Relations

Role of relation in our daily life

Relation of mother and son
Relation of wife and Husband
Relation of student and teacher
Similarly in Mathematics
Relation b/w line -→ Parallel and Perpendicular
Relation b/w 2 & 4 → 4 is square of 2
1
Relation b/w sin  & cos ec → sin  =
cos ec
Definition
Let A and B be two non-empty sets, then every subset of A × B defines a relation from A to
B and every relation from A to B is a subset of A × B.
Let R  A  B and (a, b)  R. Then we say that a is related to b by the relation R and write it
as a R b . If (a, b)  R , we write it as a R b .
(1) Total number of relations : Let A and B be two non-empty finite sets consisting of m and
n elements respectively. Then A × B consists of mn ordered pairs. So, total number of
subset of A × B is 2mn. Since each subset of A × B defines relation from A to B, so total
number of relations from A to B is 2mn. Among these 2mn relations the void relation  and
the universal relation A × B are trivial relations from A to B.
(2) Domain and range of a relation : Let R be a relation from a set A to a set B. Then the set
of all first components or coordinates of the ordered pairs belonging to R is called the domain
of R, while the set of all second components or coordinates of the ordered pairs in R is called
the range of R.
Thus, Dom (R) = {a : (a, b)  R} and Range (R) = {b : (a, b)  R}.
Inverse relation
Let A, B be two sets and let R be a relation from a set A to a set B. Then the inverse of R,
denoted by R–1, is a relation from B to A and is defined by R −1 = {(b, a) : (a, b)  R}

Clearly (a, b)  R  (b, a)  R–1. Also, Dom (R) = Range ( R −1 ) and Range (R) = Dom ( R −1 )
Example : Let A = {a, b, c}, B = {1, 2, 3} and R = {(a, 1), (a, 3), (b, 3), (c, 3)}.
Then, (i) R–1 = {(1, a), (3, a), (3, b), (3, c)}
(ii) Dom (R) = {a, b, c} = Range ( R −1 )

(iii) Range (R) = {1, 3} = Dom ( R −1 )

Types of relations
(3) Reflexive relation : A relation R on a set A is said to be reflexive if every element of A is
related to itself.
Thus, R is reflexive  (a, a)  R for all a  A.
Example : Let A = {1, 2, 3} and R = {(1, 1); (1, 3)}
Then R is not reflexive since 3A but (3, 3)  R
A reflexive relation on A is not necessarily the identity relation on A.
The universal relation on a non-void set A is reflexive.
(4) Symmetric relation : A relation R on a set A is said to be a symmetric relation iff
(a, b)  R  (b, a)  R for all a, b  A
i.e., aRb  bRa for all a, b  A.
it should be noted that R is symmetric iff R −1 = R
The identity and the universal relations on a non-void set are symmetric relations.
A reflexive relation on a set A is not necessarily symmetric.
(5) Anti-symmetric relation : Let A be any set. A relation R on set A is said to be an anti-
symmetric relation iff (a, b)  R and (b, a)  R  a = b for all a, b  A.
Thus, if a  b then a may be related to b or b may be related to a, but never both.
(6) Transitive relation : Let A be any set. A relation R on set A is said to be a transitive relation
iff (a, b)  R and (b, c)  R  (a, c)  R for all a, b, c  A i.e., aRb and bRc  aRc
for all a, b, c  A.
Transitivity fails only when there exists a, b, c such that a R b, b R c but a R c .

Example : Consider the set A = {1, 2, 3} and the relations

R1 = {(1, 2), (1,3)} ; R2 = {(1, 2)}; R3 = {(1, 1)};

R4 = {(1, 2), (2, 1), (1, 1)}

Then R1 , R2 , R3 are transitive while R4 is not transitive since in R4 , (2, 1)  R4 ;(1, 2)  R4 but

(2, 2)  R4 .

The identity and the universal relations on a non-void sets are transitive.
(7) Identity relation : Let A be a set. Then the relation IA = {(a, a) : a  A} on A is called the
identity relation on A.
In other words, a relation IA on A is called the identity relation if every element of A is related
to itself only. Every identity relation will be reflexive, symmetric and transitive.
 Example : On the set = {1, 2, 3}, R = {(1, 1), (2, 2), (3, 3)} is the identity relation on A .
It is interesting to note that every identity relation is reflexive but every reflexive relation
need not be an identity relation.
(6) Equivalence relation : A relation R on a set A is said to be an equivalence relation on A iff
(i) It is reflexive i.e. (a, a)  R for all a  A
(ii) It is symmetric i.e. (a, b)  R  (b, a)  R, for all a, b  A
(iii) It is transitive i.e. (a, b)  R and (b, c)  R  (a, c)  R for all a, b, c  A.
Congruence modulo (m) : Let m be an arbitrary but fixed integer. Two integers a and b are
said to be congruence modulo m if a − b is divisible by m and we write a  b (mod m).
Thus a  b (mod m)  a − b is divisible by m. For example, 18  3 (mod 5) because
18 – 3 = 15 which is divisible by 5. Similarly, 3  13 (mod 2) because 3 – 13 = –10 which is
divisible by 2. But 25  2 (mod 4) because 4 is not a divisor of 25 – 3 = 22.
The relation “Congruence modulo m” is an equivalence relation.
Equivalence classes of an equivalence relation
Let R be equivalence relation in A(  ) . Let a  A . Then the equivalence class of a, denoted
by [a] or {a } is defined as the set of all those points of A which are related to a under the

relation R. Thus [a] = {x  A : x R a}.

It is easy to see that
(1) b  [a]  a  [b]
(2) b  [a]  [a] = [b]
(3) Two equivalence classes are either disjoint or identical.
Composition of relations
Let R and S be two relations from sets A to B and B to C respectively. Then we can define a
relation SoR from A to C such that (a, c)  SoR   b  B such that (a, b)  R and (b, c)  S.
This relation is called the composition of R and S.
For example, if A = {1, 2, 3}, B = {a, b, c, d}, C={p, q, r, s} be three sets such that
R = {(1, a), (2, b), (1, c), (2, d)} is a relation from A to B and S = {(a, s), (b, r), (c, r)} is a relation
from B to C. Then SoR is a relation from A to C given by SoR = {(1, s) (2, r) (1, r)}
In this case RoS does not exist.
In general RoS  SoR. Also (SoR)–1 = R–1oS–1.
Total Number of ordered pairs = mn

Total number of subsets = 2mn

mn
Total number of relations = 2

Total number of Reflexive Relations 2n(n-1)

n ( n+1)
2
Total number of symmetric 2
n( n+1)
n2
Total Number of relations which are not symmetric is 2 -2 2

n 2 -n
2
Total Number of relations which are both reflexive and symmetric is 2
n( n+1)
2
Total Number of relations which are symmetric but not reflexive is 2 2
- 2n -n

Sample Questions
1. If R = ( x, y ) : x, y  Z , x 2 + 3 y 2  8 is a relation on the set of integers Z, then the domain

of R −1 is:
(1) {–2, –1, 1,2} (3) {–2,-1,0,1,2}
(2) {–1, 0, 1} (4) {0,1}
2. Let R = {(3, 3), (5, 5), (9, 9), (12, 12), (5, 12), (3, 9), (3, 12), (3, 5)} be a relation on the
set A = {3, 5, 9, 12}. Then R is
(1) reflexive, transitive but not symmetric (3) symmetric, transitive but not reflexive
(2) reflexive ,symmetric but not transitive (4) an equivalence relation
3. Let R = {(3, 3), (6, 6), (9, 9), (12, 12), (6, 12), (3, 9), (3, 12), {3, 6)} be a relation on the
set A = {3, 6, 9, 12}. The relation is
(1) reflexive and symmetric only (3) reflexive only
(2) an equivalence relation (4) reflexive and transitive only
4. Let N denote the set of all natural numbers. Define two binary relations on N as
R1={(x,y)∈N×N:2x+y=10} and R2={(x,y)∈N×N:x+2y=10}. Then
(1) both are transitive only (3) range of R2 is {1,2,3,4}
(2) both are symmetric relation (4) range of R1 is {2,4,8}
5. Consider the following two binary relations on the set A={a,b,c}:
R1={(c,a),(b,b),(a,c),(c,c),(b,c),(a,a)} and R2={(a,b),(b,a),(c,c),(c,a),(a,a),(b,b),(a,c)} Then
(1) R2 is symmetric but it is not transitive
(2) Both R1 and R2 are symmetric relations
(3) Both R1 and R2 are not symmetric
(4) R1 is not symmetric but it is transitive
6. Let P be the relation defined on the set of all real numbers such that
P = ( a, b ) : sec 2 a − tan 2 b = 1 . Then P is

(1) reflexive and symmetric but not (3) symmetric and transitive but not
transitive. reflexive.
(2) reflexive and transitive but not (4) an equivalence relation
symmetric.

7. Let R = ( x, y ) : x, y  N and x 2 − 4 xy + 3 y 2 = 0 , where N is the set of all natural numbers.

Then the relation R is

(1) R is reflexive and symmetric, but not transitive
(2) R is reflexive and transitive, but not symmetric
(3) R is reflexive, symmetric and transitive
(4) R is reflexive, but neither symmetric nor transitive
8. Let R be a relation defined on N as a R b is 2a + 3b is a multiple of 5, a, b ∈ N .
Then R is
(1) not reflexive (2) transitive but not symmetric
(3) symmetric but not transitive (4) an equivalence relation
9. The relation R = ( a, b ) = gcd ( a, b ) = 1, 2 a  b, a, b  Z  is ___

(1) transitive but not reflexive (2) symmetric but not transitive
(3) reflexive but not symmetric (4) neither symmetric nor transitive
10. Which of the following is not correct for relation R on the set of real numbers ?
(1) (x, y) ∈ R ⇔ 0 < |x |– |y| ≤ 1 is neither transitive nor symmetric.
(2) (x, y) ∈ R ⇔ 0 < |x – y| ≤ 1 is symmetric and transitive.
(3) (x, y)∈ R ⇔ |x |– |y| ≤ 1 is reflexive but not symmetric.
(4) (x, y) ∈ R ⇔ |x - y| ≤ 1 is reflexive and symmetric
11. If A =  x  Z + : x  10 and x is a multiple of 3 or 4 , where Z + is the set of positive integers,

then the total number of symmetric relations on A is

(1) 25 (2) 215 (3) 210 (4) 220
12. Statement-1: A = {(x, y) ∈ R x R: y − x is an integer} is an equivalence relation on R .
Statement-2: B = {(x, y) ∈ R x R : x = αy for some rational number α} is an
equivalence relation on R.
(1) Statement-1 is true, Statement-2 is true; Statement-2 is not a correct explanation for
Statement-1
(2) Statement-1 is true, Statement-2 is false.
(3) Statement-1 is false, Statement-2 is true.
(4) Statement-1 is true, Statement-2 is true; Statement-2 is a correct explanation for
Statement-1
13. Let R be the real line. Let the relation S ant T on R be defined by
S = ( x, y ) : y = x + 1, 0  x  2 , T = ( x, y ) : x − y is an int eger . Then

(1) Both S ant T are equivalence relation on R

(2) T is an equivalence on R but S is not
(3) neither S nor T is an equivalence relation on R
(4) S is an equivalence relation on R but T is not
14. Let R be the relation on the set R of all real numbers defined by setting aRb iff
1
a −b  . Then R is
2
(1) reflexive and symmetric but not transitive
(2) symmetric and transitive but not reflexive
(3) reflexive and transitive but not symmetric
(4) transitive but neither reflexive nor symmetric
15. Let R1 and R2 be two relations defined on R by aR1b  ab  0 and aR2b  a  b . Then

(1) R1 is an equivalence relation but not R2

(2) R2 is an equivalence relation but not R1
(3) Both R1 and R2 are equivalence relations
(4) neither R1 nor R2 is an equivalence relations
16. For any two real numbers a and b , we defined aRb if and only if sin 2 a + cos 2 b = 1 . The
relation R is
(1) reflexive but nor symmetric
(2) symmetric but not transitive
(3) transitive but not reflexive
(4) an equivalence relation
17. Let R1 & R2 be two relations defined as follows:

R1 = ( a, b )  R 2 : a 2 + b 2  Q & R2 = ( a, b )  R 2 : a 2 + b 2  Q where Q is the set of all rational

numbers. Then:
(1) R2 is transitive but R1 is not (3) R1 and R2 are both transitive
transitive (4) Neither R1 nor R2 is transitive
(2) R1 is transitive but R2 is not
transitive
18. Consider the following relations: R = {(x, y)|x, y are real numbers and x = wy for
some rational number w}; S = {(m/n, p/q)|m, n, p and are integers such that n, q ≠ 0
and qm = pn}.Then
(1) R is an equivalence relation but S is not an equivalence relation
(2) neither R nor S is an equivalence relation
(3) S is an equivalence relation but R is not an equivalence relation
(4) R and S both are equivalence relations
19. Let W denote the words in the English dictionary. Define the relation R by :
R = {(x, y) ∈ W × W | the words x and y have at least one letter in common}. Then R
is
(1) not reflexive, symmetric and transitive (3) reflexive, symmetric and transitive
(2) reflexive, symmetric and not transitive (4) reflexive, not symmetric and transitive.
20. Let N denote the set of all natural numbers and R be the relation on N×N defined by
(a,b)R(c,d)⟺ad(b-c)=bc(a-d). Then R is
(1) Symmetric but neither reflexive nor transitive
(2) Transitive but neither reflexive nor symmetric
(3) Reflexive and symmetric but not transitive
(4) Symmetric and transitive but not reflexive
  
21. Among the relations S = ( a, b ) : a, b  R − 0 , 2 +  0  & T = ( a, b ) : a, b  R, a 2 − b 2  Z 
a
 b 
(1) S is transitive but T is not
(2) T is symmetric but S is not
(3) Neither S nor T is transitive
(4) Both S and T are symmetric
22. Let R be a relation on R , given by R = {(a, b) : 3a – 3b + √7 is an irrational number}.
Then R is
(1) Reflexive but neither symmetric nor transitive
(2) Reflexive and transitive but not symmetric
(3) Reflexive and symmetric but not transitive
(4) An equivalence relation
23. Let P(S) denote the power set of S = {1, 2, 3, ..., 10}. Define the relations R1 and R2

on P(S) as AR1B if ( A  B c )  ( B  Ac ) =  and AR2B if ( A  B c ) = ( B  Ac ) , A, B  P ( S ) . Then:

(1) both R1 and R2 are equivalence relations

(2) only R1 is an equivalence relation
(3) only R2 is an equivalence relation
(4) both R1 and R2 are not equivalence relations
24. Let A and B be two sets containing 4 and 2 elements respectively. Then the number

of subsets of the set A×B, each having at least three elements is ________

25. If n(A) denotes the number of elements in set A and if n(A)=4,n(B)=5 and n(A∩B)=3

then n[(A×B)∩(B×A)]=

26. Let A and B be finite sets such that n(A)=3 . If the total number of relations that can

be defined from A to B is 4096 , then n(B)=

27. Let S={1,2,3,4}. The total number of unordered pairs of disjoint subsets of S is equal

to

28. Let A={1,2,3}. Then number of equivalence relations containing (1, 2) is:
29. Let A={1,2,3….,29,30} and R be an equivalence relation on AxA by (a,b) R (c,d) if and

only if ad=bc . Then the number of ordered pairs which satisfy this equivalence

relation with ordered pairs (4,3) is equal to:

30. Let X={1,2,3,4,5} then the number of unordered pairs of subsets of x which have

exactly two elements in common is

31. If A={1,2,3,4,5} then the number of equivalence relations on A is

32. The minimum number of elements that must be added to the relation R = {(a,b),(b,c)}

on the set {a,b,c} so that it becomes symmetric and transitive is

33. Let Z be the set of all integers.

A={(x,y)∈Z×Z:(x−2)2+y2≤4},

B={(x,y)∈Z×Z:x2+y2≤4} and

C={(x,y)∈Z×Z:(x−2)2+(y−2)2≤4}

If the total number of relations from A∩B to A∩C is 2 p , then the value of p is

34. The minimum number of elements that must be added to the relation

R = {(a, b), (b, c), (b, d)} on the set {a, b, c, d} so that it is an equivalence relation, is

_________