For the relation in , which of the following is correct?
For the relation in , which of the following is correct?
Solution
The relation in consists of all ordered pairs where .
To determine the properties of this relation, three conditions must be checked: reflexive, symmetric, and transitive.
For to be reflexive, must be in for every .
This requires for all .
Since any real number is less than or equal to itself, this condition holds.
Examples: , ,
Therefore, is reflexive.
For to be symmetric, whenever , then must also be in .
This requires: if , then .
Consider and :
since
For to be in , we need , which is false.
Therefore, is not symmetric.
For to be transitive, whenever and , then must be in .
This requires: if and , then .
Consider , , :
since
since
since
This is a fundamental property of inequalities in and holds for all real numbers.
Therefore, is transitive.
The relation is reflexive and transitive but not symmetric.
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