1.
7 Binary Operations
A binary operation (or just operation) on a set A
is a rule which assigns to each ordered pair (a,b) of elements
of A exactly one element a b in A.
That is :
: A X A A
Example
1. The usual addition (+) on Z, R, C, R+, Z+.
2. The usual multiplication (*) on Z, R, C, R+, Z+.
Three aspects of the definition that need to be stressed:
(1) a b is defined for every ordered pair (a,b) of
elements of A.
Addition (+) on M(R) is not defined.
M(R) -- the set of all matrices with real entries.
A+B is not defined for an ordered pair (A,B) of matrices
having different numbers of rows or of columns.
Hence addition (+) on M(R) is not an operation
(2) a b must be uniquely defined.
Suppose we define an operation on R such that
for any a, b R, a b is the number whose square is ab.
is not uniquely defined since
2 8 is 4 or -4
Hence is not an operation on R.
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(3) If a and b are in A, then a b must also be in A.
-closed under operation.
Suppose we have a set A={0,1,2,3,4}
+ on A is not an operation since A is not closed under +
ex: 2+4 =6 A
Hence addition (+) on A is not an operation.
Example
1. Is addition (+) an operation on R*? R*-Nonzero real numbers.
Solution
Properties of Operation
Commutative
An operation on a set A is commutative if (and only if)
for all a, b A.
ab=ba
Example
Is the operation below commutative?
1. be an operation on Z such that for a, b Z ,
ab equals the smaller of a and b or the common value if a=b.
+
Solution
Remark
If the question is: Is a commutative operation .?
Need to check whether it is an operation first!!
2.
be an operation on Z+ such that
a b =a
Solution
Associative Operation
An operation on a set A is associative if (and only if)
(a b) C =
a (b C )
Example
Addition on R is associative, but division is not.
Ex.
(3/4)/5 = 3/20 3/(4/5) =15/4
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Identitiy Element
Let be an operation on a set A.
If there is an element e in A with the property that
e a = a and a e =a for every element a in A
then e is called an identity or neutral element with
respect to the operation
Example
0 is the identity element for addition in R.
1 is the identity element for multiplication in R.
Remark
An identity element is unique.
That is, it is the same for all element of a set.
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Inverse Element
Let be an operation on a set A.
If a is an element in A, and x is an element of A with the
property that
a x = e and x a =e
then x is called an inverse of a.
Example
-a is the inverse of a for addition in R.
1/a is the inverse of a for multiplication in R ( a 0)
Remark
An inverse element is not unique in a set but it is unique
for each element.
The inverse of a is denoted by a-1.
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