Exercise · ZW-WELL-ORDERING-002 · ★☆☆ Basic

Is \(\mathbb{Z}\) well-ordered by its usual order?

Choose one option.

Show answer
  • B. No, because the negative integers have no least element.

Explanation

It is not well-ordered: the set of negative integers is nonempty and has no least element, because for any negative integer there is always a smaller one.

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Review the concept: Well-ordering

A set \(A\) is well-ordered by \(<\) if \(<\) is a total order on \(A\) and every nonempty subset of \(A\) has a least element.

\[\forall S\subseteq A(S\ne\varnothing\Rightarrow\exists m\in S\forall s\in S\,m\le s)\]

More practice problems: well-ordering

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