Question

Is * defined on the set {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} by a * b = L.C.M. of a and b a binary operation? Justify your answer.

Answer 1

The operation * on the set A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} is defined as

a * b = L.C.M. of a and b.

Then, the operation table for the given operation * can be given as:

*	1	2	3	4	5
1	1	2	3	4	5
2	2	2	6	4	10
3	3	6	3	12	15
4	4	4	12	4	20
5	5	10	15	20	5

It can be observed from the obtained table that:

3 * 2 = 2 * 3 = 6 ∉ A, 5 * 2 = 2 * 5 = 10 ∉ A, 3 * 4 = 4 * 3 = 12 ∉ A

3 * 5 = 5 * 3 = 15 ∉ A, 4 * 5 = 5 * 4 = 20 ∉ A

Hence, the given operation * is not a binary operation.