Exercise · ZW-GENERATED-SUBGROUP-003 · ★★☆ Intermediate

How many elements does \(\langle 4,6\rangle\) have in \((\mathbb{Z}_{12},+)\)?

Choose one option.

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  • D. 6

Explanation

The elements are the sums \(4i+6j\) modulo 12; since \(\gcd(4,6,12)=2\), exactly the even residues \(\{0,2,4,6,8,10\}\) arise: there are 6.

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Review the concept: Generated subgroup

The subgroup generated by a subset \(S\) of a group \(G\) is the smallest subgroup \(H\) of \(G\) containing \(S\); it is denoted \(\langle S\rangle\) and \(S\) is called a generating set.

\[\langle S\rangle=\bigcap_{S\subseteq H\le G}H\]

More practice problems: generated subgroup

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