Discrete Mathematics

Examination on Apr 12, 2018

Spring Semester, 2018

Problem 1 (10 points) Let A, B, C, D ⊆ U, |A ∩ B| = 5, |A ∪ B| = 11, |U | = 15.

1) (5 points) How many sets C satisfy A ∩ B ⊆ C ⊆ A ∪ B?

2) (5 points) How many sets D satisfy A ∪ B ⊆ D ⊆ A ∪ B, and D contains an even

number of elements?

Ans:

1) |(A ∪ B) − (A ∩ B)| = 6. When C satisfies A ∩

B⊆ C⊆  A∪ B,
 C contains
  at least 5
6 6 6 6
elements and at most 11 elements. There are + + +· · ·+ = 26 = 64
0 1 2 6
sets because there are that many ways to pick the elements in (A ∪ B) − (A ∩ B) to
join A ∩ B.

2) |A ∪ B| = 15 − 11 = 4, |A ∪ B| = |A ∩ B| = 15 − 5 = 10, |(A ∪ B) − (A ∪ B)| =

10 − 4 = 6. When D satisfies A ∪ B ⊆ D ⊆A ∪ B,Dcontains
  at least 4 elements
6 6 6 6
and at most 10 elements. There are + + + = 32 sets.
0 2 4 6

   
Pn k n+1
Problem 2 (10 points) Show that for m, n ≥ 0, k=m = .
m m+1

Ans: See p. 35 of the slides.      

n+1 n n
Alternative proof: By Pascal’s Identity, = + .
         r  r r− 1   
m m+1 m+2 n m+1 m+1 m+2 n
+ + +· · ·+ = + + +· · ·+
m m  m
  m  m +1 m   m 
 m
m+2 m+2 n m+3 n n+1
= + + ··· + = + ··· + = .
m+1 m m m+1 m m+1

Problem 3 (10 points) How many non-negative integer solutions can satisfy the in-
equation x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 ≤ 23, where x1 > 1, x2 > 2, x3 > 3, x4 > 4.

Ans: Let y1 = x1 −2, y2 = x2 −3, y3 = x3 −4, y4 = x4 −5, y5 = 23−14−(y1 +y2 +y3 +y4 ).
Then the original problem becomes
 y1 
+ y2 + + y4 + y5 = 9, where yi ≥ 0 for 1 ≤ i ≤ 5.
 y3 
5+9−1 13
The number of solutions is = .
9 9
Problem 4 (10 points) Use the pigeonhole principle to prove that any subset of n + 1
numbers from {1, 2, . . . , 2n} must conatin x, y such that x and y are relatively prime.

Ans: See p. 341 of the slides.

Partition {1, 2, . . . , 2n} into n groups: {1, 2}, {3, 4}, . . . , {2n − 1, 2n}. Note that elements
in each group are relatively prime. Any set of n + 1 numbers from {1, 2, . . . , 2n} must
contain at least 2 numbers in the same group.

Problem 5 (10 points) Let n + k be even and n ≥ k. Prove that the number of ways
for a binomial random walk to move from the origin to position k > 0 in n steps without
touching the x-axis is      
n−1 n−1 k n
n+k − n+k = .
2
−1 2
n n+k
2

Ans: The first move must be a right move. Make the x = 1 line the new x-axis. We
count the walks from the origin to position k − 1 in n − 1 steps without being in the
negative territory. The rest of the proof follows that of the Catalan numbers. Consider
permuting
(n−1+k−1)/2 [ n−1−(k−1) ]/2 (n+k)/2−1 (n−k)/2
z }| { z }| { z }| { z }| {
RR · · · R LL · · · L = RR · · · R LL · · · L .
There are  
n−1
n+k
2
−1
permutations. Permutations touching the x-axis are illegal. For every illegal permutation,
we consider the first L move that makes the particle land at −1. Swap L and R for this
offending L and all earlier moves. The result is a permutation of
(n+k)/2 (n−k)/2−1
z }| { z }| {
RR · · · R LL · · · L .

n−1


There are (n+k)/2 ways to permute them. By the reflection principle, the correspondence
is one-to-one between the permutations of
(n+k)/2 (n−k)/2−1
z }| { z }| {
RR · · · R LL · · · L

n−1


and illegal permutations. So there are (n+k)/2
illegal walks. Our desired number equals
     
n−1 n−1 k n
n+k − n+k =
2
−1 2
n n+k
2

after simplification.

Problem 6 (10 points) 1. (5 points) How many functions exist between the set
{ 1, 2 } and { 1, . . . , n }?
 2. (5 points) How many of them are injective?

Ans:

1. There are n2 functions between the set { 1, 2 } and { 1, . . . , n }.

2. As any injective function must map to different values, there are n possible outputs
for 1 and (n − 1) for 2, so there are n(n − 1) injective functions.

Problem 7 (10 points) Let f : A → B and g : B → C. Prove that if f and g are

one-to-one, then g ◦ f is also one-to-one.

Ans: Let a1 , a2 ∈ A, with

(g ◦ f )(a1 ) = (g ◦ f )(a2 ).

Then g(f (a1 )) = g(f (a2 )), and as g is one-to-one, this implies that f (a1 ) = f (a2 ). As f
is also one-to-one, this implies that a1 = a2 , hence (g ◦ f ) is one-to-one as desired.

Problem 8 (10 points) What is the coefficient of x12 y 13 in the expansion of (3x+2y)25 ?
(You do not need to evaluate the number numerically.)

Ans: From the binomial theorem it follows that this coefficient is

 
12 13 25 25!
(3 ) × (2 ) × = (312 ) × (213 ) ×
13 13!12!

Problem 9 (10 points) Let A be a set of n elements. How many relations over A are
symmetric but not reflexive?
Ans: Let A = { a1 , . . . , an } and place the elements of A in a matrix coordinates like

a1 a2 . . . a n
a1 ? ? ... ?
a2 ? ? ... ?
.. ..
. ? ? . ?
an ? ? ... ?

where each cell ij can have the value of 1 or 0, representing if ai relates to aj or not.

1. For any symmetric relation if (ai , aj ) belongs to it, then (aj , ai ) must also belong
to it. Then for the matrix to represent symmetric relations it must be equal to its
transpose.

a1 a2 . . . a n
a1  ? ... ?
a2 ×  ... ?
.. .
. × × .. ?
an × × ... 

Because all the values under the diagonal need to be equal to the values above the
diagonal, it suffices to count the amount of values above the diagonal, which are
2
(n2 − n)/2. Hence there are 2(n −n)/2 possible configurations for the values above
the diagonal.

2. As any reflexive relation would require ai to relate to itself for i = 1, . . . , n, we need

to remove the all-1 diagonal from the 2n possible diagonals. Hence 2n − 1 diagonals
remain.
 
2
So there would be 2(n −n)/2 (2n − 1) possible symmetric but not reflexive relations.

Problem 10 (10 points) Let A = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }. Determine the number of bijective

functions (i.e., one-to-one correspondences)f : A → A which satisfy f (1) 6= 1 and f (2) 6=
2.

Ans: It suffices to substract the number of bijective functions with f (1) = 1 or f (2) = 2
from the number of bijections, which is 5!. So in total we have 5! − (4! + 4! − 3!) = 78
such functions.