Is my understanding of anti-symmetry and symmetry correct? I'm struggling with understanding relati

fabios3

fabios3

Answered question

2022-06-25

Is my understanding of anti-symmetry and symmetry correct?
I'm struggling with understanding relations on equations, especially symmetric and anti-symmetric.
Here's my understanding, please let me know if it's correct or not:
The relation R:
- is reflexive iff ( a , a ) R
- is symmetric iff (a,b) and ( b , a ) R
- is anti-symmetric if ( a , b ) R and (b,a) NOT in R.
- is transitive if ( a , b ) R and ( b , c ) R, then ( a , c ) R.
Example for symmetric and anti-symmetric:
Symmetric: (1,1), (2,1), (1,2)
Anti-symmetric: (1,2), (2,3), (4,3) (would it be anti-symmetric if I included ex. (2,2)?)

Answer & Explanation

Angelo Murray

Angelo Murray

Beginner2022-06-26Added 23 answers

Step 1
First, there should be statements (e.g. reflexive is a, ( a , a ) R and transitive is a , b , c, ( a , b ) R ( b , c ) R ( a , c ) R.
Step 2
Secondly, for your definition of antisymmetric, a and b must be distinct. We can have e.g. (1,1) in an antisymmetric relation.
So your example of a symmetric relation is correct and your example of an anti-symmetric relation would be correct even if you added (2,2) to the relation.

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