Discrete Mathematics Problems

William F. Klostermeyer
School of Computing
University of North Florida
Jacksonville, FL 32224
E-mail: [email protected]
Contents

0 Preface 3

1 Logic 5
1.1 Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2 Truth Tables and Logical Equivalences . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3 Quantiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4 Circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2 Sets 13

3 Functions 17

4 Integers and Matrices 21

5 Proofs 25
5.1 Direct Proofs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
5.2 Proofs by Contradiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5.3 Proofs by Induction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

6 Graphs 31
6.1 Basic Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
6.1.1 Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
6.1.2 Directed Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
6.2 Problems Requiring Proofs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

7 Counting 39

8 Other Topics 47
8.1 Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

1
2 CONTENTS

8.2 Algorithm Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

8.3 Recurrence Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
8.4 Generating Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
8.5 Boolean Algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Chapter 0

Preface

This booklet consists of problem sets for a typical undergraduate discrete

mathematics course aimed at computer science students. These problem
may be used to supplement those in the course textbook. We felt that in
order to become procient, students need to solve many problems on their
own, without the temptation of a solutions manual! These problems have
been collected from a variety of sources (including the authors themselves),
including a few problems from some of the texts cited in the references.

Dicult problems are marked with a .

References to the bibliography are indicated by [x], where x is the num-

ber of a bibliography entry.

3
4 CHAPTER 0. PREFACE
Chapter 1

Logic

1.1 Basics
Evaluate each of the following.

1. If 2 is even, then 5=6.

2. If 2 is odd, then 5=6.

3. If 4 is even, then 10 = 7+3.

4. If 4 is odd, then 10= 7+3.

In the following, assume that p is true, q is false, and r is true.

5. p q r (you may want to add parentheses!)

6. q p

7. p (q p)

5
6 CHAPTER 1. LOGIC

8. q p

9. r p

10. q p

11. (q p) (q (r p))

1.2 Truth Tables and Logical Equivalences

Give truth tables for each of the following:

1. p q r

2. p q

3. (p q) p

4. (p q) (q p)

5. (p q) q

6. (p q) (q p)

7. (p q) r

8. (p q) p
1.2. TRUTH TABLES AND LOGICAL EQUIVALENCES 7

9. (p q) (p q)

Which of the following are tautologies?

10. (p p) p

11. (p q) (p q)

12. (p p) q

13. (p q) (p q)

Prove or disprove each of the following using (a) truth tables and (b)
the rules of logic.

14. (p q) (p q) True

15. (p q) q True

16. [2] (p (p q)) q True

17. p q q p

18. (p q) q p q

19. (p q) q q p

20. p (q r) p (q r)

21. p (q r) p (q r)
8 CHAPTER 1. LOGIC

22. (p (q r)) (p q) r

23. p (p q) True

Re-write the following using only , ,

24. p (q r)

25. p (q r)

26. q (p q)

Re-write the following CNF formulae into DNF

27. (p q r) (p q)

28. (p q r) (p q r) (p q)

Use truth tables to verify the following:

29. [2] (p (p q)) p

30. [2] (p (p q)) p

31. Show that (p q r s) can be re-written into an equivalent CNF

formula such that each clause contains exactly 3 variables or negations
of variables.

32. Show that p not (not q and not p) is logically equivalent to True.
1.3. QUANTIFIERS 9

1.3 Quantifiers
Evaluate each of the following for the universe Z, the set of integers

1. P (2), where P (x) = x 10

2. P (4) where P (x) = (x = 1) (x > 5)

3. P (x) where P (x) = (x < 0) (x = 23)

4. x(x = 5) (x = 6)

5. x(x = 5) (x 5)

6. x(x = 5) (x 5)

7. x(x < 0) (x 2x)

8. x x2 > 0

9. x x2 = 0

10. xy x < y

11. xy x < y

In the following, let the universe be Z +

12. xy(x + y = 0) (x y = 0)

13. xy(x y x + y)
10 CHAPTER 1. LOGIC

14. xy(x < y)

15. xy(x y)

16. xy((x = 3) (y = 4)

17. xyz(x2 y + z = 0)

18. xy((x > y1 ))

19. xy(x2 = y 1)

20. yxz((y = x + z) (z x))

Re-write the following without any negations on quantiers

21. xP (x)

22. xyP (x, y)

23. xP (x)

24. xyP (x, y)

25. xyP (x, y)

26. Argue that xyP (x, y) xyP (x, y) is (or is not) a tautology.

27. Argue that (x(P (x) yP (y))) is equivalent to xP (x).

1.4. CIRCUITS 11

28. [2] Argue that x(P (x) y) is equivalent to (xP (x)) y

1.4 Circuits
Design logic circuits, using AND, OR, and NOT gates to solve the following
problems.

1. Input two bits, x, y and output two bits representing x y (1 1 = 00,

1 0 = 01, 0 0 = 00, 0 1 = 11).

2. Input two bits x, y and output two bits representing the absolute value
of x y

3. Input three bits x, y, z and output one bit which is the majority of the
three input bits
12 CHAPTER 1. LOGIC
Chapter 2

Sets

List the elements of the following sets. Assume the universe is Z.(Note: 2X
denotes the power set of X)

1. {x|x2 = 6}

2. {x|x2 = 9}

3. {x|(x mod 2 = 1) (x < 10)} (Assume universe is Z + for this prob-

lem)

4. [2] {x|x = x2 }

5. {x|k {2, 3, . . . x 1}x mod k = 1} (Assume universe is Z + for this

problem)

6. {a, b, c} {1, 2}

7. {1, 2} {a, b, c}

13
14 CHAPTER 2. SETS

8. {a, b, c}

9. {a, b} {1} {x, y}

10. 2{a,{a}}

11. [2] Is x {x}? Is x {x}? Is {x}? Is {x}? Is {x} {x}?

What is the cardinality of each of the following sets?

12. {{x}}

13.

14. {}

15. {{}}

16. {x, {x}, }

17. Z

18. 2Z

19. 2

20. 22

Let A = {1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8}, B = {x|(x Z + ) (x < 10)}, C = {x|(x

Z + ) (x mod 3 < 2}. List/describe the elements of the following sets.
 15

21. A B

22. A C

23. A B

24. A B

25. B A

26. A B

27. B C

28. A

29. B {}

30. C

31. A B C

32. A A

33. A B

34. In general, when are two sets D, E such that D E = D E?

35. If A B, then what is |A B|?

16 CHAPTER 2. SETS

Prove the following set identities, using either Venn Diagrams or the
rules of sets.

36. [2] A (B A) =

37. [2] (A B) (A B) = A

38. [2] (A B) C A C

39. [2] (A C) (C B) =

40. Argue that the symmetric dierence operator does, or does not, always
satisfy the associative property.

List the elements in the following sets. Assume the universe is Z + :

41. {x|x < 8}

42. {x|x = 6 x 4}

43. List the elements of {1, 2, 3, 4} {2, 3, 5, 7} {1, 5, 9}

44. List the elements of {1, 2, 3, 4} {2, 3, 5, 7}

Chapter 3

Functions

What is the value of each of the following:

1. 1.5

2. 2.6

3. 1.1

4. 1.3

5. When is x such that xx = xx

6. [2] Show that 2x = x + x + 12

7. log2 64

8. log2 27

9. log2 85

17
18 CHAPTER 3. FUNCTIONS

10. 7!

11. 26 25

Convert the following to binary:

12. 13

13. 35

14. 57

Convert the following binary numbers to base 10:

15. 101110

16. 10001

17. 11100

In each of the following, assume that f : Z Z. Then identify whether

each is a function, onto function, one-to-one function, bijection.

18. f (x) = x2 1

19. f (x) = x2 + 1

20. f (x) = x

21. f (x) = x
 19

22. f (x) = 5

23. f (x) = 2x

24. f (x) = (i) x2 if x is even; (ii)2x 1 if x is odd

25. f (x) = log x, where log x = 1 + log (log2 x) and log x = 1 for
x 2.

Also compute log 64.

n
26. Dene a recursive function such that f (n) = 5(2 ) .

27. Let f (n) = 1 for n 1 and f (n) = 2f (n 1) + 3. Compute the values

of f (n) for n 5.

28. Let f (n) = 1 for n 2 and f (n) = 2f (n 1) + f (n 1)f (n 2).

Compute the values of f (n) for n 5.

29. Show that log(n!) n log n for all n 1.

30. Let f (n) = 2 for n 2 and f (n) = f (n 1) + f (n 2) + 1. Compute

the values of f (n) for n 6.

31. Let f (n) = 1 for n 2 and f (n) = 2f (n 1) 1. Compute the values

of f (n) for n 5.
20 CHAPTER 3. FUNCTIONS
Chapter 4

Integers and Matrices

1. What is the prime factorization of 90? of 8100?

2. What is 57 mod x for each x = 2, 3, 4, 5?

3. How many integers less than 45 are relatively prime to 45?

4. [2] Show that if a, b, m are positive integers, then a mod m = b mod m

if a
= b(mod m).

5. [2] Show that if a, b, m are positive integers, then a

= b(mod m) if
a mod m = b mod m.

6. What is the gcd of 200 and 88?

7. What is the gcd of 17 and 42?

8. Show that if a|b and b|c then a|c.

i=6 i+1 ?
9. What is the value of i=2 2

21
22 CHAPTER 4. INTEGERS AND MATRICES

10. Is 2n 1 prime for all values of n?

i=5
11. What is the value of i=0 i + 1?

i=8
i=1 2 ?
i
12. What is the value of

13. What is 17 mod 5?

14. What is 81 mod 7?

15. What is 812 mod 7?

i=6
16. What is the value of i=1 i 2?

17. Are 7 and 49 relatively prime?

18. What is the value of (19 3001) mod 3?

i=n
19. Find a closed form formula that is equal to of i=2 3i 1?

20. What is 10! mod 2?

21. What is 487! mod 67?

22. Prove that if every even integer n 4 is the sum of two (not necessar-
ily distinct) primes, then every odd integer m 7 is the sum of three
(not necessarily distinct) primes.

23. What is 7272 mod 3?

 23

24. What is 833 mod 3?

25. What is the largest positive integer k such that (324 mod k) = (374 mod
k) = (549 mod k)? (What principle can you use to solve this problem
quickly?)

26. For what positive values of n is 2n + 1 divisible by 3? Prove your

answer is correct.
24 CHAPTER 4. INTEGERS AND MATRICES
Chapter 5

Proofs

5.1 Direct Proofs

1. Prove that if n is odd, then n2 is odd.

2. Use the solution to the previous problem to prove that if n is odd, then
n3 is odd. Also, nd a direct proof that does not rely on the solution
to the previous problem.

3. Prove that n is even if and only if n2 is even.

4. Prove that the power set of an innite set is also innite.

5. Let P (A) denote the power set of set A. Let A and B be sets such that
A = B. That is, there exists an element x such that x A and x / B.
Argue that P (A) = P (B) by showing there exists a specic element in
P (A) that is not in P (B) or a specic element in P (B) that is not in
P (A).

6. Prove that if n and m are positive, even integers, then nm is divisible

by 4.

7. A perfect number is a positive integer n such that the sum of the fac-
tors of n is equal to 2n (1 and n are considered factors of n). So 6 is

25
26 CHAPTER 5. PROOFS

a perfect number since 1 + 2 + 3 + 6 = 12 = 2 6. Prove that a prime

number cannot be a perfect number.

8. Prove that there does not exist an integer n > 3 such that n, n+2, n+4
are each prime.

9. Prove that (a mod 2)(b mod 2) = (ab) mod 2.

10. Prove or disprove that if a2 b2 (mod c) then a b(mod c).

11. [2] Prove that there are no integer solutions to x2 3 = 4y. (Hint: Do
a proof by cases, the cases being the value of x modulo 4).

12. Prove that if p, q are positive integers such that p|q and q|p, then p = q.

13. Prove that for any integer x, the integer x(x + 1) is even.

14. Prove that the product of any two odd integers is odd.

15. Let x y 1. Prove that if gcd(x, y) = y then lcm(x, y) = x.

16. Let x, y be positive integers. Prove that lcm(x, y) = xy/gcd(x, y).

5.2 Proofs by Contradiction

1. Let A, B be sets. Prove that if |A B| = |A| + |B|, then A B = .

2. Let f (x) and g(x) be functions. Prove, using contradiction method,

that if f (g(x)) is one-to-one, then g(x) is one-to-one. That is, suppose
that g(x) were not one-to-one and derive that f (g(x)) cannot be one-
to-one.
5.3. PROOFS BY INDUCTION 27

3. Let A, B be sets. Prove that (A B) (B A) = .

4. Let A, B be non-empty sets. Prove that if AB = B A, then A = B.

5. Prove that in any set of n numbers, there is one number whose value
is at least the average of the n numbers.

6. Let A, B be nite sets. Prove that if A B = 0 and there is a bijection

between A and B, then A = B.

7. This problem is taken from Maryland Math Olympiad problem, and

was posted on the Computational Complexity Web Log. Suppose we
color each of the natural numbers with a color from {red, blue, green}.
Prove that there exist distinct x, y such that |x y| is a perfect square.
(Hint: it suces to consider the integers between 0 and 225).

8. Prove that 3 is irrational.
One way to do this is similar to the proof
done in class that 2 is irrational, but consider two cases depending
on whether a2 is even or odd.

5.3 Proofs by Induction

Where unspecied, fn refers to the Fibonacci sequence.

n
1. Prove that i=0 2i = n(n + 1).

2. Let f1 = 1, f2 = 1, and fn = fn1 + fn2 when n > 1 (the Fibonacci

sequence). Prove using induction that fn > 2n when n 7 (note that
f8 = 21).

3. Prove that fn |f2n , where fn is the nth Fibonacci number (f0 = 0, f1 =

1, f2 = 1, fn = fn1 + fn2 for n > 2).
Hint: Use induction to show that f2n = fn (fn+1 + fn1 ) = fn fn+1 +
fn fn1 . In so doing, you will need the fact that f2n1 = (fn )2 +(fn1 )2 .
28 CHAPTER 5. PROOFS

4. Use induction to prove that each positive integer can be written as

the sum of a number of distinct, nonconsecutive Fibonacci numbers.
(Note: such a sum may consist of only one number, such as 3 = 3).

5. Prove that fn (1 + 5)n .

6. (hard, lots of algebra) Prove that fn1 fn+1 = (fn )2 (1)n .

n 2
7. Prove that i=0 (fi ) = fn fn+1 .

8. Prove that fn , fn+1 are relatively prime (i.e., have no common factors
except 1).

9. Dene function f (n) as follows. f (1) = 3 and f (n) = n f (n 1) when

n > 1. Use induction to prove that f (n) > 2n for all n 1.

10. Prove that for any integer k 0, (ab)k = ak bk .

11. (a) Prove that 2n < n! for n 4. (b) Prove that n! < nn for all n > 0.

n
12. Prove that i=1 i(i!) = (n + 1)! 1.

n
13. Prove that i=1 (2i 1) = n2 .

14. Prove that n3 n is divisible by 3 for any integer n 0.

15. Prove that if A is a set with n elements, then the power set of A con-
tains 2n elements.

n n(n+1)(n+2)
16. Prove that i=1 i(i + 1) = 3 .
5.3. PROOFS BY INDUCTION 29

n 2 n(n+1)(2n+1)
17. Prove that i=1 i = 6 .

n
18. Prove that 1
i=0 2i =2 1
2n .

n
19. Prove that i=1
1

i
2 n.

n a(kn+1 1)
20. Prove that if k = 1 then i=0 ar
i = k1 .

n 1 n
21. Prove or disprove that i=1 (2i1)(2i+1) = 2n+1 .

n i 3n+1 1
22. Prove that i=0 3 = 2 .

23. Suppose x + x1 is an integer. Prove that x2 + 1

x2
, x3 + 1
x3
, . . . , xn + 1
xn
are also integers.

2n 2n
24. Prove that for n 1, i=1 (1)
i+1 1
i = 1
i=n+1 i .

25. Prove that the number of ways to order n items is n!.

26. (hard) [2] Prove that any set of n+1 numbers taken from {1, 2, . . . , 2n}
contains a pair a, b such that a|b.

27. Prove that any positive integer can be factored into primes. (Note it is
more dicult to prove this factorization is unique, dont worry about
that for this problem).

28. [2] Prove that n3 + 2n is divisible by 3 for all positive integers n.

29. [2] Prove that any amount of postage greater than seven cents can be
formed using only three and ve cent stamps. Based on your proof,
write a recursive algorithm that prints the actual stamps used.
30 CHAPTER 5. PROOFS

n
30. Prove that i=1
1

i
2( n + 1 1), for all n 1.

31. Prove that 8|9n 1 for all n 1.

32. What is the largest number you cannot write as the sum of 6, 9, or
20? That is, what is the largest x such that x = 6u + 9v + 20w, where
u, v, w 0.

33. [1] Prove that f1 + f2 . . . + fn = fn+2 1, where fn is the nth Fi-

bonacci number (f0 = 0, f1 = 1, f2 = 1, fn = fn1 + fn2 for n > 2).
Chapter 6

Graphs

6.1 Basic Problems

6.1.1 Graphs
1. How many edges do the following graphs have: Cn , Pn , Kn , Kn,m ?

2. Does there exist a graph with degree sequence 0, 1, 3, 5, 5? (degree se-

quence is the ordered list of vertex degrees in a graph)

3. Does there exist a graph with degree sequence 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3?

4. Does there exist a graph with degree sequence 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4?

5. Does there exist a graph with degree sequence 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2?

6. Does there exist a connected graph with degree sequence 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2?

7. Let Kn,m be the bipartite graph with n vertices in one part and m in
the other part and having nm edges. Draw K2,3 so that no edges cross
(i.e., give a planar embedding).

31
32 CHAPTER 6. GRAPHS

8. Draw a 5 5 grid graph. How many edges does the n n grid graph
have?

9. Let G = (V, E) be a graph. Dene Gk = (V, E ) to be the simple

graph formed from G by adding an edge between any two vertices
whose distance in G is at most k (the distance between two vertices
is the length of a shortest path between them). Draw C52 . How many
edges does Cn2 have?

10. Write the adjacency matrix for C52 .

11. Write the adjacency matrix for P52 .

12. Is C52 isomorphic to P52 ? (G and H are isomorphic if they have the
same number of vertices and there is a function f such that uv is an
edge in G if and only of f (u)f (v) is an edge in H, for all edges uv in
G, where u and v are vertices in G. In other words, G and H can be
drawn so as to look exactly the same).

13. If G = (V, E) is a graph, then G is the graph with vertex set V and
all edges of the form uv where uv 4 isomorphic?
/ E. Are C10 and C10

14. What is the smallest k such that Cnk isomorphic to Kn ?

15. Let G have n vertices. If G is a connected graph, what is the maximum

number of edges that G can have?

16. Let G have 17 vertices. Can G possibly be isomorphic to G? What if

G has 13 vertices? G is the graph formed from G by deleting all edges
in G and adding all edges between all vertices that are not adjacent in
G.

17. Explain why a graph with n vertices, where each vertex has degree at
least n 2, cannot be bipartite when n 5.
6.1. BASIC PROBLEMS 33

18. What is the vertex connectivity and edge connectivity of the following
graph:

a !
@aaa!!!
@
@

@

C 
C 
C

19. Suppose a graph has two internally-disjoint x y paths (i.e., two paths
that have nothing in common except x and y). Is it necessarily 2-
connected? Does this violate Mengers Theorem? Why or why not?

20. Is it true that every degree one vertex in a graph has a neighbor that
is a cut-vertex? (a cut-vertex in a connected graph is a vertex whose
deletion results in a disconnected graph).

21. Consider Kn . Let us call the graph formed by taking Kn and removing
one edge Kn e. What is the chromatic number of K8 e?

22. Draw a graph G that is such that (G) > (G v) for all vertices v.
(Such a graph is called critical).

23. Draw a graph G that is such that (G) > (G e) for all edges v.
(Such a graph is called edge-critical).

24. What is the chromatic number of each of the following graphs?

a !
@aaa!!!
@
@

@

C 
C 
C
34 CHAPTER 6. GRAPHS

25. What is a largest clique in each of the graphs above?

26. A kq circular coloring of graph G = (V, E) is a function f : V

{0, 1, . . . , k 1} such that if uv E then q |f (u) f (v)| k q.
Show that C5 has a 52 coloring. Show that C7 has a 37 coloring. Show
that if (G) = c, then G has a 1c coloring.

27. The edge chromatic number of a graph is the minimum number of col-
ors needed to color the edges of a graph so that edges sharing a vertex
have dierent colors. Argue that the edge chromatic number of G is at
least the maximum degree of G. Find a graph whose edge chromatic
number exceeds the maximum degree.

28. Suppose we wish to color the vertices of a bipartite graph G = (A, B, E)

with positive integers, so that adjacent vertices receive dierent colors.
Let c(v) denote the color assigned to vertex v. We wish to minimize
c(v), that is, the sum of all the colors. Prove or disprove the follow-
ing statement. An minimum sum coloring exists for all G using only
colors 1 and 2.

29. It is N P -hard to even approximate the chromatic number of a graph

in polynomial time. That is, it is N P -complete to decide if Gs chro-
matic number is at most c k, for any constant c. Give a polynomial
time algorithm (or argue that one does not exist) to approximate the
chromatic number of a graph G having maximum degree three. That
is, your algorithm should run in polynomial time and use no more than
twice as many colors as necessary.

30. For which m, n does Km,n contain an Euler Circuit (a closed walk
containing all the edges of the graph)? A Hamiltonian Cycle (a cycle
containing all the vertices of the graph)? For which is it planar?

31. True or False: all m n grid graphs contain a Hamiltonian cycle (as-
sume m n 2). Justify your answer.
6.2. PROBLEMS REQUIRING PROOFS 35

32. A perfect code is a subset of vertices of the graph, D, such that each
vertex in GD is adjacent to exactly one element of D and each vertex
in D has no neighbors that are in D. Give an example of a tree with
10 vertices that has a perfect code and an example with 10 vertices
that does not have a perfect code.

33. Find a maximum sized matching in the graphs below.

a !
@aaa!!!
@
@

@

C 
C 
C

34. Is it true that every tree has a perfect matching? Does any tree have
more than one perfect matching?

6.1.2 Directed Graphs

1. Show that the edges of a k-chromatic graph can be oriented so that
the resulting graph has a longest directed path of length k 1.

2. The converse of a directed graph is obtained by reversing the orien-

tation of each arc. Find a directed graph this is isomorphic to its
converse. Find one that is not isomorphic to its converse.

3. Draw an acyclic tournament on six vertices.

6.2 Problems Requiring Proofs

1. Show that if u and v are the only odd-degree vertices in G, then there
is a uv path in G.
36 CHAPTER 6. GRAPHS

2. Let G be a 2-connected graph and u, v be two non-adjacent vertices

in G. Show there must be at least 2 distinct paths between u and v.

3. Show that in a 2-connected graph with at least 3 vertices, each pair

of vertices u, v must lie on a common cycle.
(In fact, one can prove something much stronger than the previous
two problems: that G is a k-connected graph, k 1, if and only if,
for all u, v, there are k dierent uv paths that have nothing in com-
mon other than the vertices u, v. This is known as Mengers Theorem.)

4. Use the contradiction method to prove that every simple undirected

graph contains two vertices having the same degree.

5. Argue that every cycle in a bipartite graph contains an even number

of edges.

6. Prove that a graph with n vertices and (G) = n 1 is connected.

((G) is the minimum degree).

7. Prove that every graph G contains an independent set (a set of vertices

n
that induce a subgraph with no edges) with at least (G)+1 vertices,
where (G) is the largest vertex degree in G.

8. Prove that a tree with n vertices has n 1 edges.

9. Let
T be a tree in which the average vertex degree is k, that is,
vV
deg(v)
n = k. From the value k, can you deduce what n is?

10. Let T be a tree. Suppose we add two edges to T forming a graph T .

How many cycles can T have?

11. Prove that an outerplanar graph (i.e., a planar graph that can be em-
bedded in the plan with all the vertices bordering the exterior face)
6.2. PROBLEMS REQUIRING PROOFS 37

can be colored with three colors.

12. Prove that any graph with n vertices and m edges has at least mn+1
cycles.

13. Let T be a tree. Prove that T 3 contains a Hamiltonian cycle (use

induction).

14. Prove that if G

= G and G has n vertices, then n is equal to either 0
or 1 modulo 4. Hint: Consider the number of edges G must have in
this case and determine when this number can be an integer.

15. Use induction to prove that a tournament contains a Hamiltonian path.

16. [3] Prove (use contradiction) that a tournament contains a vertex v

that is a king, that is, there is a directed path of length at most 2
from v to each other vertex in the tournament.

17. Let f, e, v denote the number of faces, edges, and vertices, respectively,
in a planar graph. Use induction on e to prove that f = e v + 2 (this
is known as Eulers formula).

18. Use induction to prove that Kn has n(n 1)/2 edges.

19. Prove that a graph with minimum vertex degree at least two must
contain a cycle. (Hint: Consider a longest path in the graph and look
at the ends of the path).

20. Prove that every graph with at least two vertices has at least two ver-
tices that are not cut-vertices. (Hint: consider a spanning tree of the
graph).
38 CHAPTER 6. GRAPHS
Chapter 7

Counting

Let |A| = 12, |B| = 7, |C| = 10.

1. If |A B| = 0, how many ways can we choose two elements, one from

A and one from B.

2. If |A B| = 4, what is |A B|?

3. If |A B| = 0, |A C| = 0, |B C| = 1, how many ways can we choose

three distinct elements, one from A and one from B and one from C?

4. If |A B| = 1, how many ways can we choose three distinct elements

from A B?

5. Prove or disprove that |A B| + |A B| = |A| + |B|

6. How many bits are needed to express the integer n?

7. How many bits are needed to express the integer 2n ?

8. How many bit strings are there of length 10?

39
40 CHAPTER 7. COUNTING

9. How many bit strings are there of length 10 that do not end in 111

10. How many bit strings are there of length 6 are there that do not con-
tain 1111 as a substring?

11. How many dierent SSNs are there that do not contain any even digit?

12. [2] How many positive integers less that 1000 are (a) divisible by 7; (b)
divisible by 7 but not by 11; (c) divisible by 7 and 11; (d) divisible by
7 or 11; (e) divisible by exactly one of 7, 11 (f) divisible by neither 7
nor 11; (g) have distinct digits; (h) have distinct digits and are even.

13. Repeat the previous question, but only consider three digit numbers.

14. How many dierent functions f : {0, 1, . . . , n} {0, 1} are there?

15. How many dierent one-to-one functions f : {0, 1, . . . , n} {0, 1, . . . , n+

1} are there?

16. Repeat the previous question, but require that f (x) < f (x + 1) for all
0 x < n.

17. How many three digit numbers contain distinct digits? Have a digit
repeated? Have consecutive digits that are the same?

18. How many 10 digit numbers have no two digits the same? How many
10 digit numbers have no two digits the same and do not start with 0
or 1?

19. On a multiple choice test with 100 questions and 5 answers per ques-
tion, how many dierent ways can the test be completed?
 41

20. On a multiple choice test with 100 questions and 5 answers per ques-
tion, how many dierent ways can the test be completed if every answer
is wrong?

21. On a multiple choice test with 10 questions and 5 answers per question,
how many dierent ways can the test be completed if exactly 5 of the
answers are wrong?

22. On a multiple choice test with 100 questions and 5 answers per ques-
tion, how many dierent ways can the test be completed if no two
consecutive answers are ever the same?

23. On a multiple choice test with 98 questions and 5 answers per question,
explain why some answer must occur at least 20 times on the answer
key.

24. How many people must be in a room to ensure at least two were born
on the same day of the week?

25. How many people must be in a room to ensure at least three were born
on the same day of the week?

26. How many people must be in a room to ensure at least two were born
on a Monday?

27. How many people must be in a room to ensure that either (i) at least
two were born on a Monday or (ii) at least three were born on a day
other than Monday.

28. Suppose four disjoint sets contain 15 items in total. Enumerate the
possible cardinalities of these sets provided that no single set contains
more than ve items.
42 CHAPTER 7. COUNTING

29. What are the permutations of the letters a, b, c, d? How many of these
permutations have a preceding b? How many end with ab?

30. How many ways can we choose 5 items from a box containing 10 items?
2 items from a box containing 10 items? 8 items from a box containing
10 items?

31. How many ways can we choose 3 numbers from the set {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}
(and the order we choose matters: so 1, 2, 3 is dierent from 2, 3, 1).

32. Repeat the previous question, but this time the order does not matter.

33. How many ways can we choose 3 numbers from the set {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}
so that the numbers are chosen in increasing order.

34. How many ways can we choose 3 numbers from the set {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}
so that 7 is chosen.

35. (a) How many ways can we choose 3 numbers from the set {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}
so that more odd numbers are chosen than even?
(b)How many ways can we choose 3 numbers from the set {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}
so that more odd numbers are chosen than even?

36. How many bit strings of length 8 contain at least three 0s?

37. How many bit strings of length 8 contain at least three 0s and at least
two 1s?

38. How many bit strings of length 8 contain an equal number of 0s and
1s?

39. How many bit strings of length 8 contain more 0s than 1s?
 43

40. How many paths are there of length 5 are there between two distinct
vertices in the complete graph K10 ?

41. How many paths are there between two distinct vertices in the complete
graph Kn ?

42. Let Kn be such that the vertices are labelled 1, 2, 3, . . . , n. How many
paths are there between v1 and vn such that the labels on the path are
strictly increasing?

43. How many dierent induced subgraphs are there of Kn that contain
at least one edge?

44. If |A B| = 2, |A| = 8, |B| = 7, how many ways can we one from A

and one from B so that we do not choose both elements contained in
A B? (Hint: the answer is not 55).

45. Suppose we have 10 dierent men and 2 dierent women. How many
ways can we seat them on a row of seats so that the two women sit
next to each other?

46. Suppose we have 10 dierent men and 13 dierent women. How many
ways can we seat them on a row of seats so that no two women sit next
to each other?

47. Suppose we have 10 dierent men and 3 dierent women. How many
ways can we seat them on a row of seats so that no two women sit next
to each other?

48. Suppose we have 12 dierent men and 7 dierent women. How many
ways can we seat them around a circular table so that no two women
sit next to each other? (Note: it may help to assume the seats are
numbered)
44 CHAPTER 7. COUNTING

49. On a multiple choice test with 100 questions and 2 answers per ques-
tion, how many dierent ways can the test be completed if no two
consecutive answers are ever the same?

50. How many ways can 3 indistinguishable balls be placed into 3 boxes
if (let x y z denote the number of balls in each of the four bins) :
(a) For example, 2-1-0 is dierent from 0-1-2
(b) For example, 2-1-0 is the same as 0-1-2, i.e, any two arrangements
are the same if they have the same numbers, in any order.
(c) Generalize your answer to n balls and n boxes for both parts (a)
and (b). [For part a), work out the rst few terms in the sequence and
consider looking in the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences.] [For
part b, the answer is equivalent to the number of integer partitions
of n, why?].

51. How many ways can 4 indistinguishable balls be placed into 3 boxes
if (let x y z denote the number of balls in each of the four bins) :
(a) For example, 2-1-1 is dierent from 1-2-1
(b) For example, 2-1-1 is the same as 1-1-2, i.e, any two arrangements
are the same if they have the same numbers, in any order.
(c) Generalize your answer to n+1 balls and n boxes for both parts (a)
and part (b) [For part a), work out the rst few terms in the sequence
and consider looking in the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences.]
[For part b, answer is related to number the number of integer parti-
tions of n + 1.

52. Suppose cards come in four varieties: Spaces, Clubs, Hearts, and
Diamonds. We assume cards are not numbered. A hand consists of 5
cards dealt from a deck containing these cards. The order of the cards
in a hand does not matter.

(a) Suppose 5 cards are dealt from an innite deck. How many dier-
ent hands are there?

(b) Continuing part (a), how many of these hands have exactly 3
spades?
 45

(c) Continuing part (a), how many of these hands have at least 3
spades?

(d) Suppose 5 cards are dealt from a 52 card deck. How many dierent
hands are there?

(d) Continuing part (b), how many of these hands have exactly 3
spades?

(e) Continuing part (b), how many of these hands have at least 3
spades?

(f) Continuing part (b), how many of these hands have at least 3 cards
of the same variety?

53. How many ways can a 2 n board be tiled with 1 2 tiles?

54. Consider a rectangular table with n chairs on each side. How many
ways can n married couples sit at the table to that each couple sits
either beside each other or directly across from each other?

55. Let f : A B, with |B| = 2. How many dierent f s are there? How
many dierent f s are there that are onto functions? How many are
onto if |B| = 3?

56. How many dierent ways can a team win a best 4 out of 7 series of
games? (A team must win 4 games; they might win 4 games to 0 or 4
games to 3; the order of wins matters in this problem).

57. We want to make ags with horizontal stripes. How many dierent
ags can we make if:
a) We have 3 colors and a ag has 3 stripes, all must be dierent colors
b) We have 6 colors and a ag has 6 stripes, all must be dierent colors
c) Repeat a and b, but assume two ags are the same if they have the
46 CHAPTER 7. COUNTING

same colors in reverse order (so ABC = CBA, for example)

d) We have 6 stripes, but only 3 colors.
e) Same as d), but assume each color must be used exactly twice.
f) We have 3 colors and allow a color to be used any number of times.
How many dierent ags can we make (and assume two ags are the
same if they have the same colors in reverse order).
g) Same as f) but with 4 colors.

58. Suppose we have six 3 cent stamps and 7 ve cent stamps. How many
dierent amounts of postage can we make?

59. Suppose we have three 3 cent stamps and 7 nine cent stamps. How
many dierent amounts of postage can we make?

60. Suppose we have six 3 cent stamps and 7 nine cent stamps. How many
dierent amounts of postage can we make?

61. Suppose we have six 9 cent stamps and 7 twelve cent stamps. How
many dierent amounts of postage can we make?

62. How many length 8 bit strings have consecutive 0s? (Hint: is probably
easier to count those without consecutive 0s).

63. How many two-letter strings (lowercase letters only) contain at least
one of {a, b, c, d}?

64. How many dierent ways can you distribute 4 dierent cookies to 4
dierent people: (a) so that each person gets at least one cookie (b)
so that each person may get any number of cookies?
Chapter 8

Other Topics

8.1 Relations

8.2 Algorithm Analysis

8.3 Recurrence Relations

8.4 Generating Functions

8.5 Boolean Algebra

47
48 CHAPTER 8. OTHER TOPICS
Bibliography

[1] G. Chartrand and P. Zhang, Discrete Mathematics, Waveland Press

2011

[2] K. Rosen (2002), Discrete Mathematics and its Applications

McGraw-Hill, Boston, Mass.

[3] D. West (2001), Introduction to Graph Theory, Prentice-Hall, Upper

Saddle River, NJ

49