A binary operation is defined on a set R, of really numbers a*b=a+b+2. Find the:
a) identity element under the operation *
b) inverse of b under the operation *?
If e is the identity, then
a*e = e*a = a
So, you need
a + e + 2 = a
Looks like e = -2
(Yes, -2 is really a number!)
The inverse of a means
a * a-1 = the identity
So, what do you think?
a*a^-1
To find the identity element under the operation *, we need to find an element in the set R such that when we perform the operation * with any element a, the result is equal to a itself.
Let's call the identity element e.
For any element a in R, we have:
a * e = a + e + 2
Since we want this expression to be equal to a for any a in R, it means that e + 2 should be equal to 0. Therefore, e = -2.
So, the identity element under the operation * is -2.
To find the inverse of b under the operation *, we need to find an element in the set R such that when we perform the operation * with b and the inverse element, the result is equal to the identity element.
Let's call the inverse of b as b'.
b * b' = -2
Using the definition of the operation *, we can substitute and solve for b':
b + b' + 2 = -2
Subtracting 2 from both sides:
b + b' = -4
Now, we can rearrange the equation and solve for b':
b' = -4 - b
So, the inverse of b under the operation * is -4 minus b.
To find the identity element under the operation *, we need to find a number e such that for any number a in the set R, the equation a * e = e * a = a holds true.
Let's consider an arbitrary number a in R: a * e = a + e + 2.
To find the identity element, we need to solve the equation for e. Rearranging the equation, we have:
a + e + 2 = a.
Subtracting a from both sides, we get:
e + 2 = 0.
Now, subtracting 2 from both sides, we obtain:
e = -2.
Therefore, the identity element under the operation * is -2.
To find the inverse of b under the operation *, we need to find a number x such that b * x = x * b = e, where e is the identity element we found earlier.
For b * x = x * b = e, we substitute e with -2:
b + x + 2 = 0.
Now, we solve for x:
x = -b - 2.
Thus, the inverse of b under the operation * is -b - 2.