Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Department of Mathematics and Statistics

Single Variable Calculus (MTH 111M)
Semester 2025-2026-I
Exercise Sheet 1
1. Supremum and infimum of subsets of R†
1.1. Find the supremum and infimum, whichever exists, of the following subsets of the real line:
␣ ( ! )
n
(a) 31 ˘ 3n`1 :nPN , (d) pn`1q2
: n P N ,
! ) 2n
m
(b) |m|`n : m P Z, n P N , 2
␣ P R1 : 3x ` (3 ă 10xu,
(e) tx
(f) x ` x : x ą 0 .
␣1 (
(c) 2m ` 31n ` 51r : m, n, r P N ,

1.2. For any α P R and H ‰ A, B Ň R, define the following:

" *
def 1 def 1
´A “ t´a : a P Au, “ : a P A , provided 0 R A,
A a
def def
A ` B “ ta ` b : a P A, b P Bu, A ´ B “ ta ´ b : a P A, b P Bu,
def def
αA “ tαa : a P Au, and A ¨ B “ tab : a P A, b P Bu.
Show the following:
(a) If A is bounded below then, ´A is bounded above and supp´Aq “ ´ inf A.
(b) If A and B are bounded above then so is A ` B and suppA ` Bq “ sup A ` sup B.
(c) If A is bounded above and B is bounded below then A ´ B is bounded above and
suppA ´ Bq “ sup A ´ inf B.
(d) If A and B are bounded above then so is A Y B and suppA Y Bq “ maxtsup A, sup Bu.
(e) If A, B Ň R` are bounded then A ¨ B is bounded and suppA ¨ Bq “ sup`A ˘¨ sup B.
(f) If A Ň R` is bounded below and inf A ą 0 then A1 is bounded and sup A1 “ inf1 A .
(g) Find the analogues of 1.2.a-1.2.f for infumum.

2. LUB property of R†
2.1. (a) Let A be a nonempty and bounded above subset of R. Show that the set of all upper
bounds of A is a nonempty and bounded below.
(b) Prove the analogue of (2.1.a) if bounded above is replaced by bounded below.
(c) Prove that LUB and GLB properties of R are equivalent.It's not necessary to the set be
bounded na?
2.2. Let x P R. Show that there exists a unique integer n satisfying the following:
n ď x ă n ` 1. (2.1)
def
Hint. Consider the set “ tm P Z : m ď xu. Do you see that S ‰ H? (How? Use
Archimedian property.) Does S have a supremum? If α P R is the supremum of S, there
exists n P S such that α ´ 1 ă n ď α. (Why?) Can you show that this n satisfies (2.1)?
Show further that no other integer can satisfy (2.1).
Note: The unique integer n satisfying (2.1) is called the greatest integer ď n and denoted
by rxs.
†The exercises in these sections will first be discussed during the tutorial sessions. This will enhance your
understanding and ensure that you are well-prepared.
2 Exercise Sheet 1 (MTH 111M)
ˇ ˇ 1
2.3. (a) Show that, for any x P R and n P N, there exists m P Z such that ˇx ´ m n
ˇă .
n
(b) From (2.3.a), deduce that for any a, b P R with a ă b, there exists at least a rational
number r satisfying a ă r ă b, and hence infinitely many.
Note: The property (2.3.b) is often described by saying that the rational numbers are
dense in the real number system.
def
2.4. Let F “ Q or R and x ą 0. Consider S “ tt P F : t ą 0 and t2 ă xu. Show the following:
(a) sup S exists in R.
Hint. Choose n P N such that n ą x1 . Then n1 P S (Why?) Pick any m ą x. If mis
not an upper bound, there would exist t P S such that t ą m. Do you now see any
problem with that?
` ˘2
(b) For all t P S then there exists n P N such that t ` N1 ă x.
` ˘2
Hint. Since t ` N1 “ t2 ` N 2t
` N12 ď t2 ` 2t`1
N
, so making t2 ` 2t`1
N
ă x by choosing
N suitably will be enough!
` ˘2
(c) Show that if t ą 0 and t2 ą x then there exists N P N such that t ´ N1 ą x.
Hint. Make similar observation as in (2.4.b)
(d) Denote sup S by α. From (2.4.b) and (2.4.c) show that α2 “ x.
(e) Show that α is the unique positive number whose square is x.
Note: This unique α w.r.t. the property mentioned above in (2.4.e) α is called the square
? 1 ?
root of 2 and denoted by x or x 2 . Clearly x ą 0.
2.5. Show the following:
(a) There is no α P Q such that α2 “ 2.
(b)˚ Q does not satisfy the least upper bound property, i.e., Q admits a nonempty bounded
above subset which does not have a least upper bound in Q.
Hint. You may use Exercise 2.4.
(c) Q enjoys the Archimedian property, i.e., N is not bounded above in Q.

Remark. Recall that in R, the Archimedean property is a consequence of the least upper bound
property. Now (2.5.b) and (2.5.c) show that this is not the situation for Q, which enjoys the
Archimedean property in its own right even though the LUB property does not hold!

2.6. From the density of rationals in R, (2.4.e) and (2.5.a), deduce that for any x, y P R with
x ă y, there exists at least an irrational number z satisfying x ă z ă y, and hence infinitely
many.
Note: This property is often described by saying that the irrationals are dense in the real
number system.

3. Additional exercises‡
3.1. Prove or disprove the following:
"ˆ ˙n *
1
1` : n P N is bounded above in R.
n
‡Let’s take the opportunity to discuss the additional exercises during the tutorials, as long as time permits.
Exercise Sheet 1 (MTH 111M) 3
ˆ ˙ ˆ ˙ˆ ˙ ˆ ˙
n 1 1 1 2 r´1 1
Hint. Observe that, for 0 ď r ď n, r
“ 1´ 1´ ... 1 ´ ď .
řn r 1 n r! n n n r!
Can you get an upper bound for r“0 r! ?

3.2. Find!the supremum and ) infimum, whichever exists, of the following subsets of R:
1
(a) 2x ` 2 x : x ą 0 ,
? ?
(b) t n ´ r ns : n P Nu,
?
Hint. Observe that, for all n P N, r n2 ` 2ns “ n. (Why?)
" ˆ ˙ *
n`1 npn`1q 3
(c) 2p´1q ` p´1q 2 2` :nPN ,
" * n
n´1 2nπ
(d) cos :nPN ,
!n`1 3 )
a1 an´2 an´1 an
(e) a1 `a2 `a3 ` ¨ ¨ ¨ ` an´2 `an´1 `an ` an´1 `an `a1 ` an `a1 `a2 : a1 , . . . , an ą 0 , where n ě 3
is an integer.
Hint. Denote a1 ` ¨ ¨ ¨ ` an by s. It is easy to see that, for any typical element of the
above subset, its i-th summand is at least asi , for all i “ 1, . . . , n. Hence 1 is a lower
def
bound. What about the case ak “ 21k , for all k “ 1, . . . , n. On the other hand, observe
that a1 `aa12 `a3 ď 1 ´ as2 ´ as3 , . . . , an `aan1 `a2 ď 1 ´ as1 ´ as2 . This shows that n ´ 2 is an
upper bound. Can you now make thoughtful choices of ak ’s?
def
3.3. Let In “ ran , bn s, @n P N. Assume that, In`1 Ď In , for any n P N. Show the following:
(a) For any n, m P N, an ď bm .
(b) suptan : n P Nu and inftbn : n P Nu exist, and suptan : n P Nu ď inftbn : n P Nu.
č8
(c) Find In .
n“1

Hint. Draw picture!

3.4. Fix a positive integer D ě 3. Let α P r0, 1s. Show that, for all n P N, there exists
an P t0, 1, . . . , D ´ 1u such that the following holds:
!a a2 an )
1
sup ` 2 ` ¨ ¨ ¨ ` n : n P N “ α.
D D D
a1 a2 an
Note: We then say that D
` D2
` ¨¨¨ ` Dn
` . . . is a representation of α to the base D.

Hint. Try to define an ’s inductively so that for any n P N, one has

a1 a2 an a1 a2 an 1
` 2 ` ¨¨¨ ` n ď α ă ` 2 ` ¨¨¨ ` n ` n.
D D D D D D D
“ if (3.4.) ‰holds for n “ 1 then a1 must be r10xs. Next, when
For instance, observe that
n “ 2 then a2 has to be 102 px ´ a101 q and so on.

3.5.˚ Generalize (2.4.) to the following:

For any x ě 0 and n P N, there exists unique y ě 0 such that y n “ x.
? 1 ?
This unique y is called the n-th root of x, and denoted by n n or x n . Note that n x ě 0.
Hint. Proceed like (2.4.).