A1/MATH2012/2023-24/1st
THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
MATH2012 Fundamental Concepts of Mathematics
Assignment 1
Due date : Sep 18, 2023 before 17:00.
Instructions
• Please submit your work as one single PDF file in Moodle. No late work will be accepted.
Warning: Make sure that your work is properly scanned. Oversized, blurred or upside-
down images will NOT be graded.
Remark
• You are welcome to contact the instructor or the tutors if you have any difficulties.
You need only to give your answers to those questions indicated with *. Other
problems are optional and will not be marked. However, we do expect you to
eventually finish all problems.
Chapter 1
*1. Represent the following sets by listing and then write down their cardinalities:
(a) A = {x ∈ N : 2x2 + 3x − 2 = 0}
(b) B = {x ∈ Z : x2 < 10}
(c) C = {x ∈ R : x2 + 2x + 3 = 0}
(d) D = {−1, {0, 1}, 2, 3, 4, {5}, 6, {7, 8}} ∩ {x ∈ Z : |x − 3| ≥ 2}
2. Let A, B and C be subsets of U . Construct Venn diagrams to determine which of the
given equalities appear to be true.
(a) A \ (U \ B) = A ∩ B
(b) A \ (B \ C) = (A \ B) \ C
(c) (A ∪ B) \ C = (A \ C) ∪ (B \ C)
1
(d) (A ∩ B) \ C = (A \ C) ∩ (B \ C)
(e) (A \ B) ∪ C = (A ∪ B ∪ C) \ (A ∩ B)
(f) A \ (B ∪ C) = (A \ B) ∩ (A \ C)
(g) A ∩ (B \ C) = (A ∩ B) \ (A ∩ C)
3. Use interval notation to represent the following sets:
(a) A = {x ∈ R : x(x − 1)(x − 2)(x − 3) < 0}
2x − 1
(b) B = {x ∈ R : > 0}
x−3
4. The set S of all even integers can be described by the set-builder notation as
S = {2x : x ∈ Z}.
Describe the following sets in a similar manner:
(a) S = {. . . , −3, −1, 1, 3, 5, 7, . . . }
(b) S = {. . . , −12, −6, 0, 6, 12, 18, . . . }
(c) S = {2, 5, 8, 11, . . . }
(d) S = {2, 9, 28, 65, 126, . . . }
*5. Let A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and B = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}. Use the listing method to represent the
following sets:
(a) {b ∈ B : 2b ∈ A} (b) {a ∈ A : a2 ∈ B} (c) {(a, b) ∈ A×B : a+b is odd}
6. (a) Let A = {a, b} and B = {∅}. Find P(A) × P(B).
(b) Let X and Y be two finite sets. Find the cardinalities of P(X ×Y ) and P(X)×P(Y )
in terms of |X| and |Y |.
*7. Give an example of a nonempty set A satisfying A ⊆ P(A).
*8. (a) Let A = {S ∈ P(N) : S is an infinite set}. Write down any two elements of A.
(b) Let B = {S ∈ P(N) : S and N \ S are infinite sets}. Write down any two elements
of B.
*9. Let A and B be two finite sets. Show that
|P(A4B)| = |P(A \ B) × P(B \ A)|.
*10. Sketch each of the following Cartesian products on the xy-plane R2 :
(a) {2, 3, 4} × [2, 4]
(b) N × Z
(c) {(x, y) ∈ R2 : x2 = 2, |y| = 2}
2
11. Let A = [1, 3] and B = [2, 4] be intervals in R. The following shows the set A × B in
R × R:
Let C = [5, 7] and D = [6, 8]. Draw pictures to illustrate the following:
(a) (A × C) ∪ (B × D) ⊆ (A ∪ B) × (C ∪ D)
(b) (A ∪ B) × C = (A × C) ∪ (B × C)
(c) (A ∩ B) × C = (A × C) ∩ (B × C)
(d) (A ∩ B) × (C ∩ D) = (A × C) ∩ (B × D)
*12. Use the listing method to express the set S = ((1, 3] × {2, 4}) ∩ Z2 .
13. Let A = {1, 2} and let B = A × A. What is the cardinality of B × B? Write down any
two elements of B × B.
*14. Let A be a set and let
B = {(a, S) ∈ A × P(A) : a ∈ S}.
Use the listing method to write down the set B if
(a) A = {1};
(b) A = {1, 2};
(c) A = {1, 2, 3}.
15. During this semester, there are 240 students taking the courses MATH1013, MATH2012
and MATH2241. Given that
• 180 taking MATH1013 and 45 taking MATH2241;
• 60 taking both MATH1013 and MATH2012;
• 10 taking both MATH2012 and MATH2241;
• students are not allowed to take MATH1013 and MATH2241 during the same semester.
How many students are taking MATH2012 during this semester?
*16. Use the Inclusion-Exclusion Principle to find the number of integers between 1 and 1000
(inclusive) that are multiples of 2 or 3 or 5 or 7.
