Discrete Mathematics I

Exercise sheet 7 2023

Exercise 1. Let A be the set of students who speak Luxembourgish, let B be the set of students
who write their homework in LATEX and let C be the set of students who wear glasses. Describe the
students in each of the following sets using a natural language sentence (i.e. in English).
Example: A − C is the set of students who speak Luxembourgish but don’t wear glasses.

(a) A ∩ B ∩ C;
Solution:
The set of students who speak Luxembourgish and write their homework in LATEX and wear
glasses.

(b) A ∪ (B ∩ C);
Solution:
The set of students who speak Luxembourgish and the students that write their homework in
LATEX while also wearing glasses.

(c) (A ∪ B) − C;
Solution:
The set of students who speak Luxembourgish or write their homework in LATEX and do not
wear glasses.

(d) (A − B) ∪ C.
Solution:
The set of students that speak Luxembourgish but do not write their homework in LATEX and
the students that wear glasses.

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Discrete Mathematics I
Exercise sheet 7 2023

Exercise 2. Let A and B be two finite sets such that |A| = |B| and f : A → B a total function
from A to B.

(a) Prove that if f is surjective then f [A] = B.

Solution:
We prove that if f is surjective then f [A] = B. Assume f is surjective. Then, ∀b ∈ B, ∃a ∈ A
such that f (a) = b. Hence, f [A] = {b ∈ B|∃a ∈ A.f (a) = b} = B. □

(b) Using this result, prove by contradiction that if f is surjective then it must be injective too.
Solution:
We prove by contradiction that if f is surjective then it must be injective too. Suppose f
is surjective. Now assume for a contradiction that f is not injective. Hence, there exist
x, y ∈ A such that x ̸= y but f (x) = f (y). Then, it must be that |A| − 1 ≥ |f [A]| due to this
overlap. But since f is surjective, as we have shown in (a), this means that f [A] = B, and so
|f [A]| = |B| = |A|. This is a contradiction with the fact that |A| − 1 ≥ |f [A]|, and therefore f
must be injective. □

(c) Using the fact that if |A| ≥ |B| and A ⊆ B, then A = B, prove that if f is injective, then it
must be bijective.
Solution:
We prove that if f is injective, then it must be bijective. Assume f is injective. Then, A inj
f [A] by definition. Thus, by Lemma 4.5.3 item 2, |f [A]| ≥ |A|. We have that |A| = |B|, so
|f [A]| ≥ |B|. But since f [A] ⊆ B, this means that f [A] = B. And therefore, f is surjective.
Hence, it is also bijective. □

(d) Conclude using your previous answers that f is surjective iff f is injective iff f is bijective.
Solution:
We prove that f is surjective iff f is injective iff f is bijective. Suppose f is bijective. Then,
by definition, it is surjective.
With (b) and (c), we have now shown a cycle of implications, and therefore f is surjective iff
it is injective iff it is bijective. □

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Discrete Mathematics I
Exercise sheet 7 2023

Exercise 3. Use the Well Ordering Principle to prove that there are no integer solutions with
a > 0 to the equation:

4a3 + 2b3 = c3

Solution:
We use proof by contradiction to prove that there are no integer solutions with a > 0 to the
equation: 4a3 + 2b3 = c3 , using the well ordering principle.
Let S be the set of all positive integers a, such that there also exist positive integers b and c
that satisfy the equation.
Assume for a contradiction that S is non-empty. Then, by the WOP, S contains a smallest
element, call it a0 . By the definition of S, there exist corresponding positive integers b0 and c0
such that:

4a30 + 2b30 = c30

The left side of this equation is even, so c30 is even, and therefore c0 is also even. Thus, there
exists an integer c1 , such that c0 = 2c1 . Substituting into the preceding equation and then dividing
both sides by 2 gives:

2a30 + b30 = 4c31

Now, with similar reasoning, b0 must be even too and so there exists an integer b1 such that
b0 = 2b1 . Substituting into the preceding equation and dividing both sides by 2 again gives:

a30 + 4b31 = 2c31

From this equation, we know that a30 is even, so a0 is also even. Thus, there exists an integer
a1 such that a0 = 2a1 . Substituting into the previous equation one last time and dividing once
again by 2, we get:

4a31 + 2b31 = c31

Hence, there exists solutions for the original equation such that a = a1 , and thus a1 ∈ S. But
since a1 < a0 , we get a contradiction because a0 was the smallest element of S. Hence, S must be
empty.
Therefore, we have proven that there are no integer solutions with a > 0 to the equation:
4a3 + 2b3 = c3 , using the well ordering principle. □

• Afterwards, use case analysis to show that no integer solutions for any a ∈ Z exist
!important addendum!: apart from a = b = c = 0.

Solution:
Let us proceed by case analysis: We identify three cases:
1. a > 0: This is the case shown above.
2. a < 0: Suppose for a contradiction that there exists a solution with a < 0, call it a0 , i.e. the
following holds for some b0 , c0 ∈ Z:
4a30 + 2b30 = c30
But now if we replace a with −a′0 , we get:
−4a′3 3 3 ′ 3
0 + 2b0 = c0 ⇔ 4a0 + 2(−b0 ) = (−c0 )
3

And so there exists solution with a = a′0 . But since a′0 > 0, this is a contradiction. Hence,
there are no solutions for a < 0 either.

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Discrete Mathematics I
Exercise sheet 7 2023

3. a = 0: We substitute into the equation and get:

2b3 = c3

Let S be the set of integers b > 0 such that there exist a c ∈ Z such that they satisfy the
equation above. Suppose S is nonempty, then S must have a smallest element, call it b0 .
Hence, there exists c0 such that;
2b30 = c30
So c0 is even and thus there exists c1 such that c0 = 2c1 . By replacing substituting it into
the equation and dividing by 2 we get:

b30 = 4c31

And so b0 is even, so there exists b1 such that b0 = 2b1 . By replacing it into the equation
and dividing by 4 we get:
2b31 = c31
So b1 ∈ S and b1 < b0 , but this is a contradiction since b0 was minimal. Hence, S is empty.
Similarly, there are no solutions for b < 0, and thus the only solution is b = c = 0.
Therefore, there are no solutions other than a = b = c = 0. □

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