because the result of any possible multiplication always results in
another rational number.
a b ac
× =
b d bd

Therefore the set of rational numbers excluding zero under multiplication is a

group. But notice that if we include zero, it is not a group because there is no
inverse for zero.
2.13 Exercises 35

2.12 Relevance to Computing

Number theory and group theory are essential parts of the foundations of mathe-
matics. But for students studying computing they are essential for areas such as
algorithm design, coding theory, and encryption systems.

2.13 Exercises

1. Use the laws of set algebra to simplify the following expression:

A ∪ (A ∩ B)

2. Use set algebra to show that:

( )
B∩ A∩B =B∩A

3. In the last chapter you drew Venn diagrams to prove the following:

A\B = A ∩ B

(a) Bearing this in mind, use set algebra to show that:

B ∪ (A\B) = B ∪ A

(b) Verify that this is true by drawing a Venn diagram.

4. Consider the following numbers: 2.25 –335 2 − 3.75 0
Which of these numbers are:
(a) Real numbers (b) Integers (c) Natural numbers?
5. Which of the following is a rational number?
√ √Give a reason for your answer.
7.5 e (Euler’s constant) 7 25
6. Simplify the following expressions containing complex numbers:
(a) i(3 + i) (b) (2 – 3 i)(4 + i) (c) (3 – i)2 (d) (1 + i)3
3+4i
(e) 1+i
7. Consider the following sets:

A = the set of integers less than 10

B = the set of natural numbers less than 10
S = the set of people living in London
T = the set of real numbers greater than 1000

In each case, state whether the set is:

(a) countable or non-countable
(b) finite or infinite.
36 2 Sets and Groups

8. Consider the following combinations of a set and an operation, and state,

giving reasons, which of them constitute a formal group:
(a) Natural numbers under subtraction
(b) The set {0} under addition
(c) The set {1} under multiplication
9. Show that the set of natural numbers starting from 0 (N0 ) under addition is a
monoid but not a group.
10. Show that the set of natural numbers starting from 1 (N1 ) under addition is a
semigroup but not a group.
Relations
3

At the end of this chapter you should be able to:

• explain the meaning of the term relation;

• represent a binary relation pictorially and as a set of ordered pairs;
• find the inverse of a given relation;
• determine whether a particular relation on a set is an equivalence relation.

3.1 Introduction

In this chapter we are going to deal with the topic of relations, which is to do
with the ways in which elements of different sets can be related to each other. This
subject forms the basis upon which other very important mathematical concepts
such as functions are derived, and also has a direct application in computing, since
it is the theoretical base that underlies the structure of relational databases.

3.2 Relations: Definition and Notation

A relation is a set of connections from one set to another set.

Consider a small college that specialises in science. Four subjects are taught –
physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics. There are three members of the
teaching staff – Juliet, Ade and Meena. We can define two sets, the set of teachers
and the set of subjects. We will call them T and S respectively:

T = {JULIET, ADE, MEENA}

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025 37

Q. Charatan and A. Kans, Maths For Computing, Undergraduate Topics in Computer
Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69234-5_3
38 3 Relations

Fig. 3.1 A relation between

teachers and subjects
JULIET PHYSICS

CHEMISTRY

ADE
BIOLOGY

MEENA MATHEMATICS

T S

S = {PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY, BIOLOGY, MATHEMATICS}

We need to consider which teachers teach which subjects. One way we can
represent this is by means of a diagram, as show in in Fig. 3.1.
The diagram shows a relation between the set of teachers and the set of sub-
jects. We often use R to represent a relation, and express R as a set of ordered
pairs. In our example:

R ={(JULIET, PHYSICS), (JULIET, MATHEMATICS), (ADE, PHYSICS),

(MEENA, CHEMISTRY), (MEENA, BIOLOGY)}

We can express the relationship between the individual pairs as follows:

JULIET R MATHEMATICS

We read this as: JULIET is related to MATHEMATICS

In our case it means: JULIET teaches MATHEMATICS

Worked Example 1
The diagram in Fig. 3.2 represents the relation “is produced by” between the set F
(food) and the set A (animals):

(a) Represent the relation in terms of a set of ordered pairs.

(b) Write in words: milk R goats

Solution

(a) R = { (MILK, COWS), (MILK, GOATS), (EGGS, HENS) }

(b) milk is produced by goats
3.2 Relations: Definition and Notation 39

Fig. 3.2 The relation

is-produced-by

F A

Worked Example 2
A and B are two sets and R is a relation from set A to set B.

A = {a, b, c, d }

B = {x, y, z}

R = {(a, x), (b, y), (c, y), (d , x)}

Represent the relation R pictorially.

Solution
See Fig. 3.3

Fig. 3.3 Solution to

worked example 2

A B
40 3 Relations

3.3 Inverse Relations

Consider the relation, R, from a set A to a set B, shown in Fig. 3.4

The relation in Fig. 3.5 represents the inverse of this relation, written as R−1 .
Expressing R as a set of ordered pairs, we have:

R = { (a, x), (b, y), (c, y), (d , z) }

R−1 = { (x, a), (y, b), (y, c), (z, d ) }

In general, if R is a relation from a set A to set B, then the inverse, R−1 , is a

relation from a set B to a set A and is found by reversing the pairs.
We can use the notation for set comprehension that we learnt previously to give
a formal definition of the inverse:

R−1 = {(b, a)|(a, b) ∈ R }

Fig. 3.4 A relation from A to

B

A B

Fig. 3.5 The inverse of the

relation shown in Fig. 3.4

B A
3.6 Symmetric Relations 41

Fig. 3.6 The relation “is

older than” ABDUL ABDUL

DIANA DIANA

LEENA LEENA

SAM SAM
A A

3.4 Relations on a Set

When a relation is between two identical sets, we talk about a relation on a set.
For example consider the following set, A, consisting of four people.

A = {ABDUL, DIANA, LEENA, SAM}

Now consider the relation R, is older than, shown in Fig. 3.6.

Writing the relation as a set of ordered pairs gives:

R ={(ABDUL,DIANA), (ABDUL, LEENA), (ABDUL, SAM),

(DIANA, LEENA), (DIANA, SAM), (LEENA, SAM)}

3.5 Digraphs of Relations

In Chap. 10 you will study graph theory. There you will see that a graph is a
diagram that consists of a set of vertices and a set of connections - in a directed
graph, or digraph, those connections have a direction. A digraph is a useful way
of representing a relation on a set.
The digraph in Fig. 3.7 represents the relation {(a, b), (b, b), (a, c), (a, d), (b,
c), (b, d), (c, d)} on the set {a, b, c, d}.

3.6 Symmetric Relations

Consider the set, A:

A = {1, 2, 3, 4}

Now consider the following relation, R, on this set:

R = {(1, 2), (2, 1), (2, 3), (3, 2) (3, 4), (4, 3) }
42 3 Relations

Fig. 3.7 A digraph of a a

relation

We can see that:

1 R 2 and 2 R 1.
2 R 3 and 3 R 2.
3 R 4 and 4 R 3.
This is an example of a symmetric relation. In such a relation, for every pair
(a, b) there is also a pair (b, a).
Put another way, whenever a R b then we also find that b R a.
We can see that our previous example is older than is not symmetric.
For example:abdul is older than diana, but diana is not older than abdul.

3.7 Reflexive Relations

Consider again the set, A

A = {1, 2, 3, 4}

Now consider the following relation, R, on this set:

R = {(1, 1), (2, 1), (2, 2), (2, 4) (3, 3), (4, 4) }

We can see that:

1 R 1.
2R2
3R3
4R4
This is an example of a reflexive relation. In such a relation, every element is
related to itself.
3.9 Equivalence Relations 43

Put another way, for every element, a, we find that a R a. We can see that our
previous example is older than is not reflexive.
For example ABDUL is not older than ABDUL, and so on.

3.8 Transitive Relations

Once again, consider the set, A

A = {1, 2, 3, 4}

Now consider the following relation, R, on this set:

R = {(1, 2), (1, 3), (1, 4), (2, 3) (2, 4), (3, 4) }

We can see that:

1 R 2, 2 R 3 and 1 R 3.
1 R 3, 3 R 4 and 1 R 4.
2 R 3, 3 R 4 and 2 R 4.
This is an example of a transitive relation. In such a relation, if a R b and b
R c, then a R c.
We can see that our previous example is older than is transitive.
For example:

abdul is older than diana, diana is older than LEENA, and abdul is older
than LEENA.
abdul is older than leena, leena is older than sam, and abdul is older than
sam.
diana is older than leena, leena is older than sam, and diana is older than
sam.

3.9 Equivalence Relations

If a relation is symmetric, reflexive and transitive then it is described as an

equivalence relation.

Worked Example 3
Consider the relation is greater than or equal to (≥) on the set of integers. Is this
an equivalence relation?

Solution
It is a reflexive relation, because for every number, a, a ≥ a.
For example 1 ≥ 1, 3 ≥ 3 and so on.
It is a transitive relation, because whenever a ≥ b and b ≥ c, then a ≥ c.
44 3 Relations

For example 7 ≥ 6, 6 ≥ 4 and 7 ≥ 4.

However, it is not a symmetric relation, because it is not true that whenever a
≥ b then b ≥ a.
For example 7 ≥ 6 but 6 ≥ 7.
Is greater than or equal to is therefore not an equivalence relation.

3.10 Equivalence Classes

Consider the set, A

A = {1, 2, 3, 4}

Now consider the following equivalence relation, R, on this set:

R = { (1, 1), (2, 2), (3, 3), (4, 4), (1, 2), (2, 1), (2, 3), (3, 2), (1, 3), (3, 1)}

For each element of the set there is an equivalence class, defined as the set of
elements that that element is related to.
It is written with square brackets:

So : [1] = {1, 2, 3} [2] = {1, 2, 3} [3] = {1, 2, 3} [4] = {4}.

Notice here that we have arrived at two disjoint sets {1, 2, 3} and {4}.
Equivalence classes always partition the set. In other words, any two equiva-
lence classes are either equal or disjoint.
Formally, given a set S and an equivalence relation R on S, the equivalence
class of an element a in S is the set:

{x ∈ S | x R a}

Worked Example 4
Consider the set, A

A = {a, b, c}

Now consider the following equivalence relation, R, on this set:

R = {(a, a), (a, b), (b, a), (b, b), (c, c)}

Find the equivalence classes for this relation.

3.12 n-Ary Relations 45

Solution

[a] = a, b [b] = a, b [c] = c.

3.11 Binary Relations

The relations we have just seen are binary relations: they are relations between
two sets. In our first worked example we had:

F = {MILK, EGGS, CORN}

A = {COWS, GOATS, HENS}

and we looked at the particular relation:

R = { (MILK, COWS), (MILK, GOATS), (EGGS, HENS) }

In a binary relation, all the possible relations that could exist are given by the
Cartesian product of the two sets.
In this case:

{(MILK,COWS), (MILK, GOATS), (MILK, HENS),

F × A = (EGGS, COWS), (EGGS, GOATS), (EGGS, HENS),
(CORN,COWS), (CORN, GOATS), (CORN, HENS)}

A particular relation, R, is a subset of the Cartesian product.

3.12 n-Ary Relations

We saw that in our previous example we had two sets:

Food = {MILK, EGGS, CORN}

Animals = {COWS, GOATS, HENS}

Let us add another set into the mix:

Farms = {MANOR FARM, CITY FARM}

46 3 Relations

Imagine that they keep goats and hens at Manor Farm and cows and hens at
City Farm. A relation that shows which animal produces which food at which farm
would look like this:

{(MILK, GOATS, MANOR FARM),

(MILK, COWS, CITY FARM),
R=
(EGGS, HENS, MANOR FARM),
(EGGS, HENS, CITY FARM)}

A relation like this, which relates three sets together, is called a ternary
relation. In general we can have 2-ary, 3-ary, 4-ary relations and so on.

3.13 Relevance to Computing: Relational Databases

Databases are of enormous importance to computing – and nowadays most

databases are based on the relational model.
Relational databases use tables to store information. Each row of the table
is called a record and each column is called a field. An example is shown in
Table 3.1.
Each row of the table is one element in a relation (in this case a 5-ary rela-
tion). A typical database consists of many related tables: Table 3.2 is connected to
Table 3.1 by the Department No field.
Relational databases are created and queried by a special language based on the
theory of relations. This is known as Structured Query Language (SQL).

Table 3.1 A table in a relational database storing employee information

Employee_No Name Department_No Date_of_Birth Salary
108765 Patty O’Furniture 3 14.09.1960 43,000
282098 Isadore open 1 30.08.1981 28,000
291073 Justin case 2 28.02.1975 55,000
365498 Anne T body 4 31.10.1990 22,000

Table 3.2 A second table in

Department_No Department_Name
the database
1 Accounts
2 Sales
3 Human resources
4 Marketing
3.14 Exercises 47

Fig. 3.8 The relation

plays-for

P T

3.14 Exercises

1. The diagram in figure 3.8 represents the relation “plays for” between a set of
players, P, and a set of teams, T:
(a) Represent the relation in terms of a set of ordered pairs.
(b) Write in words: Mary R Sidcup Lions
2. A and B are two sets and R is a relation from set A to set B, where:

A = {1, 2, 3}
B = {x, y}
R = {(1, x), (2, x), (3, y)}

Represent the relation R pictorially.

3. A relation R is specified as follows:

R = {(a, 2), (d , 9), (b, 4), (c, 7), (a, 1)}

Give the value of R-1 , the inverse of this relation.

4. Consider the relation “is less than” on the set of integers.

State whether this relation is:
(a) Symmetric
(b) Reflexive
(c) Transitive
48 3 Relations

Fig. 3.9 A relation on the set a

{a, b, c, d}

b c

In each case give a reason for your answer.

5. Consider the digraph in Fig. 3.9 which shows a relation on the set {a, b, c, d}.

State whether this relation is:

(a) Reflexive
(b) Symmetric
(c) Transitive
Functions
4

At the end of this chapter you should be able to:

• define the term function, and determine whether a particular binary relation is
or is not a function;
• apply a function to a particular input;
• write an appropriate function signature;
• where appropriate, specify a function as a mathematical formula;
• describe how a function can effectively have multiple inputs;
• explain the term function composition.
• determine whether a function is injective, surjective or bijective.

4.1 Introduction

In this chapter we cover the very important mathematical concept of a function.

As you will find out, a function is a type of relation, and an understanding of
functions is vital not only to the area of mathematics but also to the world of
computer science.

4.2 Definition

A function is a special sort of binary relation. It is a relation in which each element

of the first set relates to one and only one element in the second set. This means
we can assign more than one element of the first set to the same element of the
second set, but never the other way round. It also means that every element of the

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025 49

Q. Charatan and A. Kans, Maths For Computing, Undergraduate Topics in Computer
Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69234-5_4
50 4 Functions

Fig. 4.1 Functions and

relations

This is a function This is a function

This is not a function This is not a function

(b is assigned to 2 (a is not assigned to any
elements) element)

first set must be assigned to a member of the second set. The examples in Fig. 4.1
will make this clear:
The first set is known as the domain of the function, the second set is known
as the codomain (or range).
The element in the second set that corresponds to a particular element of the
first set is called the image of that element. In the first diagram, for example, y is
the image of a. In a function, every element of the domain must have one and only
one image in the codomain.

Worked Example 1
Which of the diagrams in Fig. 4.2 represents a function?
Solution

(a) is not a function – b has no image in the codomain.

(b) is a function.
(c) is not a function – c maps to two elements in the codomain.
(d) is a function.

4.3 Functions as Mappings

We see that a function from set A to set B is a set of assignments from A to B.

It can also be described as a mapping from A to B. In fact it is a many-to-one
mapping, because many elements of A can map to one element of B.
4.3 Functions as Mappings 51

Fig. 4.2 Worked example 1

4.3.1 Practical Example

On a computer network we need to keep records of users of the system and their
corresponding passwords.
We would need a function that maps names of users (N) to passwords (P). This
is represented in Fig. 4.3.

Fig. 4.3 A function

representing users of a
network and their passwords
peter fido

robinder
mamba
aaron

olu simba

N P
52 4 Functions

Note
This is a function because more than one user can have the same password, but
each user can have only one password.

4.3.2 Using the Password Function

Let’s name our function f . We can now apply our function to each element of N
in order to find the user’s password. We write this as follows:

f ( peter ) = f ido
f (r obinder ) = f ido
f (aar on) = mamba
f (olu) = simba

We pronounce this as f of peter, f of robinder and so on.

4.4 A Function as an Input/Output Device

A function is effectively a device that transforms an input to an output. Our pass-

word example, for instance, took a username as an input and transformed it into a
password as shown in Fig. 4.4.

4.5 Functions as Formulae

When a function takes a number and outputs another number, it can often be
specified as a mathematical formula.
Imagine a function, f , that behaves like this for three different inputs as shown
in Fig. 4.5.
In this case, the function takes an input and adds 5 to it. If the function behaves
like this for every input, we can express our function as a formula:

f (x) = x + 5

4.5.1 Applying our Function

Now that we have our function expressed like this: f (x) = x + 5, we can apply it
to any input. For example:

f (2) = 7
f (0) = 5
f (−2) = 3
4.5 Functions as Formulae 53

username password

For each individual input, we get the following outputs:

peter fido

robinder fido

aaron mamba

olu simba

Fig. 4.4 A function as an input/output device

1 6

3 8

7 12

Fig. 4.5 Possible input/output pairs for a particular function, f

4.5.2 Another Example

Imagine a function that always outputs the square of the input. We can write this
as:

f (x) = x 2
54 4 Functions

A B

Fig. 4.6 Worked example 2

Some sample inputs would give us:

f (2) = 4
f (3) = 9
f (−2) = 4

Worked Example 2
A function f , which maps from a set A to a set B, is represented pictorially in
Fig. 4.6.
What is the value of the following?

(a) f (m) (b) f (n) (c) f ( p) (d) f (q)

Solution

(a) f (m) = z (b) f (n) = y (c) f ( p) = w (d) f (q) = w

Worked Example 3
A function f is specified as follows:

f (x) = 2x−1

What is the value of the following?

(a) f (3) (b) f (−2) (c) f (0)

Solution

(a) f (3) = 2 × 3−1

4.5 Functions as Formulae 55

= 6−1
= 5.

(b) f (−2) = 2 × (−2)−1

= −4−1
= −5

(c) f (0) = 2 × 0−1

= 0−1
= −1

Worked Example 4
A function f is specified as follows:

f (x) = 3x 2 −10

What is the value of the following?

(a) f (5) (b) f (−4) (c) f (0)

Solution

(a) f (5) = 3 × 52 −10

= 3 × 25−10
= 75−10
= 65

(b) f (−4) = 3 × (−4)2 −10

= 3 × 16−10
= 48−10
= 38

(c) f (0) = 3 × 0−10

= 0−10
= −10
56 4 Functions

4.6 Functions as Equations

In mathematics we often designate a letter (such as y) to a function, and write the

function as an equation.
Consider the function:

f (x) = 3x + 1

If we let f (x) = y, then we have the equation: y = 3x + 1.

4.7 The Signature of a Function

We usually give a function a name. In the password example we called our function
f.
When we specify a function, we first need to provide its signature:

f : U ser names → Passwor ds

This means that the function f maps from the set of Usernames to the set of
Passwords. This is sometimes read as f maps Usernames into Passwords.

4.8 Specifying a Function

When we specify a function, we need to do two things: provide its signature, and
say what it does. In general, if f is a function from set A to set B we write its
signature as:

f :A→B

If an element x in the domain maps onto an element y in the codomain, we

write:

f (x) = y

As we saw earlier, we pronounce f (x) as f of x. An example of the above

function could be that shown in Fig. 4.7:
Applying the function to each element of A gives us:

f (a) = 1

f (b) = 3

f (c) = 3

This, together with the signature, fully specifies the function.

4.10 Not all Mappings are Functions 57

Fig. 4.7 An example

function

A B

4.9 Specifying Formulaic Functions

Consider one of the previous examples, f (x) = x 2 .

Consider the following inputs:

f (3) = 9

f (4) = 16

f (−2) = 4

f (−3) = 9

The input is an integer, but the output is always a natural number (we never
produce a negative number by taking the square).
We could write our function like this:

f :Z→N

f (x) = x 2

When we specify functions which are formulae, the signature will involve num-
ber sets such as the above. Often, when working with formulae and equations, we
assume that - unless otherwise stated - we are dealing with real numbers; in other
words the function maps from R to R.

4.10 Not all Mappings are Functions

Consider the following mapping:

f :N→R

√
f = x
58 4 Functions

A number in the domain such as 4 will have two images in the codomain,
namely 2 and − 2.
So f is not a function.

4.11 Functions with More than One Input

In computer graphics, images are formed from pixels made up of three primary
colours - red, green and blue. Mixing these can produce three secondary colours -
cyan, magenta, yellow:

CYAN = BLUE + GREEN

MAGENTA = RED + BLUE

YELLOW = RED + GREEN

We can define two sets, P to represent primary colours and S to represent

secondary colours:

P = {RED, GREEN, BLUE}

S = {CYAN, MAGENTA, YELLOW}

A function that produces secondary colours from primary colours would look
like that shown in Fig. 4.8.
The first set is actually the Cartesian product of two sets. In this case the two
sets are the same, P and P – but they could be two different sets.
If we call the above function f , then we see that the signature of f is:

f :P×P→S

Fig. 4.8 A function that

produces secondary colours
from primary colours (BLUE, GREEN) CYAN

(RED, BLUE) MAGENTA

(RED, GREEN) YELLOW

PxP S
4.12 Function Composition 59

What we have done here is effectively to extend the notion of a function to be

able to accept more than one input.
When applying the function we should write, for example:

f ((RED, BLUE)) = MAGENTA

However, we normally drop the double brackets and write:

f (RED, BLUE) = MAGENTA

In general:

f (x, y) = z

Worked Example 5
Consider the following function:

f :R×R→R

f (x, y) = x 2 + y−1

State the value of:

(a) f (1, 2) (b) f (0, 0)

Solution

(a) f (1, 2) = 12 + 2−1 = 2

(b) f (0, 0) = 02 + 0−1 = −1

4.12 Function Composition

Function composition means applying one function to the result of another

function. Consider two functions:

g(x) and f (x)

f (g(x)) is the composition of f and g.

It means apply g, then apply f to the result.

60 4 Functions

Fig. 4.9 An injective

function

A B

This can also be written as: ( f z g)(x).

Worked Example 6

g(x) = 2x + 3 f (x) = x 2

Calculate:

f (g(2))

Solution

g(2) = 2 x 2 + 3 = 7

f (7) = 72 = 49

4.13 Injective Functions

A function from A to B is injective (also known as one-to-one) if different

elements in the domain all have distinct images, as shown in the example in
Fig. 4.9.

4.14 Surjective Functions

A function from A to B is surjective (also known as onto) if each element of B is

an image of some element of A – see Fig. 4.10.

4.15 Bijective Functions

A function which is both injective and surjective is described as bijective, as shown

in Fig. 4.11.
4.16 Application to Computing 61

Fig. 4.10 A surjective

function

A B

Fig. 4.11 A bijective

function

A B

4.16 Application to Computing

4.16.1 Computer Programming

Every programming language provides a means of grouping lines of code together

to perform a particular task. Such routines are given different names in different
languages—in Java for example they are called methods; in Python they are called
functions.
A method or function can accept multiple inputs and optionally can output a
value. Any method that outputs a value is equivalent to a function in mathematics.
Consider a mathematical function (which we will call myFunction) that is
specified as follows:

my Function : f : Z × Z → Z

my Function(x, y) = 2x + y

In Java, for example, we would code a corresponding method as follows:

int my Function(int f ir st I n, int second I n)

{
return 2 ∗ f ir st I n + second I n;
}
62 4 Functions

In Python the same function would look like this:

de f my Function ( f ir st I n, second I n):

r etur n 2 ∗ f ir st I n + second I n

4.16.2 Business Software

In everyday life we often need to do such things as adding several numbers

together or finding an average. This is particularly true in the world of business –
and therefore business software such as databases and spreadsheets come packed
with built-in functions to perform tasks such as these. A commercial application
such as Microsoft ExcelTM contains literally hundreds of pre- defined functions
that accept a number of inputs (often as cells in the spreadsheet) and output the
result.
In ExcelTM , such functions include sum, average, max, min and many, many
more.
To find the average of the numbers in the cell range A1:A4, for example, we
would enter:

= AVERAGE(A1:A4).

4.17 Exercises

1. Which of the diagrams in Fig. 4.12 represents a function?

2. A function f , which maps from a set A to a set B, is represented pictorially in
Fig. 4.13:
What is the value of the following?

(a) f (u) (b) f (v) (c) f (w) (d) f (x)

3. A function f is specified as follows:

f :Z×Z→Z

f (x) = 4x 2 −5

What is the value of the following?

(a) f (3) (b) f (−1) (c) f (0)

4.17 Exercises 63

Fig. 4.12 Exercise 1 a) b)

a 1 a 1

b 2 b 2

c 3 c 3

d 4 d 4

c)

a 1

b 2

c 3

d 4

Fig. 4.13 Exercise 2

4. Consider the following function:

f :R × R→R

f (x, y) = 2x 2 + 3y

State the value of:

(a) f (2, 0) (b) f (1, −1)

64 4 Functions

5. Consider the following functions:

g(x) = 3x + 1 f (x) = x 3

Calculate:

f (g(3))

6. Write a complete specification (signature and behaviour) of a function that

accepts two integers and outputs a number which is twice the sum of these
two integers.
7. Consider the functions shown in Fig. 4.14. For each one, say whether it is an
injective function, a surjective function, neither or both.
8. Consider the following function:

f :R→R

f (x) = x 2

Is this function

(a) surjective? (b) injective?

a)
a 1 b) a
2
b 2 b
3
c 3 c
4
d d
4

c) d)

1 1
a
a
2 b 2
b
3 c 3
c
4 d 4

Fig. 4.14 Exercise 7

Propositional Logic
5

At the end of this chapter you should be able to:

• define the term proposition;

• provide truth tables for the simple logical operators, including NOT, AND, OR,
IMPLICATION, EQUIVALENCE and EXCLUSIVE OR;
• explain and interpret the above truth tables;
• construct truth tables for compound expressions, and determine whether two
expressions are logically equivalent;
• explain the terms tautology and contradiction;
• use the laws of propositional logic to perform simple algebraic operations on
logical expressions;
• provide examples of how mathematical logic is applied to the field of comput-
ing.

5.1 Introduction

In this chapter and the next we are moving on to a new topic, mathematical
logic, which is a well-established branch of mathematics, and is essential for
the understanding of a many important topics in computer science, especially in
programming. This chapter concentrates on propositional logic, which involves
performing operations on simple statements which can be true or false. We will
study the use of truth tables that define rules for these operations, and learn some
simple laws that enable us to develop an algebra of propositions.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025 65

Q. Charatan and A. Kans, Maths For Computing, Undergraduate Topics in Computer
Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69234-5_5
66 5 Propositional Logic

5.2 Mathematical Logic

In mathematical logic we try to place a rigorous mathematical framework around

everyday natural language. There are two main branches of logic that we will study
in this book:

• propositional logic (this chapter)

• predicate logic (next chapter)

5.3 Propositions

A proposition is a statement that can be either true or false. We say that it has a
truth value.
Examples of propositions that have a value of true:

• The angles of a triangle add up to 180 degrees.

• Paris is the capital of France.
• 3 + 2 = 5.

Examples of propositions that have a value of false:

• The angles of a triangle add up to 360 degrees.

• Paris is the capital of Scotland.
• 3+2=7

We can represent propositions by variable names such as P or Q. For example:

P: It is sunny.
Q: Today is Tuesday.

5.4 Logical Operators (Connectives)

We can join two simple propositions together to form a compound statement, using
operators (or connectives) that try to capture the meaning of simple words like
“and” and “or”. The truth value of a compound statement will depend on the value
of each of the two simple statements.
Each connective has a set of rules that are defined in the form of a truth table.

Ʌ
5.4.1 The AND operator ( )

If P and
Ʌ Q are propositions then:
P Q means: P AND Q.
5.4 Logical Operators (Connectives) 67

Fig. 5.1 The truth table for P Q PɅQ

AND
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F F

The meaning of the AND operator is defined in the truth table shown in Fig. 5.1
(where T means true and F means false).
If P Ʌ
is the statement “It is Wednesday”, and Q is the statement “It is February”,
then P Q is the statement “It is Wednesday and it is February”.
The compound statement is true only if both of the simple statements are true –
otherwise it is false.
This is also known as conjunction.

Worked Example 1
If P and Q represent the following statements:
P: 102 < 50.
Q: Nigeria is in Africa.
Ʌ
What is the value of P Q?
Solution

P is false.
Q is true.

Looking at the third line of the truth table we see that F ∧ T is false.
Therefore, P ∧ Q is false.

5.4.2 The OR Operator (∨)

If P and Q are propositions then:

P ∨ Q means: P OR Q.
The meaning of the OR operator is defined in the truth table in Fig. 5.2.
If P is the statement “It is Wednesday”, and Q is the statement “It is February”,
then P ∨ Q is the statement “It is Wednesday or it is February”.

Fig. 5.2 The truth table for P Q PvQ

OR
T T T
T F T
F T T
F F F
68 5 Propositional Logic

The compound statement is true if either one of the simple statements is true – it
is false only when both statements are false.
This is also known as disjunction.

Worked Example 2
If P and Q represent the following statements:

P: 102 < 50.

Q: Nigeria is in Africa.

What is the value of P ∨ Q?

Solution
P is false.
Q is true.
Looking at the third line of the truth table we see: F ∨ T is true.
Therefore, P ∨ Q is true.

5.4.3 The NOT Operator (¬)

Unlike the previous two operators, the not operator operates on a single proposi-
tion.
¬P is read as not P.
Its function is to reverse the value of the proposition.
If P is true, then ¬P is false.
If P is false then ¬P is true.

For Example:
If P represents the statement it is raining.
then ¬P represents the statement it is not raining.
The truth table for the NOT operator is shown in Fig. 5.3.
This is known as negation.
Note: you might also come across the notation ~ P and !P to mean NOT P.

Fig. 5.3 The truth table for P ¬P

NOT
T F
F T
5.4 Logical Operators (Connectives) 69

Worked Example 3
Let P be “It is cold” and Q be “It is raining”. Give simple sentences which
represent the following statements:

(a) ¬P
(b) P∧Q
(c) P ∨Q
(d) Q ∨ ¬P
e) ¬P ∧ ¬Q
(f) ¬ ¬Q

Solution

(a) It is not cold.

(b) It is cold and it is raining.
(c) It is cold or it is raining.
(d) It is raining or it is not cold.
(e) It is not cold and it is not raining.
(f) It is raining.

Worked Example 4
Let P be “She is tall” and Q be “She is intelligent”. Express each of the following
statements symbolically:

(a) She is tall and intelligent.

(b) She is tall, but not intelligent.
(c) It is false that she is tall or intelligent.
(d) She is neither tall nor intelligent.
(e) She is tall, or she is short and intelligent.
(f) It is not true that she is short or unintelligent.

Solution

(a) P ∧Q
(b) P ∧ ¬Q
(c) ¬(P ∨ Q)
(d) ¬P ∧ ¬Q
(e) P ∨ (¬P ∧ Q)
(f) ¬ (¬P ∨ ¬Q)
70 5 Propositional Logic

1 2 3 4 5 6
1. Enter all the possible combinations in
columns 1 to 3. P Q R PɅQ ¬R (P Ʌ Q) v ¬R
T T T T F T
2. Using the values for P and Q in columns
1 and 2, complete column 4 by using the T T F T T T
rules for AND. T F T F F F
3. Complete column 5 by negating the T F F F T T
values for R in column 3.
F T T F F F
4. Using the values in columns 4 and 5, F T F F T T
complete column 6 by using the rules for
F F T F F F
OR.
F F F F T T

Fig. 5.4 Constructing a truth table

5.5 Constructing Truth Tables

Consider the following expression: (P ∧ Q) ∨ ¬R.

This expression contains three variables, P, Q and R; the overall value of the
expression (true or false) will depend on the value of these three variables.
We can construct a truth table to show all possible combinations. In general if
there are n variables the number of rows in the table will be 2n .
In this case there are 3 variables so the number of rows will be 23 or 8.
The method for construction truth tables is described in Fig. 5.4.

5.6 Logical Equivalence

Two compound statements are said to be logically equivalent if they have identical
truth tables. We use the symbol ≡ to indicate that two statements are identical.

Worked Example 6
Prove the following identity: ¬(P ∧ Q) ≡ ¬P ∨ ¬Q.

Solution
See Fig. 5.5.
The last column of each truth table is identical – so both statements are
equivalent.

5.7 De Morgan’s Law

In the previous section we showed that:

¬(P ∧ Q) ≡ ¬P ∨ ¬Q
5.7 De Morgan’s Law 71

The left hand side The right hand side

P Q PɅQ ¬(P Ʌ Q) P Q ¬P ¬Q ¬P v ¬Q
T T T F T T F F F
T F F T T F F T T
F T F T F T T F T
F F F T F F T T T

Fig. 5.5 Solution to worked example 6

It can also be shown that:

¬(P ∨ Q) ≡ ¬P ∧ ¬Q

Together these laws are known as De Morgan’s Law, and you will remember a
similar law from set theory. As we shall see later, the laws of propositional algebra
and the laws of set theory are isomorphic—which means that “they have the same
shape”.
De Morgan’s Law makes sense—in a previous worked example, we were asked
to express the following statements symbolically, where P represented “She is tall”
and Q represented “She is intelligent”.

• It is false that she is tall or intelligent.

• She is neither tall nor intelligent.

In fact these statements mean exactly the same thing, and our answers were:

• ¬(P ∨ Q)
• ¬P ∧ ¬Q

And by de Morgan’s law these two statements are identical!

Worked Example 7
Use De Morgan’s law to show that:

¬(¬P ∨ (P ∧ Q)) ≡ P ∧ (¬P ∨ ¬Q)

Solution

¬(¬P ∨ (P ∧ Q))
≡ ¬¬P ∧ ¬(P ∧ Q)
≡ P ∧ (¬P ∨ ¬Q)
72 5 Propositional Logic

The left hand side The right hand side

P Q PvQ ¬(P v Q) P Q ¬P ¬Q ¬P Ʌ ¬Q
T T T F T T F F F
T F T F T F F T F
F T T F F T T F F
F F F T F F T T T

Fig. 5.6 Solution to worked example 8

Worked Example 8
Use truth tables to prove the second version of De Morgan’s law:

¬(P ∨ Q) ≡ ¬P ∧ ¬Q

Solution
See Fig. 5.6.
The last columns in both truth tables are the same, thus proving the identity.

5.8 Commutativity and Associativity

Both the AND operator and the OR operator are commutative:

P∧Q ≡Q∧P
P∨Q ≡Q∨P

Both these operators are also associative:

(P ∧ Q) ∧ R ≡ P ∧ (Q ∧ R)
(P ∨ Q) ∨ R ≡ P ∨ (Q ∨ R)

You can prove the above identities by constructing truth tables.

5.9 The Implication Operator (⇒)

If P and Q are propositions then:

P ⇒ Q means : IF P THEN Q.
or alternatively : P IMPLIES Q.
5.10 The Equivalence Operator (⇔) 73

Fig. 5.7 The truth table for P Q P→Q

IMPLIES
T T T
T F F
F T T
F F T

The truth table for IMPLIES is given in Fig. 5.7.

If P is the statement “It is sunny”, and Q is the statement “I go shopping”, then
P ⇒ Q is the statement “If it is sunny, I go shopping”.
Look carefully at the truth table:
Line 1: If the compound statement is true, then if it is sunny, I definitely go
shopping.
Line 2: If it is sunny and I do not go shopping, the compound statement must
be false.
Lines 3 and 4: If the compound statement is true, but it is not sunny, then maybe
I go shopping (line 3) or maybe I do not (line 4).
The statement P ⇒ Q being true tells us nothing about what happens if P is
false (in this case it is not sunny).
But if P is true then it guarantees that Q is true.
P is a sufficient condition for Q, but P is not a necessary condition for Q.
If P ⇒ Q is true, then P is true only if Q is true - if I do not go shopping, it
isn’t sunny.
For this reason we can interpret P ⇒ Q as: P only if Q.
Q is a necessary condition for P.

5.10 The Equivalence Operator (⇔)

If P and Q are propositions then:

P ⇔ Q means: P IS EQUIVALENT TO Q.
The truth table for ⇔ is presented in Fig. 5.8.
If P is the statement “It is sunny”, and Q is the statement “I go shopping”, then
P ⇔ Q is the statement “If it is sunny, I go shopping, and if I go shopping, it is
sunny”.

Fig. 5.8 The truth table for P Q P→Q

IS EQUIVALENT TO T T T
T F F
F T F
F F T
74 5 Propositional Logic

Fig. 5.9 Solution to worked P Q ¬P ¬Q ¬P v ¬Q Q → (¬P v ¬Q)

example 9
T T F F F F
T F F T T F
F T T F T T
F F T T T F

Look carefully at the truth table. Line 3 now gives a result of false. So if the
statement is true (lines 1 and 4), then if it is sunny I go shopping, if it is not sunny
I do not go shopping.
The equivalence operator takes away the uncertainty of the implies operator. I
go shopping only if it is sunny; also it is sunny only if I go shopping.
For this reason we can interpret P ⇔ Q as:
P if and only if Q (sometimes written as P iff Q).
P is a necessary and sufficient condition for Q.
Q is a necessary and sufficient condition for P.

Worked Example 9
Construct a truth tables for the following expression:

Q ⇔ (¬P ∨ ¬Q)

Solution
See Fig. 5.9.

5.11 The Equivalence Operator Versus Logical Equivalence

It is important not to confuse the equivalence operator (⇔) with logical equiva-
lence (≡).
The first is an operator that joins two propositions: each of the two propositions
can be true or false, and the truth of the compound statement is determined from
the truth table.
The second is used with two statements (usually compound statements) and
means that they are identical because they have the same truth table.
5.13 Tautologies and Contradictions 75

5.12 Order of Precedence of Logical Operators

Just as with arithmetic operators, it is not always immediately clear in which order
to do things. The order in which operations should be performed is as follows:

¬
∧
∨
⇒
⇔

However, it is recommended that brackets are always used in any compound

statement that contains several operators.
For example, if you were asked to construct a truth table for this expression:

P ⇒Q∨R∧Q

you would start with a column for R ∧ Q, then do Q ∨ R ∧ Q, and finally P ⇒ Q

∨ R ∧ Q. However, you will agree that it is a lot clearer if you write it like this:

P ⇒ (Q ∨ (R ∧ Q))

5.13 Tautologies and Contradictions

A tautology is an expression for which all rows of the truth table evaluate to true.
For example: P ∨ ¬P.
The truth table for this expression appears in Fig. 5.10.
A contradiction is an expression for which all rows of the truth table evaluate
to false.
For example: P ∧ ¬P.
The truth table for this expression is shown in Fig. 5.11.

Fig. 5.10 An example of a P ¬P P v ¬P

tautology
T F T
F T T

Fig. 5.11 An example of a P ¬P P Ʌ ¬P

contradiction
T F F
F T F
76 5 Propositional Logic

P Q P→Q P Ʌ (P → Q) (P Ʌ (P → Q)) → Q
T T T T T
T F F F T
F T T F T
F F T F T

Fig. 5.12 Solution to worked example 10

Fig. 5.13 The truth table for P Q P⊕Q

EXCLUSIVE OR T T F
T F T
F T T
F F F

Worked Example 10
By constructing a truth table, determine whether the following expression is a
tautology, a contradiction or neither:

(P ∧ (P ⇒ Q)) ⇒ Q

Solution
See Fig. 5.12.
All the rows in the final column are true, so the expression is a tautology.

5.14 The EXCLUSIVE OR Operator (⊕)

With the OR operator, all that is required for the compound statement to be true
is that either one of the simple statements is true.
With the EXCLUSIVE OR operator (sometimes known as XOR), the com-
pound statement is true only when one (and only one) proposition is true. If
both are true, then the compound statement is false. The truth table is shown in
Fig. 5.13.
You might observe that XOR is actually closer to the way we use the word “or”
in natural language than is OR.
If you said “Tonight we are going to the cinema or we are going ice-skating”,
most people would assume you were doing one or the other but not both!

5.15 Converse, Inverse and Contrapositive

• Q ⇒ P is referred to as the converse of P ⇒ Q
5.16 Algebra of Propositions 77

P Q P→Q P Q ¬P ¬Q ¬Q → ¬P
T T T T T F F T
T F F T F F T F
F T T F T T F T
F F T F F T T T

Fig. 5.14 The contrapositive is equivalent to the original statement

• ¬P ⇒ ¬Q is referred to as the inverse of P ⇒ Q

• ¬Q ⇒ ¬P is referred to as the contrapositive of P ⇒ Q

The contrapositive is equivalent to the original statement, as can be seen from the
truth tables in Fig. 5.14.

5.16 Algebra of Propositions

You will see with the laws that follow that there are parallels with set theory. As
we noted earlier, there is an isomorphism between set theory and propositional
logic.
We have already seen that AND and OR are commutative and associative, as
are intersection and union in set theory.
The following laws will also look familiar:
Idempotent Laws

P∧P ≡P
P∨P ≡P

Identity Laws

P∧F≡F
P∧T≡P
P∨F≡P
P∧T≡T

Complement Laws

P ∨ ¬P ≡ T
P ∧ ¬P ≡ F
¬T ≡ F
¬F ≡ T
78 5 Propositional Logic

Distributive Law

P ∨ (Q ∧ R) ≡ (P ∨ Q) ∧ (P ∨ R)
P ∧ (Q ∨ R) ≡ (P ∧ Q) ∨ (P ∧ R)

De Morgan’s Law

¬(P ∨ Q) ≡ ¬P ∧ ¬Q
¬(P ∧ Q) ≡ ¬P ∨ ¬Q
∏ U
You can see that ∧ and ∨ correspond to and in set theory, while T and F
correspond to U and ∅. In addition, negation in logic corresponds to complement
in set theory.

Worked Example 11
Use the distributive law to simplify the following expression:

P ∨ (¬P ∧ Q)

Solution

P ∨ (¬P ∧ Q)
≡ (P ∨ ¬P) ∧ (P ∨ Q) ( Distributive Law)
≡ T ∧ (P ∨ Q) ( Complement Law)
≡ P ∨ Q ( Identity Law)

5.17 Some More Algebra

Look at this expression: ¬P ∨ Q.

The truth table for this expression appears in Fig. 5.15.
This should ring some bells - it is also the truth table for P ⇒ Q.
So we have the following identity: P ⇒ Q ≡ ¬P ∨ Q Identity 1
Now let’s see what happens if we negate P ⇒ Q:
Using identity 1: ¬(P ⇒ Q) ≡ ¬(¬P ∨ Q)

Fig. 5.15 The truth table for P Q ¬P ¬P v Q

¬P ∨ Q
T T F T
T F F F
F T T T
F F T T
5.18 Application to Computing 79

We can apply De Morgan’s law to the right-hand side of the identity:

¬(¬P ∨ Q) ≡ P ∧ ¬Q

So ¬(P ⇒ Q) ≡ P ∧ ¬Q Identity 2

Worked Example 12
Use algebra to show that: (P ∧ Q) ⇒ ¬Q ≡ ¬P ∨ ¬Q.
Solution

(P ∧ Q) ⇒ ¬Q
≡ ¬(P ∧ Q) ∨ ¬Q Using identity1
≡ ¬P ∨ ¬Q ∨ ¬Q De Morgan’s law
≡ ¬P ∨ (¬Q ∨ ¬Q) Using the fact that ∨ is associative
≡ ¬P ∨ ¬Q Idempotent law

Worked Example 13
Negate the following statement and simplify the answer.

(P ∧ Q) ⇒ R

Solution

¬((P ∧ Q) ⇒ R)
≡ (P ∧ Q) ∧ ¬R Using identity 2
≡ P ∧ Q ∧ ¬R Using the fact that ∧ is associative

5.18 Application to Computing

5.18.1 Programming

One of the most common statements used in program code is the conditional
statement. An example in Python might look like this:

if x < 10 or y > 100:

# statements go here
80 5 Propositional Logic

In Java the above code fragment would look like this:

if(x < 10 || y > 100)

{
// statements go here
}

The || symbol in Java (and many other languages) means OR, corresponding to
our logical OR. The symbol && is used in Java for the logical AND.
The compiler will use the rules we have learnt to evaluate the statement that
follows if and thereby determine if it is true or false.
If it is true, the statements that are indented (in the Python example) or con-
tained in the braces (in the Java example) will be executed – otherwise, nothing
will happen and the program will move on to the next bit of code following the
indentation or braces. In this way, the if statement implements the implication
operator, ⇒. It does not say anything about what to do if the statement is false
(other than do nothing and move on).

5.18.2 Digital Electronics and Logic Gates

Modern electronic devices such as mobile telephones and computers depend on

digital electronics. At the heart of digital electronics are logic circuits - such cir-
cuits depend on pulses of electricity to make the circuit function. For example,
if the current is high, this is represented as ‘1’, if the current low, this is repre-
sented as ‘0’. This makes it possible to represent and process binary numbers in a
computer system.
Mathematical logic is based on a two-valued system (true and false). In digital
electronics we also have a two-valued system but have 1 and 0 instead of true and
false. Many of the operations that need to be performed on binary numbers within
a computer system mirror the logical operations such as NOT, AND, OR. We are
able to build logic gates that perform these, and other more complex, operations.
Three examples appear in Figs. 5.16, 5.17 and 5.18.

NOT gate

Input Output
1 0
input output 0 1

Fig. 5.16 The NOT Gate

5.19 Three-Valued Logic 81

OR gate
Input 1 Input 2 Output

1 1 1
input 1 output
1 0 1
input 2
0 1 1

0 0 0

Fig. 5.17 The OR gate

AND gate

Input 1 Input 2 Output

1 1 1
input 1 output
1 0 0
input 2
0 1 0

0 0 0

Fig. 5.18 The AND gate

5.19 Three-Valued Logic

Classical logic assumes that all expressions evaluate to true or false. However,
in reality, this is not always the case when evaluating an expression, because
sometimes an expression can be undefined. For example, the expression 0/0. Also,
undefined terms are very common in programming situations—for example, when
a variable is first declared and has not yet been assigned a value.
A system of three-valued logic has therefore been developed to deal with the
possibility that a proposition could have the value true, false or undefined.
The truth tables for AND and OR in this system are shown Figs. 5.19 and 5.20.
Looking at the truth table for AND, we see that if either P or Q is false, then the
compound statement is false, even if the other proposition is undefined - because

Fig. 5.19 Three-valued P Q PɅQ

logic: truth table for AND T T T
T F F
T UNDEFINED UNDEFINED
F T F
F F F
F UNDEFINED F
UNDEFINED T UNDEFINED
UNDEFINED F F
UNDEFINED UNDEFINED UNDEFINED
82 5 Propositional Logic

Fig. 5.20 Three-valued P Q PvQ

logic: truth table for OR T T T
T F T
T UNDEFINED T
F T T
F F F
F UNDEFINED UNDEFINED
UNDEFINED T T
UNDEFINED F UNDEFINED
UNDEFINED UNDEFINED UNDEFINED

both have to be true in order for the compound statement to be true. However, if
either P or Q is undefined and the other one is true, then the compound statement
is undefined, because its overall value will depend on the value of the undefined
proposition.
Similarly, in the table for OR, if just one of the propositions, P or Q, is true, then
the compound statement is true - the other proposition being undefined doesn’t
matter in this case. However, if one proposition is false and the other undefined
then the compound statement is undefined because it relies on the value of the
undefined proposition.

5.20 Notation in other Texts

Unfortunately, you will see different notation used in different texts. Some texts
use single-barred arrows for implication and equivalence:
So instead of ⇒ and ⇔
you will see → and ←→.
To make matters worse, in texts that use this notation you will often see ⇔
used for logical equivalence instead of ≡.
In fact, some mathematicians actually make a distinction between the single-
barred arrow and the double one. They argue that you should use the single-barred
arrows for the logical connectives that join propositions - but you should use the
double-barred arrow for an assertion – that is a statement that is true.
In this notation:
P → Q means that P implies Q, and P and Q can take any values.
But: P ⇒ Q means that P implies Q is true (so in this case we can’t have P
true and Q false).

5.21 Exercises

1. If P, Q and R represent the following statements:

P: 2 × 25 = 50.
Q: Germany is in Asia.
5.21 Exercises 83

R: 3.65 is an integer
What is the value of: (a) P ∧ R (b) P ∨ Q (c) Q ∨ R?
2. Let P be “It is summer” and Q be “Leon is playing tennis”. Give simple
sentences which represent the following statements:
(a) ¬P
(b) P ∧ ¬Q
(c) ¬P ∨ Q
(d) ¬ ¬Q
3. Let P be “She is a scientist” and Q be “She is intelligent”. Express each of
the following statements symbolically:
(a) She is intelligent, but she is not a scientist.
(b) She is a scientist, and she is intelligent.
(c) She is a scientist, or she is not intelligent.
(d) It is not true that she is a scientist or that she is intelligent.
4. Construct a truth table for the following expression:

¬(P ∧ Q) ∨ ¬Q

5. Show that the expression P ⇒ (P ∨ Q) is a tautology by constructing a truth

table.
6. Consider the following statement: P ⇒ ¬Q
What is
(a) the converse;
(b) the inverse;
(c) the contrapositive?
7. Use De Morgan’s law to show that:

¬(¬P ∧ (P ∨ Q)) ≡ P ∨ (¬P ∧ ¬Q)

8. Use the distributive law to simplify the following expression:

¬Q ∧ (¬P ∨ Q)

9. Negate the following expression, and simplify your answer (Hint: Use De
Morgan’s Law):

(P ⇒ Q) ∧ Q

10. In question 5 you drew a truth table to show that P ⇒ (P ∨ Q) is a tautology.

Now do this using algebra.
11. Draw a truth table for the following expression, using 3-valued logic:

P ∨ ¬Q
Predicate Logic and Proofs
6

At the end of this chapter you should be able to:

• define the term predicate;

• explain the notion of a predicate as a Boolean function;
• give values to the variables in predicates by substitution and quantification;
• negate quantified predicates;
• state the following laws of natural deduction: modus ponens, modus tol-
lens, chain rule, AND-elimination, AND-introduction, OR-introduction,
universal instantiation, existential generalization;
• use the above laws to perform proofs by natural deduction;
• perform simple proofs by mathematical induction;
• explain how mathematical logic is used in formal methods of software
engineering.

6.1 Introduction

Having completed our work on propositions, we are now in a position to move

on to the other branch of logic, namely predicate logic. We will discover that a
predicate is a function that contains variables, and outputs a value of TRUE or
FALSE. We will learn the notation used for predicates, we will find out how to
give values to the variables that a predicate contains, and we will then move on to
study some laws which enable us to perform mathematical proofs.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025 85

Q. Charatan and A. Kans, Maths For Computing, Undergraduate Topics in Computer
Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69234-5_6
86 6 Predicate Logic and Proofs

6.2 Predicate Logic

We have learnt that a proposition is an expression that has a value of TRUE or

FALSE. A predicate is also an expression that has a value of TRUE or FALSE.
However, a predicate contains variables; we don’t know if the predicate is TRUE
or FALSE until we know the value of the variables.

6.3 Examples of Predicates

P(x): x is a prime number (usually pronounced P of x)

T (x, y): x is taller than y
D(x): x is a duck

As you can see, we don’t know whether P(x), for example, is TRUE or FALSE
until we know the value of x.

For example: P(5) is TRUE

but: P(10) is FALSE

We should note that predicates are functions. A predicate, just like a function,
accepts variables and produces an output. In this case the output is a truth value—
either TRUE or FALSE.
So a predicate is a truth-valued function.
If A is the set of people, then the predicate T (x, y) above would have the
following signature:

T: A × A → B

B is a special, pre-defined set known as the Boolean set:

B = {TRUE, FALSE}.

6.4 The Domain of Discourse

When we have a predicate such as P(x), it is always important to know the set of
values from which is x drawn. This set is known as the domain of discourse. For
a predicate like “x is an even number”, our domain of discourse might be natural
numbers. For a predicate such as “studies physics”, our domain of discourse could
be people or students.
We can make our domain of discourse clear in one of two ways:

• we can simply state it in advance;

• we can incorporate it into the definition, as we shall see below.
6.5 Giving Values to the Variables 87

6.5 Giving Values to the Variables

Once we give a value to the variables, we know whether the predicate is TRUE or
FALSE. This is also known as binding the variables. There are two ways of doing
this:

6.5.1 Substitution

As we saw previously, we can simply substitute specific values for the variables.
Using the examples from Sect. 6.3:

P(7): 7 is a prime number

T (Mary, Ahmed): Mary is taller than Ahmed
D(Basil): Basil is a duck.

6.5.2 Quantification

A quantifier is a device for making a statement about a set of values, not just one
value.
There are three quantifiers that we can use, each with its own symbol.

6.5.2.1 The Universal Quantifier, ∀

This quantifier enables us to make a statement about all the elements in a particular
set.
If P(x) is a predicate:

∀x · P(x) reads: For all x, P(x) is true.

This assumes we have already stated our domain of discourse in advance.

If we had not, we would have to include it in the statement – for example if the
domain of discourse was the set A, we would write:

∀x ∈ A · P(x)

Example
If M(x) is the predicate x chases mice (defined over the set of cats), then
∀x · M (x) reads: All cats chase mice.

6.5.2.2 The Existential Quantifier ∃

This quantifier makes a statement about at least one of the elements in a particular
set.
88 6 Predicate Logic and Proofs

If P(x) is a predicate:

∃x · P(x)reads: There exists at least one x, for which P(x) is true.

As before, this assumes we have already stated our domain of discourse in

advance—otherwise (if our domain of discourse was the set A) we would write:

∃x ∈ A · P(x)

Example
If M(x) is the predicate x chases mice (defined over the set of cats), then

∃x · M (x) reads: There is at least one cat that chases mice.

6.5.2.3 The Unique Existential Quantifier ∃!

This quantifier makes a statement about one and only one of the elements in a
particular set:
If P(x) is a predicate:

∃!x · P(x) reads: There exists one and only one x, for which P(x) is true.

Example
If M(x) is the predicate x chases mice, (defined over the set of cats), then

∃!x · M (x) reads: There is one and only one cat who chases mice.

Worked Example 1

(a) B(x) is the predicate x can bark, defined over the domain of dogs.
Write the following statements in words:
(i) B (Rover)
(ii) ∀x · B(x)
(iii) ∃x · B(x)
(iv) ∃!x · B(x)
(v) ¬B(Rover)
(vi) ¬∀x · B(x)
(vii) ¬∃x · B(x)
(b) If we had not stated the domain of discourse in advance, how would we have
written part (ii), using D to represent the set of dogs?
6.5 Giving Values to the Variables 89

Solution

(a)
(i) Rover can bark.
(ii) All dogs can bark.
(iii) There is at least one dog that can bark.
(iv) There is one and only one dog that can bark.
(v) Rover cannot bark.
(vi) It is not true that all dogs can bark.
(vii) There does not exist a dog that can bark.
(b) ∀x ∈ D · B(x)

Worked Example 2
B(x) is the predicate x can bark, and T (x) is the predicate x has a tail, both defined
over the domain of dogs.
Write the following in words:

(a) ∀x · (B(x) ∧ T (x))

(b) ∃x · (B(x) ∧ ¬T (x))
(c) ∀x · B(x) ∧ ∃x · ¬T (x)

Solution

(a) All dogs can bark and have tails.

(b) There is at least one dog that can bark and that has no tail.
(c) All dogs can bark, and there is at least one dog that has no tail.

Worked Example 3
D(x) is the predicate x is a duck, and S(x) is the predicate x can swim, both defined
over the domain of animals.

(a) Write the following statements in words:

(i) ∀x · (D(x) ⇒ S(x))
(ii) ∃x · (D(x) ∧ ¬S(x))
(iii) D(Basil) ∧ ∃!x · S(x)
(b) Write the following statements in symbols:
(i) If Basil is a duck, then all animals can swim.
(ii) Only ducks can swim (every animal is a duck or it cannot swim).
(iii) There is one and only one duck that can swim.
90 6 Predicate Logic and Proofs

Solution

(a)
(i) All ducks can swim (if x is a duck then x can swim).
(ii) There exists an animal that is a duck and cannot swim (there is at least
one duck that cannot swim).
(iii) Basil is a duck and there is one and only one animal that can swim.
(b)
(i) D(Basil) ⇒ ∀x · S(x)
(ii) ∀x · (D(x) ∨ ¬S(x))
(iii) ∃!x · (D(x) ∧ S(x))

6.5.3 Negating Quantified Predicates

Consider the following predicate, defined over the domain of students at a

particular university:
M (x): x is good at maths
The following statement means that it is not true that all students are good at
maths:

¬∀x · M (x)

This means that there must be at least one student that is not good at maths:

∃x · ¬M (x)

Therefore: ¬∀x · M (x) ≡ ∃x · ¬M (x)

Similarly, the following statement means that there does not exist a single
student who is good at maths:

¬∃x · M (x)

This is the same as saying that all students are poor at maths:

∀x · ¬M (x)

Therefore: ¬∃x · M (x) ≡ ∀x · ¬M (x)

Worked Example 4
Negate the predicate ∀x · (¬P(x)).

Solution

¬∀x · (¬P(x)) ≡ ∃x · ¬(¬P(x))

≡ ∃x · P(x)
6.6 Proof by Natural Deduction 91

Fig. 6.1 The truth table for P Q P→Q

IMPLIES T T T
T F F
F T T
F F T

6.6 Proof by Natural Deduction

Mathematical logic gives us the ability to make logical arguments. The way we
do this is to make a number of premises, and to show that if these premises are
correct, a certain conclusion follows.
The notation for this is to place the premises above a horizontal line, and the
conclusion below it.
For example:

P; Q; R
S
This means that if P, Q and R are true, then it follows that S is also true.
To help us with this, there are some basic laws that follow from the definitions
we learnt in the previous chapter.

6.6.1 Modus Ponens

Imagine these two statements are true:

If it’s Wednesday I have eggs for breakfast.
It is Wednesday.
It follows that I have eggs for breakfast.
This is the law of modus ponens. It is stated formally like this:

P ⇒ Q; P
Q

It follows directly from our understanding of the implication operator and its
truth table (reproduced in Fig. 6.1).
It tells us that if P ⇒ Q is true and P is also true, then Q must be true (the first
line of the truth table).

6.6.2 Modus Tollens

Imagine these two statements are true:

If it’s Wednesday I have eggs for breakfast.
I do not have eggs for breakfast.
92 6 Predicate Logic and Proofs

It follows that it is not Wednesday.

This is the law of modus tollens. It is stated formally like this:

P ⇒ Q; ¬Q
¬P
Again, it follows directly from our understanding of the implication operator
and its truth table.
It tells us that if P ⇒ Q is true and Q is false, then P must be false (the fourth
line of the truth table in Fig. 6.1).

6.6.3 The Chain Rule

Imagine these two statements are true:

If it’s Friday I go shopping.
If I go shopping I wear my yellow hat.
It follows that if it’s Friday I wear my yellow hat.
This is the chain rule. It is stated formally like this:

P ⇒ Q; Q ⇒ R
P⇒R
It arises naturally from our definition of implication.

Worked Example 5
Show that if the following statements are true:

If the sun is hot then the moon is made of cheese.

If the moon is made of cheese then grass is blue.
Grass is not blue.

Then it follows that:

The sun is not hot.

Solution
First assign letters to the propositions:

S: The sun is hot

M: The moon is made of cheese
G: Grass is blue
6.6 Proof by Natural Deduction 93

We have to show that:

S ⇒ M ; M ⇒ G; ¬G
¬S
We do this as follows:

1. S⇒M Premise
2. M ⇒G Premise
3. ¬G Premise
4. S⇒G Chain rule on 1 and 2
5. ¬S Modus Tollens on 3 and 4

We have shown that our premises lead to the conclusion ¬S: the sun is
not hot.

6.6.4 Alternative Names

You might come across the following alternative names for the three rules we have
just learnt:
Modus ponens: the rule of detachment
Modus tollens: the rule of contraposition
The chain rule: the rule of syllogism

6.6.5 Some Other Laws

6.6.5.1 The Rule of AND-Elimination

If P ∧ Q is true then it follows from the truth table for AND that P is true and Q
is true. This is stated formally as follows:

P∧Q P∧Q
P Q

6.6.5.2 The Rule of AND-Introduction

If P is true and Q is true, it follows from the truth table for AND that P ∧ Q is
true. Formally:

P; Q
P∧Q
94 6 Predicate Logic and Proofs

6.6.5.3 The Rule of OR-Introduction

If P is true it follows it follows from the truth table for OR that P ∨ Q is true,
giving us the following law:

P
P∨Q

6.6.5.4 Universal Instantiation

If we know something is true for all members of a group, we can conclude it is
also true for any arbitrary member of this group:

∀x · P(x)
P(c)

for any c in the domain.

6.6.5.5 Existential Generalization

If we know that P(c) is true for some constant c, then there exists an element for
which P is true. Thus, we can conclude ∃x · P(x):

P(c)
∃x · P(x)

Worked Example 6
Show that if the following statements are true:

If maths is easy and physics is hard then apples are green;

If physics is hard then maths is easy;
Physics is hard.

then it follows that:

Apples are green.

Solution
We can define the following propositions:

P: Maths is easy
Q: Physics is hard
R: Apples are green
6.6 Proof by Natural Deduction 95

We need to show that:

(P ∧ Q) ⇒ R; Q ⇒ P; Q
R

1. (P ∧ Q) ⇒ R Premise
2. Q⇒P Premise
3. Q Premise
4. P Modus ponens on 2, 3
5. P∧Q AND-introduction on 3, 4
6. R Modus ponens on 5, 1

We have shown that our premises lead to the conclusion R: apples are
green.

Worked Example 7
Show that if the following statements are true:

All dogs can bark;

Rover is a dog;

then it follows that:

Rover can bark.

Solution
We will define the following predicates:

P(x): x is a dog
Q(x): x can bark

and the following constant

r: Rover.

We have to show that:

∀x · (P(x) ⇒ Q(x))
Q(r)
96 6 Predicate Logic and Proofs

1. ∀x · (P(x) ⇒ Q(x)) Premise

2. P(r) Premise
3. P(r) ⇒ Q(r) Universal instantiation on 1
4. Q(r) Modus ponens on 2, 3

We have shown that our premises lead to the conclusion Q(r) : Rover can
bark.

6.7 Application to Computing

Logic has a very important role to play in many areas of computer science. These
include such areas as artificial intelligence, computer architecture (think back to the
logic gates described in Sect. 5.18.2), the development of programming languages,
databases, and derivation of algorithms, and the theory of computation.
One particular area is in the development of commercial applications that
require high integrity software—that is to say, software that requires a very high
level of confidence in its correctness. Such situations include safety critical sys-
tems and secure financial systems. Formal methods are often used to produce
such software. With such methods the specification is written not just in a natural
language such as English, but in the language of mathematics. In this way the
specification can be far more precise and unambiguous. The mathematics involves
the propositional and predicate logic that we have studied here. Using proofs such
as those we have studied, the process can be taken further and used to develop the
software itself, and help ensure its correctness. The applications developed in this
way will be of a higher integrity than those developed by non-formal methods.
Well known formal methods include:

• VDM (Vienna Development Method);

• Z;
• B-Method.

6.8 Proof by Induction

Mathematical induction is a technique that can be used to prove certain statements

about natural numbers. It does not use mathematical logic, but it is included here
as another example of mathematical proof.
In its simplest form, mathematical induction shows that a statement involving
a natural number n holds for all values of n.
The proof involves two steps:

1. The base step

6.8 Proof by Induction 97

Prove that the statement holds for the first natural number n, usually, n = 0 or n = 1.

2. The inductive step

Show that if the statement is true for some natural number k, then it is also true
for k + 1.
This shows that if the statement is true when n = 0 (for example), it is also
true when n = 1, n = 2, n = 3 and so on up to infinity.

Worked Example 8
Prove that the following statement holds for all natural numbers:

n(n + 1)
1 + 2 + 3 + ... + n =
2

Solution

Base Step
Show that it holds when n = 1. This is easily shown:

1(1 + 1)
1=
2

Inductive Step
Assume the statement is true for some value n = k:
k(k + 1)
1 + 2 + 3 + ... + k = (6.1)
2
Now take the sequence up to k + 1:

1 + 2 + 3 + ... + k + k + 1

Substituting from Eq. 6.1 this becomes:

k(k + 1)
+k +1
2
k 2 + k + 2k + 2
=
2
k 2 + 3k + 2
=
2
(k + 1)(k + 2)
=
2
98 6 Predicate Logic and Proofs

This can be written as:

(k + 1)((k + 1) + 1)
2
Thus if it true for n = k, it is true for n = k + 1, and since it is true for n = 1,
it is true for all n.

Worked Example 9
Prove that for all n ≥ 1, the expression n3 + 2n is divisible by 3.

Solution

Base Step
Show that it holds when n = 1:
13 + 2 × 1 = 3, which is divisible by 3.

Inductive Step
Assume the statement is true for some value n = k:

k 3 + 2k = 3M (6.2)

where M is a positive integer.

When n = k + 1, the expression becomes:

(k + 1)3 + 2(k + 1)
= (k + 1)(k + 1)2 + 2(k + 1)
= (k + 1)(k 2 + 2k + 1) + 2(k + 1)
= (k 3 + 3k 2 + 3k + 1) + 2(k + 1)
= (k 3 + 3k 2 + 5k + 3)
= (k 3 + 2k) + (3k + 3k 2 + 3)

Substituting from Eq. 6.2 this becomes:

3M + (3k + 3k 2 + 3)
= 3(M + k + k 2 + 1)

This is divisible by 3.
Thus if it true for n = k, it is true for n = k + 1, and since it is true for n = 1,
it is true for all n ≥ 1.
6.9 Exercises 99

6.9 Exercises

1. D(x) is the predicate x is a duck, defined over the domain of animals.

(a) Write the following statements in words:
(i) D(basil)
(ii) ∀x · ¬D(x)
(iii) ∃x · D(x)
(iv) ∃!x · ¬D(x)
(v) ¬∀x · D(x)
(b) If we had not stated the domain of discourse in advance, how would we
have written part (ii), using A to represent the set of animals?
2. B(x) is the predicate x is a bird, and F(x) is the predicate x can fly, both defined
over the domain of animals.
(a) Write the following statements in words:
(i) ∀x · (B(x) ⇒ F(x))
(ii) ∃x · (B(x) ∧ F(x))
(iii) B(jack) ∨ ∃x · F(x)
(b) Write the following statements in symbols:
(i) If Mary is a bird, then no animal can fly.
(ii) Only birds can fly (every animal is a bird or it cannot fly).
(iii) There is one and only one bird that cannot fly.
3. Negate the predicate ∃x · (¬P(x) ∧ ¬Q(x)) by using the universal quantifier (∀)
instead of the existential quantifier (∃).
4. Simplify your answer to question 3 by using De Morgan’s law.
5. Show that if the following statements are true:

if I do the ironing I have a cup of tea in the afternoon.

if I have a cup of tea in the afternoon it is Thursday.
I do the Ironing.

Then it follows that:

it is Thursday.

6. Show that if the following statements are true:

Bernard is a cat and Susan is a cat;

Bernard likes watching television.
If there is at least one cat that likes watching television then the moon is
made of cheese.

then it follows that:

The moon is made of cheese.

100 6 Predicate Logic and Proofs

7. Show that if the following statements are true:

Sam is a snake;
If Sam can bite then Paris is in France;
All snakes can bite;

then it follows that:

Paris is in France.

8. Prove that the following statement holds for all n ≥ 1:

2 + 22 + 23 + 24 + · · · + 2n = 2n+1 − 2
Matrices
7

At the end of this chapter you should be able to:

• provide a definition of a matrix;

• use appropriate terms to describe different types of matrix (such as square
matrix, column vector and row vector);
• transpose a matrix;
• add and subtract matrices;
• apply scalar and matrix multiplication;
• define the identity matrix and explain its significance;
• calculate the determinant and inverse of a 2 × 2 matrix;
• use the inverse to solve simple matrix equations in the form of A × X = B;
• briefly explain the importance of matrices in computer graphics.

7.1 Introduction

In this chapter, we move on to a completely new topic – the study of matrices

(singular matrix). Matrices are not only used in other branches of mathemat-
ics – particularly geometry – but also play an important role in computer science,
especially in the areas of computer graphics, cryptography, and data storage.

7.2 Definition and Examples

A matrix is a grid of numbers, consisting of rows and columns. The numbers are
enclosed in round or square brackets. Examples of matrices are shown in Fig. 7.1.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025 101
Q. Charatan and A. Kans, Maths For Computing, Undergraduate Topics in Computer
Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69234-5_7
102 7 Matrices

Fig. 7.1 Examples of (2 4)

| | ( 3 7 0) (4)
| | | |
matrices
( 3 1 -2) |-1 0|
|9
| 20 3 -5| |1| (-11 2 33)
|| 0 1 3 || 10| |-2 1 45| |3|
( ) | | ( ) ( )
|1 -3|)
(
A3x3 A column A row
A2x3 A4x2 matrix matrix matrix
matrix matrix (An (or column (or row
example of vector) vector)
a square
matrix)

We often use an upper case letter to denote a particular matrix. For example:
( )
14
A=
36

7.3 Matrix Operations

There are a number of operations that can be performed on matrices. We will be

studying the following:

• transposition;
• addition/subtraction;
• scalar multiplication;
• matrix multiplication.

7.3.1 Transposition

To transpose a matrix we take each row of the original matrix and make it a column
of the transposed matrix.
⎛⎞
( ) 14
123
A= AT = ⎝ 2 5 ⎠
456
36

7.3.2 Addition and Subtraction of Matrices

To add (or subtract) two matrices they must be the same shape.
Then just add (or subtract) the corresponding elements.
7.3 Matrix Operations 103

Example
⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞
3 10 1 5 11 21
⎝ −2 4 6 ⎠ + ⎝ 2 5 8 ⎠
3 1 2 0 1 12
⎛ ⎞
3 + 5 10 + 11 1 + 21
= ⎝ −2 + 2 4 + 5 6 + 8 ⎠
3 + 0 1 + 1 2 + 12
⎛ ⎞
8 21 22
= ⎝ 0 9 14 ⎠
3 2 14

7.3.3 Scalar Multiplication

To multiply a matrix by a scalar quantity (a simple number), just multiply each

element by the number.

Example
⎛ ⎞
3 10 1
7⎝ −2 4 6 ⎠
3 1 2
⎛ ⎞
3 × 7 10 × 7 1 × 7
= ⎝ −2 × 7 4 × 7 6 × 7 ⎠
3×7 1×7 2×7
⎛ ⎞
21 70 7
= ⎝ −14 28 42 ⎠
21 7 14

7.3.4 Matrix Multiplication

To multiply two matrices together, the number of columns of the first matrix must
be equal the number of rows of the second.
Then we multiply the elements of each row of the first matrix by the elements
of each column of the second and add them.
This process is explained in Fig. 7.2
Note: Matrix multiplication is not commutative: A × B /= B × A.
104 7 Matrices

Fig. 7.2 Matrix

multiplication

Worked Example 1
Consider the following matrices:
( ) ( )
−2 2 3 367
A= B=
1 84 985

Find the value of:

(a) A + B (b) A − B (c) 3A + 2B (d) AT

Solution
( ) ( )
−2 + 3 2 + 6 3 + 7 1 8 10
(a) A + B = =
1+9 8+8 4+5 10 16 9
( ) ( )
−2 − 3 2 − 6 3 − 7 −5 −4 −4
(b) A − B = =
1−9 8−8 4−5 −8 0 −1
( ) ( ) ( )
−6 6 9 6 12 14 0 18 23
(c) 3A + 2B = + =
3 24 12 18 16 10 21 40 22
⎛ ⎞
−2 1
(d) AT = ⎝ 2 8 ⎠
3 4
7.4 The Determinant of a Matrix 105

Fig. 7.3 Solution to worked

example 2

Worked Example 2
Consider the following matrices:
( ) ( )
23 12
A= B=
45 03

Calculate A × B.

Solution
See Fig. 7.3
It should be noted that the notation for powers used in arithmetic is also used
with matrix multiplication. Thus

A2 = A × A A3 = A × A × A A4 = A × A × A × A

and so on.

7.4 The Determinant of a Matrix

Square matrices have a special property called the determinant, which can be
very useful in matrix algebra.
The determinant of a matrix A is written as det(A).
To find the determinant of a 2 × 2 matrix we multiply each pair of opposite
corners and subtract the result (we do the left-to-right diagonal first, and then the
right-to-left diagonal). For example:
( )
43
A=
21
106 7 Matrices

det(A) = (4 × 1)−(3 × 2)
= −2

Note: You will also see the following notation for the determinant:
| |
|4 3|
|A| | |
|2 1|

Worked Example 3
Find the determinant of the following matrix, A:
( )
−3 3
A=
−1 4

Solution

det(A) = (−3 × 4) − (−1 × 3)

= −12 + 3
= −9

7.4.1 Calculating the Determinant of a 3 × 3 Matrix

If:
⎛ ⎞
abc
A = ⎝d e f ⎠
ghi

then: det(A) = a(ei − fh) − b(di − fg) + c(dh − eg)

There is a pattern here:
⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞
a b c
⎜ X ⎟ ⎜ ⎟ ⎜ ⎟
⎜ | | ⎟−⎜ X| | ⎟+⎜ X
| |⎟
⎝ |e f || ⎠ ⎝ || d f || ⎠ ⎝ |d e| ⎠
| | |
|h i| |g i | |g h|

1. Multiply a by the determinant of the 2 × 2 matrix that is not in a’s row or

column.
2. Do the same for b then give it a negative sign;
7.6 The Inverse of a Matrix 107

Fig. 7.4 Identity matrices (1 0) (1 0 0) (1 0 0 0)

|| || | | | |
(0 1) |0 1 0| |0 1 0 0|
|0 0 1| |0 0 1 0|
( ) | |
|0 0 0 1 |)
(

3. Do the same for c, but leave it positive.

4. Add them up.

We could also write this as (using the alternative notation for the determinant):
| | | | | |
|e f || |d f | |d e|
|A| = a × || |
−b×| | |
+c×| |
h i| g i| g h|

Finding the determinant of 3 × 3 and larger matrices can be very fiddly, but it
is possible to use an online calculator. For example: www.matrixcalc.org/en

7.5 Identity Matrices

An identity matrix is a square matrix that has 1s along the left-to-right diagonal
and 0s everywhere else.
Examples are shown in Fig. 7.4.
In calculations we refer to the identity matrix as I.
When we multiply a matrix by the identity matrix, the original is unchanged:

A × I = A I × A = A.

(It’s like multiplying by 1 in arithmetic).

7.6 The Inverse of a Matrix

The inverse of a matrix, A, is a matrix that, when multiplied by A, will give you
the identity matrix. The inverse of A is written as A−1 .

A × A−1 = I

Unusually for matrix multiplication, this operation is commutative, so:

A−1 × A = I

We find that for three matrices, A, B and X:

if: A × X = B then: X = A−1 × B

108 7 Matrices

Compare this to arithmetic:

1
if: ax = b then: x = b.
a
So the inverse acts like the reciprocal in arithmetic.

Why does this work?

Consider the expression: A × X = B.
Multiply both sides by A−1 :
A−1 × A × X = A−1 × B.
but: A−1 × A = I.
so: I × X = A−1 × B.
but: I × X = X.
so: X = A−1 × B.

7.6.1 Finding the Inverse

For a 2 × 2 matrix we calculate the inverse by the following formula:

( ) ( )
ab −1 d −b
If A = Then A = det(A) 1
.
cd −c a
For higher order matrices it is more complicated, and we will not deal with that
in this text.

Example
( )
41
A=
23

det (A) = 4 × 3 – 2 × 1 = 10
( )
−1 1 3 −1
A =
10 −2 4
( )
0.3 −0.1
=
−0.2 0.4

Note:

• Only square matrices have an inverse.

• There is no inverse if the determinant is 0.
7.6 The Inverse of a Matrix 109

Worked Example 4
Where possible, find the inverse of the following matrices:
( )
6
a. A =
2
( )
38
b. B =
26
( )
−1 0
c. C =
−2 0

Solution

a. A is not invertible because it is not a square matrix.

b. det(B) = 6 × 3 – 8 × 2 = 2.
( )
−1 1 6 −8
B =
2 −2 3
( )
3 −4
/
=
−1 3 2

c. det(C) = 0. Therefore C is not invertible.

Worked Example 5
Consider two of the matrices from the previous section:
( ) ( )
38 6
B= A=
26 2

If B × X = A, find the value of X.

Solution

B × X = A.

Therefore X = B-1 × A ( )
3 −4
In the last question we found that: B−1 = / .
−1 3 2
Therefore
( ) ( )
3 −4
/ 6
X = ×
−1 3 2 2
( )
(3 × 6) + (−4
( / × 2) )
=
(−1 × 6) + 3 2 × 2
110 7 Matrices
( )
10
=
−3

7.7 Application to Computing

Matrices are particularly important in the area of computer graphics. A digital

image is essentially a matrix. The rows and columns of the matrix correspond to
rows and columns of pixels. The numerical value of each entry corresponds to the
colour value of the pixel. Matrix algebra is extremely important in performing the
operations necessary to manipulate digital images. Decoding digital video requires
numerous operations such as matrix multiplication, transformations and so on.

7.8 Using Matrices to Solve Linear Equations

Matrices provide a convenient way of solving simultaneous linear equations.

Consider the following three equations:

x+y+z =6
2y + 5z = −4
2x + 5y − z = 27

We can form a matrix from the coefficients of the variables:

⎛ ⎞
11 1
⎝0 2 5 ⎠
2 5 −1

And we can form another matrix from the variables:

⎛ ⎞
x
⎝y⎠
z

From our knowledge of matrix multiplication we have:

⎛ ⎞⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞
11 1 x x+y+z
⎝ 0 2 5 ⎠⎝ y ⎠ = ⎝ 2y + 5z ⎠
2 5 −1 z 2x + 5y − z

We will refer to these three matrices as A, X and B respectively.

7.8 Using Matrices to Solve Linear Equations 111

If we substitute the values of the right hand side of our equations into B we
have:
⎛ ⎞⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞
1 1 1 x 6
⎝0 2 5 ⎠⎝ y ⎠ = ⎝ −4 ⎠
2 5 −1 z 27

So any set of linear equations can be written in the form: AX = B.

In our example:

x+y+z =6
2y + 5z = −4
2x + 5y − z = 27

Writing these in the form AX = B:

⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞
11 1 x 6
A = ⎝ 0 2 5 ⎠ X = ⎝ y ⎠ B = ⎝ −4 ⎠
2 5 −1 z 27

To solve our equations we need to find X, which will give us the values for x,
y, and z. We use the fact that:

If: AX = B Then:X = A−1 B.

Using a calculator we find that

⎛ 9 −2 −1 ⎞
7 7 7
⎜ ⎟
⎜ −10 ⎟
A −1
=⎜
⎜ 21
1
7
5
21
⎟
⎟
⎝ ⎠
4 1 −2
21 7 21

Again using a calculator:

⎞⎛
5
X = A−1 B = ⎝ 3 ⎠
−2

So the solution to our equation is: x = 5, y = 3, z = −2.

112 7 Matrices

7.9 Row Operations on a Matrix

There are a number of operations that can be performed on the rows of a matrix
which prove useful in other calculations.

1. Switch any two rows:

⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞
215 436
⎝4 3 6⎠ → ⎝2 1 5⎠
678 678

R1 ↔ R2 .

2. Multiply a row by a nonzero constant:

⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞
215 4 2 10
⎝4 3 6⎠ → ⎝4 3 6 ⎠
678 67 8

2R1 → R1

3. Add one row to another and replace one of the rows:

⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞
215 21 5
⎝ 4 3 6 ⎠ → ⎝ 6 4 11 ⎠
678 67 8

R1 + R2 → R2 .

Operations 2 and 3 can be combined:

⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞
215 10 7 17
⎝4 3 6⎠ → ⎝ 4 3 6 ⎠
678 6 7 8

R1 + 2R2 → R1 .

Note: Multiplying one row by −1 and adding is equivalent to subtracting one

row from another.
7.10 Solving Equations Using the Gauss-Jordan Elimination Method 113

7.10 Solving Equations Using the Gauss-Jordan

Elimination Method

This method of solving equations is not easy and requires some patience and
intuition. It is unlikely that you would be required to perform this process in the
early stages of a computer science course, but it is nonetheless something you need
to be aware of, as it is an important tool in more advanced aspects of computing
such as image and graphics processing, specifically in transforming, scaling, and
rotating images.

1. Write the augmented matrix of the system of equations.

For example, for the following set of equations:

x+y+z =5
2x + 3y + 5z = 8
4x + 5z = 2

the augmented matrix is:

⎛ | ⎞
1 1 1 || 5
⎝2 3 5|8 ⎠
|
4 0 5|2

2. Perform row operations on the augmented matrix until the matrix on the left
hand side of the divider is an identity matrix.
3. Read the solution from the right hand side.

Example

x+y+z =5
2x + 3y + 5z = 8
4x + 5z = 2

1. Write the augmented matrix:

⎛ | ⎞
1 1 1 || 5
⎝2 3 5|8 ⎠
|
4 0 5|2
114 7 Matrices

2. Perform row operations:

⎛ | ⎞
1 1 1 || 5
R2 − 2R1 → R2 ⎝ 0 1 3 || −2 ⎠
4 0 5| 2
⎛ | ⎞
1 1 1 || 5
R3 − 4R1 → R3 ⎝ 0 1 3 || −2 ⎠
0 −4 1 | −18
⎛ | ⎞
1 1 1 || 5
R3 + 4R2 → R3 ⎝ 0 1 3 || −2 ⎠
0 0 13 | −26
⎛ | ⎞
1 1 1 || 5
1 ⎝
R3 0 1 3 || −2 ⎠
0 0 1 | −2
13
⎛ | ⎞
1 1 1 || 5
R2 − 3R3 → R2 ⎝ 0 1 0 || 4 ⎠
0 0 1 | −2
⎛ | ⎞
1 1 0 || 7
R1 − R3 → R1 ⎝ 0 1 0 || 4 ⎠
0 0 1 | −2
⎛ | ⎞
1 0 0 || 3
R1 − R2 → R1 ⎝ 0 1 0 || 4 ⎠
0 0 1 | −2

3. The solution to the equation is:

x = 3 y = 4 z = −2

7.11 Exercises

1. Consider the following matrices:

( ) ( )
−2 3 5 127
A= B=
1 −2 9 384
7.11 Exercises 115

Find the value of:

(a) A + B (b) A − B (c) 2A + 3B (d) AT

2. Consider the following matrices:

( )
( ) 41
A = −2 3 B=
23

Calculate A × B.
3. Consider the following matrices:
( ) ( )
27 15
A= B=
13 02

Calculate A × B.
4. Find the determinant of the following matrix, A:
( )
1 3
A=
4 −2

5. Where possible, find the inverse of the following matrices:

⎛ ⎞
( ) 14 ( )
42 ⎝ ⎠ 36
(a) A = (b) B = 2 5 (c) C =
13 24
36

6. Consider the matrix A from the previous question:

( )
42
A=
13

Now consider the following matrix D.

( )
2
D=
2

If A × X = D, find the value of X.

7. Use matrices to solve the following equations (you can use an online matrix
calculator to find the inverse and perform the matrix multiplication):

2x + y + 4z = 7
5y + z = 3
−x + 4y + 2z = −2
116 7 Matrices

8. Use the Gauss-Jordan elimination method to solve the following simultaneous

equations:

2x + 5y = 21
x + 2y = 8
Combinatorics
8

At the end of this chapter you should be able to:

• explain the concept of a factorial and perform calculations on factorials;

• distinguish between a permutation and a combination;
• make calculations involving permutations and combinations, with and without
repetition;
• analyse a particular scenario to determine the correct formula to use;
• explain how Pascal’s Triangle is formed;
• describe how Pascal’s Triangle is related to the subject of combinations;
• explain the importance of combinatorics to computer science.

8.1 Introduction

The main topics introduced in this chapter, permutations and combinations, form
part of the overall branch of mathematics known as combinatorics. Combinatorics
is primarily concerned with counting. We will learn here how to count the number
of ways that items can be arranged, and how many ways we can select items from
a larger group of items, depending upon whether or not the order in which we
select them is significant, and whether or not we are allowed to repeat items. We
will later go on to explore how this topic provides a convenient way of expanding
binomial algebraic expressions.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025 117
Q. Charatan and A. Kans, Maths For Computing, Undergraduate Topics in Computer
Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69234-5_8
118 8 Combinatorics

Table 8.1 Possible outcomes from a race with 6 runners

Position Ways of choosing Comments
1 6 There are 6 different possible ways of choosing the winner
2 6×5 For each winner there are 5 different choices for 2nd place.
So there are 6 × 5 (or 30) ways of choosing the first 2
people
3 6×5×4 There are 4 choices for 3rd place. So the number of ways
of choosing the first 3 is 6 × 5 × 4 = 120
4 6×5×4×3 We continue in the same way. So the number of ways of
choosing the first 4 is 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 = 360
5 6×5×4×3×2 The number of ways of choosing the first 5 is 6 × 5 × 4 ×
3 × 2 = 720
6 6×5×4×3×2×1 Once the first 5 are chosen, there is only one choice for last
place. So again there are 720 (6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1)
possibilities

8.2 Placing Items in Order

Imagine six runners in a race. How many possible outcomes could there be? In
other words how many different ways are there of ordering the six competitors?
Table 8.1 shows the possible outcomes.
We see that the number of ways of arranging 6 items in order is: 6 × 5 × 4 ×
3 × 2 × 1 = 720.

8.3 Factorials

The sequence that we have just seen (6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1) is given a special name.

It is called 6 factorial and is written with an exclamation mark, like this: 6!
So: 6!= 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 720
7!= 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 5040
4!= 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 24
And so on.
In general: n! = n × (n − 1) × (n − 2) × (n − 3) × . . . . . . . × 1.

Worked Example 1
In how many different ways can the letters a, b, c, d be arranged?
Solution
There are 4 letters, so the number of ways of arranging them is

4!= 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 24.
8.4 Choosing just Some of the Items 119

Worked Example 2
7!×4!
Find the value of 5! .
Solution

7! × 4! 7 × 6× / 5× / 4× / 3× / 2× / 1 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1
=
5! / 5× / 4× / 3× / 2× / 1
=7×6×4×3×2×1
= 1008

8.4 Choosing just Some of the Items

Consider again the six runners. Imagine we are interested only in the first two
places. The number of ways we can select some or all items from a list, when
(like in this example) the order is important is called a permutation
A permutation of 2 items from 6 is written like this: P(6, 2).
Another common notation is: 6 P2 .
Look again at Table 8.1. You can see that if we are only interested in the first
two places (the first and second rows of the table), then instead of calculating the
whole sequence, (6 factorial) we use only the first two and discard the last four.
Effectively we divided 6 factorial by 4 factorial:

6! 6!
P(6, 2) = =
(6 − 2)! 4!
6×5×4×3×2×1
=
4×3×2×1
= 6 × 5 = 30

Similarly, if we wanted to know the possibilities for the first 4 places:

6! 6!
P(6, 4) = =
(6 − 4)! 2!
6×5×4×3×2×1
=
2×1
= 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 = 360
120 8 Combinatorics

8.5 The Formula for Permutations

In general, if we want to know how many ways we can choose k items from n
items when the order in which we select them is important, we use the following
formula:
n!
P(n, k) =
(n − k)!

8.6 Combinations

Imagine a situation, such as a lottery, where we select a number of items, but the
order in which they are selected doesn’t matter. The number of ways we can select
several items from a list, when the order is not important, is called a combination.
The notation for combinations is similar to permutations, but uses a C instead
of a P. So we can write C(6,2) or 6 C 2. ( )
n
Another common notation for combinations is: .
k
( )
6
For example: .
2
Suppose we have a small lottery consisting of 12 balls, and we have to choose
three. There will be fewer choices now. When we were dealing with permutations
we could choose three items - for example the numbers 5, 6, 7 – and arrange them
in 3! ways. But if order is unimportant there is only one way. So we have to divide
the permutation by 3 factorial.

P(12, 3) 12!
C(12, 3) = =
3! 9! × 3!
12 × 11 × 10 × 9 × 8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1
=
9×8×7×6×5×4×3×2×1×3×2×1
12 × 11 × 10
= = 220
3×2×1

8.7 The Formula for Combinations

In general, if we want to know how many ways we can choose k items from
n items when the order in which we select them is not important, we use the
following formula:

n!
C(n, k) =
(n − k)!k!
8.10 Allowing Repetition (When Order Is Not Important) 121

8.8 What Is the Value of 0!?

There are times when a calculation results in 0!, so this needs to have a value.
Imagine we have n objects. In how many different ways can we choose zero of
these objects? The answer has to be 1. There is only one way of choosing zero
items.
So logically: C(n, 0) = 1.
Therefore, using our formula for combinations:

n!
=1
n! × 0!

You can see that the only way this can work is if 0! is equal to 1.

8.9 Allowing Repetition (When Order Is Important)

Imagine you have to choose a 4-digit code for an intruder alarm. There are 10 dig-
its available, from 0 to 9. Order is important. However, this time you are allowed
to repeat digits—for example a code of 5508 or 4142.
There are 10 ways of choosing the first digit.
There are 10 ways of choosing the second digit—so the number of ways of
choosing the first 2 digits is: 10 × 10.
There are 10 ways of choosing the third digit—so the number of ways of
choosing the first 3 digits is: 10 × 10 × 10.
There are 10 ways of choosing the final digit—so the number of ways of
choosing all 4 digits is: 10 × 10 × 10 × 10.
The number of different codes is: 104 = 10,000.
In general, if we want to know how many ways we can choose k items from
n items when the order in which we select them is important and repetitions are
allowed, we use the following formula:

nk

8.10 Allowing Repetition (When Order Is Not Important)

In certain restaurants you can choose dishes by means of a colour code. Each
colour represents a particular price. Imagine there are four colours available – red,
blue, green, yellow. You are going to choose three dishes.
You want to know how many different combinations of dishes you could have
- each colour can be chosen more than once. All the possible combinations are
listed below:
122 8 Combinatorics

Table 8.2 Choosing k items from n items

Repetitions NOT allowed Repetitions allowed
Order IS important (Permutation) P(n, k) = n!
(n−k)! P(n, k) = nk
(n+k−1)!
Order IS NOT important (Combination) C(n, k) = n!
(n−k)!k! C(n, k) = k!(n−k)!

(R, R, R) (R, B, B) (R, G, Y) (B, B, Y) (G, G, G)

(R, R, B) (R, B, Y) (R, Y, Y) (B, G, G) (G, G, Y)
(R, R, G) (R, G, Y) (B, B, B) (B, G, Y) (G, Y, Y)
(R, R, Y) (R, G, G) (B, B, G) (B, Y, Y) (Y, Y, Y)

There are 20 different possibilities. The formula to use in this situation is given
below. It is an easy formula to use, but is harder to derive, so we will show you
the formula now, and explain how this is arrived at later.
In general, if we want to know how many ways we can choose k items from
n items when the order in which we select them is not important and repetitions
are allowed, we use the following formula:

(n + k − 1)!
k!(n − 1)!

8.11 Summary of Formulae

The different ways of selecting k items from n items are shown in Table 8.2.

8.12 Deriving the Formula for Choosing Items

when Order Is Not Important and Repetition Is
Allowed

We will refer to the previous example of the restaurant with colour-coded dishes.
This time we will have five colours—red, blue, green, yellow and pink. We will
again select three dishes.
Since order is not important, we have to find a way of eliminating duplicates
such as (R, R, G) and (R, G, R). Because we are allowing repetitions, it is more
complicated than simply dividing the permutation by 3! like we did before.
One way to do it is to go through the colours in order, place a marker to show
that an item has been selected, and then place a different marker between each
type of item.
8.12 Deriving the Formula for Choosing Items when Order Is Not … 123

We will list the items in this order: R, B, G, Y, P and we will use 1 to show an
item is selected and 0 to separate the items. An example will make this clear.

(R, R, G) would be (1 1 0 0 1 0 0)

Here we have put a 1 for red, another 1 for red, then a zero to show we have
moved to blue. There are no blues, so another 0 shows we have moved to green.
We have placed a 1 for green, then another zero to show we have moved to yellow.
Finally another zero to show we have moved to pink.

(R, G, R) would be the same.

So we have found a way to have only one string for each combination. Another
couple of examples:

(R, Y, P) would be (10 0 0101)

(B, Y, Y) would be (010 0110)

You can see that there are always four 0s and three 1s; seven places in all.
Our question can now be put in a different way: If there are 7 places, how can
we choose 3 of them to put our 1s in? We are finding C(7, 3).
In general: There will always be one fewer 0’s than the total number of items,
as there is a 0 between each item. So if there are n items and we are choosing k
of them, then there will be n + k − 1 places, and we must chose k of them. We
need to calculate C(n + k – 1, k).
So we have:
(n + k − 1)!
C(n + k − 1, k) =
k!(n + k − 1 − k)!
(n + k − 1)!
=
k!(n − 1)!

Worked Example 3
A teacher has a class of 30 students. She has to chose 3 students to be awarded a
prize for good progress.

(a) How many different sets of three can be chosen?

Solution
As there is no ordering involved here, and no repetition, we use the formula for
combinations without repetition:

n!
C(n, k) =
(n − k)!k!
124 8 Combinatorics

In this case n = 30 and k = 3.

30!
C(30, 3) =
27! × 3!
30 × 29 × 28
=
3×2×1
= 4060

(b) The teacher now has to choose 3 students to be awarded 1st , 2nd and 3rd prize
for overall performance. How many different possibilities are there?

Solution
This time there is ordering, but once again no repetition, so we use the formula
for permutations without repetition:

n!
P(n, k) =
(n − k)!

As in the previous question, n = 30 and k = 3

30!
P(30, 3) =
27!
= 30 × 29 × 28
= 24360

(c) A prize is to be awarded for mathematics, science, and languages. No student

should receive more than one prize. How many different possibilities are there?

Solution
In fact this is exactly the same as part b). Just think of it as placing the students
in a line with, say, the winners of the mathematics, science and language prizes in
first, second and third position.
So the answer is the same as before, 24360

(d) Once again there are to be three awards—mathematics, science and languages.
But this time the rules are relaxed, and each student is eligible for all three
prizes. So any student could receive as many as three prizes. How many
possibilities are there?
8.12 Deriving the Formula for Choosing Items when Order Is Not … 125

Solution
Once again there is ordering, but this time with repetition, so the correct calculation
is:

nk = 303 = 27000

Worked Example 4
A five-a-side football club consists of six different teams. Three members of the
club are to be chosen for a special award. They can be chosen from any team, so
that a particular team could end up winning three awards, two awards, one award
or no awards. In how many different ways can the awards be distributed among
the teams?

Solution
There is no ordering but there is repetition, because one team could win all three
awards, none of the awards, or any number in between.
Because there are six teams, n = 6 and k = 3.
The correct calculation for no ordering with repetition allowed is:

(n + k − 1)! 8!
=
k!(n − 1)! 3! × 5!
8×7×6
=
3×2×1
= 56

Worked Example 5
Five friends are planning a trip to the cinema. They will all sit together in a row.
Leroy and Calvin want to sit together. In how many different ways can the five
friends occupy the row?

Solution
The easiest thing to do is to consider Leroy and Calvin as one item. We now have
to work out how many ways to arrange four items, which is 4!.

4!= 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 24.

There are, however, 2! ways in which Leroy and Calvin can be arranged, so for
each of the above arrangements there are 2 options.
So the total number of arrangements is: 2 × 24 = 48.

Worked Example 6
How many 4-digit numbers can be made from the digits 1–9 if you are not allowed
to repeat numbers, and the number must be divisible by 5?
126 8 Combinatorics

Solution
If the number is divisible by 5, it must end in a 5 (since there is no zero). So this
comes down to arranging 3 numbers out of 8, without repetition.

8!
P(8, 3) =
5!
=8×7×6
= 336

8.13 Pascal’s Triangle

Pascal’s triangle is a very well-known number pattern, used in several areas of

mathematics. The first 8 rows are shown in Fig. 8.1.
Each number is made up by adding the two numbers above it (shown in the
diagram by the red and green squares).
Interestingly, each number represents C(n, k), where n is the row number (start-
ing from 0) and k the column number (also starting from 0). For example, the
blue square containing the number 15, represents C(6, 2) and the yellow square,
containing the number 21, is C(7, 5).
Pascal’s triangle demonstrates clearly that combinations are symmetrical. C(n,
k) is the same as C(n, n – k). For example, C(8, 3) is the same as C(8, 5). This can
also be seen from the formula for C(n, k)—and by logic: choosing 2 items from 7
is the same as choosing 5 items to discard.
Worked Example 7

(a) Use Pascal’s Triangle to find the value of C(5,2).

(b) Verify your answer using the formula.

Fig. 8.1 Pascal’s triangle

8.14 Binomial Expansion 127

C(5,2) = 10

Fig. 8.2 Solution to worked example 7

Solution

(a) Because we start at zero, we will need to draw 6 rows of the triangle as shown
in Fig. 8.2

(b) C(5, 2) = 5!
3!×2! = 5×4×3×2×1
3×2×1×2×1 = 10

8.14 Binomial Expansion

A binomial expression is an expression that contains two terms.

Imagine we had to calculate an expression such as: (a + b)n where n is a
natural number. Our knowledge of combinatorics can help us with this. The first
few expansions would give us:

(a + b)0 = 1
(a + b)1 = a+b
(a + b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2
(a + b)3 = a3 + 3a2 b + 3ab2 + b3
(a + b)4 = a4 + 4a3 b + 6a2 b2 + 4ab3 + b4

The coefficients form the following pattern:

1
1 1
1 2 1
1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1

which you will recognize as Pascal’s triangle.

Knowing, as we do, that each entry in Pascal’s triangle represents a combina-
tion, we can rewrite our expansions.
128 8 Combinatorics

For example we saw that:

(a + b)4 = a4 + 4a3 b + 6a2 b2 + 4ab3 + b4 .
We could write this as:
(a + b)4 = 4 C0 a4 b0 + 4 C1 a3 b1 + 4 C2 a2 b2 + 4 C3 a1 b3 + 4 C4 a0 b4 .
In general we could write:
(a + b)n = n C0 an b0 + n C1 an−1 b1 + n C2 an−2 b2 + · · · + n Cn−1 a1 bn−1∑
+ n Cn a0 bn .
In mathematics, we often use the upper case Greek letter sigma, , to mean
the sum of . Using this notation we could write:

∑
n
(a + b)n = n
Ck an−k bk
k=0

This means that you start of with k = 0, than add every term until you reach n.
This is known as the binomial theorem.

Worked Example 8
Use the binomial theorem to expand the expression (x + 2y)5
Solution

(a + b)n = n C0 an b0 + n C1 an−1 b1 + n C2 an−2 b2 + . . . + n Cn−1 a1 bn−1 + n Cn a0 bn

The first term in our expression is x, the second is 2y, and in this case n = 5.

(x + 2y)5 = 5 C0 x5 (2y)0 + 5 C1 x4 (2y)1 + 5 C2 x3 (2y)2 + 5 C3 x2 (2y)3 + 5 C4 x1 (2y)4 + 5 C5 x0 (2y)5

= x5 + 5x4 (2y) + 10x3 (2y)2 + 10x2 (2y)3 + 5x(2y)4 + (2y)5
= x5 + 10x4 y + 40x3 y2 + 80x2 y + 80xy4 + 32y5

Worked Example 9
Use the binomial theorem to find the 3rd term in the expansion of the expression
(x − y)7

Solution
We saw that

∑
n
(a + b)n = n
Ck an−k bk
k=0

Because we start at 0, the 3rd term will be found when k = 2.

Here a = x and b = − y, and n = 7.
The third term is therefore: 7
C2 x5 (−y)2 = 21x5 y2
8.16 Exercises 129

8.15 Application to Computing

There are many examples in computer science where we need to compute the
number of different ways of doing things.
In computer graphics, for example, colour is made by combining the three
primary colours, red, blue and green, in different intensities. Different systems are
used to achieve this, and it is very important to know how many different colours
can be obtained using a particular system.
Another very important application is in the area of algorithm efficiency. When
writing the code for a particular task, there are always many ways of achieving the
same goal. Some algorithms are a great deal more efficient than others, because
they require fewer steps. Combinatorics plays a very important role in comparing
different algorithms by determining the number of possible steps involved in each
one.

8.16 Exercises

1. In how many different ways can the letters x, y, z, w, v be arranged?

2. Find the value of:
8! × 5!
4! × 3!
3. Find the value of: (a) P(10, 3) (b) C(9, 6).
4. A committee of 20 people has to elect a chair, a vice-chair, a secretary and a
treasurer. How many different ways are there of choosing these posts?
5. The winner of a children’s competition is allowed to draw three prizes from a
bag of 10 unique items. The runner up is then allowed to draw two items.
How many different sets of prizes can be chosen by:
(a) the winner;
(b) the runner-up?
6. A gift shop sells 10 different colours of wrapping paper. Customers can get a
discount if they buy three rolls of paper. They can choose three of the same
colour, or two of one colour and one of another colour, or 3 different colours.
How many different combinations can a customer choose from?
7. Imagine an alien alphabet consisting of the following symbols:

e % @ π ∗ £

How many different three letter "words" can be made from these symbols?
(Symbols can be repeated).
8. How many 3-digit numbers can be made from the digits 1–6 if:
(a) you are allowed to repeat digits;
(b) you are not allowed to repeat digits;
(c) you are not allowed to repeat digits and the number must end in 3;
(d) you are not allowed to repeat digits and the number must end in 1 or 4?
130 8 Combinatorics

9. Four friends go on a fairground ride. They must sit in a row. Tracey does not
want to sit at the end of the row. In how many different ways can the four be
arranged?
10. Use Pascal’s triangle to find the value of C(4, 2); verify your answer by using
the correct formula.
11. Use the binomial theorem to expand the expression (2x − y)4
12. Use the binomial theorem to find the 3rd term in the expansion of the
expression (x + 2y)6
Probability
9

At the end of this chapter you should be able to:

• define the terms experiment, outcome, sample space and event;

• determine distinct sets for a sample space and event from a given scenario;
• provide a definition of probability;
• calculate the probability of a particular event being successful;
• represent a probability distribution using a discrete random variable;
• calculate the expected value of an experiment;
• distinguish between mutually exclusive and non-mutually exclusive events;
• use the addition rule to determine the probability of two alternative events
happening;
• distinguish between independent and conditional events, and calculate the
probability in both cases;
• construct and interpret tree diagrams for conditional events;
• explain and apply Bayes’ theorem;
• make use of the binomial probability formula.

9.1 Introduction

In this chapter you will be studying probability, which is the branch of mathemat-
ics that builds a framework around random, or chance, events. Probability plays
an extremely important role in many other disciplines such as physics, biology,
finance, and, as we shall see, in computer science.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025 131
Q. Charatan and A. Kans, Maths For Computing, Undergraduate Topics in Computer
Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69234-5_9
132 9 Probability

Fig. 9.1 A 5-sided spinner

9.2 Terminology and Definitions

Consider the 5-sided spinner that is shown in Fig. 9.1.

If the spinner is not weighted in any way, and there is an equal chance of it
landing on any one of the five numbers, it is called a fair spinner.
If we spin the spinner once, this is called an experiment. The number that it
lands on is called an outcome.
The set of all possible outcomes is called the sample space. A set of possible
outcomes is called an event.
The probability of an event is a measure of how likely it is that that event will
happen.

9.3 Outcomes, Sample Space and Events

For our spinner there are five possible outcomes:

The spinner can land on 1.

The spinner can land on 2.
The spinner can land on 3.
The spinner can land on 4.
The spinner can land on 5.

If we call the sample space for the spinner S, then:

S = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

Let’s define a few events:

A: the event that the spinner lands on a 5

B: the event that the spinner lands on a 3 or 4
C: the event that thes pinner lands on an odd number
9.4 Calculating Probability 133

D: the event that the spinner lands on a number less than 5.

We see that:

A = {5} B = {3, 4} C = {1, 3, 5} D = {1, 2, 3, 4}

9.4 Calculating Probability

The probability that an event will happen is given by the following formula:

number of outcomes in the event

probability =
number of outcomes in the sample space

We use the notation P(E) to mean the probability that E will happen. We can
also use the notation for cardinality that we learnt when studied set theory:
If E is an event and S is the sample space, then:

n(E)
P(E) =
n(S)

For the examples on the previous slide:

S = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

Therefore

n(S) = 5

Table 9.1 shows how the probability of each of the events described in the
previous section is calculated.
We can express the probability as a fraction, a decimal or a percentage. So we
could have written, for example, P(B) = 0.4 or P(B) = 40%.
It is worth noting that:

• If an event is certain to happen as a result of a particular experiment the prob-

ability is 1. For example, the probability of our spinner landing on either a 1,
2, 3, 4 or 5 is 1.

Table 9.1 Calculating probabilities

Event A = {5} B = {3, 4} C = {1, 3, 5} D = {1, 2, 3, 4}

Cardinality n(A) = 1 n(B) = 2 n(C) = 3 n(D) = 4
/ / / /
Probability P(A) = 1 5 P(B) = 2 5 P(B) = 3 5 P(D) = 4 5
134 9 Probability

• If an event is impossible the probability is 0. For example, the probability of

our spinner landing on a 6 is 0.
• All other probabilities will lie between 0 and 1.

Worked Example 1
A 6-sided dice is thrown.

(a) What is the sample space, S?

(b) Give the value of E, the event that the dice lands on a number less than 3.
(c) What is the cardinality of the set S and the set E?
(d) Calculate the probability that E happens.

Solution

(a) S = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
(b) E = {1, 2}
(c) n(S) = 6 n(E) = 2
(d) P(E) = n(E)
n(S) = 3 .
1

Worked Example 2
Two 3-sided spinners (see Fig. 9.2) are spun together.

(a) What is the sample space, S?

(b) Give the value of E, the event one spinner lands on blue and the other on
yellow.
(c) What is the cardinality of the set S and the set E?
(d) Calculate the probability that E happens.

Fig. 9.2 Two 3-sided

spinners
9.6 Mutually Exclusive Events 135

Solution

S = {(RED, RED), (RED, BLUE), (RED, YELLOW),

(a) (BLUE, RED), (BLUE, BLUE), (BLUE, YELLOW),
(YELLOW, RED), (YELLOW, BLUE), (YELLOW, YELLOW)}.
(b) E = {(BLUE, YELLOW) , (YELLOW, BLUE)}.
(c) n(S) = 9 n(E) = 2.
(d) P(E) = n(E)
n(S) = 9 .
2

9.5 Probability that One or Another Event Happens

Consider the 5-sided spinner again. Let A be the event of getting a 2 and B be the
event of getting a 5:

A = {2} B = {5}

The event of getting a 2 or a 5 is: {2, 5}.

We know that this is the union of A and B. So the event of getting a 2 or a 5 is
A ∪ B. So we see that the probability of event A or B happening is:

P(A ∪ B)

9.6 Mutually Exclusive Events

The examples we have just seen are mutually exclusive events. They cannot both
happen at the same time; a spinner cannot land on a 2 and a 5 at the same time.
Of course, events containing a single outcome are always mutually exclusive.
When the events contain more than one outcome, they may or may not be
mutually exclusive.
For example, if you throw a dice, the event of getting an even number and the
event of getting a 5 are mutually exclusive. For mutually exclusive events, there
are no common elements.
In other words, for two mutually exclusive events, A and B:

A∩B=∅

Consider throwing a 6-sided dice:

Let A be the event of throwing an odd number.

Let B be the event of throwing a number less than 4.

A = {1, 3, 5} B = {1, 2, 3}
136 9 Probability

These events are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to throw a number which
is odd and is less than 4 (the number 1 or the number 3). The intersection of the
two sets is not empty:

A ∩ B = {1, 3}

9.6.1 The Addition Rule

We have seen that the probability of A or B happening is given by P(A ∪ B).

In the previous example of the 6-sided dice we had:

A: The event of throwing an odd number.

B: The event of throwing a number less than 4.

A = {1, 3, 5} B = {1, 2, 3} A ∪ B = {1, 2, 3, 5}

so
4 2
P(A ∪ B) = =
6 3

There is another way we can calculate the probability of one or another event
happening. When we studied sets we saw that:

n(A ∪ B) = n(A) + n(B) − n(A ∩ B)

If the sample space is S, then

n(A ∪ B) n(A) n(B) n(A ∩ B)

= + −
n(S) n(S) n(S) n(S)

So we have:

P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B) − P(A ∩ B)

This is called the addition rule. In this example:

A ∩ B = {1, 3}

So:
3 1
P(A) = =
6 2
9.6 Mutually Exclusive Events 137

3 1
P(B) = =
6 2
2 1
P(A ∩ B) = =
6 3
1 1 1 2
P(A ∪ B) = + − =
2 2 3 3
This is, of course, the same answer that we got before.

9.6.2 The Addition Rule for Mutually Exclusive Events

For mutually exclusive events there are no common elements:

A∩B=∅

So:

P(A ∩ B) = 0

So: For mutually exclusive events: P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B).

For mutually exclusive events, it is also true that:

• The sum of the individual probabilities must add up to 1.

• The probability of not getting a successful event is found by subtracting the
probability from 1. For example,
( ) the probability of not throwing a number
below 5 on the spinner is 1 − 15 or 45 .

Worked Example 3

1. A 6-sided dice is thrown, and the following events are defined:

A is the event of throwing a number less then 4.
B is the event of throwing an even number.
C is the event of throwing a number starting with “F”.
(a) What is the sample space, S?
(b) Give the value of A, B and C.
(c) Give the values of: A ∩ B A ∩ C B ∩ C.
(d) Which pairs of events are mutually exclusive?
(e) Calculate the probability of throwing an even number or a number less than
4.
(f) Calculate the probability of throwing an even number or a number starting
with “F”.
(g) Calculate the probability of throwing a number less than 4 or a number
starting with “F”.
138 9 Probability

Solution

(a) S = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}.

(b) A = {1, 2, 3} B = {2, 4, 6} C = {4, 5}.
(c) A ∩ B = {2} A ∩ C = ∅ B ∩ C = {4}.
(d) Only A and C (the intersection is empty).
(e) P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B) − P(A ∩ B) = 36 + 36 − 16 = 56 .
(f) P(B ∪ C) = P(B) + P(C) − P(B ∩ C) = 36 + 26 − 16 = 23 .
(g) P(A ∪ C) = P(A) + P(C) − P(A ∩ C) = 36 + 26 − 0 = 56 .

Worked Example 4
Consider the following reduced pack of cards consisting of just the following:

2, Q
4, 10, Q
2, Q
2, 4, K

What is the probability of drawing a card that is red or is a queen?

Solution
Let A be the event of drawing a queen. Let B be the event of drawing a red card.
These events are not mutually exclusive. You can draw a card that is a queen
and a red card.
There are 10 cards altogether; there are 5 red cards, there are 3 queens, and
there are 2 cards that are red and are queens.

3 5 2
P(A) = P(B) = P(A ∩ B) =
10 10 10
3 5 2 3
P(A ∪ B) = + − =
10 10 10 5

9.7 Probability Distribution

When we throw a dice, there are 6 possible outcomes. If the dice is fair, then the
probability of throwing any of the numbers from 1 to 6 is 16 .
The notation we use for the probability of an event can also be used for the
probability of outcomes. So for example P(1) is the probability of throwing a 1.
In general, if A is the event of getting outcome a, then P(A) = P(a).
We write the probability distribution for the dice as follows:

1
P(1) =
6
9.7 Probability Distribution 139

1
P(2) =
6
1
P(3) =
6
1
P(4) =
6
1
P(5) =
6
1
P(6) =
6
Since individual outcomes are mutually exclusive, the total of all the proba-
bilities must be 1. And again because they are mutually exclusive we can add
the probabilities to find the probability of one or the other event happening. The
probability of throwing a 2 or a 5 is:

1 1 1
+ =
6 6 3

9.7.1 Non-uniform Probability Distribution

Now imagine we toss a coin. This time the coin isn’t fair—it has been weighted
so that it is 3 times more likely to land on tails than on heads. How can we find
the probability distribution?
We let x represent the probability of getting heads. Therefore the probability of
getting tails is 3x.

So P(HEADS) = x
P(TAILS) = 3x

We know that the probabilities must add up to 1.

Therefore:

x + 3x = 1
4x = 1
x = 0.25

So our probability distribution is:

P(HEADS) = 0.25
P(TAILS) = 0.75
140 9 Probability

Worked Example 5
An unfair 6-sided dice is weighted so that the chances of throwing a 4, 5 or 6 are
equal. The chance of throwing a 2 or a 3 is twice as likely as throwing a 4, 5 or
6. The chance of throwing a 1 is three times as likely as throwing a 4, 5 or 6.

(a) Find the probability distribution of the dice.

(b) What is the probability of throwing a 3 or 4?

Solution

(a) Let the probability of throwing a 4, 5, 6 be x. The probability of throwing a 2

or 3 is 2x. The probability of throwing a 1 is 3x.

The probability distribution is:

P(1) = 3x
P(2) = 2x
P(3) = 2x
P(4) = x
P(5) = x
P(6) = x

The events are mutually exclusive, so the probabilities must add up to 1:

3x + 2x + 2x + x + x + x = 1

10x = 1 x = 0.1

The probability distribution is:

P(1) = 0.3
P(2) = 0.2
P(3) = 0.2
P(4) = 0.1
P(5) = 0.1
P(6) = 0.1

(b) The events are mutually exclusive, therefore the probability of throwing a 3 or
a 4 is: P(3) + P(4) = 0.3.
9.8 Independent Events 141

9.8 Independent Events

Consider the spinner and the coin shown in Fig. 9.3.

Any events associated with the spinner and the coin are independent events.
Spinning the spinner has no effect on tossing the coin, and vice versa.
Imagine we want to calculate the probability of getting yellow on the spinner
and tails on the coin. Because they are independent events, it doesn’t matter if we
spin the spinner, then toss the coin, or toss the coin and then spin the spinner – or
do them both at the same time.
The probability distributions for each are shown below:

Spinner Coin
P(RED) = 13 P(HEADS) = 21
P(BLUE) = 13 P(TAILS) = 21
P(YELLOW) = 1
3

When dealing with independent events we find the probability of both events
happening simply by multiplying the two individual probabilities together.
1 1 1
P(YELLOW, HEADS) = × =
3 2 6

Worked Example 6
Three fair coins are tossed. What is the probability of getting exactly two heads?

Solution
Table 9.2 shows that there are 8 possible outcomes:
If S is the sample space, then n(S) = 8
There are 3 outcomes (outcomes 2, 3 and 5) in which there are exactly two
heads.
If E is the event of getting exactly 2 heads, then n(E) = 3.
Therefore:
n(E) 3
P(E) = =
n(S) 8

Fig. 9.3 A 3-sided spinner

and a coin
142 9 Probability

Table 9.2 The possible

Coin 1 Coin 2 Coin 3 Number of heads
outcomes from throwing
three coins Heads Heads Heads 3
Heads Heads Tails 2
Heads Tails Heads 2
Heads Tails Tails 1
Tails Heads Heads 2
Tails Heads Tails 1
Tails Tails Heads 1
Tails Tails Tails 0

9.9 Random Variables

A random variable is a set of possible values from a random experiment. When

the values are confined to discrete values, we refer to the random variable as a
discrete random variable.
A random variable is not quite the same as the sample space, because we are
able to assign a value to a particular outcome. A random variable provides a useful
way of expressing a probability distribution.

Example
We saw that a 5-sided spinner can have five following possible outcomes: The
spinner can land on 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5.
We know that the sample space for the spinner is: S = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}.
In this case, as the outcomes are numbers, it makes sense to define our random
variable X as:

X = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

We write the probability for each outcome as P(X = x).

In the case of the spinner we can write:

1 1 1
P(X = 1) = P(X = 2) = P(X = 3) =
5 5 5

1 1
P(X = 4) = P(X = 5) =
5 5
The sum of the probabilities is, of course, 1.
Now consider the experiment that we looked at in the last worked example,
namely tossing three coins. We are interested in the number of heads thrown,
which is shown in Table 9.3.
9.10 Expected Value (Mean Value) 143

Table 9.3 Number of heads

Coin 1 Coin 2 Coin 3 Number of heads
thrown when tossing three
coins Heads Heads Heads 3
Heads Heads Tails 2
Heads Tails Heads 2
Heads Tails Tails 1
Tails Heads Heads 2
Tails Heads Tails 1
Tails Tails Heads 1
Tails Tails Tails 0

Table 9.4 The probability distribution for number of heads thrown when tossing three coins

No of heads thrown, x 0 1 2 3
Number of occurrences 1 3 3 1
P(X = x) 1/8 3/8 3/8 1/8

The number of heads thrown can be 0, 1, 2, or 3. So the random variable

representing the number of heads thrown is:

X = {0, 1, 2, 3}

This enables us to express the probability distribution as shown in Table 9.4.

Consider the following events:

1. The event of throwing exactly two heads:

3
Here we have: P(X = 2) =
8
2. The event of throwing at least two heads:

3 1 1
In this case P(X ≥ 2) = + =
8 8 2

9.10 Expected Value (Mean Value)

An expected value refers to the average value of the result of performing an

experiment a very large number of times. We express the expected value as E(x),
where x is the value of a random variable defined for our experiment.
144 9 Probability

Table 9.5 The probability distribution for a fair 5-sided spinner

Number thrown, x 1 2 3 4 5
P(X = x) 1/5 1/5 1/5 1/5 1/5

Table 9.6 The probability distribution for a weighted dice

Number thrown, x 1 2 3 4 5 6
P(X = x) 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1

Rather than actually throwing a dice, say, ten thousand times we can use a
formula to do this calculation. The calculation involves taking each value (x),
multiplying it by its probability (p) and adding them all together.
This is expressed as: E(x) = ∑xp.

Example
Table 9.5 represents the probability distribution for a fair 5-sided spinner:

1 1 1 1 1
E(x) = ×1+ ×2+ ×3+ ×4+ ×5=3
5 5 5 5 5
For a fair spinner, this is exactly the result we would expect to find.
Now let’s consider the probability for a dice which is weighted as follows
(Table 9.6).

E(x) = 0.3 × 1 + 0.2 × 2 + 0.2 × 3 + 0.1 × 4 + 0.1 × 5 + 0.1 × 6 = 2.8

In this case we see that the expected value is not in our sample set—this is to
be expected, because it is an average.

Worked Example 7
Consider the previous example of tossing a coin three times, where X was the
random variable representing the number of heads thrown. What is the expected
value?

Solution
We saw that the probability distribution was as shown in Table 9.4. The expected
value is calculated as follows:
1 3 3 1
E(x) = × 1 + × 3 + × 3 + = 1.5
8 8 8 8
9.11 Conditional Probability 145

2
6 3 2 1
Green P ( GREEN, GREEN ) = x =
3 7 6 7
7
Green
3 4 2
4 Red P ( GREEN, RED ) = x =
7 6 7
6
3
6 4 3 2
Green P (RED, GREEN ) = x =
7 6 7
4
Red
7
4 3 2
3 Red P ( RED, RED ) = x =
7 6 7
6

Fig. 9.4 A tree diagram

9.11 Conditional Probability

Sometimes the outcome of an event is dependent on another event. As an example,

imagine that a bag contains 3 green balls and 4 red balls. What is the probability
of picking a green ball, followed by a red ball?
The probability of picking a green ball is 37 .
If we have picked a green ball, then there are 2 green balls left and 4 red balls (6
in all). So the probability of picking a red ball is now 46 .
Therefore, the probability of picking a green ball followed by a red ball is:

3 4 2
× =
7 6 7

9.11.1 Tree Diagrams

Tree diagrams provide a useful way of representing conditional probability. The

diagram shown in Fig. 9.4 represents the previous example of randomly selecting
balls from a bag that contains three green balls and four red balls, as in the last
example. It can be seen that the diagram shows the probability of all possible
events, obtained by multiplying the individual probabilities.

Worked Example 8
A bag contains three green balls, three yellow balls and four red balls.
146 9 Probability

(a) A ball is picked randomly from the bag, and is then returned to the bag.
Another ball is then picked. What is the probability of picking a green ball,
followed by a red ball?
(b) A ball is picked randomly from the bag, but is not returned. Another ball
is then picked. What is the probability of picking a green ball, followed by
another green ball?
(c) Represent the probabilities described in part (b) on a tree diagram.
(d) Use this diagram to find the probability of picking a red ball followed by a
yellow ball OR a yellow ball followed by a green ball.

Solution

(a) In this case the events are independent.

The probability of picking a green ball is:

3
10
The probability of picking a red ball is:

4
10
The probability of picking a green ball followed by a red ball is:

3 4 3
× =
10 10 25
(b) In this case, the events are not independent.
The probability of picking a green ball is:

3
10
There are 9 balls left, one green ball has gone, so the probability of another
green ball is:

2
9
So the probability of picking a green ball followed by another green ball
is:
3 2 1
× =
10 9 15
(c) The tree diagram is shown in Fig. 9.5
9.12 Bayes’ Theorem 147

3 2 1
2 Green P (GREEN, GREEN) = x =
9 10 9 15
3
9 3 3 1
Green Yellow P (GREEN, YELLOW) = x =
10 9 10
4 Red 3 4 2
3 9 P (GREEN, RED) = x =
10 10 9 15

3 3 1
3 Green P (YELLOW, GREEN) = x =
9 10 9 10
3
2
10 9 3 2 1
P (YELLOW, YELLOW) = x =
Yellow Yellow 10 9 15
4 3 4 2
9 Red P (YELLOW, RED) = x =
10 9 15

4
10
4 3 2
3 Green P (RED, GREEN) = x =
9 10 9 15
3
9 4 3 2
Red Yellow P (RED, YELLOW) = x =
10 9 15
3
9 Red 4 3 2
P (RED, RED) = x =
10 9 15

Fig. 9.5 Solution to worked example 8(c)

(d) The probability of picking a red ball followed by a yellow ball OR a yellow
ball followed by a green ball is:

2 1 7
+ =
15 10 30

9.12 Bayes’ Theorem

Bayes’ theorem (named after Thomas Bayes) is an extremely important theorem

in probability and statistics. It is used extensively in such areas as finance, epi-
demiology and drug testing. It is based on conditional probability, and it is used
to determine the probability of an event based on information about other events.
Bayes’ Theorem can be stated as follows:

P(A) × P(B|A)
P(A|B) =
P(B)

Here P(A|B) is read as the probability of A given B, and refers to the probability
that event A will happen if we already know that event B has happened.
We will not show you the proof of Bayes’ theorem here, but this can easily be
looked up for those who are interested.
148 9 Probability

To better understand Bayes’ theorem, let us return to the example given in

Sect. 9.11. A bag contains 3 green balls and 4 red balls.
The probability of picking a green ball is:

3
P(GREEN) =
7
Similarly, the probability of picking a red ball is

4
P(RED) =
7
If a red ball has already been picked then the probability of picking a green
ball becomes 36 or 21 . We write this as:

1
P(GREEN|RED) =
2
This is read as the probability of green given red.
Bayes’ theorem tells us:

P(RED) × P(GREEN|RED)
P(RED|GREEN) =
P(GREEN)
7 × 2
4 1
= 3
7
4 1 7 2
= × × =
7 2 3 3
In this case, all the information is known to us, so we could have worked out
for ourselves the probability of choosing a red ball once a green ball has been
removed—in other words P(red|green); and it is indeed 46 or 23 , thus showing
that Bayes’ theorem holds in this particular case.
There are, however, many cases where we do not have all the information, and
this is when Bayes’ theorem comes into its own.
As an example, consider the following:

• a test for a disease has a 95% probability of yielding a correct positive result
when the disease is present;
• 2% of all people who are tested test positive.
• it is known that 1.5% of the population actually has the disease.

We need to know the probability that an individual who tests positive actually has
the disease. In other words we need to calculate P(disease|positive).
Bayes’ theorem tells us that:

P(DISEASE) × P(POSITIVE|DISEASE)
P(DISEASE|POSITIVE) =
P(POSITIVE)
9.12 Bayes’ Theorem 149

From the information given, we know that:

The probability of someone having the disease is:

P(DISEASE) = 0.015

The probability of someone testing positive when they have the disease is:

P(POSITIVE|DISEASE) = 0.95

The probability of anyone testing positive is:

P(POSITIVE) = 0.02

Putting these into our formula gives us:

0.015 × 0.95
P(DISEASE|POSITIVE) =
0.02
≈ 71%

Worked Example 9
A college has 100 students. 40 are men and 60 are women. 20 of the men study
science subjects, and 50 of the women study science subjects.

(a) What is the probability of randomly selecting a man from the student body?
(b) What is the probability of randomly selecting a student who studies science?
(c) What is the probability of randomly selecting a student who studies science
from the male students?
(d) What is the probability of randomly selecting a male student from those who
study science?
(e) Show that Bayes’ theorem holds for this set of figures.

Solution

(a) P(MAN) = 100 40

= 25 .
(b) P(SCIENCE) = 100 70
= 10
7
.
(c) P(SCIENCE|MAN) = 40 = 21 .
20

(d) P(MAN|SCIENCE) = 20 70 = 7 .
2

(e) Bayes’ theorem tells us:

P(SCIENCE) × P(MAN|SCIENCE)
P(SCIENCE|MAN) =
P(MAN)
10 × 7
7 2
= 2
5
150 9 Probability

1
=
2
This is the same result as we got for part (c), showing that Bayes’ theorem
holds.

Worked Example 10
A study finds that the probability of a particular word appearing in an email is
15%. It also finds that the probability of an email being spam if it contains this
word is 40%. The probability of any email being spam is 20%.
Use Bayes’ theorem to find the probability that a spam email contains this
particular word.

Solution

P(WORD) = 0.15
P(SPAM) = 0.2
P(SPAM|WORD) = 0.4

P(WORD) × P(SPAM|WORD)
P(WORD|SPAM) =
P(SPAM)
0.15 × 0.4
=
0.2
= 30%

9.13 Binomial Probability

Imagine an experiment with exactly two mutually exclusive outcomes, such as

flipping a coin, and imagine we repeat this experiment several times. Each exper-
iment is called a Bernoulli trial (after the Swiss mathematician, Jacob Bernoulli).
In a series of Bernoulli trials, the repeated actions must all be independent. In fact,
we don’t have to restrict the experiment to ones with only two “natural” outcomes,
because when there are multiple outcomes, we can define one outcome as success
and all others as failure.
So the following are all examples of Bernoulli trials:

• throwing a dice, where getting a 6 is a success, all other outcomes are failures;
• asking a question in an opinion poll, where “yes” is considered success, but
“no”, “don’t know” and “won’t vote” are failures;
• answering a question in a multiple choice exam, where one answer is correct
(success) all other answers are incorrect (failure).
9.13 Binomial Probability 151

9.13.1 The Binomial Probability Formula

There is a formula we can use to calculate the number of successful outcomes in

a series of Bernoulli trials:

P(k successes in n trials) = n Ck pk qn−k

n total number of trials

k number of successes
n−k number of failures
p probability of success in one trial
q=1–p probability of failure in one trial

The examples that follow will make this clear.

Worked Example 11
A multiple choice paper consists of 10 questions, each with five possible answers.
Only one answer is correct.
If the questions are answered completely randomly, what is the probability of
getting exactly four correct answers?

Solution
We use the formula:

P(k successes in n trials) = n Ck pk qn−k

In this case:

n = 10
k=4
n−k =6
p = 0.2 (There are 5 correct answers)
q = 0.8

P(k successes in n trials) = n Ck pk qn−k

P(4 successes in 10 trials) = 10 C4 × 0.24 × 0.86

= 210 × 0.0016 × 0.262144
= 0.088
152 9 Probability

Note that if you had been asked the probability of getting at least four correct
answers, you would have to add all the probabilities from four correct answers up
to 10 correct answers.

Worked Example 12
A coin is tossed five times. What is the probability of getting exactly three heads
if:

(a) the coin is a fair coin;

(b) the coin is weighted so that it is three times more likely to land on tails than
on heads?

Solution
In both cases we use the formula:

P(k successes in n trials) = n Ck pk qn−k

In each case:

n=5
k=3
n−k =2

(a) In this case:

p = 0.5
q = 0.5

P(3 successes in 5 trials) = 5 C3 × 0.53 × 0.52

= 10 × 0.125 × 0.25
= 0.3125

(b) In this case:

p = 0.5
q = 0.75
9.15 Exercises 153

P(3 successes in 5 trials) = 5 C3 × 0.253 × 0.752

= 10 × 0.15625 × 0.5625
= 0.00879

9.14 Application to Computing

There are many important areas of computer science in which probability plays
a crucial role. It is used in algorithms for machine learning to model uncertainty
and to make predictions. It is also plays an important role in data analysis. In
cryptography it is used to analyze the security of protocols and algorithms. In
network security probability is used to assess the likelihood of cyber attacks and
to design secure communication protocols.

9.15 Exercises

1. A 5-sided spinner has sides coloured yellow, blue, green, red and black.
(a) What is the sample space, S?
(b) Give the value of E, the event that the spinner lands on a colour which
starts with the letter “B”.
(c) What is the cardinality of the set S and the set E?
(d) Calculate the probability that E happens.
2. A small lottery consists of randomly choosing one of twelve balls, labelled
1–12.
The following events are defined:
A is the event of choosing a number less then 8.
B is the event of choosing an odd number.
C is the event of choosing a number divisible by 4.
(a) What is the sample space, S?
(b) Give the value of A, B and C.
(c) Give the values of: A∩B A∩C B∩C
(d) Which pairs of events are mutually exclusive?
(e) Calculate the probability of choosing an odd number or a number divisible
by 4.
(f) Calculate the probability of choosing a number less than 8 or a number
divisible by 4.
3. An experiment is done, and two events, A and B are defined.
The probability of A happening is 0.6.
The probability of B happening is 0.4.
The probability of both A and B happening is 0.2.
What is the probability of A or B happening?
4. Consider the following reduced deck of cards consisting of just the following:
154 9 Probability

2, 3, Q, A

4, 10, Q
2, 7, Q, A
2, 5, K, A

What is the probability of drawing a card that is black or is an ace?

5. An unfair 5-sided spinner with colours red, yellow, blue, green and orange is
weighted as follows: The chance of the spinner landing on green is twice that
of it landing on a orange. The chance of it landing on blue is 3 times that of
landing on orange. It is 4 times more likely to land on yellow than it is to land
on a orange. It is 10 times more likely to land on red than to land on orange.
(a) Find the probability distribution of the spinner.
(b) What is the probability of the spinner landing on blue or green?
6. Two 3-sided spinners, each with sides coloured red, blue and yellow are spun.
What is the probability of at least one of the spinners landing on yellow?
7 Two 3-sided spinners are spun, each with colours yellow, red and blue. If they
are fair spinners, what is the expected value of getting at least one yellow?
8. A bag contains 4 blue balls, 5 yellow balls and 6 red balls.
(a) A ball is picked randomly from the bag, and is then returned to the bag.
Another ball is then picked. What is the probability of picking a blue ball,
followed by a red ball?
(b) A ball is picked randomly from the bag, but is not returned. Another ball
is then picked. What is the probability of picking a red ball, followed by
another red ball?
(i) Represent the probabilities described in part b) on a tree diagram.
(ii) Use this diagram to find the probability of picking a red ball followed
by a yellow ball OR a yellow ball followed by a blue ball.
9. A bag contains a red ball and a white ball. A second bag contains a red ball,
a white ball and a yellow ball. A ball is picked randomly from each bag.
(a) What is the sample space, S?
(b) Give the value of E, the event that a red ball and a white ball are picked.
(c) Give the value of F, the event that a red ball and a yellow ball are picked.
(d) What is the cardinality of the sets S, E and F?
(e) Calculate the probability that E happens.
(f) Calculate the probability that F happens.
10 Polling in a constituency showed that 50% of the electorate intended to vote
for one particular party. Of those, 35% were under the age of 40. If the per-
centage of people under 40 who are of voting age in that constituency is 30%,
use Bayes’ theorem to find the probability that a person who votes for that
party is under 40 years old.
11 A multiple choice paper consists of 12 questions, each with 4 possible
9.15 Exercises 155

answers. Only one answer is correct.

If the questions are answered completely randomly, what is the probability
of getting exactly 50% (6 correct answers)?
12. A dice is thrown 4 times. What is the probability of getting exactly 3 sixes if
(a) the dice is a fair dice;
(b) the dice is weighted so that it is three times more likely to land on a 5 or
a 6 than on any other number?
Graph Theory
10

At the end of this chapter you should be able to:

• explain what is meant by the terms graph, vertex, node, edge and adjacency
matrix;
• distinguish between a simple graph and a multigraph, and between a
connected graph and an unconnected graph;
• explain what is meant by the degree of a vertex, and state the sum of degrees
of vertices theorem;
• explain what is meant by the distance between two vertices, the eccentricity
of a vertex and the radius and diameter of a vertex;
• define the term subgraph;
• distinguish between paths, trails, circuits and cycles;
• identify isomorphic and homeomorphic graphs;
• define the terms traversable trail and traversable graph and explain the terms
Eulerian graph and Hamiltonian graph;
• describe what is meant by a weighted graph and provide an adjacency matrix
for a weighted graph;
• explain what is meant by a tree and a binary tree;
• explain the term spanning tree, and find a minimum spanning tree for a
particular graph using Kriskal’s algorithm;
• describe three methods for traversing a binary tree;
• explain the term planar graph, and state and use Euler’s formula;
• describe what is meant by a directed graph (digraph), and provide adjacency
matrices for directed graphs.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025 157
Q. Charatan and A. Kans, Maths For Computing, Undergraduate Topics in Computer
Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69234-5_10
158 10 Graph Theory

10.1 Introduction

In this final chapter we will be studying graph theory. Here the word graph does
not refer to the most common usage of the word—namely a chart showing the
relationship between two or more quantities by means of a curve or line—but to
a representation of connected objects. As you will see at the end of the chapter,
graph theory plays a very important role in the world of computer science.

10.2 Definitions

A graph is a pictorial representation of a set of connected objects. An example is

shown in Fig. 10.1.
The connected objects are represented by points. These points are known as
vertices or nodes. The links that connect the vertices are called edges.
It is usual to name the vertices using lower case letters. In Fig. 10.1, the vertices
are a, b, c and d. The edges are e1 , e2 , e3 and e4 .
Formally, we can say that a graph, G, consists of a set of vertices, V, and a set
of edges, E:

G = (V , E)

In Fig. 10.1:

V = {a, b, c, d } E = {e1 , e2 , e3 , e4 }

Vertices such as a and b in Fig. 10.1 which are connected by an edge are said
to be adjacent. A graph can be represented by an adjacency matrix, in which
each element of the matrix is either a 0, showing that there is no direct connection

Fig. 10.1 A simple graph a

d
10.4 Connected and Unconnected Graphs 159

Fig. 10.2 A multigraph a

between the vertices, or 1 showing that there is a connection. The adjacency matrix
below represents the graph shown in Fig. 10.1.

abcd
⎛ ⎞
a 0 1 1 1
b⎜⎜1 0 0 1⎟⎟
c ⎝1 0 0 0⎠
d 1 1 0 0

10.3 Multigraphs

In the graph shown in Fig. 10.1, each pair of vertices is connected by one edge
only. Now consider the graph shown in Fig. 10.2.
In Fig. 10.2, the vertices a and c are connected by two edges, e2 and e5 . These
two edges are referred to as multiple edges. Additionally one edge, e6 , has the
same start point and endpoint—such an edge is referred to as a loop. A graph that
allows multiple edges and loops is called a multigraph.

10.4 Connected and Unconnected Graphs

The graphs shown in Figs. 10.1 and 10.2 are connected graphs, because there is
a path between any two of the vertices.
However, a graph such as that shown in Fig. 10.3 is an unconnected graph,
because, for example, there is no path between vertex a and vertex d.
160 10 Graph Theory

Fig. 10.3 An unconnected a d

graph

10.5 Degree of a Vertex

The degree of a vertex is the number of vertices that are adjacent to that vertex.
The degree of a vertex, v, for example, is written:

deg(v)

In Fig. 10.1 we have:

deg(a) = 3 deg(b) = 2 deg(c) = 2 deg(d ) = 2

In a simple graph with n vertices, the degree of any vertex is always less than
or equal to n − 1.

10.5.1 Sum of Degrees of Vertices Theorem

The sum of the degrees of the vertices is equal to twice the number of edges. So
in Fig. 10.1, for example, the sum of the degrees of vertices is 8, which is twice
the number of edges, 4.
This also holds for multigraphs, but we must remember to count the degree of
a vertex which has a loop as 2.
So in Fig. 10.2 we have:

deg(a) = 4 deg(b) = 2 deg(c) = 2 deg(d ) = 4

Thus the sum of the degrees is 12, which is twice the number of edges, 6.

10.6 Distance Between Two Vertices

The distance between two vertices u and v is the length of the shortest path between
u and v. It is written d(u,v).
10.7 Eccentricity of a Vertex 161

Fig. 10.4 A graph with 6 a

vertices and 7 edges

For example, in Fig. 10.4 we have:

d (a, f ) = 2 d (h, f ) = 1 d (b, f ) = 3.

10.7 Eccentricity of a Vertex

The eccentricity of a vertex, v, is the highest distance from a particular vertex to

any other vertex. It is written e(v).
For example, in Fig. 10.5:

e(b) = 4 (b to a, a to c, c to f , f to g)
e(a) = 3 (a to c, c to f , f to g)
e(c) = 2 (c to f , f to g or c to a, a to b).

Fig. 10.5 A graph with 7 a

vertices and 6 edges

d
162 10 Graph Theory

10.8 Radius and Diameter

The radius of a graph G is the lowest eccentricity of that graph.

For example, in Fig. 10.5:

radius(G) = 2.

The diameter of a graph G is the highest eccentricity of that graph.

For example, in Fig. 10.5:

diameter(G) = 4.

Worked Example 1
Consider the graph shown in Fig. 10.6:

(a) State the value of:

deg(a) deg(b) deg(c) deg(d ) deg(e) deg(f ) deg(g)

(b) Show that the sum of degrees of vertices theorem holds for this graph.
(c) State the value of:

d (a, g) d (a, d ) d (b, g)

(d) State the value of:

e(g) e(a) e(c)

(e) Referring to the graph in Fig. 10.6 as G, give the values of:

radius(G) diameter(G).

Fig. 10.6 Worked example 1 a e

d
10.10 Paths, Trails, Circuits and Cycles 163

Fig. 10.7 A graph and a a a

subgraph

c c
G S

Solution

deg(a) = 3 deg(b) = 2 deg(c) = 4 deg(d ) = 3

(a)
deg(e) = 3 deg(f ) = 3 deg(g) = 2
(b) Sum of the degrees of vertices is 20, which is twice the number of edges, 10.
(c) d (a, g) = 3 d (a, d ) = 1 d (b, g) = 4
(d) e(g) = 4 e(a) = 3 e(c) = 2
(e) radius(G) = 2 diameter(G) = 4.

10.9 Subgraphs

Figure 10.7 shows a graph G and a graph S. S is a subgraph of G—the vertices

and edges of S are contained in the vertices and edges of G.
Formally:
if S = (V 2 , E 2 ) and G = (V 1 , E 1 ) then S is a subgraph of G if:

V2 ⊂ V1 and E2 ⊂ E1

In Fig. 10.7:

V2 = {a, b, c} and V1 = {a, b, c, d , h} so V2 ⊂ V1

E2 = {e1 , e2 , e3 } and E1 = {e1 , e2 , e3 , e4 , e5 , e6 } so E2 ⊂ E1 .

10.10 Paths, Trails, Circuits and Cycles

A path in a graph is a sequence of alternating vertices and edges. Consider the

graph shown in Fig. 10.8.
164 10 Graph Theory

Fig. 10.8 A graph with 7 a

vertices and 8 edges

The following are all possible paths in this graph—we have assigned each a
number in order to refer to them later:

1: a, e3 , c, e5 , h, e8 , g
2: a, e4 , d , e7 , f
3: c, e2 , b, e1 , a, e3 , c, e5 , h
4: c, e2 , b, e1 , a, e3 , c, e2 , b
5: d , e4 , a, e1 , b, e2 , c, e3 , a, e9 , h, e6 , d
6: b, e1 , a, e3 , c, e2 , b
7: a, e3 , c, e5 , h, e6 , d
8: a, e4 , d

The number of edges in a path is called the length of the path. For example, path
3 above has a length of 4, while path 8 has a length of 1.
A path in which all vertices are distinct is called a simple path. Paths 1, 2, 7
an 8 above are all simple paths.
A path in which all edges are distinct is called a trail. All of the above paths
are trails, with the exception of path 4.
A path in which all edges are distinct (that is, a trail), and which begins and
ends on the same vertex is called a circuit. Paths 5 and 6 above are circuits.
A circuit in which all vertices (other than the start and end vertex) are distinct
is called a cycle. Path 6 above is a cycle, but path 5 is not. A cycle with n edges
is referred to as an n-cycle. For example path 5 above is a 3-cycle.
Paths 7 and 8 are both paths from a to d. However, 8 is the shortest path from
a to d.

Worked Example 2
Consider the graph shown in Fig. 10.9:
Now consider the following path: f , e6 , a, e5 , d , e3 , b, e1 , a, e6 , f .
State whether this path is:

(a) a simple path;

10.11 Isomorphic and Homeomorphic Graphs 165

Fig. 10.9 Worked example 2

(b) a trail;
(c) a circuit;
(d) a cycle.

Solution

(a) It is not a simple path because the vertices are not all distinct.
(b) It is not a trail, because not all edges are distinct.
(c) It is not a circuit, because not all edges are distinct.
(d) It is not a cycle, because a cycle is a type of circuit—also not all vertices are
distinct.

10.11 Isomorphic and Homeomorphic Graphs

A graph G1 and a graph G2 are said to be isomorphic if every edge of G1 is an

edge of G2 , and vice versa. In other words, they are exactly the same graph, but
are drawn differently. Two examples are given in Fig. 10.10.
If two graphs can be obtained from the same graph by dividing an edge with
additional vertices, they are said to be homeomorphic. For example, in Fig. 10.11
graphs (b) and (c) are homeomorphic because they can both be obtained from
graph (a).

Fig. 10.10 Isomorphic graphs

166 10 Graph Theory

Fig. 10.11 Graphs (b) and

(c) are homoeomorphic
because they can both be
obtained from graph (a)

(a) (b) (c)

10.12 Traversable Graphs

A graph is said to be traversable if it is possible to draw a path that includes

all of the vertices and all of the edges, without repeating any of the edges. Such
a path is by definition a trail (since all edges are distinct) and is referred to as a
traversable trail.
The graph shown in Fig. 10.12 is traversable—it contains, for example, the
following traversable trail:

f , e5 , c, e4 , d , e1 , a, e2 , b, e3 , c

The following theorem holds:

A connected graph is traversable if and only if the number of vertices with odd
degree is exactly 2 or 0.
In Fig. 10.12, vertices c and f are odd. By contrast, the graph shown in
Fig. 10.13 has four odd vertices (c, d, f , g) and is not traversable.

Fig. 10.12 A traversable a

graph

b
10.12 Traversable Graphs 167

Fig. 10.13 A a
non-traversable graph

Fig. 10.14 An Eulerian a

graph

10.12.1 Eulerian Graphs

A traversable trail that begins and ends on the same vertex is called an Eulerian1
trail or Eulerian circuit. A graph that contains an Eulerian circuit is called an
Eulerian graph.
The graph shown in Fig. 10.14 is Eulerian: it contains the following Eulerian
circuit:

a, e1 , d , e4 , c, e6 , g, e7 , f , e5 , c, e3 , b, e2 , a

The following holds:

A connected graph is Eulerian if and only if each vertex has an even degree.

10.12.2 Hamiltonian Graphs

We saw above that an Eulerian circuit traverses each edge exactly once but may
repeat vertices.
In contrast a path that begins and ends with the same vertex and visits all the
vertices in a graph exactly once (apart from the beginning and end vertex) is called
a Hamiltonian circuit. A Hamiltonian circuit does not need to contain every edge.
A graph that contains a Hamiltonian circuit is called a Hamiltonian graph.

1 Pronounced “Oilerian”.
168 10 Graph Theory

Fig. 10.15 A Hamiltonian

graph

The graph shown in Fig. 10.15 is a Hamiltonian graph, because it contains, for
example, the following Hamiltonian circuit:

b, e3 , c, e4 , f , e6 , d , e1 , a, e2 , b

Worked Example 3
State whether the graph shown in Fig. 10.16 is:

(a) Traversable;
(b) Eulerian
(c) Hamiltonian.

Solution

(a) It is traversable because exactly two of the vertices (c and d) have an odd
degree. One traversable trail is:

c, e2 , a, e6 , f , e7 , b, e1 , a, e8, d , e4 , c, e5 , b, e3 , d , e4 , c

Fig. 10.16 Worked example 3

10.13 Weighted Graphs 169

(b) It is not Eulerian because not all vertices have an even degree (c and d have
odd degrees).
(c) It is Hamiltonian because it contains, for example, the following circuit, which
visits all vertices:

c, e4 , d , e3 , b, e7 , f , e6 , a, e2 , c.

10.13 Weighted Graphs

A weighted graph is a graph in which each edge is associated with a numerical

value. The weights can be anything relevant to a particular problem—for example,
lengths, densities, costs, probabilities, durations and so on. The total of all the
weights is referred to as the weight of the graph.
An example of a weighted graph is shown in Fig. 10.17.
A weighted graph can be represented by an adjacency matrix, as shown below.
Each element of the matrix represents the weight of the edge connecting the two
vertices.

abcd e
⎛ ⎞
a 0 2 030
b⎜⎜2 0 5 0 0⎟
⎟
c⎜⎜0 5 0 6 0⎟
⎟
d ⎝3 0 6 0 1⎠
e 0 0 010

Worked Example 4
Provide an adjacency matrix for the weighted graph shown in Fig. 10.18.

Fig. 10.17 A weighted a

graph

b
170 10 Graph Theory

Fig. 10.18 Worked example 4

Solution

abcd
⎛ ⎞
a 0 1 8 5
b⎜⎜1 0 3 0⎟⎟.
c ⎝8 3 0 c⎠
d 5 0 6 0

10.14 Trees

A connected acyclic graph is called a tree. Put more simply, a tree is a connected
graph with no cycles. An example of a tree is shown in Fig. 10.19.
The edges of a tree are known as branches. A node such as a is said to have
two child nodes; a is referred to as the parent of b and d. The nodes without child
nodes (for example b, c and g in Fig. 10.19) are called leaf nodes.
A tree with n vertices will have n-1 edges.
A disconnected acyclic graph—that is to say a disjoint collection of trees—is
called a forest. Figure 10.20 shows an example of a forest.

Fig. 10.19 A tree a

b
10.14 Trees 171

Fig. 10.20 A forest a

10.14.1 Spanning Trees

If a graph H is a subgraph of a graph G, then H is a spanning tree of G if H is a

tree, and it contains all the vertices of G. In Fig. 10.21, graphs H and K are both
spanning trees of graph G (there are others).

10.14.1.1 Minimum Spanning Tree

In a weighted graph, the minimum spanning tree is a spanning tree whose total
weight is as small as possible. Figure 10.22 shows a weighted graph with its
minimum spanning tree, which in this case has a weight of 12.
You should note that there can be more than one minimum spanning tree.
One way to find a minimum spanning tree is to apply Kriskal’s algorithm
which involves the following steps:

1. Sort all the edges from low weight to high.

2. Take the edge with the lowest weight and add it to the spanning tree.
3. Keep adding edges in order, but do not add an edge if it creates a cycle.
4. Keep adding edges in this way until all the vertices have been reached.

a a a

b
b b

G H K

Fig. 10.21 Spanning trees

172 10 Graph Theory

Fig. 10.22 Minimum a 5 a 5

spanning tree 8
3 1 6 1 e
4 4
2 2
b b

Let’s apply this to the graph in Fig. 10.22.

We arrange the edges in order of weight, as shown in Table 10.1:
Add edges in order of weight (Fig. 10.23):
We can stop at this point because we have reached all the vertices.

Worked Example 5
Use Kriskal’s algorithm to find the minimum spanning tree for the weighted graph
shown in Fig. 10.24.

Solution
Arrange the edges in order of weight as in Table 10.2.

Table 10.1 First stage in Kriskal’s algorithm

ad bd ab de ac cd ce
1 2 3 4 5 6 8

add ad reject ab add de add ac

add bd
because 5
it would 1 1
1 1 4
create a 4
2
2
cycle 2

Fig. 10.23 Applying Kriskal’s algorithm

Fig. 10.24 Worked example 5

10.14 Trees 173

Table 10.2 Applying Kriskal’s algorithm—worked example 5

ab ac bc ad cd bd
1 2 3 5 6 8

add ab reject bc add ad

add ac
because 5
it would
1 1 2 create a 1
2
cycle

Fig. 10.25 Solution to worked example 5

Add edges in order of weight as shown in Fig. 10.25.

We can finish here because we have reached all the vertices.

10.14.2 Binary Trees

A binary tree is a tree which has a root node that has exactly two children, and
in which each of the subsequent nodes has at most two children. Binary trees
are very important data structures in computer science, and organizing data in
this way provides very useful algorithms for such things as searching and sorting.
Figure 10.26 shows an example of a binary tree.

Fig. 10.26 A binary tree a

b
174 10 Graph Theory

10.14.2.1 Types of Binary Tree

There are five categories of binary tree, each of which is described below.

1. Full (or strict) binary tree (Fig. 10.27)

Each node must contain either 0 or 2 children. Put another way, each node except
the leaf nodes must contain 2 children.

2. Complete binary tree (Fig. 10.28)

The nodes are filled from left to right—every level, except the last one must be
full—the nodes of the last level must be as left at possible.

3. Balanced binary tree (Fig. 10.29)

The left and right trees differ by at most by one node.

4. Perfect binary tree (Fig. 10.30)

All the internal nodes have 2 children, and all the leaf nodes are at the same level.
Note that a perfect binary tree is a special instance of a balanced binary tree.

5. Degenerate binary tree (Figs. 10.31 and 10.32)

Fig. 10.27 A full binary tree

Fig. 10.28 A complete

binary tree
10.14 Trees 175

Fig. 10.29 Balanced binary

trees

Fig. 10.30 A perfect binary

tree

Fig. 10.31 A left-skewed

degenerate binary tree

Fig. 10.32 A right-skewed

degenerate binary tree
176 10 Graph Theory

All the internal nodes have only one child. The graphs in Figs. 10.32 and 10.32
are referred to left-skewed and right-skewed binary trees respectively.

10.14.2.2 Traversing Binary Trees

If each node of a binary tree is thought of as representing a piece of data, then a
binary tree is one way of organizing data: it is a data structure. A simple data
structure such as a queue allows only one way of traversing it, namely sequentially.
In the case of a binary tree, there are three algorithms we can use to traverse
it—each has its advantages and disadvantages.
Each process entails visiting the root and all nodes in the left hand tree and the
right hand tree—as we shall see, the difference between each lies in the order in
which this is done. In each case, the process is recursive. As each tree is visited,
the rules are applied to that tree. Examples should make this clear.
In each case we will use as our example the binary tree shown in Fig. 10.33,
which is a perfect binary tree with 15 nodes.
Inorder Traversal

1. Traverse the left subtree.

2. Visit the root.
3. Traverse the right subtree.

Let’s apply this to the tree in Fig. 10.33. We start with the left subtree—that is the
subtree whose root is b. We apply the inorder rules to this tree so we traverse the
left subtree of this tree, which is the subtree whose root is c. The left subtree of
this tree has the root d, but this is a leaf-node, so there is no left sub-tree of this
tree, and we therefore visit the root d.

Fig. 10.33 A perfect binary a

tree with 15 nodes

c
10.14 Trees 177

Having visited the root of this subtree, according to the inorder rules, we visit
the root, c. We now traverse the right-hand subtree; again this ends with a leaf
node, so we visit the node e.
We have now traversed the entire subtree whose root is c—that is to say the
left subtree of the tree whose root is b. So now we visit the root of this tree, b. We
now visit the right subtree of this tree applying the same rules so we visit g, f and
h in that order.
Now we can visit the root of the whole tree, a.
So far we have visited the nodes in this order: d , c, e, b, g, f , h, a
We now apply exactly the same procedure to the right subtree (the one whose
root is i). This will mean visiting the nodes in the order k, j, l, i, n, m, o.
Putting these together we get a traversal path of:
d , c, e, b, g, f , h, a, k, j, l, i, n, m, o
Preorder Traversal

1. Visit the root.

2. Traverse the left subtree.
3. Traverse the right subtree.

Again, we’ll apply this to the tree in Fig. 10.33. We visit the root, a. We then
traverse the left subtree, namely the one whose root it b. We visit the root, b. We
then traverse left subtree of this tree, the one whose root is c. We visit the root,
c. We visit the left subtree of this, whose root is d. We visit d. There is no left
subtree of this tree, so we visit the right subtree, and visit the root e. We have
now traversed the entire left subtree of the tree with root b, so we traverse its right
subtree with the same rules, so we visit f, g, h in that order.
So now we must traverse the right subtree, and, following the same rules, we
visit i, j, k, l, followed by m, n, o.
So our traversal path is: a, b, c, d , e, f , g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o
Postorder Traversal

1. Traverse the left subtree.

2. Traverse the right subtree.
3. Visit the root.

Referring again to Fig. 10.33, we start by traversing the left subtree, the one with
root b, We traverse the left subtree of this, following the same rules, so we traverse
the subtree starting with c. The left subtree of this is the one with root d, which
has no left tree and no right tree. So we visit the root, d. We must now traverse the
right subtree of the tree with root c. Its left subtree is the one with root e, which
again has no subtrees, so we visit e. We then visit the root, c.
We must now visit the right subtree of b, so following the same rules, we visit
g, h, f . We then visit the root, b.
178 10 Graph Theory

Fig. 10.34 Worked example 6

That completes the traversal of the left subtree, and we now traverse the right
subtree in the same way: we visit k, l, j followed by n, o, m, i.
Finally we visit the root of the tree, a.
This gives the following path: d , e, c, g, h, f , b, k, l, j, n, o, m, i, a

Worked Example 6
Consider the binary tree shown in Fig. 10.34. Provide the path obtained by using:

(a) Inorder traversal

(b) Preorder traversal
(c) Postorder traversal

Solution

(a) Inorder: d , b, e, a, c, f
(b) Preorder: a, b, d , e, c, f
(c) Postorder: d , e, b, f , c, a.

10.15 Planar Graphs

A planar graph is a graph that can be drawn in a plane without any of the edges
crossing. Consider the graph shown in Fig. 10.35a. This is a planar graph because
it can be redrawn as in Fig. 10.35b. Each particular representation of a planar
graph is called a map.
A map divides the graph into a number of bounded areas known as regions.
Figure 10.36 shows a planar graph divided into regions.
10.15 Planar Graphs 179

Fig. 10.35 Two maps

representing the same planar a
graph a

b
b
(a) (b)

Fig. 10.36 A planar graph

with five regions
a

You will notice that the area outside the graph, r 5 in this case, counts as one
region. This is known as an infinite region.
The degree of a region refers to the sum of the edges that border the region. In
the case of an infinite region, we count the number of edges that bound the graph.
Thus

deg(r1 ) = 3 deg(r2 ) = 3 deg(r3 ) = 4 deg(r4 ) = 3 deg(r5 ) = 3

The following theorem holds:

The sum of the degrees of a region of a map equals twice the number of edges.
In the above case, the sum of the degrees is 16, and the number of edges is 8.

Euler’s Formula
If V is the number of vertices in a map, E is the number of edges, and R is the
number of regions, then:

V −E+R=2

In the above example:

V =6 E=9 R=5
V −E+R=6−9+5=2
180 10 Graph Theory

Fig. 10.37 Worked example 7

Fig. 10.38 Solution to

worked example 7

Worked Example 7
Consider the planar graph shown in Fig. 10.37:

(a) Identify the regions.

(b) Give the degree of each region.
(c) Show that Euler’s formula holds for this graph.

Solution
See Fig. 10.38.

(a) deg(r1 ) = 3 deg(r2 ) = 3 deg(r3 ) = 4

(b) V = 4 E = 5 R = 3

V − E + R = 4 − 5 + 3 = 2.

10.16 Directed Graphs

A directed graph—also known as a digraph—is a graph, or multigraph, in which

the edges have a direction. In the case of a directed graph each edge is an ordered
pair of vertices.
You briefly encountered digraphs in Chap. 3, where you saw that a digraph
represents a particular relation on a set. Another example is presented in Fig. 10.39.
10.16 Directed Graphs 181

Fig. 10.39 A directed graph a

Formally, we can say that a digraph, G, consists of a set of vertices, V, and a

set of ordered pairs, E:

G = (V , E)

In Fig. 10.28:

V = {a, b, c, d } E = {(a, b), (a, c), (a, d ), (b, b), (b, c), (b, d ), (c, d )}

In the case of a directed graph, rather than talk about the degree of a vertex,
we talk about the indegree and outdegree. For example, in Fig. 10.28:

indeg(a) = 1 indeg(b) = 2 indeg(c) = 2 indeg(d ) = 2

outdeg(a) = 3 outdeg(b) = 1 outdeg(c) = 2 outdeg(d ) = 1

It holds that:
The sum of the indegrees of a vertex equals the sum of the outdegrees, which both
equal the number of edges.
In Fig. 10.40 we see an adjacency matrix for the directed graph in Fig. 10.39. In
the case of a digraph, each entry in the matrix indicates whether there is a path of
length 1 from one particular vertex to another. In the example below the direction
is from the row to the column.2 A zero indicates that there is no connection. Some
annotations have been added to make it clear.
In the case of a directed graph it can be shown that, for an adjacency matrix A,
A2 will show the number of paths of length 2 from a particular vertex to another,
A3 will show the number of paths of length 3 and so on.
In general, for a directed graph with the adjacency matrix A, the number of
paths of length k for each entry of the matrix is given by Ak .

2 In some texts you will find that the direction is from column to row.
182 10 Graph Theory

Fig. 10.40 Adjacency

matrix for a directed graph There is a path
of length 1 a b c d There is a path
from b to c
a 0 0 1 0 of length 1
from d to b
b 1 0 0 1
c 1 1 0 0
d 1 0 1 0
There is no
path of length
1 from b to d

In the above case, referring to the matrix as A, we find (using the rules you
learnt for matrix multiplication in Chap. 7 (or using an online calculator) that:

abc d abcd
⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞
110 0 a 1011 a
⎜
2 ⎜1 0 2 0⎟ ⎜2 2 1 0⎟ b
A =⎝ ⎟b A3 = ⎜ ⎟
101 1⎠ c ⎝2 1 2 0⎠ c
111 0 d 2111 d

You can verify yourselves that this is indeed correct. For example:
There are two paths of length 2 from c to b: cd , db and ca, ab.
There is one path of length 3 from d to a: db, bc, ca

Worked Example 8
Consider the digraph shown in Fig. 10.41:

Fig. 10.41 Worked example 8

10.17 Application to Computing 183

(a) State the indegree and outdegree for each vertex.

(b) Provide an adjacency matrix, A, showing the number of paths of length 1 from
one particular vertex to another.
(c) Derive an adjacency matrix that shows the number of paths of length 2 from
one particular vertex to another.

Solution

indeg(a) = 1 indeg(b) = 2 indeg(c) = 1

(a)
outdeg(a) = 2 outdeg(b) = 1 outdeg(c) = 1

abc
⎛ ⎞
(b) 010 a
A =⎝ 1 0 1 ⎠ b
100 c

abc
⎛ ⎞
(c) 010 a
A2 =⎝ 1 0 1 ⎠ b
100 c

10.17 Application to Computing

Graph theory is extremely important in computer science and related disciplines,

because graphs represent networks. They are therefore vital to the field of neural
networks and artificial intelligence.
Another example is map applications, which rely on graph theory because
navigation problems are modelled as graph problems.
The importance of graph theory in data organization and database development
also cannot be over emphasized. For example a binary tree can be used to model
a data structure with each node being an item of data. A binary search tree is a
very important data structure. In this structure data is arranged so that each left
subtree contains only nodes with values less than the root and each right subtree
contains only nodes with values greater than the root. An example is shown in
Fig. 10.42.
A binary search tree enables very efficient search and sort algorithms to be
developed, because whole subtrees can be easily discarded without having to be
traversed.
Other applications include communication over computer networks, computa-
tional flow, and the development of computer hardware.
184 10 Graph Theory

Fig. 10.42 A binary search 30

tree

25 35

10 27 32 40

Fig. 10.43 Exercise 1 a h

10.18 Exercises

1. Consider the graph shown in Fig. 10.43:

(a) State the value of:

deg(a) deg(b) deg(c) deg(d ) deg(f ) deg(g) deg(h)

(b) Show that the sum of degrees of vertices theorem holds for the above graph.
(c) State the value of:

d (b, g) d (a, d ) d (h, b)

(d) State the value of:

e(a) e(b) e(c) e(d ) e(f ) e(g) e(h)

(e) Referring to the above graph as G, give the values of:

radius(G) diameter(G)
10.18 Exercises 185

Fig. 10.44 Exercise 2

2. Consider the graph shown in Fig. 10.44:

Now consider the following path: a, e1 , b, e3 , d , e4 , c
State whether this path is:
(a) a simple path;
(b) a trail;
Now consider the following path: a, e1 , b, e3 , d , e5 , a.
State whether this path is:
(c) a circuit;
(d) a cycle.
3. Consider the three graphs shown in in Fig. 10.45, and identify if any pairs of
them are isomorphic:
4. State whether the graph shown in 10.46 is:
(a) Traversable;
(b) Eulerian;
(c) Hamiltonian.
5. Provide an adjacency matrix for the weighted graph shown in Fig. 10.47.
6. Use Kriskal’s algorithm to find the minimum spanning tree for the weighted
graph shown in Fig. 10.48.
7. Consider the binary tree shown in Fig. 10.49. Provide the path obtained by
using:
(a) Inorder traversal

Fig. 10.45 Exercise 3

186 10 Graph Theory

Fig. 10.46 Exercise 4

Fig. 10.47 Exercise 5

Fig. 10.48 Exercise 6 a

(b) Preorder traversal

(c) Postorder traversal
8. Consider the planar graph shown in Fig. 10.50:
(a) Identify the regions.
(b) Give the degree of each region.
(c) Show that Euler’s formula holds for this graph.
9. Consider the digraph shown below in Fig. 10.51:
10.18 Exercises 187

Fig. 10.49 Exercise 7 a

Fig. 10.50 Exercise 8 a

Fig. 10.51 Exercise 9 a d

(a) State the indegree and outdegree for each vertex.

(b) Provide an adjacency matrix, A, showing the number of paths of length 1
from one particular vertex to another.
(c) Derive an adjacency matrix that shows the number of paths of length 2
from one particular vertex to another.
Solutions to Exercises
11

11.1 Chapter 1

1. M is the set of natural numbers greater than or equal to 50.

2. A = {x ∈ Z| − 5 < x < 5}
3. (a) Finite (b) Infinite (c) Finite
4. (a) True (b) False (c) True (d) True (e) False (f) True
5. (a)
(i) A ∩ B = {apple, orange}
(ii) B ∪ C = {apple, mango, orange, grape, cherry}
(iii) A\B = {pear, banana, plum, lemon}
(iv) B ∩ D = ∅
(v) B × D = {(apple, banana), (mango, banana), (orange, banana)}
(vi) n(C) = 3
(b) A = {mango, grape, cherry, pineapple}
U

A B
a f
6. b d
g
c e
h

i j

AΔ B = A\B ∪ B\A
7. = {pear, banana, plum, lemon} ∪ {mango }
= {pear, banana, plum, lemon, mango}

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025 189
Q. Charatan and A. Kans, Maths For Computing, Undergraduate Topics in Computer
Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69234-5_11
190 11 Solutions to Exercises

B C

8. (a)
4
11
8
7

(b)
(i) n(B ∩ C) = 4
(ii) n(B ∪ C) = 23
(iii) n(B\C) = 11
(iv) n(B ∪ C) = 7

U U
A B A B

9.

A\B

10. P(A) = {∅, {x}, {y}, {z}, {x, y}, {x, z}, {y, z}, {x, y, z}}
11. (a) Number of elements in the power set = 24 = 16
(b) Number of proper subsets contained in the power set = 15

11.2 Chapter 2
( ) ( )
A ∪ A ∩ B = A ∪ A ∩ (A ∪ B) DistributiveLaw
1. = U ∩ (A ∪ B) ComplementLaw
=A∪B IdentityLaw
11.2 Chapter 2 191
( ) ( ) ,
B ∩ A ∩ B =( B ∩ A) ∪ (B ) De Morgan s Law
= (B ∩ A) ∪ B ∩ B Distributive Law
2.
= B∩A ∪∅ Complement Law
=B∩A Identity Law

( )
B ∪ (A\B) = B ∪ A ∩(B ) From previous chapter
= (B ∪ A) ∩ B ∪ B Distributive Law
3. (a)
= (B ∪ A) ∩ U Complement Law
=B∪A Identity Law

U U

A B A B

(b)

A\B B

Shaded area: ( \ ) Shaded area:

4. (a) All of them (b) −335, 2, 0 (c) 2, 0

5. 7.5 because it can be represented as 15
√ 2
25 because it can be represented as 51
6. In each case, remember that i2 = - 1.
i(3 + i) = 3i + i2
(a)
= −1 + 3i

(2−3i)(4 + i) = 8 + 2i−12i−3i2
(b)
= 11−10i

(3 −i)2 = 9−6i + i2
(c)
= 8−6i
192 11 Solutions to Exercises
( )
(1 + i)3 = (1 + i)(1 + i)2 = (1 + i) 1 + 2i + i2
= (1 + i)(1 + 2i − 1)
(d) = 2i(1 + i)
= 2i + 2i2
= −2 + 2i
(e) Multiply numerator and denominator by (1 – i)

3 + 4i (3 + 4i)(1 − i)
=
1+i (1 + i)(1 − i)
7+i 7+i
= =
1 − i2 2

7. A is countable and infinite.

B is countable and finite.
S is countable and finite.
T is non-countable and infinite.
8. (a) We know that subtraction is not an associative operation, so natural
numbers under subtraction is not a group.
(b) Is there an identity element?
The identity element is 0 because 0 + 0 = 0.
Are there inverses?
0 + 0 = 0, so there is an inverse for each element (there is in fact only
one element).
Is the operation associative?
Addition is associative with integers.
Is there closure?
It is closed because the result of 0 + 0 is in the group.
Therefore the set {0} under addition is a group.
(c) Is there an identity element?
The identity element is 1 because 1 x 1 = 1.
Are there inverses?
1 × 1 = 1, so there is an inverse for each element (there is in fact only
one element).
Is the operation associative?
Addition is associative with integers
Is there closure?
It is closed because the result of 1 x 1 is in the group.
Therefore the set {1} under multiplication is a group.
9. Is there an identity element?
The identity element is 0.
Are there inverses?
There are no inverses apart from zero.
Is the operation associative?
Addition is associative with integers.
11.3 Chapter 3 193

Is there closure?
It is closed because the result of adding any two natural numbers is always
a natural number.
Therefore N0 under addition has an identity, closure and associativity so is
a monoid but not a group.
10. Is there an identity element?
There is no identity element (0 is not in the group).
Are there inverses?
There are no inverses because there is no identity element.
Is the operation associative?
Addition is associative with integers.
Is there closure?
It is closed because the result of adding any two natural numbers is always
a natural number.
Therefore N1 under addition has associativity and closure and is a semi-
group but not a group.

11.3 Chapter 3

1. (a) R = {(Mary, Sidcup Lions), (Hadiya, Sidcup Lions),

(Linda, Penge Tigers), (Linda, Gravesend Bears)}
(b) Mary plays for Sidcup Lions

1
x
2
2. y
3

A B
3. R−1 = {(2, a), (9, d ), (4, b), (7, c), (1, a)}
4.
(a) It is not symmetric because if a < b, then b ≮ a. For example 4 is less than
5, but 5 is not less than 4.
(b) It is not reflexive because in no case is a < a.
(c) It is transitive, because in every case if a < b and b < c, then a < c. For
example 3 is less then 5 and 5 is less than 6 – of course 3 is also less than
6, and this is true in every case.

5.
/ 1.
(a) It is not reflexive because 1 R
(b) It is not symmetric because, for example, 1 R 3 but 3 R/ 1.
(c) It is transitive because in every case if a R b and b R c then a R c .
194 11 Solutions to Exercises

11.4 Chapter 4

1.
(a) This is not a function because d maps on to two elements in the codomain.
(b) This is a function.
(c) This is not a function because b has no image in the codomain.
2. (a) f (u) = 1 (b) f (v) = 2 (c) f (w) = 2 (d) f (x) = 4
3.
(a) f (3) = 4 × 32 −5 = 4 × 9 − 5 = 31
(b) f (−1) = 4 × (−1)2 −5 = −1
(c) f (0) = −5
4.
(a) f (2, 0) = 2 × 22 + 3 × 0 = 8
(b) f (1, −1) = 2 × 12 + 3 × −1 = −1
5. g(3) = 3 × 3 + 1 = 10
f (10) = 103 = 1000
6. f : Z × Z → Z
f (x, y) = 2(x + y)
7.
(a) This is both injective and surjective (it is a bijective function).
(b) This is surjective, but not injective.
(c) This is surjective, but not injective.
(d) This is neither injective nor surjective.

8.
(a) It is not a surjective function, because the negative numbers in the codomain
are not images of any number in the domain.
(b) It is not an injective function, because more than one element from the
domain maps to the same element in the codomain. For example, both 2
and −2 map onto 4.

11.5 Chapter 5

1. Pis true
Qis false
Ris false
(a) P ∧ R ≡ T ∧ F ≡ F
(b) P ∨ Q ≡ T ∨ F ≡ T
(c) Q ∨ R ≡ F ∨ F ≡ F
2.
(a) It is not summer.
(b) It is summer and Leon is not playing tennis.
(c) It is not summer or Leon is playing tennis.
(d) Leon is playing tennis.
11.5 Chapter 5 195

3.
(a) Q ∧ ¬P
(b) P∧Q
(c) P ∨ ¬Q
(d) ¬(P ∨ Q)
4.

P Q P∧Q ¬(P ∧ Q) ¬Q ¬(P ∨ Q) ∨ ¬Q

T T T F F F
T F F T T T
F T F T F T
F F F T T T

5.

P Q P∨Q P ⇒ (P ∨ Q)
T T T T
T F T T
F T T T
F F F T

6.
(a) ¬Q ⇒ P
(b) ¬P ⇒ ¬ ¬Q ≡ ¬P ⇒ Q
(c) ¬ ¬Q ⇒ ¬P ≡ Q ⇒ ¬P

¬(¬P ∧ (P ∨ Q)) ≡ P ∨ ¬(P ∨ Q)

7.
≡ P ∨ (¬P ∧ ¬Q)

¬Q ∧ (¬P ∨ Q) ≡ (¬Q ∧ ¬P) ∨ (¬Q ∧ Q)

8. ≡ (¬Q ∧ ¬P) ∨ F Complement Law
≡ (¬Q ∧ ¬P) Identity Law

¬((P ⇒ Q) ∧ Q)) ≡ ¬(P ⇒ Q) ∨ ¬Q) De Morgan, s Law

9.
≡ (P ∧ ¬Q) ∨ ¬Q Identity 2

P ⇒ (P ∨ Q) ≡ ¬P ∨ (P ∨ Q) Identity 1
≡ (¬P ∨ P) ∨ Q ∨ is associative
10.
≡T∨Q Complement Law
≡T Identity Law
196 11 Solutions to Exercises

11.

P Q ¬Q P ∨ ¬Q
T T F T
T F T T
T Undefined Undefined T
F T F F
F F T T
F Undefined Undefined Undefined
Undefined T F Undefined
Undefined F T T
Undefined Undefined Undefined Undefined

11.6 Chapter 6

1. (a) (i) Basil is a duck.

(ii) No animal is a duck.
(iii) There is at least one animal that is a duck.
(iv) There exists one and only one animal that is not a duck.
(v) Not all animals are ducks.
(b) ∀x ∈ A · ¬D(x)
2. (a) (i) All birds can fly (for every animal, if x is a bird then x can fly).
(ii) There is at least one bird that can fly (there exists an animal that is a
bird and can fly).
(iii) Jack is a bird or there is at least one animal that can fly.
(b) (i) B(Mary) ≡ ∀x · ¬F(x)
(ii) ∀x · (B(x) ∨ ¬F(x))
(iii)∃!x · (B(x) ∧ ¬F(x))
3. ¬∃x · (¬P(x) ∧ ¬Q(x)) ≡ ∀x · ¬(¬P(x) ∧ ¬Q(x))
4. ∀x · (P(x) ∨ Q(x))
5. First assign letters to the propositions:
D: I do the ironing
C: I have a cup of tea in the afternoon
T: It is Thursday

We have to show that:

D ⇒ C; C ⇒ T ; D
T
11.6 Chapter 6 197

Proof

1. D ⇒ C Premise
2. C ⇒ T Premise
3. D Premise
4. D ⇒ T Chain rule on 1 and 2
5. T Modus Ponens on 3 and 4
6. Define the following predicates: C(x): x is a cat.
T (x): x likes watching television.
the following proposition: P: the moon is made of cheese.
and the following constants: b: Bernard
s: Susan

C(b)∧C(s); T (b); ∃x·(C(x)∧T (x))⇒P

We must prove that: P

Proof

1. C(b) ∧ C(s) : Premise

2. T (b) Premise
3. ∃x · (C(x) ∧ T (x)) ⇒ P Premise
4. C(b) AND - Elimination on 1
5. C(b) ∧ T (b) AND - Introduction on 2 and 4
6. ∃x · (C(x) ∧ T (x)) Existential Generalisation on 5
7. P Modus Ponens on 3, 6

7. Define the following predicates: S(x): x is a snake.

B(x): x can bite.

and the following proposition: P: Paris is in France.

S(SAM ); B(SAM )⇒P; ∀x·(S(x)⇒B(x))

We must prove that: P

Proof

1. S(SAM ) Premise
2. B(SAM ) ⇒ P Premise
3. ∀x • (S(x) ⇒ B(x)) Premise
4. S(SAM ) ⇒ B(SAM ) Universal Instantiation on 3
5. B(SAM ) Modus Ponens on 1, 4
6. P Modus Ponens on 2, 5
198 11 Solutions to Exercises

8. Base step

Show that it holds when n = 1: 2 = 22 − 2

Inductive step
Assume the statement is true for some value n = k:

2 + 22 + 23 + 24 + . . . 2k = 2k+1 − 2 (11.1)

Now take the sequence up to k + 1:

2 + 22 + 23 + 24 + . . . 2k + 2k+1

Substituting from Eq. 11.1 this becomes:

2k+1 − 2 + 2k+1 = 2 x 2k+1 − 2

= 21 x 2k+1 − 2
= 2(k+1)+1 − 2

Thus if it true for n = k, it is true for n = k + 1, and since it is true for n = 1,

it is true for all n > 1

11.7 Chapter 7
( ) ( )
−2 + 1 3 + 2 5 + 7 −1 5 12
1. (a) A + B = =
1 + 3 −2 + 8 9 + 4 4 6 13
( ) ( )
−2 − 1 3 − 2 5 − 7 −3 1 −2
(b) A − B = =
1 − 3 −2 − 8 9 − 4 −2 −10 5
( ) ( ) ( )
−4 6 10 3 6 21 −1 12 31
(c) 2A + 3B = + =
2 −4 18 9 24 12 11 20 30
⎛ ⎞
−2 1
(d) AT = ⎝ 3 −2 ⎠
5 9
( )
( ) 41
−2 3 ×
23
2. ( )
= −2 × 4 + 3 × 2 −2 × 1 + 3 × 3
=(−2 7)
( ) ( )
2×1+7×0 2×5+7×2 2 24
3. A × B = =
1×1+3×0 1×5+3×2 1 11
11.7 Chapter 7 199

det(A) = (1 × −2)−(4 × 3)
4. = −2−12
= −14

det(A) = 4 × 3−1 × 2 = 10
( ) ( )
5. (a) 1 3 −2 0.3 −0.2
A−1 = =
10 −1 4 −0.1 0.4

(b) There is no inverse because B is not a square matrix

(c) There is no inverse because det(C) = 0

A×X =D
6.
∴ X = A−1 × D
( )
0.3 −0.2
From the previous question we know that: A−1 =
−0.1 0.4
( )
( )
0.3 −0.2 2
∴X = ×
−0.1 0.4 2
( )
0.3 × 2 + −0.2 × 2
=
−0.1 × 2 + 0.4 × 2
( )
0.2
=
0.6

7.

Using an online calculator:

⎛ 6 14 −19 ⎞ ⎛ 122 ⎞
31 31 31 31
⎜ ⎟ ⎜ ⎟
⎜ −1 ⎟ ⎜ ⎟
A−1 = ⎜
⎜ 31
8
31
−2
31
⎟ X = A−1 B = ⎜
⎟ ⎜
21
31
⎟
⎟
⎝ ⎠ ⎝ ⎠
5 −9 10 −12
31 31 31 31

122 21 −12
x= y= z=
31 31 31
200 11 Solutions to Exercises

8. Step 1. Write the augmented matrix:

( | )
2 5 || 21
1 2| 8

Step 2. Perform row operations:

( | )
1 1 25 || 21
R1 → R1 2
2 1 2| 1

( | )
1 25 || 21
R2 − R1 → R2 2
0 − 21 | − 25

( | )
1 25 || 21
−2R2 → R2 2
0 1| 5

( | )
5 1 0 || −2
R1 − R2 → R1
2 0 1| 5

The solution is

11.8 Chapter 8

1. 5! = 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 120

8! × 5! 8×7×6×5×4×3×2×1×5×4×3×2×1
=
4! × 3! 4×3×2×1×3×2×1

2.
=8×7×6×5×5×4

= 33600
11.8 Chapter 8 201

n!
P(n, k) =
(n − k)!
10! 10!
P(10, 3) = =
(10 − 3)! 7!
3. (a)
10 × 9 × 8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1
=
7×6×5×4×3×2×1

= 10 × 9 × 8 = 720
n!
C(n, k) =
(n − k)!k!
9! 9!
C(9, 6) = =
(9 − 6)! × 6! 3! × 6!

(b)
9×8×7×6×5×4×3×2×1
=
3×2×1×6×5×4×3×2×1

9×8×7×6×5×4×3×2×1
=
3×2×1×6×5×4×3×2×1

4. This is the same as selecting 4 from 20 where order is significant and there is
no repetition, so this is a permutation.
The correct formula is:
n!
P(n, k) = where n = 20 and k = 4.
(n − k)!
20!
P(20, 4) =
16!
= 20 × 19 × 18 × 17 = 116280

5. In both cases, order is not significant and there is no repetition, so this is a

combination.
The correct formula is
n!
C(n, k) =
(n − k)!k!

(a) In this case n = 10 and k = 3.

10!
C(10, 3) =
7! × 3!
202 11 Solutions to Exercises

10 × 9 × 8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1
=
7×6×5×4×3×2×1×3×2×1

10 × 9 × 8
= = 120
3×2×1

In this case n = 7 and k = 2.

7!
C(7, 2) =
5! × 2!

7×6×5×4×3×2×1
=
5×4×3×2×1×2×1

7×6
= = 21
2×1

6. Order is unimportant, but repetition is allowed.

The correct formula is: (n+k−1)!
k!(n−1)!
where n = 10 and k = 3.
(10 + 3 − 1)! 12!
=
3!(10 − 1)! 3! × 9!

12 × 11 × 10 × 9 × 8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1
=
3×2×1×9×8×7×6×5×4×3×2×1

12 × 11 × 10 × 9 × 8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1
=
3×2×1×9×8×7×6×5×4×3×2×1

7. Order is important, and repetition is allowed.

The correct formula is: nk
where n = 6 and k = 3

63 = 216

8. (a) Order is important, and repetition is allowed, so the correct formula to

use is nk , where n = 6 and k = 3.

nk = 63 = 216

In this case we must calculate P(6, 3).

6!
P(6, 3) =
3!
11.8 Chapter 8 203

6×5×4×3×2×1
=
3×2×1

= 120

(c) This is the same as putting the 3 at then end and arranging the other 5 digits
in the first two slots:
5!
P(5, 2) =
3!
5×4×3×2×1
=
3×2×1
= 20

(d) The number can end in 1 or 4.

From part (c) we see that there are 20 possibilities when one number is
fixed at the end. So there are 20 numbers ending with 1 and 20 ending in 4.
So the total number is 40.
9. If there are no restrictions, then the number of ways of arranging the four
friends is:

4! = 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 24

If Tracey were to sit at one end, then we just have to arrange the other
three. The number of ways of doing this is:

3! = 3 × 2 × 1 = 6

If she sits at the other end there are also 6 ways of arranging the others.
So there are 12 ways of arranging people if Tracey sits at the one or other
end.
So the number of ways of arranging them if Tracey does not sit at the end
is:

24−12 = 12

10.

Count rows and

columns starting from
0:
204 11 Solutions to Exercises

4!
C(4, 2) =
2! × 2!

4×3×2×1
= =6
2×1×2×1

11. (a +b)n =n C0 an b0 +n C1 an−1 b1 +n C2 an−2 b2 +. . .+n Cn−1 a1 bn−1 +n Cn a0 bn

In this case: n = 4, a = 2x and b = − y

(2x − y)4 =4 C0 (2x)4 (−y)0 +4 C1 (2x)3 (−y)1 +4 C2 (2x)2 (−y)2 +4

C3 (2x)1 (−y)3 +4 C4 (2x)0 (−y)4
= 16x4 + 4(8x3 )(−y) + 6(4x2 )(y2 ) + 4(2x)(−y3 ) + (y4 )
= 16x4 − 32x3 y + 24x2 y2 − 8xy3 + y4

∑
n
12. (a + b)n = nCk an−k bk
k=0
In this case, a = x and b = 2y
n = 6, and because we start at zero, the third term will be given when k =
2.
6
C2 (x4 ) (2y)2
The third term is therefore: = 15 (x4 ) (4y2 )
= 60x4 y2

11.9 Chapter 9

1. (a) S = {yellow, blue, green, red, black}

(b) E = {blue, black}
(c) n(S) = 5 n(E) = 2
(d) P(E) = n(E)
n(S) = 5
2

2. (a) S = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}

(b) A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7} B = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11} C = {4, 8, 12}
(c) A ∩ B = {1, 3, 5, 7} A ∩ C = {4} B ∩ C = AE
(d) B and C are mutually exclusive
P(B ∪ C) = P(B) + P(C) − P(B ∩ C)
n(B) n(C) n(B ∩ C)
(e) = + −
n(S) n(S) n(S)
6 3 0 3
= + − =
12 12 12 4
11.9 Chapter 9 205

P(A ∪ C) = P(A) + P(C) − P(A ∩ C)

n(A) n(C) n(A ∩ C)
(f) = + −
n(S) n(S) n(S)
7 3 1 9 3
= + − = =
12 12 12 12 4
p(A) = 0.6
3. p(B) = 0.4
p(A ∩ B) = 0.2

Apply the addition rule:

p(A ∪ B) = p(A) + p(B) − p(A ∩ B)

p(A ∪ B) = 0.6 + 0.4 − 0.2 = 0.8

4. Let S be the sample space: n(S) = 15

Let A be the event of drawing an ace: n(A) = 3

Let B be the event of drawing a black card: n(B) = 8
There are 2 cards that are black and are aces: n(A ∩ B) = 2

P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B) − P(A ∩ B)

n(A) n(B) n(A ∩ B)
= + −
n(S) n(S) n(S)
3 8 2 3
= + − =
15 15 15 5

5. (a) Let the probability of the spinner landing on orange be x. The probability
of it landing on green is 2x. The probability of it landing on blue is 3x. The
probability of it landing on yellow is 4x. The probability of it landing on red is
10x.

The probability distribution is:

P(RED) = 10x P(YELLOW) = 4x P(BLUE) = 3x

P(GREEN) = 2x P(ORANGE) = x

The events are mutually exclusive, so the probabilities must up to 1:

10x + 4x + 3x + 2x + x = 1
20x = 1
x = 0.05
206 11 Solutions to Exercises

The probability distribution is:

P(RED) = 0.5 P(YELLOW) = 0.2 P(BLUE) = 0.15

P(GREEN) = 0.1 P(ORANGE) = 0.05

(b) The probability of the spinner landing on blue or green = P(blue) + P(green)
= 0.25

6. The table shows that there are 9 possible outcomes:

Outcome Spinner 1 Spinner 2

1 red red
2 red blue
3 red yellow
4 blue red
5 blue blue
6 blue yellow
7 yellow red
8 yellow blue
9 yellow yellow

If S is the sample space, then n(S) = 9

There are 5 outcomes (outcomes 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9) in which at least one spinner
lands on yellow.
If E is the event of at least one spinner landing on yellow, then n(E) = 5
Therefore: P(E) = n(E)
n(S) = 9
5

7. The possibilities are:

Spinner 1 Spinner 2 Number of yellows

red red 0
red yellow 1
red blue 0
yellow red 1
yellow yellow 2
yellow blue 1
(continued)
11.9 Chapter 9 207

(continued)
Spinner 1 Spinner 2 Number of yellows
blue red 0
blue yellow 1
blue blue 0

Probability distribution:

No of yellows thrown, x 0 1 2
Number of occurrences 4 4 1
P(X = x) 4/ 4/ 1/
9 9 9

Therefore: E(x) = 0 × 4
9 + 1 × 49 + 2 × 1
9 = 2
3

8. (a) In this case the events are independent.

4
The probability of picking a blue ball is: 15

6
The probability of picking a red ball is: 15
The probability of picking a blue ball followed by a red ball is:

4 6 4 2 8
× = × =
15 15 15 5 75

(b) In this case the events are not independent.

6
The probability of picking a blue ball is: 15
5
The probability of picking a red ball is: 14
The probability of picking a blue ball followed by a red ball is:

6 5 2 5 1
× = × =
15 14 5 14 7
208 11 Solutions to Exercises

(c) (i)

(ii) The probability of picking a red ball followed by a yellow ball OR a yellow
ball followed by a blue ball is:

1 2 3+2 5
+ = =
7 21 21 21

9. (a) S = {(red, red), (red, white), (red, yellow), (white, red),

(white, white), (white, yellow)}
(b) E = {(red, white), (white, red)}
(c) F = {(red, yellow)}
(d) n(S) = 6 n(E) = 2 n(F) = 1
e) P(E) = n(E)
n(S) = 1
3
n(F)
(f) P(F) = = 16
n(S)
P(VOTE) = 50% = 0.5
P(UNDER 40) = 30% = 0.3
P(VOTE|UNDER 40) = 0.35
10. P(UNDER 40|VOTE) = P(UNDER 40) × P(VOTE|UNDER 40)
P(VOTE)
0.3 × 0.35
=
0.5
= 0.21
11. We use the formula: P(k successes in n trials) = n Ck pk qn−k
11.9 Chapter 9 209

n = 12
k= 6
In this case: n − k = 6
p = 0.25
q = 0.75

P(6 successes in 12 trials) = 12 C6 × 0.256 × 0.756

= 924 × 0.000244 × 0.177979
≈ 0.04

12. We use the formula: P(k successes in n trials) = n Ck pk qn−k

n=4
k=3
(a) n − k = 1
p = 1/6
q = 5/6
( )3 ( )1
1 5
P(3 successes in 4 trials) = C3 ×
4
×
6 6
5
=4× ≈ 0.0031
1296

(b) The probability distribution is now: p(1) = 0.1

p(2) = 0.1
p(3) = 0.1
p(4) = 0.1
p(5) = 0.3
p(6) = 0.3

So now p = 0.3, q = 0.7

P(3 successes in 4 trials) = 4 C3 × 0.33 × 0.71

= 4 × 0.027 × 0.7 = 0.0756
210 11 Solutions to Exercises

11.10 Chapter 10

deg(a) = 2 deg(b) = 2 deg(c) = 4 deg(d ) = 2

1. (a)
deg(f ) = 3 deg(g) = 1 deg(h) = 2
(b) The sum of the degrees is 16, which is twice the number of edges, 8.
(c) d (b, g) = 4 d (a, d ) = 2 d (h, b) = 3
e(a) = 3 e(b) = 4 e(c) = 2 e(d ) = 3
(d)
e(f ) = 3 e(g) = 4e(h) = 3
(e) radius(G) = 2 diameter(G) = 4
2. (a) It is a simple path because all vertices are distinct.
(b) It is a trail because all edges are distinct.
(c) It is a circuit, because all edges are distinct, and it begins and ends on the
same vertex.
(d) It is a cycle because all vertices, apart from the beginning and end vertices,
are distinct. radius(G) = 2 diameter(G) = 4
3. M and Z are isomorphic.
4. (a) It is traversable because it has precisely two vertices (a and b) with odd
degree.
(b) It is not Eulerian, because not all vertices have an even degree.
(c) It is Hamiltonian, because it contains a circuit that visits each vertex
precisely once. For example:

a, e6 , f , e5 , b, e3 , d , e4 , c, e2 , a

abcd e
⎛ ⎞
a 01704
b ⎜
⎜1 0 0 6 7⎟
⎟
5. ⎜
c ⎜7 0 0 5 0⎟ ⎟
d ⎝0 6 5 0 0⎠
e 47000
6. Arrange the edges in order of weight:

ac de bc ab cd ad
1 2 3 4 5 7
11.10 Chapter 10 211

Add edges in order of weight:

add ac add de add bc reject ab add cd

because it
2 2
2 would 1
1 1 create a
1 5
cycle
3 3

The minimum spanning tree is therefore:

7. (a) Inorder traversal h, d, b, e, a, f , c, g

(b) Preorder traversal: a, b, d, h, e, c, f , g
(c) Postorder traversal: h, d, e, b, f , g, c, a
a

8. (a)

b
(b) deg(r1 ) = 3 deg(r2 ) = 3 deg(r3 ) = 6
(c) V = 5 E = 6 R = 3

V −E+R= 5−6 + 3 = 2

in deg(a) = 1 in deg(b) = 2 in deg(c) = 2 in deg(d ) = 2

9. (a)
Out deg(a) = 3 out deg(b) = 1 out deg(c) = 2 out deg(d ) = 1
212 11 Solutions to Exercises

abcd
⎛ ⎞
0 1 0 0 a
⎜1 0 1 0⎟
(b) A =⎜ ⎟b
⎝1 0 0 1⎠ c
1 0 1 0 d

Direction is row to column

abcd
⎛ ⎞
1 0 1 0 a
⎜ 1⎟
(c) A2 =⎜ 1 1 0 ⎟b
⎝1 1 1 0⎠ c
1 1 0 1 d
Index

A Conjunction, 67
Addition rule, 136 Connected graph, 159
Adjacency matrix, 158 Connectives, 66–70
Adjacent vertices, 158 Contradiction, 75–76
Algebra of propositions, 77–79 Contrapositive, 76–77
Algebra of sets, 22 Converse, 76–77
AND-elimination, 93 Countable sets, 26
AND gate, 81 Cycle, 164
AND-introduction, 93
AND operator, 66–67
Associative operations, 28 D
Databases, 46
Degenerate binary tree, 175
B Degree of a vertex, 160
Balanced binary tree, 174 De Morgans law, 16, 70–72
Bayes’ theorem, 147–150 Determinant, 105–107
Bernouilli trial, 150, 151 Diameter of a graph, 162
Bernoulli, 150 Difference, 9
Bijective functions, 60–61 Digital electronics, 80
Binary relations, 45 Digraph, 180–182
Binary trees, 173–178 Directed graph, 180–182
Binomial expansion, 127 Disjunction, 68
Binomial probability, 150 Distance between vertices, 160
Domain of discourse, 86

C
Cardinality, 5 E
Cartesian product, 10 Eccentricity, 161
Chain rule, 92 Edge, 158
Circuit, 164 Empty set, 5
Classes of sets, 16 Equivalence classes, 44
Combination definition, 120 Equivalence operator, 73–74
Combinatorics, 117 Equivalence relations, 43–44
Commutative operations, 27 Euler’s number, 23
Complement, 9–10 Eulerian graph, 167
Complete binary tree, 174 Events, 132
Complex numbers, 3, 24–26 Exclusion principle, 8
Conditional probability, 145–147 EXCLUSIVE OR operator, 76

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license 213
to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025
Q. Charatan and A. Kans, Maths For Computing, Undergraduate Topics in Computer
Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69234-5
214 Index

Existential generalisation, 197 Matrix addition, 102

Existential quantifier, 87–88 Matrix definition, 101
Expected value, 143–154 Matrix inverse, 107–108
Matrix multiplication, 103–105
Matrix operations, 102–105
F Matrix subtraction, 102
Factorials, 117–118 Mean value, 143
Full binary tree, 174 Minimum spanning tree, 171–173
Function composition, 59 Modus ponens, 91
Function definition, 49 Modus tollens, 91
Function signature, 56 Multigraph, 159
Mutual exclusion, 135–136

G
Gauss-Jordan elimination method, 113–114 N
Graph definition, 158 N-ary relations, 45
Group definition, 30 Natural deduction, 91–96
Natural numbers, 3, 23
Negation, 68
H Node, 158
Hamiltonian circuit, 167
NOT gate, 80
Hamiltonian graph, 167–169
NOT operator, 68
Homeomorphic graph, 165

O
I
One-to-one functions, 60
Identity element, 30–31
Onto functions, 60
Identity matrix, 107
Order of precedence of logical operators, 74
Implication operator, 72–73
OR gate, 81
Independent events, 141
OR-introduction, 94
Induction, 96–98
Injective functions, 61 OR operator, 67–68
Inorder traversal, 176–177 Outcome, 132
Integers, 3, 23
Intersection, 8–9
Inverse of a group, 30–31 P
Inverse of a matrix, 107 Pascal’s Triangle, 126–127
Inverse relation, 39 Path, 163–165
Isomorphic graph, 165 Perfect binary tree, 174
Permutation definition, 119
Planar graph, 178–180
K Postorder traversal, 177
Kriskal’s algorithm, 171–173 Power sets, 16–17
Predicate definition, 86
Preorder traversal, 177
L Probability definition, 133
Linear equations, 110–111 Probability distribution, 139–140
Logical equivalence, 70, 74 Proof by induction, 96–98
Logical operators, 66–70, 73–74 Proper subset, 7
Logic gates, 80–81 Proposition definition, 66

M Q
Map, 178 Quantification, 87–90
Index 215

R T
Radius of a graph, 162 Tautology, 75–76
Random variables, 142–143 Three-valued logic, 81–82
Rational numbers, 3, 23 Trail, 164
Real numbers, 3, 24 Transitive relations, 43
Reflexive relations, 42–43 Transposition, 102
Region, 178–180 Traversable graph, 166–169
Relational databases, 46 Traversing a binary tree, 176–178
Relation definition, 37, 40 Tree diagrams, 145–147
Row operations, 112 Trees, 170–178
Rule of contraposition, 93 Truth tables, 67–70, 71–74
Rule of detachment, 93
Rule of syllogism, 93
Russell’s paradox, 17 U
Unconnected graph, 159
Union, 8
S Unique existential quantifier, 88
Sample space, 132 Universal instantiation, 94
Scalar multiplication, 103 Universal quantifier, 87
Set algebra, 22 Universal set, 4–5
Set comprehension, 4
Set definition, 2
Spanning trees, 171–173 V
Subgraph, 163 Venn diagrams, 11–16
Subset, 6 Vertex, 158
Substitution, 87
Surjective functions, 60
Symmetric difference, 13 W
Symmetric relations, 42–43 Weighted graph, 169–170