ENSIA Academic year 2023-2024

November 12, 2023 First Academic Semester

Foundational Mathematics
Answer key Midterm Exam

Exercice 1 (Independent questions) [10 marks]

1. Determine whether the statement is true or false and justify.
(a) (p ∧ ¬q) ⇒ (q ∨ p) for any two propositions p and q. (1 mark)

p q ¬q p ∧¬q q ∨p (p∧¬q) =⇒ (q ∨ p)
T T F F T T
T F T T T T
F T F F T T
F F T F F T
According to the truth table, the statement is true.

(b) ∀a, b ∈ Z, a and a2 − b2 are even =⇒ b is even. (1 mark)

The statement is true since if a and a2 − b2 are even, then a = 2k and a2 − b2 = 2k ′

with k, k ′ ∈ Z. Therefore b2 = 2(2k 2 − k ′ ) is even and this implies that b is even.
a
(c) ∀a, b ∈ R∗ , is rational and b is irrational =⇒ a is irrational. (1 mark)
b
a
The statement is true. Let a, b ∈ R∗ such that = r is rational and b is irratio-
b
nal.
a
For a contradiction, suppose that a is rational, then b = is rational and this is false
r
since b is irrational.

(d) For all sets A, B and C, (A − B) ∩ (B − C) ⊆ (A ∩ C) − B. (1 mark)

The statement is true since (A − B) ∩ (B − C) = ∅ is included in any set.

2. Set A =]−∞, −3] and B =]−5, 5]∪{6, −2}. Give A∩B, without justification. (1 mark)

A ∩ B =] − 3, 5] ∪ {6}

3. Give the solutions of z 4 + 16 = 0 in C, without justification. (1 mark)

π 3π 3π π
i i −i −i
X0 = 2e 4 ; X1 = 2e 4 ; X2 = 2e 4 ; X3 = 2e 4

1
 4. Let R be the equivalence relation defined on the set C by

∀x, y ∈ C, xRy ⇔ x4 = y 4 .

Determine the equivalence class of an element x ∈ C. (1 mark)

x = {x, −x, ix, −ix}.

5. A bag contains 10 red marbles, 10 white marbles, and 10 blue marbles. What is the
minimum number N of marbles you have to choose randomly from the bag to ensure
that we get 5 marbles of same color ? (1 mark)

We use the generalized pigeonhole principle. We have n = 3 pigeonholes which are

the colors and we want to get 5 marbles of same color. Then k + 1 = 5, this gives k = 4.
Therefore N = nk + 1 = 3 × 4 + 1 = 13.

6. Determine a bijection from N to Z, without justification. (2 marks)

f : N −→ Z, defined by, ∀n ∈ N,
 n
 if n is even
f (n) = 2
 − n + 1 if n is odd
2

Exercice 2 (5 marks) Let R be the relation defined on the set N∗ by

∀m, n ∈ N∗ , mRn ⇔ ∃k ∈ N∗ ; m = k 2 n

1. Show that R is an order relation.

(a) R is reflexive. Indeed, for all n ∈ N∗ , there exists k = 1 such that n = 12 n. So nRn.
(1 mark)
(b) R is transitive.
Let n, m, r ∈ N∗ such that mRn and nRr.
We have
mRn ⇔ ∃k ∈ N∗ ; m = k 2 n
and
nRr ⇔ ∃k ′ ∈ N∗ ; n = k ′2 r.
Therefore m = (kk ′ )2 r = k ′′ r, where k ′′ = kk ′ ∈ N∗ , that is mRr. (1 mark)
(c) R is antisymmetric.
Let n, m ∈ N∗ such that mRn and nRm.
We have
mRn ⇔ ∃k ∈ N∗ ; m = k 2 n
and
nRm ⇔ ∃k ′ ∈ N∗ ; n = k ′2 m.
This implies that m = (kk ′ )2 m. Then m((kk ′ )2 − 1) = 0. As m ̸= 0, then kk ′ = 1
since kk ′ ∈ N∗ and this gives k = k ′ = 1 since k, k ′ ∈ N∗ . Therefore m = n. (1
mark)

2
 2. Is it a total order ? (1 mark)

No, it is not a total order. Set m = 2 and n = 3, then ∀k ∈ N∗ , 2 ̸= 3k 2 and

∀k ∈ N∗ , 2 ̸= 3k 2 . Indeed, if there exists k ∈ N∗ such that 2 = 3k 2 , then 3 divides
2 which is impossible and if there exists k ′ such that 3 = 2k ′2 , then 2 divides 3 and it is
also impossible.

3. Set A = {4, 8, 16, 24}. Is A an upper bounded subset of N∗ ? (1 mark)

Assume for a contradiction that A is upper bounded, then there exists M ∈ N∗ such
that for all x ∈ A, xRM. In particular, we get 4RM and 8RM . This gives 4 = k 2 M and
k′ k′
8 = k ′2 M with k, k ′ ∈ N∗ and then ( )2 = 2 which is impossible since is rational. It
k k
follows that A is not upper bounded.

Exercice 3 (5 marks) Let E be a nonempty set.

Let A, B ∈ P(E) and f : P(E) −→ P(A) × P(B) defined by

f (X) = (X ∩ A, X ∩ B).

1. Show that
f is injective ⇐⇒ A ∪ B = E

Suppose f injective.
We have f (A ∪ B) = ((A ∪ B) ∩ A, (A ∪ B) ∩ B) = (A, B) and
f (E) = (E ∩ A, E ∩ B) = (A, B). As f (A ∪ B) = f (E) and f is injective then A ∪ B = E.
(1 mark)
Now, assume that A ∪ B = E and let X1 , X2 ∈ P(E) such that f (X1 ) = f (X2 ). Then
we have
X1 ∩ A = X2 ∩ A and X1 ∩ B = X2 ∩ B.

So, we obtain successively

X1 = X1 ∩ E
= X1 ∩ (A ∪ B)
= (X1 ∩ A) ∪ (X1 ∩ B)
= (X2 ∩ A) ∪ (X2 ∩ B)
= X2 ∩ (A ∪ B)
= X2 ∩ E = X2 .

Therefore f is injective. (1 mark)

2. Show that
f is surjective ⇐⇒ A ∩ B = ∅
Suppose that f is surjective. We have (A, ∅) ∈ P(A) × P(B) then there exists X ∈ P(E)
such that f (X) = (A, ∅). This gives X ∩ A = A and X ∩ B = ∅. Therefore,

A ∩ B = (X ∩ A) ∩ B = A ∩ (X ∩ B) = ∅.(1 mark)

3
 Now, suppose that A ∩ B = ∅ and let (Y1 , Y2 ) ∈ P(A) × P(B). Set X = Y1 ∪ Y2 ∈ P(E).
Since A ∩ Y2 ⊆ A ∩ B and Y1 ∩ B ⊆ A ∩ B, then A ∩ Y2 = ∅ and Y1 ∩ B = ∅. We have

f (X) = ((Y1 ∩ A) ∪ (Y2 ∩ A), (Y1 ∩ B) ∪ (Y2 ∩ B) = (Y1 ∩ A, Y2 ∩ B) = (Y1 , Y2 ).

Then f is surjective. (1 mark)

3. Give a necessary and sufficient condition for f to be bijective. (1 mark)
f is bijective if and only if A ∩ B = ∅ and A ∪ B = E. This is equivalent to B = A.