SOLUTION: Determine whether the sets are equal, equivalent, both, or neither
{x| x is a whole number } and
{x| x is an integer}
A. Equal
B. Both
C.Neither
D.Equivalent
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-> SOLUTION: Determine whether the sets are equal, equivalent, both, or neither
{x| x is a whole number } and
{x| x is an integer}
A. Equal
B. Both
C.Neither
D.Equivalent
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Question 1119472: Determine whether the sets are equal, equivalent, both, or neither
{x| x is a whole number } and
{x| x is an integer}
A. Equal
B. Both
C.Neither
D.Equivalent
The answer depends on whether or not you are a professional mathematician or not. To a professional mathematician, the two sets are equivalent because they have the same cardinality and they are equal because they have the exact same elements. In other words, to a professional mathematician, the terms "integer" and "whole number" are completely synonymous.
Lesser humans make the distinction that whole numbers are the non-negative subset of the integers, so would say that while the sets have the same cardinality and are therefore equivalent, there are elements of the integers that are not elements of the whole numbers and therefore the sets are NOT equal.
