Discrete Structures Question on a Relation

wolfmanzak
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Homework Statement


Let A be the set of all strings of a's and b's of length 4. Define a relation R on A as follows. For all s,t \in A, sRt, s has the same first two characters as t.

s=baaa
t=abaa

Homework Equations


The Attempt at a Solution



I just want to know if the order of the first two characters matters? if it does then they are not related, if it does not, they they are related.
 
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What is the exact statement of the problem? I would be inclined to interpret "has the same first two characters" as meaning that order is not relevant- but then I'm not grading you!
 
Unfortunately that is the exact way the problem is written which is why I'm also a bit confused. I'm inclined to agree with you on the belief that order doesn't matter, but I wasn't entirely sure. I've tried finding a good example or a source of info on the internet but have yet to find one. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
WMZ
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
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