NOTE

M A T H E M A T I C S

RELATIONS AND FUNCTIONS

INTRODUCTION TO RELATIONS

What you already know What you will learn

• Set theory • Ordered pair • Inverse of a relation

• Cartesian product • Some special relations
• Relation • Domain, range

Ordered Pair

An ordered pair consists of two objects or elements in a given fixed order.

Example: (2,3) is an ordered pair, where 2 is the first element and 3 is the second element.

Position of a point in a 2-D plane is represented by an ordered pair.

A (1, 2)
(-1, 2) D C (2, 2)
2

(-2, 1) E B (2, 1)
1

-2 -1 0 1 2
x

Equality of ordered pair

Two ordered pairs are equal if and only if their corresponding first and second elements are
equal.
(a1, b1) = (a2, b2)
⇔ a1 = a2 and b1 = b2

Note

I. Ordered pair is not termed as a set. Therefore (1, 2) is different from (2, 1).
II. In a set {2, 2} means the existence of one element but (2, 2) means two elements.
III. Order of elements is important and elements need not be distinct.

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Quick Query

1. If (3a - 2, b + 3) = (2a - 1, 3), find a and b.

Cartesian Product

Let A and B be two non-empty sets. The set of all ordered pairs (a, b), where a ∈ A and b ∈ B, is
known as the cartesian product of sets A and B. It is denoted by A x B.

Mathematically

A x B = {(a, b) : a ∈ A and b ∈ B}

Example

Set B
1 2 3 4

a (a, 1) (a, 2) (a, 3) (a, 4)

b (b, 1) (b, 2) (b, 3) (b, 4)

Set A →AxB
c (c, 1) (c, 2) (c, 3) (c, 4)

d (d, 1) (d, 2) (d, 3) (d, 4)

Example If Set A = {1, 2, 3}, Set B = {a, b}, then In general, A × B ≠ B × A

If A = φ or B = φ , then A × B = φ
A × B = {(1, a), (1, b), (2, a), (2, b), (3, a), (3, b)}
B × A = {(a, 1), (a, 2), (a, 3), (b, 1), (b, 2), (b, 3)}

Concept Check

1. Let A be a non-empty set such that A × A has 9 elements among which two elements are
   found to be (-1, 0) and (0, 1). Find set A.

(a) {-1, 0} (b) {0, 1} (c) {-1, 0, 1} (d) {-1, 1}

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Number of elements in the cartesian product A × B

If A and B are finite sets, then n(A × B) = n(A) × n(B)

If either A or B is infinite, then A × B is an infinite set.

Concept Check

2. Let A have the first 10 odd natural numbers and B have the first 10 prime natural numbers.
   Find the number of elements common to A × B and B × A.

(a) 28 (b) 82 (c) 72 (d) 27

3.    Let A be the set of all divisors of 8 and B be the set of all the divisors of 10. Find the number of
elements in A × B.

4. If A = {1, 2}, B = {3, 4, 5}, C = {a, b}. Find number of elements in A × B × C.

If A and B are any two non-empty sets, then

A×B=B×A⇔A=B

Let A and B be two non-empty sets having m elements in common, then A × B and
B × A have m2 elements in common.

Relation

A relation from A to B is a subset of the cartesian product A × B.

Mathematically

R is a relation from A to B ⇔ R ⊆ A × B

Notations

Example: A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and B = {1, 5, 7}

Define a relation R from A to B. aRb if a - b is even.
R = {(1, 1), (1, 5), (1, 7), (3, 1), (3, 5), (3, 7), (5, 1), (5, 5), (5, 7)}

R: A → B
In the above example, (1, 5) ∈ R or 1R5.
(a, b) ∈ R means a is related to b.

Quick Query

2. Let A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {4, 5, 6}. Find which of the following are relations from A to B.

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• R1 = {(1, 4), (1, 5), (1, 6)}

• R2 = {(1, 5), (2, 4), (3, 6)}
• R3 = {(1, 4), (1, 5), (1, 6), (3, 6), (2, 6), (3, 4)}
• R4 = {(4, 2), (2, 6), (5, 1), (2, 4)}

Total number of relations from A to B

If n (A) = p and n (B) = q,

Total number of relations from A to B = Total number of subsets of A × B = 2pq

Domain Range

The collection of the first elements of all the The collection of the second elements of all
ordered pairs of a relation R is known as the the ordered pairs of a relation R is known as
domain of R. the range of R.

Example

A = {2, 4, 5} and B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8}

R = {(x, y) : xRy iff x divides y}
R = {(2, 2), (2, 4), (2, 6), (2, 8), (4, 4), (4, 8)}

Domain: {2, 4} Range: {2, 4, 6, 8}

Quick Query

3. Find the domain and range of relation R = {(1, 8), (1, 3), (2, 7), (2, 9), (5, 7), (5, 9)}.

Inverse of a Relation

Let A, B be two sets and R be a relation from A to B. The inverse of R, denoted by R-1, is a relation
from B to A and is defined as the following:
R-1 = {(b, a) : (a, b) ∈ R}
Thus, if (a, b) ∈ R ⇔ (b, a) ∈ R-1
Example

A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and B = {1, 4, 5}

Let R be a relation from A to B.
R = {(x, y) ∈ A x B : xRy iff x < y}
R = {(1, 4), (1, 5), (2, 4), (2, 5), (3, 4), (3, 5), (4, 5)}

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Then R-1 = {(4, 1), (5, 1), (4, 2), (5, 2), (4, 3), (5, 3), (5, 4)}
R-1 is a relation from B to A.

Quick Query

4. Find the inverse of this relation R = {(8, 4), (13, 12), (5, 10)}.

1. Domain of R = Range of R-1 2. Domain of R-1 = Range of R

Some special relations

Void relation

A relation R on a set A is known as a void or an empty relation, if no element of set A is related to

any element of A.
Here, R = Ø ⊆ A x A
For example:
R is a relation on A = {1, 2, 3} such that
R = {(a, b) : a + b = 12}

Universal relation

If each element of set A is related to every element of set A, then the relation is known as a
universal relation.
For example:
R is a relation on A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} such that
R = {(a, b) : a < b or a _> b}

Identity relation

Given a set A, an identity relation on A is defined as the set of all ordered pairs (a, a) where a
belongs to A.

 For example:
 R is a relation on A such that
 A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} such that R = {(a, b) : a = b}
 R = {(1, 1), (2, 2), (3, 3), (4, 4), (5, 5)}

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Summary

Key terms

1. Ordered pair: An ordered pair consists of two objects or elements in a given fixed order.

2. Cartesian product: Let A and B be two non-empty sets. The set of all ordered pairs (a, b),
where a ∈ A and b ∈ B is known as the cartesian product of sets A and B
and is denoted by A x B.

3. A relation from A to B is a subset of the cartesian product A x B.

4. Domain: The collection of the first elements of all the ordered pairs of a relation R is known as
the domain of R.

5. Range: The collection of the second elements of all the ordered pairs of a relation R is
  known as the range of R.

6. Inverse of a relation R: R-1 = {(b, a) : (a, b) ∈ R}

7.   Void relation: An empty relation, that is, one having no elements is a void relation.

8. Universal relation: If each element of set A is related to every element of set A, then the
relation is known as a universal relation.

9. Identity relation: Given a set A, an identity relation on A is defined as the set of all ordered
pairs (a, a) where a belongs to A.

Key takeaways

1. Two ordered pairs are equal if and only if their corresponding first and second elements are
equal.
2. Cartesian product: A x B = {(a, b) : a ∈ A and b ∈ B}.

Key results

1. If A and B are finite sets, then n(A x B) = n(A) x n(B)

2. If n(A) = p and n(B) = q,
Total number of relations from A to B = 2pq
3. If A and B are any two non-empty sets, then
A×B=B×A⇔A=B

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Mind map

Ordered
pair Cartesian
(a, b) product
AXB
Range: Set of
second elements
of R
Relation
R⊆AxB
Domain: Set of
first elements of R

Inverse of a relation
R-1 = {(b, a) : (a, b) ∈ R}
Null Some
relation special
relations

Universal
Identity relation
relation

Self-Assessment

1. Let R be a relation on the set of natural numbers N defined by

R = {(x, y) : 2x + y = 8}. Find its domain and range.
2. The cartesian product of two sets is given as A x B = {(2, 3), (9, 3), (8, 3)}.
Find A and B.
3. How many relations can be made on A?
A = {x : 1 < x < 30 and 3 divides x}
4. If A = {1, 2, 4}, B = {2, 4, 5}, C = {2, 5 }. Find (A - B) x (B – C).
  (a) {(1, 2), (1, 5), (2, 5)} (b) {(1, 4)} (c) {2, 4} (d) {(1, 2), (2, 4)}

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Answers

Quick Query

1. (3a - 2, b + 3) = (2a - 1, 3) 2. R1, R2, R3 are all relations from A to B.

3a - 2 = 2a - 1 All their ordered pairs have the first element
a=1 belonging to A and the second element
b+3=3 belonging to B.
b=0 It is sufficient to say that (4, 2) is an element
a = 1, b = 0   of R4 but 4 does not belong to A. Hence, R4 is
not a relation from A to B.

3. Domain: {1, 2, 5} 4. Inverse R-1 = {(4, 8), (12, 13), (10, 5)}
Range: {3, 7, 8, 9}

Concept Check

1. Solution : We have, 2. Solution: We have,

A ≠ Ø and n(A x A) = 9 A = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19}
Now, n(A x A) = n(A) x n(A) B = {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29}
⇒ n(A) x n(A) = 9 ∴ n(A ∩ B) = 7
⇒ (n(A))2 = 9 ⇒ n(A) = 3 ⇒ n((A x B) ∩ (B x A)) = (n(A ∩ B))2 = 72
Also, (-1, 0), (0, 1) ∈ A x A ⇒ Number of elements common to A x B and
⇒ A = {-1, 0, 1} B x A = 49

3. A is the set of all divisors of 8 4. Number of elements in

A = {1, 2, 4, 8} A X B X C = n(A) ⨯ n(B) ⨯ n(C)
B is the set of all divisors of 10. ⇒ 2 ⨯ 3 ⨯ 2 = 12
B = {1, 2, 5, 10}
n(A x B) = n(A) x n(B)
= 4 x 4 = 16

Self-Assessment

1. R = {(x, y) : 2x + y = 8} 3. A = {3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27}

R = {(1, 6), (2, 4), (3, 2)} Number of elements in A = 9
Domain = {1, 2, 3} Total number of relations from
Range = {2, 4, 6} A to A = 2n(A) x n(A)
= 281
2. A x B = {(2, 3), (9, 3), (8, 3)}
4. (A - B) = {1}
A = {2, 9, 8}
B = {3} (B - C) = {4}
Therefore, (A - B) X (B - C) = {(1, 4)}

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