Binary Operation Worksheet
1. Let * be a binary operation defined on the set of integers, Z, by a*b = a + b – ab , where a, b ∈ Z.
Determine the following:-
(i) Is Z closed under *?
(ii) Is * commutative?
(iii)Is * associative?
(iv) Does there exist an identity element?
(v) Do any of the elements of Z have inverses under * ?
2. Let * be a binary operation defined on the set of Real numbers, R, by a*b = 1 + 2ab – (a + b) , where
a, b ∈ R. Determine the following:-
(i) Is R closed under *?
(ii) Is * commutative?
(iii)Is * associative?
(iv) Does there exist an identity element?
(v) Do any of the elements of R have inverses under * ?
3. Let * be a binary operation defined on the set of integers, Z, by a*b = 1 + a + b, where a, b ∈ Z.
Answer the following questions giving reasons for your answers.
(i) Is Z closed under *?
(ii) Is * commutative?
(iii)Is * associative?
(iv) Does there exist an identity element?
(v) Do any of the elements of Z have inverses under * ?
(vi) Does * distribute over normal addition + ?
4. Let * be a binary operation defined on the set S = R+ ∪ {0}, where R+ is the set of positive real numbers,
defined by a*b = √𝑎2 + 𝑏 2 for a, b ∈ S. Determine the following:-
(i) Is S closed under *?
(ii) Is * commutative?
(iii)Is * associative?
(iv) Does there exist an identity element?
(v) Do any of the elements of S have inverses under * ?
5. Let * be a binary operation defined on the set of Real numbers, R, by a*b = ab – 7(a + b – 8),
where a,b ∈ R. Determine the following:-
(i) Is R closed under *?
(ii) Is * commutative?
(iii)Is * associative?
(iv) Does there exist an identity element?
(v) Do any of the elements of R have inverses under * ?
6. Let * be the operation on Z, the set of integers, defined by x*y = xy + 2(x + y) + 2.
(i) Show that Z is closed under *.
(ii) Show that * is commutative and associative.
(iii)Show that Z has an identity element with respect to *.
(iv) Determine which, if any, of the elements of Z has inverses.
7. Let ∆ be a binary operation defined on the set of real numbers R by x∆y = x2 + y2, for all x, y ∈ R.
Determine (showing all necessary working) whether:-
(i) ∆ is commutative.
(ii) ∆ is associative.
(iii) R has an identity element with respect to ∆; and if so, find the identity.
(iv) Any elements of R have an inverse with respect to ∆.
8. Consider the binary operations * and ∎ on the set S = {a, b, c, d, e} given by the following tables:-
(i) Determine which of the operations are commutative.
(ii) Show that the operation ∎ is not associative.
(iii)Determine whether S has an identity element with respect to each of the operations * and ∎;
and in each case give the inverse of those elements which have inverses.
