Assignment 3a

1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 18
1. For each group in the following list, nd the order of the group and the order of each element
in the group. What relation do you see between the orders of the elements and the order of the
group?
Z
12
: Z
12
= ({0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}, +), so |Z
12
| = 12
0 is the identity, so, as usual, |0| = 1
1 = 1
2 1 = 1 + 1 = 2
3 1 = 2 + 1 = 3
4 1 = 3 + 1 = 4
5 1 = 4 + 1 = 5
6 1 = 5 + 1 = 6
7 1 = 6 + 1 = 7
8 1 = 7 + 1 = 8
9 1 = 8 + 1 = 9
10 1 = 9 + 1 = 10
11 1 = 10 + 1 = 11
12 1 = 11 + 1 = 12 = 0
so |1| = 12.
2 = 2
2 2 = 2 + 2 = 4
3 2 = 4 + 2 = 6
4 2 = 6 + 2 = 8
5 2 = 8 + 2 = 10
6 2 = 10 + 2 = 12 = 0
so |2| = 6.
3 = 3
2 3 = 3 + 3 = 6
3 3 = 6 + 3 = 9
4 3 = 9 + 3 = 12 = 0
so |3| = 4.
4 = 4
2 4 = 4 + 4 = 8
3 4 = 8 + 4 = 12 = 0
so |4| = 3.
5 = 5
2 5 = 5 + 5 = 10
3 5 = 10 + 5 = 15 = 3
4 5 = 3 + 5 = 8
5 5 = 8 + 5 = 13 = 1
6 5 = 1 + 5 = 6
7 5 = 6 + 5 = 11
8 5 = 11 + 5 = 16 = 4
9 5 = 4 + 5 = 9
10 5 = 9 + 5 = 14 = 2
11 5 = 2 + 5 = 7
12 5 = 7 + 5 = 12 = 0
so |5| = 12.
6 = 6
2 6 = 6 + 6 = 12 = 0
so |6| = 2.
7 = 7
2 7 = 7 + 7 = 14 = 2
3 7 = 2 + 7 = 9
4 7 = 9 + 7 = 16 = 4
5 7 = 4 + 7 = 11
6 7 = 11 + 7 = 18 = 6
7 7 = 6 + 7 = 13 = 1
8 7 = 1 + 7 = 8
9 7 = 8 + 7 = 15 = 3
10 7 = 3 + 7 = 10
11 7 = 10 + 7 = 17 = 5
12 7 = 5 + 7 = 12 = 0
so |7| = 12.
8 = 8
2 8 = 8 + 8 = 16 = 4
3 8 = 4 + 8 = 12 = 0
so |8| = 3.
9 = 9
2 9 = 9 + 9 = 18 = 6
3 9 = 6 + 9 = 15 = 3
4 9 = 3 + 9 = 12 = 0
so |9| = 4.
10 = 10
2 10 = 10 + 10 = 20 = 8
3 10 = 8 + 10 = 18 = 6
4 10 = 6 + 10 = 16 = 4
5 10 = 4 + 10 = 14 = 2
6 10 = 2 + 10 = 12 = 0
so |10| = 6.
11 = 11
2 11 = 11 + 11 = 22 = 10
3 11 = 10 + 11 = 21 = 9
4 11 = 9 + 11 = 20 = 8
5 11 = 8 + 11 = 19 = 7
6 11 = 7 + 11 = 18 = 6
7 11 = 6 + 11 = 17 = 5
8 11 = 5 + 11 = 16 = 4
9 11 = 4 + 11 = 15 = 3
10 11 = 3 + 11 = 14 = 2
11 11 = 2 + 11 = 13 = 1
12 11 = 1 + 11 = 12 = 0
so |11| = 12.
It seems that the order of each element is a divisor of the order of the group.
U(10): U(10) = ({1, 3, 7, 9}, ), so |U(10)| = 4. 1 is the identity and so |1| = 1.
3 = 3
3
2
= 3 3 = 9
3
3
= 9 3 = 27 = 7
3
4
= 7 3 = 21 = 1
so |3| = 4.
7 = 7
7
2
= 7 7 = 49 = 9
7
3
= 9 7 = 63 = 3
7
4
= 3 7 = 21 = 1
so |7| = 4.
9 = 9
9
2
= 9 9 = 81 = 1
so |9| = 2.
U(12): U(12) = ({1, 5, 7, 11}, ), so |U(12)| = 4. 1 is the identity, so |1| = 1.
5 = 5
5
2
= 5 5 = 25 = 1
so |5| = 2.
7 = 7
7
2
= 7 7 = 49 = 1
so |7| = 2.
11 = 11
11
2
= 11 11 = 121 = 1
so |11| = 2.
U(20): U(20) = ({1, 3, 7, 9, 11, 13, 17, 19}, ), so |U(20)| = 8. 1 is the identity, so |1| = 1.
3 = 3
3
2
= 3 3 = 9
3
3
= 9 3 = 27 = 7
3
4
= 7 3 = 21 = 1
so |3| = 4.
7 = 7
7
2
= 7 7 = 49 = 9
7
3
= 9 7 = 63 = 3
7
4
= 3 7 = 21 = 1
so |7| = 4.
9 = 9
9
2
= 9 9 = 81 = 1
so |9| = 2.
11 = 11
11
2
= 11 11 = 121 = 1
so |11| = 2.
13 = 13
13
2
= 13 13 = 169 = 9
13
3
= 9 13 = 117 = 17
13
4
= 17 13 = 221 = 1
so |13| = 4
17 = 17
17
2
= 17 17 = 289 = 9
17
3
= 9 17 = 153 = 13
17
4
= 13 17 = 221 = 1
so |17| = 4
19 = 19
19
2
= 19 19 = 361 = 1
so |19| = 2
D
4
: D
4
= ({R
0
, R
90
, R
180
, R
270
, H, V, D, D

}, ) so |D
4
| = 8. R
0
is the identity, so |R
0
| = 1.
R
90
= R
90
R
2
90
= R
90
R
90
= R
180
R
3
90
= R
90
R
180
= R
270
R
4
90
= R
90
R
270
= R
0
so |R
90
| = 4.
R
180
= R
180
R
2
180
= R
180
R
180
= R
0
so |R
180
| = 2.
R
270
= R
270
R
2
270
= R
270
R
270
= R
180
R
3
270
= R
270
R
180
= R
90
R
4
270
= R
270
R
90
= R
0
so |R
270
| = 4.
H = H
H
2
= HH = R
0
so |H| = 2.
V = V
V
2
= V V = R
0
so |V | = 2.
D = D
D
2
= DD = R
0
so |D| = 2.
D

= D

D
2
= D

= R
0
so |D

| = 2.
4. Prove that in any group, an element and its inverse have the same order.
Proof. Let G be a group, and let a G such that |a| = n for some positive integer n. By
denition this means a
n
= e, where e is the identity in G, and that n is the smallest positive
integer for which a
k
= e. Suppose, by way of contradiction, that |a
1
| = n. Since a
n
= e, it
follows that a
n
a
n
= a
n
e, which means e = a
n
= (a
1
)
n
. Thus, if |a
1
| = n, this means there
is a positive integer m such that m < n and a
m
= (a
1
)
m
= e. But this implies a
m
a
m
= a
m
e
and so e = a
m
. But this is a contradiction since n is the smallest positive integer for which
a
k
= e and m < n. Thus |a
1
| = n = |a|.
5. Without actually computing the orders, explain why the two elements in each of the following
pairs of elements from Z
30
must have the same order: {2, 28}, {8, 22}. Do the same for the
following pairs of elements from U(15): {2, 8}, {7, 13}.
Since 2 + 28 = 30 = 0 and 8 + 22 = 30 = 0 in Z
30
, 2 and 28 are inverses of each other, as are 8
and 22. Thus by problem 4 above, 2 and 28 must have the same order as each other, as must 8
and 22.
Similarly, since 2 8 = 16 = 1 and 7 13 = 91 = 1 in U(15), 2 and 8 are inverses of each other,
as are 7 and 13, so 2 and 8 must have the same order as each other, as must 7 and 13.
6. In the group Z
12
, nd |a|, |b|, and |a + b| for each case.
See problem 1 for a complete list of element orders in Z
12
.
(a) a = 6, b = 2
|6| = 2, |2| = 6, |6 + 2| = |8| = 3
(b) a = 3, b = 8
|3| = 4, |8| = 3, |3 + 8| = |11| = 12
(c) a = 5, b = 4
|5| = 12, |4| = 3, |5 + 4| = |9| = 4
7. If a, b, and c are group elements and |a| = 6, |b| = 7, express (a
4
c
2
b
4
)
1
without using negative
exponents.
Since |a| = 6 we know a
6
= e, and since |b| = 7 we know b
7
= e. We also know that for group
elements x, y, z we have (xyz)
1
= z
1
y
1
x
1
. Also, (x
m
)
n
= x
mn
. Thus,

a
4
c
2
b
4

1
=

b
4

1

c
2

1

a
4

1
= b
4
c
2
a
4
= eb
4
c
2
a
4
e
= b
7
b
4
c
2
a
4
a
6
= b
3
c
2
a
2
10. How many subgroups of order 4 does D
4
have?
Let R = {R
0
, R
90
, R
180
, R
270
}. R is clearly non-empty. Since performing one rotation followed by
another results in a rotation, R is closed under composition. And since R
90
and R
270
are inverses
of each other, and R
180
is its own inverse, R is closed under inverses. Thus R is a subgroup of
D
4
of order 4.
Since subsets of D
4
must be closed under composition to form a subgroup, and since the powers
of R
90
produce all the rotations, any subgroup that contains R
90
must contain all four rotations.
Thus if one of the reections is also present, the subgroup has order greater than 4. Similarly
for R
270
. So the only subgroup of order 4 that contains R
90
or R
270
is the subgroup of rotations.
Now suppose we have a subgroup with R
180
and one of the reections, say D for example. Then
we know the subgroup must contain R
0
, R
180
, D, and R
180
D = D

= DR
180
. It can easily be
checked that this is a subgroup, since each element is its own inverse, and no composition of
these elements yields anything but these elements. Hence we have another subgroup of order 4.
Similarly, if we have R
180
together with V , we will get a subgroup which contains R
0
, R
180
, V ,
and H, another subgroup of order 4.
Any subgroup not containing R
180
must contain 3 reections (and the identity), but any subgroup
containing a diagonal reection and a non-diagonal reection must also contain R
90
(or R
270
)
and so can not be a subgroup of order 4.
Thus D
4
has 3 subgroups of order 4.
18. Suppose that a is a group element and a
6
= e. What are the possibilities for |a|? Provide reasons
for your answer.
Since a
6
= e and |a| is the smallest positive power of a that results in the identity, it is clear
that 1 |a| 6. If a = e, then clearly a
6
= e
6
= e, so a could have order 1. If a
2
= e, then
a
6
= (a
2
)
3
= e
3
= e, so it is possible for a to have order 2. If a
3
= e, then a
6
= (a
3
)
2
= e
2
= e,
so it is possible for a to have order 3. If a
4
= e but a
2
= e, as would happen if |a| = 4, then
a
6
= a
4
a
2
= ea
2
= a
2
= e, which is a contradiction, thus a can not have order 4. If a
5
= e, but
a = e, then a
6
= a
5
a = ea = a = e, which is again a contradiction, so a can not have order 5.
Finally, if a
2
= e and a
3
= e, then a
6
= e, and a has order 6.