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Let R be a relation from the set {1, 2, 3, ….., 60} to itself such that R = {(a, b) : b = pq, where p, q≥ 3 are prime numbers}. Then, the number of elements in R is :

(A) 600
(B) 660
(C) 540
(D) 720

User Griflet
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1 Answer

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The number of elements in R is Option B) 660, obtained by counting the possible values of b formed by prime factorizations and the pairs associated with each value.

We seek the number of elements in the relation R, which consists of pairs (a, b) where b = pq, where p and q are prime numbers greater than or equal to 3. To count these pairs efficiently, we can separate the counting into two steps:

1. Counting the Possible Values of b:

Each value of b can be formed by multiplying two prime numbers from {3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19}.

For each prime p, we have 6 choices for q (5 other primes and 1 for itself).

Therefore, the total number of possible values for b is 7 primes * 6 choices/prime = 42.

2. Counting the Pairs for Each Value of b:

For a given b = pq, there are 60 possible values for a (any element in {1, 2, ..., 60}).

So, the number of pairs for each b is 42 values of b * 60 possible values of a/b = 2520.

Total Number of Elements in R:

Since each pair in R is counted once for each value of b, the total number of elements is simply the number of pairs for each b: 2520 pairs.

Therefore, the number of elements in R is (B) 660.

User Fawyd
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