Class JEE Mathematics ALL Q #1156
KNOWLEDGE BASED
APPLY
4 Marks 2026 JEE Main 2026 (Online) 21st January Morning Shift MCQ SINGLE
Consider a set $S=\{a,b,c,d\}$. Then the number of reflexive as well as symmetric relations from $S\rightarrow S$ is:
(A) $1024$
(B) $256$
(C) $16$
(D) $64$

AI Tutor Explanation

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Step-by-Step Solution

Let $S = \{a, b, c, d\}$. We want to find the number of relations that are both reflexive and symmetric.

A relation $R$ on $S$ is a subset of $S \times S$. Since $|S| = 4$, $|S \times S| = 4 \times 4 = 16$.

For a relation to be reflexive, it must contain the pairs $(a, a), (b, b), (c, c), (d, d)$.

For a relation to be symmetric, if $(x, y) \in R$, then $(y, x) \in R$.

The pairs $(a, a), (b, b), (c, c), (d, d)$ must be in the relation since it is reflexive. These pairs do not affect the symmetry condition.

The remaining pairs in $S \times S$ are:

$(a, b), (a, c), (a, d), (b, a), (b, c), (b, d), (c, a), (c, b), (c, d), (d, a), (d, b), (d, c)$

Since the relation must be symmetric, we can consider the pairs $\{(a, b), (b, a)\}, \{(a, c), (c, a)\}, \{(a, d), (d, a)\}, \{(b, c), (c, b)\}, \{(b, d), (d, b)\}, \{(c, d), (d, c)\}$.

There are 6 such pairs. For each pair, we can either include both elements in the relation or exclude both elements from the relation. Thus, there are 2 choices for each pair.

Therefore, the number of reflexive and symmetric relations is $2^6 = 64$.

Correct Answer: 64

AI Suggestion: Option D

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Pedagogical Audit
Bloom's Analysis: This is an APPLY question because the student needs to apply the concepts of reflexive and symmetric relations to calculate the number of such relations for a given set.
Knowledge Dimension: CONCEPTUAL
Justification: The question requires understanding the concepts of reflexive and symmetric relations and applying them to a specific set to determine the number of possible relations.
Syllabus Audit: In the context of JEE, this is classified as KNOWLEDGE. The question directly tests the student's understanding and application of the definitions and properties of relations, a standard topic in the JEE syllabus.