21 text assignment

course Mth 151

JÔVGDÏ֓assignment #001

001. `Query 1

College Algebra

09-04-2008

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13:17:52

Query 2.1.12 counting #'s 4 to 14

List the elements of the set.

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RESPONSE -->

Well, the listing method gives us this for a set

(4, 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14)

So the elements would be:

4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14

I am confident in my answer, all I had to do was write it in listing method form, and I received the answer.

confidence assessment: 3

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13:18:02

**A list of the elements would just be 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. **

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RESPONSE -->

OK

self critique assessment: 3

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13:21:31

query 2.1.24 set builder for set of presidents between LBJ and Clinton

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RESPONSE -->

Without looking up the lineage of presidents, I deduced that JFK was president right before LBJ was elected into office, and that Bush is the most current president after clinton. So using previous knowledge of presidents, I came up with

[x\x is a president after LBJ and before Clinton]

[Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush]

confidence assessment: 3

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13:21:54

** Set-builder notation is {x|x is a president who served between Lyndon Johnson and William Clinton}

x is a variable and the condition 'x is a president who served between Lyndon Johnson and William Clinton' tells you what possible things the variable can be.

COMMON ERROR: It's incorrect to say {x | x is the set of presidents who served between Johnson and Clinton}.

x is a president, not a set of presidents. Should be {x|x is a president who served between Lyndon Johnson and William Clinton} **

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RESPONSE -->

OK

self critique assessment: 3

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13:23:12

2.1.40 finite or infinite: set of rat #'s 0 to 1

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RESPONSE -->

Since we are able to count those numbers up to 1, and they eventually reach an end when we count from 0, that makes it finite.

confidence assessment: 3

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13:24:28

** Rational numbers have form p/q, where p and q are integers. Numbers like 5/8, 57/31, -3/5, -57843/7843, etc.

The subset {1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, ... } is just by itself an infinite set of rational numbers between 0 and 1.

Then you have things like 348/937, and 39827389871 / 4982743789, and a whole infinite bunch of others. There are thus infinitely many rational numbers in any interval of the real line.

COMMON MISCONCEPTION: finite, because it doesn't go on forever

Rational numbers have form p/q, where p and q are integers. Numbers like 5/8, 57/31, -3/5, -57843/7843, etc. Not all of these lie between 0 and 1, of course. **

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RESPONSE -->

I fell into the trap of the common misconception, excluding the vast possabilities that rational numbers hold. I will remember this in future problems.

self critique assessment: 2

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13:25:32

2.1.48 n(A), A={x|x is a U.S. senator}

What is n(A) and why?

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RESPONSE -->

The cardinal number of A, which is the set of U.S senators, is 100, being that there are two state senators per state.

n(A)=100

confidence assessment: 2

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13:25:48

** n(A) stands for the number of elements in the set--in this case for the number of senators. There are 100, 2 from each State. So n(A) = 100. **

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RESPONSE -->

OK

self critique assessment: 3

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13:26:51

query 2.1.54 {x|x is neagtive number}

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RESPONSE -->

This is a well defined ansewr, because it makes it absolutely certain that the elements of the set will be negative. I am sure this answer is correct,

confidence assessment: 3

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13:27:09

** This notation means all possible values of x such that x is a negative number.

The question is whether the set is well-defined or not.

It is in fact well-defined because there is a definite way to decide whether a given object is an element of the set, because there is a definite way to determine whether an object is a negative number or not.

ALTERNATIVE ANSWER: The set is well-defined because you have a criterion by which you can definitely decide whether something is or is not in the set. **

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RESPONSE -->

OK

self critique assessment: 3

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13:28:10

2.1.72 true or false 2 not subset of {7,6,5,4}

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RESPONSE -->

True, 2 is not an element of the set

(7,6,5,4)

So of course, if it's not even an included element, it can't be a subset at all.

confidence assessment: 3

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13:29:33

** The statement is that 2 is not a subset. The statement is true because 2 isn't even a set, it's just a number. {2} is a set and could be a subset of something. 2 is just a number; it isn't a set so it can't be a subset of anything.

The usual answer is that 2 isn't a subset because 2 isn't in the set. However that's not the correct reason. The correct reason is that 2 isn't a set and a subset must be a set.

COMMON MISCONCEPTION: the statement says that 2 is not a subset, not that it is not an element of the set. So the reason it's not a subset is that 2 isn't a set at all, so it can't be a subset of anything. **

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RESPONSE -->

Very tricky answer, I completely missed the fact that it was 2, not (2). I will be more careful and critical in my thinking regarding future similar problems.

self critique assessment: 2

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13:30:44

2.1.84 C={4,10,12}, B={2,4,8,10}

Is it true or false that every element of C is also an element of B?

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RESPONSE -->

False, every element of C cannot be an element of B. They have 4 and 10 in common, but not 12, 12 is not shared between them at all, so the the statement is FALSE.

confidence assessment: 3

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13:30:52

** Specifically it's false because the element 12 is in C but not in B. **

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RESPONSE -->

OK

self critique assessment: 3

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&#This looks good. Let me know if you have any questions. &#