Discrete Mathematics

1 - Speaking
Mathematically
Prof. Mark Lester P. Laurente
IT Faculty
Therefore 0 students study mathematics and do not build
without foundations.

- Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)

1.1 - Variables
 variable is sometimes thought of as a mathematical “John
Doe” because you can use it as a placeholder when you
want to talk about something but either
 (1) you imagine that it has one or more values but you
don’t know what they are, or
 (2) you want whatever you say about it to be equally
true for all elements in a given set, and so you don’t
want to be restricted to considering only a particular,
concrete value for it.
 To illustrate the first use,

Is there a number with the following property: doubling it

and adding 3 gives the same result as squaring it?

Is there a number x with the property that 2x + 3 = x2?

 To emphasize the role of the variable as a placeholder, you

might write the following:

 Is there a number with the property that 2· +3= 2 ?

 To illustrate the second use of variables, consider the
statement:

No matter what number might be chosen, if it is

greater than 2, then its square is greater than 4.

No matter what number n might be chosen, if n is

greater than 2, then n2 is greater than 4.
Example 1.1.1 Writing Sentences Using
Variables
 Use variables to rewrite the following sentences more
formally.

a. Are there numbers with the property that the sum

of their squares equals the square of their sum?

b. Given any real number, its square is nonnegative.

 Solutions
a. Are there numbers a and b with the property that a2 + b2 = (a + b)2?

Or: Are there numbers a and b such that a2 + b2 = (a + b)2?

Or: Do there exist any numbers a and b such that a2 + b2 = (a + b)2?

b. Given any real number r, r 2 is nonnegative.

Or: For any real number r, r2 ≥ 0.

Or: For all real numbers r, r2 ≥ 0.
Some Important Kinds of Mathematical
Statements
 Universal Statement says that a certain property is true
for all elements in a set. (Example: All positive numbers
are greater than zero.)

 Conditional Statement says that if one thing is true then

some other thing also has to be true. (Example: if 378 is
divisible by 18, then 378 is divisible by 6.)

 Existential Statement says that there is at least one

thing for which the property is true. (Example: There is a
prime number that is even.)
Universal Conditional Statements
 Universal statement contains some variation of the words “for all”
 Conditional statements contain versions of the word “if-then”
 Is a statement that is both universal and conditional
 Example:
For all animals a, if a is a dog, then a is a mammal.

For a is a dog, then a is a mammal.

or: If an animal is a dog, then the animal is a mammal.

For all dogs a, a is a mammal.

or: All dogs are mammals.
Universal Existential Statements

 is a statement that is universal because its first part says

that a certain property is true for all objects of a given
type, and it is existential because its second part asserts
the existence of something.
 Example:
Every real number has an additive inverse.
 Rewriting:

 All real numbers have additive inverses.

 Or: For all real numbers r, there is an additive inverse for r.

 Or: For all real numbers r, there is a real number s such that s is
an additive inverse for r.
Existential Universal Statements
 is a statement that is existential because its first part
asserts that a certain object exists and is universal
because its second part says that the object satisfies a
certain property for all things of a certain kind.

 Example:

There is a positive integer that is less than or equal to

every positive integer:
 Rewriting:
 Some positive integer is less than or equal to every positive
integer.
 Or: There is a positive integer m that is less than or equal
to every positive integer.

 Or: There is a positive integer m such that every positive

integer is greater than or equal to m.

 Or: There is a positive integer m with the property that for

all positive integers n, m ≤ n.
. . . when we attempt to express in mathematical symbols a
condition proposed in words. First, we must understand
thoroughly the condition. Second, we must be familiar with
the forms of mathematical expression.

- George Polyá (1887–1985)

1.2 – The Language of Sets
 Use of the word set as a formal mathematical term was
introduced in 1879 by Georg Cantor (1845–1918). For most
mathematical purposes we can think of a set intuitively,
as Cantor did, simply as a collection of elements.
 For instance, if C is the set of all countries that are
currently in the United Nations, then the United States is
an element of C, and if I is the set of all integers from 1
to 100, then the number 57 is an element of I.
 The axiom of extension says that a set is completely
determined by what its elements are—not the order in
which they might be listed or the fact that some elements
might be listed more than once.
 The axiom of extension says that a set is completely
determined by what its elements are—not the order in
which they might be listed or the fact that some elements
might be listed more than once.
Example 1.2.1 Using the Set-Roster
Notation
a) Let A = {1, 2, 3}, B = {3, 1, 2}, and C = {1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3}.
What are the elements of A, B, and C? How are A, B, and
C related?
b) Is {0} = 0?
c) How many elements are in the set {1, {1}}?
d) For each nonnegative integer n, let Un = {n,−n}. Find U1,
U2, and U0.
Solution
a. A, B, and C have exactly the same three elements: 1, 2,
and 3. Therefore, A, B, and C are simply different ways
to represent the same set.

b. {0} = 0 because {0} is a set with one element, namely 0,

whereas 0 is just the symbol that represents the number
zero.

c. The set {1, {1}} has two elements: 1 and the set whose
only element is 1.
d. U1 = {1,−1}, U2 = {2,−2}, U0 = {0,−0} = {0, 0} = {0}.
 Certain sets of numbers are so frequently referred to that
they are given special symbolic names. These are
summarized in the table below.
 Addition of a superscript + or − or the letters nonneg
indicates that only the positive or negative or nonnegative
elements of the set, respectively, are to be included. Thus
R+ denotes the set of positive real numbers, and Znonneg
refers to the set of nonnegative integers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4,
and so forth. Some authors refer to the set of nonnegative
integers as the set of natural numbers and denote it as N.

 The real number line is called continuous because it is

imagined to have no holes. The set of integers corresponds
to a collection of points located at fixed intervals along the
real number line.
 Another way to specify a set uses what is called the set-
builder notation.
Example 1.2.2 Using the Set-Builder
Notation
Given that R denotes the set of all real numbers, Z the set
of all integers, and Z+ the set of all positive integers,
describe each of the following sets.
a. {x ∈ R |−2 < x < 5}

b. {x ∈ Z |−2 < x < 5}

c. {x ∈ Z+ |−2 < x < 5}

Solution
 a. {x ∈ R |−2 < x < 5} is the open interval of real numbers
(strictly) between −2 and 5. It is pictured as follows:

b. {x ∈ Z |−2 < x < 5} is the set of all integers (strictly)

between −2 and 5. It is equal to the set {−1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4}.

c. Since all the integers in Z+ are positive, {x ∈ Z+|−2 < x < 5}

= {1, 2, 3, 4}.
Subsets

 A basic relation between sets is that of subset.

 It follows from the definition of subset that for a set A not
to be a subset of a set B means that there is at least one
element of A that is not an element of B. Symbolically:
Example 1.2.3 Subsets

 Let A = Z+, B = {n ∈ Z | 0 ≤ n ≤ 100}, and C = {100, 200,

300, 400, 500}. Evaluate the truth and falsity of each of
the following statements.
a. B ⊆ A
b. C is a proper subset of A
b. C and B have at least one element in common
c. C ⊆ B
d. C ⊆ C
Solution
a. False. Zero is not a positive integer. Thus zero is in B but
zero is not in A, and so B A.
b. True. Each element in C is a positive integer and, hence, is
in A, but there are elements in A that are not in C. For
instance, 1 is in A and not in C.
c. True. For example, 100 is in both C and B.
d. False. For example, 200 is in C but not in B.

e. True. Every element in C is in C. In general, the definition of

subset implies that all sets are subsets of themselves.
Cartesian Products
Example 1.2.5 Ordered Pairs
Solution
Example 1.2.6 Cartesian Products
 Let A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {u, v}.
a. Find A × B
b. Find B × A
c. Find B × B
d. How many elements are in A × B, B × A, and B × B?
Solution
a. A × B = {(1, u), (2, u), (3, u), (1, v), (2, v), (3, v)}

b. B × A = {(u, 1), (u, 2), (u, 3), (v, 1), (v, 2), (v, 3)}

c. B × B = {(u, u), (u, v), (v, u), (v, v)}

d. A × B has six elements. Note that this is the number of
elements in A times the number of elements in B. B × A has six
elements, the number of elements in B times the number of
elements in A. B × B has four elements, the number of elements
in B times the number of elements in B.
Mathematics is a language.

— Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839–1903)

--End of chapter 1--