Finding and drawing equivalence class with a binary set defined on RxR In the question, it has been

Landon Bonilla

Landon Bonilla

Answered question

2022-05-27

Finding and drawing equivalence class with a binary set defined on RxR
In the question, it has been asked to find and draw the equivalence classes of the relation on ( R × R ) { ( 0 , 0 ) } which is defined as
( x 1 , x 2 ) ( y 1 , y 2 )   if   ( y 1 , y 2 ) = α ( x 1 , x 2 ) , for some  α 0
On solving, I have obtained the equivalence class as
[ ( a , b ) ] = { ( x , y ) R : ( x , y ) ( a , b ) } = { ( x , y ) R : ( x , y ) = α ( a , b ) }
On solving this, I got x = α a and y = α b and x y = α ( a b ) which will correspond to the set of straight lines having slope 1 and y-intercept α ( a b ) excluding the straight line passing.
But in the solution of this question, the equivalence class is given as the set of all straight lines passing through the origin(which is excluded).
I have just begun discrete math, and I am not getting any idea of the solution.
It would be really helpful if someone could help me with this.

Answer & Explanation

Ronnie Glenn

Ronnie Glenn

Beginner2022-05-28Added 11 answers

Step 1
There is no problem with your algebra, but with which values are varying and which are constants.
Notice that α is a function of x, y, not some independent constant. We might do well to write it as α x , y to emphasise this fact. This is the nuanced difference between your set,
[ ( a , b ) ] = { ( x , y ) R : ( x , y ) = α ( a , b ) }
and the more formal
[ ( a , b ) ] = { ( x , y ) R : α R { 0 } : ( x , y ) = α ( a , b ) }
You have rearranged x = α x , y a , y = α x , y b to y = x α x , y ( a b ). Now we might see more clearly why this is not the equation of a straight line: α x , y will vary as x varies.
For instance, for some particular values x,y, it might be that α x , y = 1 and α x + 1 , y = 3. Here, the change that increasing x by 1 will have on y is + 1 2 ( a b ), so it is not correct to say that the gradient is 1.
Step 2
Instead, we need to eliminate α x , y from our equation. We can do that by approaching the algebra a bit differently:
x = α x , y a , y = α x , y b α x , y = x / a , y = α x , y b y = b a x
Now we genuinely do have the equation of a straight line, with gradient b/a and y-intercept 0.
Varying a,b can produce any possible real number: for instance, to achieve a straight line through the origin with gradient r, take a = 1 , b = r.
I'll leave you with this: there is one exceptional case, a straight line through the origin that does not have the form y = r x for some r R . What is the equation of that line, and what values of a,b produce it?

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