Bridge to Abstract Mathematics: Mathematical Proof and Structures

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168 METHODS OF MATHEMATICAL PROOF, PART I Chapter 5


  1. Recall (Definition 5, Article 1.1) that the power set 9(A) of a set A is the
    set of all subsets of A. Thus X E 9(A) if and only if X c A.
    *(a) Prove that, for any sets A and B, if A E B, then 9(A) G 9(B).
    (b) Prove that, for any sets A and B, 9(A n B) = 9(A) n 9(B).

  2. (a) Use the definition of interval (Example 2) to show that each of the first
    eight types of sets listed in Definition 3, Article 1.1 (e.g., [a, b], (a, GO), etc.) is an
    interval. (Note: Assume throughout this proof that if p, q, and r are any real
    numbers with p 5 q and q 5 r, then p I r.)
    (b) Prove that if {Inln = 1,2,.. .) is a collection of intervals indexed by the set
    of all positive integers, then r),"=, In is an interval.
    (c) Prove or disprove: If I, and I, are intervals, then I, u I, is an interval. See
    also Exercise 15, Article 5.3.)

  3. (a) Prove that the curve C, = {(x, IxI)Ix E R} is symmetric with respect to the
    y axis, but not to the x axis.
    (b) Prove that the curve C2 = {(x, x3)Ix E R) is symmetric with respect to the
    origin, but not to the x axis.
    (c) Let f be a real-valued function with domain R. Prove that f is odd; that
    is, f ( - x) = - f (x) for all x E R, if and only if the set C, = {(x, f (x)) 1 x E R) is
    symmetric with respect to the origin.

  4. A subset C of R x R is said to be symmetric with respect to the point (h, k) if
    and only if, whenever (x + h, y + k) E C, then (-x + h, - y + k) E C.
    (a) Prove that if C is the graph of a function y = f(x), then C is symmetric with
    respect to the point (h, k) if and only if f(-x + h) = 2k - f(x + h) for every x
    such that x + h is in the domain off.
    *(b) Show that the graph of the function y = f(x) = 1 + (l/(x - 1)) is symmetric
    with respect to the point (1, 1).
    (c) Use Exercise 18, Article 5.1, to conclude that the graphs of the functions cos- ',
    tan-', and cot-' are each symmetric with respect to the point (0,71/2).


' 6. A function f, mapping real numbers to real numbers, is said to be one to one on
an interval I if and only if, for any real numbers x, and x, in the interval I, if
f(x,) = f (x,), then x, = x,.


(a) Prove that f(x) = x2 is not one to one on R.
(b) Prove that, if M # 0, then the linear function y = f(x) = Mx + B is one
to one on R.
(c) Prove that if f is increasing on an interval I, then f is one to one on I.
(Hint: contrapositive)


  1. Consider the curve C, in the xy plane described parametrically by the equations
    x = cos t, y = sin t, where t is any real number; that is, C, = {(cos t, sin t)l t E R).
    Note that a point (x, y) in the xy plane is on C, if and only if there exists a real
    number t such that x = cos t and y = sin t.
    (a) Let C, be the curve ((x, y) E R x Rlx2 + y2 = 1). Use well-known properties
    of sine and cosine to prove that C, c C,. (In fact, these curves are the same;
    that is, C, = C,. We will consider the reverse inclusion in Article 6.1.)

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