MODULE

03 Cartesian Product of Sets

Names of Sub-Topics

Ordered Pair, Tuples, Cartesian Product, Cartesian Product of Two Sets, Cartesian Product of Finite
Number of Sets, Cardinality of Cartesian Product, Properties of Cartesian Product, Relation, Types of
relation

Overview

In this module, you will learn about ordered pair, tuples, a cartesian product of two sets and procedures
to find the cartesian product of two sets. This module covers the cartesian product of the finite number
of sets and cardinality of the cartesian product including the properties of cartesian product. Towards
the end, you will be introduced to relation and its different types.

Learning Objectives

In this module, you will learn to:

 Analyse ordered pair and tuples
 Explain Cartesian product of two sets
 Describe Cartesian product for several sets
 Evaluate the number of elements in the cartesian product of sets
 Analyse properties of cartesian product
 Define relation and its types
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Learning Outcomes

At the end of this module, you would:

 Assess the problem based on the cartesian product
 Understand the procedure for finding the cartesian product
 Solve the problem based on the cardinality of the cartesian product of sets
 Explain properties of cartesian product
 Examine the problems based on the relation on sets

Pre-Module Preparatory Material

 https://www.cuemath.com/algebra/cartesianproduct/
 https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/cartesian-product-of-sets/

3.1 INTRODUCTION
Cartesian Product is also an operation for sets. Cartesian product is used mostly in set theory. As far as
its uses in the real world are concerned, it is used in the chess-board, deck of cards, pixel representation of
computer images, etc. The pictures, which are generally shown by computers in pixels, are the graphical
representation of cartesian products. In an 88 chessboard, each 11 square can be represented by an
element of a cartesian product.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 (1,1) (1,2) (1,3) (1,4) (1,5) (1,6) (1,7) (1,8)
2 (2,1) (2,2) (2,3) (2,4) (2,5) (2,6) (2,7) (1,8)
3 (3,1) (3,2) (3,3) (3,4) (3,5) (3,6) (3,7) (1,8)
4 (4,1) (4,2) (4,3) (4,4) (4,5) (4,6) (4,7) (1,8)
5 (5,1) (5,2) (5,3) (5,4) (5,5) (5,6) (5,7) (1,8)
6 (6,1) (6,2) (6,3) (6,4) (6,5) (6,6) (6,7) (1,8)
7 (7,1) (7,2) (7,3) (7,4) (7,5) (7,6) (7,7) (7,8)
8 (8,1) (8,2) (8,3) (8,4) (8,5) (8,6) (8,7) (8,8)

First, the basic definition of ordered pairs and tuples is discussed. Further, the meaning and mathematical
definition of a cartesian product or cross-product of two sets is explained in the module.

3.2 ORDERED PAIR

The order of elements does not matter when elements of a set are written. For example,{a, b, c} = {c, a, b}.
Elements can be written in any order and the set will remain the same, but there are some cases when
order is important. Consider a point (1, 4) in an XY- plane. If the place of numbers is interchanged in
(1, 4), the resulting point will be (4, 1) and (1, 4) ≠ (4, 1) as both points are different in XY-plane.
An ordered pair (a, b) is a set of two elements in which these two elements are placed in order. In ordered
pair, ‘a’ is said to be the first component and ‘b’ is said to be the second component of the ordered pair.

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If there are two ordered pairs (a, b) and (c, d), then both pairs will be equal if corresponding components
are equal. That is, (a, b) = (c, d) if and only if a = c and b = d.
For example, (2, 5) and (2, 6) are not equal because the second component in both ordered pairs is not
equal.

Note: Ordered pair (a, b) and (b, a) will be equal if a = b.

Example 1: If there are two ordered pairs such that (2x, x + 5y) = (4, 12), then find the value of x and y.
Solution: Two ordered pairs will be equal if corresponding components are equal. That is,
2x = 4
x=2
And,
x + 5y = 12
2+5y = 12
5y = 10
y=2

Therefore, x is 2 and y is 2.
Example 2: If there are two ordered pairs such that (2x, x + 4) = (4y, 12), then find the value of x and y.
Solution: Two ordered pairs will be equal if corresponding components are equal. That is,
x + 4 = 12
x = 12 - 4
x=8

And,
2x = 4y
x = 2y
8 = 2y
y=4

Therefore, x is 8 and y is 4.
Example 3: Determine the value of x such that (5x, 4) = (10, x).
Solution: Since two ordered pairs are equal, their corresponding first and second component will be
equal. That is, 5x = 10 which implies x = 2. And, 4 = x. After comparing first and second component, one
will get two values of x, which is not possible. Thus, there is no value of x such that given ordered pairs
could be equal.
Example 4: Determine the set of ordered pairs (a, b) such that a < b where ‘a’ belongs to the set {1, 2, 4}
and ‘b’ belongs to set {-1, 0, 1, 2, 3}.
Soution: The collection of all ordered pairs such that a < b is {(1, 2), (1, 3), (2, 3)} as 1 < 2, 1 < 3 and 2 < 3.

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Example 5: Determine the set of ordered pairs (a, b) such that a = b + 1 where ‘a’ belongs to the set {1, 2,
3, 4, 5} and ‘b’ belongs to set {0, 1, 2, 3}.
Solution: Since 1 = 0 + 1, 2 = 1 + 1, 3 = 2 + 1, 4 = 3 + 1, thus, collection of all ordered pairs such that a = b +
1 is {(1, 0), (2, 1), (3, 2), (4, 3)}.

3.3 TUPLES
Tuples are the extension of ordered pairs. An n-ordered tuple is the set of n-elements in which these
‘n’ elements are placed in order. An n-ordered tuple is written as (a1, a2, ... ,an). The ith element ai, where
i = 1, 2, 3, …., n; is said to be the ith component of the tuple.
For example, (2, 4, 2, 1, 7) is an ordered tuple having 5 components.
Two n-ordered tuples (x1, x2,..., xn) and (y1, y2 ,..., yn) will be equal if xi=yi for all i = 1, 2, 3, …, n. One thing that
should be kept in mind is that tuples having the same number of components are compared. (1, 2, 3) and
(1, 2) is not comparable.
For example, (1, 2, 3, 4, 1) ≠ (1, 1, 2, 3, 4) as all the corresponding elements in tuples are not equal.

Note: Tuples can have repeated elements but the set cannot have repeated elements. Round brackets
are used for writing elements in a tuple while curly brackets are used in the set.
Example 6: Find the value of x, y and z such that (x + 1, 4, z + 5) = (5, 4y, -1).
Solution: Two tuples are equal if their corresponding components are equal. Thus,
x + 1 = 5 this implies x = 4.
4 = 4y this implies y =1.
z + 5 = -1 this implies z = -6.

Therefore, for x = 4, y = 1 and z = -6, given tuples are equal.

Example 7: Find the value of x, y and z such that (2x , 4+3y, 5, x+1) = (6, 4y, z-2, 4).
Solution: Two tuples are equal if their corresponding components are equal. Thus,
2x = 6 this implies x = 3.
4 + 3y = 4y this implies y = 4.
5 = z - 2 this implies z = 7.
x + 1 = 4 this implies x = 3.

Therefore, for x = 3, y = 4 and z = 7, given tuples are equal.

3.4 CARTESIAN PRODUCT

Before getting into the details, let us define what Cartesian means. Do you remember the words, such as
axes (x-axis, y-axis), origin and others, while plotting a graph on paper? For example, (4, 5) represents
a value of 4 on the x-plane (axis) and a value of 5 on the y-plane (axis), which is not the same as (5, 4).
The order of representation is fixed, with the value of the x coordinate coming first, followed by the
value of the y coordinate (in an ordered way). The Cartesian product is the ordered product of two
elements, such as x and y.

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3.5 CARTESIAN PRODUCT OF TWO SETS

The cartesian product of sets is the ordered product of two non-empty sets. Or, to put it another way, the
collection of all ordered pairs is produced by multiplying two non-empty sets. An ordered pair is made
up of two pieces from each set.
The first element of a pair of two non-empty sets (say A & B) comes from set A, whereas the second
member comes from set B. when all of these pairs are added together. The result is a Cartesian product.
Cartesian product of two sets, which is also known as cross product, is the set of all possible pairs such
that the first element belongs to the set preceding the cross () sign and the second element belongs to
the set after the cross () sign.
Let A and B be two non-empty sets. The set of all ordered pairs (a, b) such that a  A and b  B is called
the Cartesian product of the set A with set B and denoted by A  B.
Thus, mathematical representation for the cartesian product is defined as;
A  B = {(a, b): a  A and b  B}
If both sets are considered the same, that is, A = B, then it is denoted by A  A or A2. Set A2 is also known
as cartesian square of set A. The cartesian product of set A with A can be defined as follows;
A2 = A  A = {(a, b): a, b  A}
The cartesian product B  A is defined as;
B  A = {(b, a): a  A and b  B}
It means that the cartesian product B  A can be obtained from set A  B directly by interchanging the
elements of each pair (a, b).

Note: If set A and B are different sets, that is, A ≠ B, then A  B will not be equal to B  A.
Example 8: If A = {2, 3, 4} and B = {4, 5}, then what is the cartesian product A  B and B  A of set A and B?
Solution: Two sets A and B are given here. Thus, their Cartesian product will be;
A  B = {(2, 4), (2, 5), (3, 4), (3, 5), (4, 4), (4, 5)}
And,
B  A = {(4, 2), (4, 3), (4, 4), (5, 2), (5, 3), (5, 4)}

3.5.1 Finding Sets A and B From Cartesian Product A  B

If cartesian product of set A and B is defined as A  B = {(a, b): a  A and b  B}, then set A from cartesian
product will be defined as {a: a  A }. In simple words, one can find set A by listing the first component
of all ordered pairs of set A  B.
For example, consider the cartesian product A  B defined as {(1, 2) (1, 4), (3, 2), (3, 4)}. Thus, set A is {1, 3}.
If cartesian product of set A and B is defined as A  B = {(a, b): a  A and b  B}, then set B from cartesian
product will be defined as {b: b  B }. In simple words, one can find the set B by listing the second
component of all ordered pairs of set A  B.

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For example, consider the cartesian product A  B defined as {(1, 2) (1, 4), (3, 2), (3, 4)}. Thus, set B is {2, 4}.
Example 9: Determine the set A and B from the cartesian product A  B defined as {(1, a), (1, b), (1, c),
(2, a), (2, b), (2, c), (3, a), (3, b), (3, c)}.
Solution: To find the set A from the given cartesian product, check the first component of all ordered
pairs. Thus, set A is {1, 2, 3}.
To find set B from the cartesian product, check the second component of all ordered pairs. Thus, set B is
{a, b, c}.

3.5.2 Finding Cartesian Product of Two Sets

Consider the two sets A = {a, b, c} and B = {2, 5}. To find the cartesian product A  B of these two sets,
follow these steps which are as follows:
Step 1: Choose the first element from set A, that is a and make pair with each element of set B. Thus, the
result is (a, 2) and (a, 5).
Step 2: Choose the second element from set A and follow the procedure as in step 1. Thus, the result is
(b, 2) and (b, 5).
Step 3: Do the same with the third element as in step 1 or step 2.
Hence, cartesian product A  B is {(a, 2), (a, 5), (b, 2), (b, 5), (c, 2), (c, 5)}

Note: Start making pairs from the first element of set A in order. If you make pairs in order then there will be less
chance to make a mistake when working with sets of larger cardinalities.

Example 10: If set A = {1, 4, 5} then find A  A.

Solution: Since cartesian product, A  A is defined as A  A = {(a, b): a, b  A}, thus, the cartesian product
for given set A will be;
A  A = {(1, 1), (1, 4), (1, 5), (4, 1), (4, 4), (4, 5), (5, 1), (5, 4), (5, 5)}
Example 11: Find the cartesian product of sets {Sunita, Keshav, Vipin} and {pen, pencil}.
Solution: The cartesian product of given sets will be;
{Sunita, Keshav, Vipin }  {pen, pencil}
= {(Sunita, pen), (Sunita, pencil), (Keshav, pen), (Keshav, pencil), (Vipin, pen), (Vipin, pecil)}
Example 12: Let there be two sets A and B such that A  B = {(1, a), (1, c), (2, a), (2, c), (3, a), (3, c)}. Determine
the cartesian product B  A.
Solution: By the definition of the cartesian product of sets A and B,
A  B = {(a, b): a  A and b  B} and,
B  A = {(b, a): a  A and b  B}
That is, B  A can be obtained from A  B by interchanging the components of all ordered pairs in the set.
Thus, B  A = {(a, 1), (c, 1), (a, 2), (c, 2), (a, 3), (c, 3)}

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Example 13: If set A =  and B = {1, 2}. Then determine the cartesian product of these two sets.
Solution: Cartesian product of two sets A and B is defined as A  B = {(a, b): a  A and b  B}. Thus,
Cartesian product of sets A and B is;
  {1, 2} = {(a, b): a   , b  {1, 2}} = .
That is, a cartesian product of set B with an empty set is an empty set.

Note: A   =  =   A for any non-empty set A.

3.6 CARTESIAN PRODUCT OF FINITE NUMBER OF SETS

One can extend the cross product for two or more sets. Suppose, there are three sets A, B and C, then the
cross product of these three sets will be defined as;
A  B  C = {(a, b, c): a  A, b  B and c  C}
Let A1, A2, ...,An are n sets. Cartesian product of these n-sets can be defined as;
A1  B2  L  An = {(a1, a2, K, an): ai  Ai; i = 1, 2, 3, K, n}
Example 14: Let U = {1, 2}, V = {a, b, c} and W = {x, y}. Find the cartesian product U  V  W.
Solution: The cartesian product of three sets U, V and W is,
U  V  W = {1, 2}  {a, b, c}  {x, y}
= {(1, a, x), (1, b, x), (1, c, x), (2, a, x), (2, b, x), (2, c, x), (1, a, y), (1, b, y), (1, c, y), (2, a, y), (2, b, y),
(2, c, y)}

3.7 CARDINALITY OF CARTESIAN PRODUCT

The cardinality of a set means the total number of elements in that set. The cardinality of the cartesian
product of sets can be calculated by multiplying the cardinality of all individual sets.
Suppose there are two sets S and T having the cardinality m and n respectively. Thus, the cardinality
of cross product S  T is;
|ST|=|S|.|T|
=m.n

That is, if a set S has m elements and set T has n elements, then the cartesian product of set S and T has
mn elements.
Let A1, A2,..., An be n sets. The cardinality of the cartesian product of these n-sets will be as follows;
|A1  A2  L  An| = |A1|  |A2|  L  |An|
Example 15: Consider the set S = {1, 2, 3, …, 25} and T = {-1, -2, -3, -4, -5}. Find the cardinality of set S  T?
Solution: Since the cardinality of set S is 25 and the cardinality of set T is 5, thus, the cardinality of set
S  T is 25 5 = 125.
That is, cross product S  T has 125 elements.

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Example 16: Consider the cartesian product of two sets A  B = {(a, x), (a, y), (a, z), (c, x), (c, y), (c, z)}.
Find the set A and B.
Solution: According to the definition of the Cartesian product, the first component in the ordered pair
belongs to set A and the second component belongs to set B.
Check the first component of ordered pairs, which are a and c. Check the second component of ordered
pairs, which are x, y and z.
Thus, set A is {a, c} and set B is {x, y, z}.
Example 17: If |AB|=36 and |A|=9, what is the cardinality of set B?
Solution: As |AB|=|A||B|. Thus,
36 = 9  | B |
|B | = 4
Therefore, the cardinality of set B is 4.

3.8 PROPERTIES OF CARTESIAN PRODUCT

These are some properties for the cartesian product of sets, which is as follows;
I. Cartesian product is not commutative. That is, A  B  B  A.
II. Cartesian product AB and BA will be equal if A = B.
III. Cartesian product will be an empty set if at least one of the sets is empty. That is, AB =  if A =  or
B = .
IV. If set A is the subset of B then AC is the subset of B  C.
V. Consider A and B as non-empty sets. If any one of these sets is infinite then their Cartesian product
will also be infinite.
VI. The cartesian product of two finite sets will be a finite set.
VII. The cartesian product does not follow the associative property. That is, (A  B)  C ≠ A  (B  C) for
any three non-empty sets A, B and C.
VIII. If any of the two sets A and B is empty then A  B = B  A = .

Example 18: Let S = {a, b, c} and T = {1}, form the sets S  T and T  S. Check whether these two products
are equal?
Solution: From the properties of the cartesian product, it is clear that the cartesian product is not
commutative. Thus, S  T and T  S cannot be equal. For verification, find both these products and then
check.
S  T = {(a, 1), (b, 1), (c, 1)} and,
T  S = {(1, a), (1, b), (1, c)}
Hence, both products are not equal.
Example 19: Consider the set A = {a, b}. Find the set A  A  A.
Solution:
A  A  A = {a, b}  {a, b}  {a, b}
= {(a, a, a), (a, b, a), (b, a, a), (b, b, a), (a, a, b), (a, b, b), (b, a, b), (b, b, b)}

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Example 20: Consider the set U having 5 elements and set V = {0, 1, 2, -1, -2}. Find the total number
of elements in set U  V.
Solution: As | U  V | = | U |  | V |
Since | U | = 5 and | V | = 5, cardinality of U  V is 25.
Therefore, the total number of elements in U  V is 25.
Example 21: The cartesian product B  B has 4 elements in which one element is (1, -1). Find set B.
Solution: Since (1, -1)  B  B this implies 1 and -1 belong to the set B.
Since | B  B | = | B |  | B | = 4, thus, cardinality of B will be 2.
Therefore, it is clear that set B is {1, -1}.

Example 22: Consider the sets P = {6, 10, 14, 18} and Q = . What is the cross product of P and Q, that is,
P  Q?
Solution: From the properties of the cartesian product, if any of the two sets is the empty set, then their
cross product or cartesian product will be empty. Thus,
P  Q = {6, 10, 14, 18}  
=

3.9 RELATION
A relation is a subset of the cartesian product of two sets. If A and B are two non-empty sets, relation R
is a subset of the cartesian product A  B. Thus, relation R contains the ordered pair (a, b) where a  A
and b  B. If elements a  A and b  B are related to each other, then their relation is represented by aRb.
When the relation from set A to A is defined, then it is said that it is the relation on set A. Usually, the
relation R on set A is defined.
For example, let A  B is defined as A  B = {(1, a), (1, b), (2, a), (2, b), (3, a), (3, b)} then a subset {(1, a), (3,
a), (2, b)} is a relation R from set A to B. Since element (3, a) belongs to relation R, it can be said that 3 is
related to ‘a’, i.e., 3Ra.
These are some definitions that are useful for the relation of sets, which are as follows.
⚫ Domain: The set of all first elements of the ordered pairs (a, b) in a relation R from set A to B is called
the domain of the relation R. It is called the set of inputs or pre-images. In set-builder form, it can be
written as {a : a  A}.
⚫ Range: The set of all second elements of the ordered pairs (a, b) in a relation R from set A to B is
called the range of the relation R. In set-builder form, it can be written as {b : b }.
⚫ Codomain: Suppose a relation is defined from set A to B, then set B is called the codomain of the
relation R. One more thing to notice is that Range  Codomain.

Example 23: Define a relation R from A to A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} as R = {(x, y): y = x + 3}. Determine the domain,
codomain and range of R.
Solution: First, to determine the range, the values of y for each value of x is determined. That is,
x = 1, y = 1 + 3 = 4
x = 2, y = 2 + 3 = 5

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x = 3, y = 3 + 3 = 6
x = 4, y = 4 + 3 = 7
x = 5, y = 5 + 3 = 8
x = 6, y = 6 + 3 = 9

Since 7, 8 and 9 do not belong to set A and relation R is defined on A, hence, x = 4, 5, 6 has no image in A.
Therefore, relation R = {(1, 4), (2, 5), (3, 6)}.
Since the collection of the first component of all ordered pairs of relation R is the domain of relation R,
Domain of R = {1, 2, 3}.
Since the collection of second component of all ordered pairs of relation R is said to be range, thus, range
of R = {4, 5, 6}.
Example 24: Determine the range and codomain of the relation on set P = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} to set Q = {4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9, 10, 11} defined as R = {(a, b): b = a2 }.
Solution: It is clear that relation is defined from set P to Q. Thus, find the first and second component of
ordered pair using the relation b = a2.
a = 1, b = 12 = 1
a = 2, b = 22 = 4
a = 3, b = 32 = 9
a = 4, b = 42 =16
a = 5, b = 52 = 25
a = 6, b = 62 = 36

Since 16, 25 and 36 do not belong to set Q and relation R is defined from P to Q, hence, x = 4, 5, 6 has no
image in Q. Therefore, relation R = {(1, 1), (2, 4), (3, 9)}.
Since the collection of first component of all ordered pair of relation R is domain of relation R, Domain
of R = {1, 2, 3}.
Since the collection of second component of all ordered pair of relation R is said to be range, thus, range
of R = {1, 4, 9}.

3.9.1 The Inverse Of A Relation:

If R is a relation from set A to set B, i.e., R  A  B. To find the inverse R-1 of the relation R, interchange the
order of elements in each given ordered pair of relation R that is, R-1 = {(b, a) : (a, b)  R}.
For example, consider the relation R defined as R = {(1, 2), (2, 3)}, then inverse of the given relation will
be R-1 = {(2, 1), (3, 2)}.
Example 25: Determine the inverse of relation R defined as R = {(1, a), (1, c), (2, b), (3, a), (3, c)}.
Solution: If relation R is defined then the inverse of relation can be determined by interchanging the
first and second component of each ordered pair of relation R.
Thus, inverse relation R-1 is;
R-1 = {(a, 1), (c, 1), (b, 2), (a, 3), (c, 3)}

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3.10 TYPES OF RELATION

These are some different types of relations, which are as follows;
⚫ Empty Relation or Null Relation
⚫ Universal Relation
⚫ Identity Relation
⚫ Reflexive Relation
⚫ Symmetric Relation
⚫ Transitive Relation
⚫ Equivalence Relation

3.10.1 Empty Relation

If A be a set and a relation on a set A is defined such that no elements are related to each other, then the
relation R on A is said to be an empty relation or void relation. In this condition, the relation will be R= .
For example, let A = {1, 2, 3} then relation on set A defined as R = {(x, y): y > 4} is an empty relation. Since
all the elements in set A are less than 4, thus, any element x with element y cannot be paired.

3.10.2 Universal Relation

Let R be a relation on set A, then R is said to be a universal relation if R contains all the elements of set
A  A that is, R = A  A. It is also said to be a full relation as every element of set A is related to each other.
For example, let A = {1, 2, 3} then relation R = {(1,1), (1,2), (1,3), (2, 1). (2, 2), (2, 3), (3, 1), (3, 2), (3, 3)} is the
universal relation and will be equal to A  A.

3.10.3 Identity Relation

Let R be a relation defined on set A. If every element of set A is related to itself only in relation to R, it is
called Identity relation. For identity relation, there should be no ordered pair such that an element in the
ordered pair is related to another element in set A. In mathematical terms, it can be defined as;
I = {(a, a) : for all a  A}
For example,
i. Suppose A = {a, b, c, d} is a set, then identity relation on set A will be I = {(a, a), (b, b), (c, c), (d, d)} as all
the elements from set A are related to each other.
ii. If same set A is considered and define a relation {(a, a), (b, b), (c, c), (d, d), (a, d)}. This relation will not
be an identity relation. Why? Because element ‘a’ is related to element ‘d’.
iii. If the relation {(a, a), (b, b), (c, c)} is considered, this relation is not an identity relation although all
elements are related to itself only. Why? Because, according to the definition, pair (d, d) should be
included in the set.

3.10.4 Reflexive Relation

Let A be a given set. Relation R on a set A is said to be a reflexive relation if every element of set A map
to itself. In other words, (a, a)  R or aRa for every a  A.

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For example, let A = {1, 2, 3} is a set, then relation R = {(1,1), (1, 2), (2, 2), (3,3), (3,1)} is a reflexive relation
because all the elements from set A are related to itself. Inclusion of ordered pair (1, 2) and (3, 1) do not
affect its reflexivity. Reflexive relation can include ordered pair related to another element.

Note: An identity relation is a reflexive relation but reflexive relation cannot be an identity relation as
identity relation cannot include any pair other than (a, a) type pair for all a  A.

3.10.5 Symmetric Relation

Let A be a given set. Relation R on set A is said to be symmetric if an element ‘a’ is related to ‘b’ then ‘b’
must be related to ‘a’ in the relation. In other words, if (a, b)  R then (b, a)  R, for all a & b  A.
For example,
i. Let A = {1, 2, 3} is a set, then relation R = {(1,1), (1, 2), (2, 2), (3,3), (2,1)} is a symmetric relation.
ii. If the relation R = {(1,1), (1, 2), (2, 2), (3,3), (2,1), (2,3)}, this relation is reflexive but not symmetric
because (2,3)  R but (3, 2) is not there in the set.

3.10.6 Transitive Relation

Let A be a given set. Relation R on set A is said to be transitive if (a, b)  R and (b, c)  R, then (a, c) 
R, for all a, b, c  A. In other words, a relation will be transitive if aRb and bRc  aRc for all a, b, c  A.
For example,
i. Let A = {1, 2, 3} is a set, then relation R = {(1,1), (1, 2), (3,3), (2,1)} is a transitive relation.
ii. If the relation R = {(1,1), (1, 2), (3,3), (2,1), (2,3)}, this relation is not transitive because (1, 2)  R and (2,3)
 R but (1, 3) is not there in the set R.

3.10.7 Equivalence Relation

If a relation holds all the conditions for reflexive, symmetric and transitive, then the relation is called an
equivalence relation.
1. If define a relation R is defined on an empty set , then this relation is said to be a null or empty
relation.
2. Empty or null relation is an equivalence relation.

Example 26: Consider the set of natural numbers. Check that relation R on the set of natural numbers
defined as R = {(a, b): a ≤ b} is an equivalence relation or not.
Solution: Check one by one whether all the three properties of reflexive, symmetric and transitive
relation hold.

Reflexive
Since a = a for all a  N this implies (a, a)  R. Thus, this relation is reflexive.

Symmetric
Since 2 < 3 but 3 cannot be less than 2, thus (2, 3)  R but (3, 2)  R. Therefore, this relation is not
symmetric.

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Transitive
Since a ≤ b and b ≤ c, this implies a ≤ c for all-natural numbers a, b and c. Therefore, this relation is
transitive.
As this relation does not hold symmetricity, the given relation is not an equivalence relation.
Example 27: Let R, a relation on set of real numbers defined as R = {(a, b) : a – b is an integer} Prove that
relation R is an equivalence relation.
Solution: To show that relation R is an equivalence relation, one has to prove that it is reflexive, symmetric
and transitive relation.

Reflexive
Since a – a = 0 for all a  and 0 is an integer. Thus, (a, a)  R.
Therefore, given relation R is reflexive.

Symmetric
If a – b is an integer then b – a will be an integer also as b – a = - (a – b). Thus, if (a, b)  R  (b, a)R for
all a , b  .
Therefore, given relation R is symmetric.

Transitive
If a – b and b - c is an integer then a - c will be an integer also as a – b + b – c = a – c and the sum of two
integers is also an integer. Thus, if (a, b)  R and (b, c)R  (a, c)  R for all a, b, c 
Hence, given relation R is an equivalence relation.

Conclusion 3.11 CONCLUSION

⚫ An ordered pair (a, b) is a set of two elements in which these two elements are placed in order.
⚫ An n-ordered tuple is the set of n-elements in which these ‘n’ elements are placed in order.
⚫ Let A and B be two non-empty sets. The set of all ordered pairs (a, b) such that a  A and b  B is
called the Cartesian product of the set A with set B and denoted by A  B.
⚫ Let A1, A2, ...,An are n sets. Cartesian product of these n-sets can be defined as;
A1  A2 ... An ={(a1, a2, ...,an) : ai  Ai ; i = 1, 2, 3, ...n}
⚫ If there are two sets S and T having the cardinality m and n respectively, then the cardinality of their
cartesian product is the multiplication of the cardinality of both sets.
⚫ Let A1, A2, ...,An are n sets. The cardinality of the cartesian product of these n-sets will be as follows;
|A1  A2  ... An| = |A1|  |A2| ...  |An|
⚫ Cartesian product will be an empty set if at least one of the sets is empty. That is,
AB =  if A =  or B = .
⚫ Cartesian product is not commutative.

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⚫ If A and B are two non-empty sets, relation R is a subset of the cartesian product A  B.
⚫ If a relation holds all the conditions for reflexive, symmetric and transitive, then the relation is called
an equivalence relation.
⚫ An empty or null relation is an equivalence relation.

3.12 GLOSSARY

⚫ Ordered pair: Ordered pair (a, b) is the set of two elements in which both elements are associated
in order. The first element ‘a’ is called the first component and ‘b’ is called the second component of
the ordered pair.
⚫ Cartesian Product of two sets: Consider A and B to be two non-empty sets. The set of all ordered
pairs (a, b) such that a  A and b  B is called the Cartesian product of the set A with set B and
denoted by A  B.
⚫ Cardinality of two sets: If set A has ‘p’ elements and set B has ‘q’ elements then cartesian product
A  B has ‘pq’ elements
⚫ Relation: A relation R from a non-empty set A to B is a subset of the cartesian product A  B
⚫ Equivalence Relation: If a relation holds all the conditions for reflexive, symmetric and transitive,
then the relation is called an equivalence relation

3.13 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

A. Essay Type Questions

1. Consider the sets P = {1, 3, 5}, Q = {2, 6} and R = {6}. Find P  Q  R.
2. Define ordered pair. Interpret the condition for being two ordered pairs equal.
3. Describe the cartesian product of two sets. Give an example to prove that the cartesian product is
not associative.
4. Explain how to find the cardinality of the cartesian product. Give an example.
5. For set A and B, n(A) = 4, n(B) = 3, then find n (A  B).
6. If (x 2 – 2x + 1, y – 4) = (0, 1), then find the value of x and y.

3.14 ANSWERS AND HINTS FOR SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

A. Hints for Essay Type Questions

1. {(1, 6), (3, 6), (5, 6)}
2. An ordered pair (a, b) is a set of two elements in which these two elements are placed in order. Refer
to Section Ordered Pair
3. Consider A and B to be two non-empty sets. The set of all ordered pairs (a, b) such that a  A and
b  B is called the Cartesian product of the set A with set B and denoted by A  B. Refer to section
Cartesian Product of Two Sets

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4. The cardinality of the cartesian product of two sets can be found by multiplying the cardinality
of both given sets. Refer to Section Cardinality of Cartesian Product
5. 12
6. x = 1 and y = 5

@ 3.15 POST-MODULE READING MATERIAL

⚫ https://www.math.uvic.ca/faculty/gmacgill/guide/RF.pdf
⚫ http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~stacho/macm101.pdf

3.16 TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION FORUMS

⚫ Along with your students, discuss the cartesian product of two sets, both having the cardinality 5,
also try to solve as many questions as you can.

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