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JEE Advanced 2026 · Relations and Functions (Class 12)

Let S={1,2,3,…,10}.S = \{1, 2, 3, \dots , 10\}. Consider the set X={R:RX = \{R : R is an equivalence relation on the set S such that R has exactly 42 elements}.\}. Then the number of elements in X is ____.

Answer: 25202520

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Written solution

S={1,2,…,10},∣S∣=10S = \{1, 2, \ldots, 10\}, \quad |S| = 10 ∣R∣=42|R| = 42 X={R:R equivalence relation on S, ∣R∣=42}X = \{R : R \text{ equivalence relation on } S, \ |R| = 42\} Find ∣X∣\text{Find } |X| R equivalence  ⟺  partition of SR \text{ equivalence} \iff \text{partition of } S ∣R∣=∑ni2(ni=class sizes)|R| = \sum n_i^2 \quad (n_i = \text{class sizes}) ∑ni=10,∑ni2=42\sum n_i = 10, \quad \sum n_i^2 = 42 ∑ni2−∑ni=42−10=32\sum n_i^2 - \sum n_i = 42 - 10 = 32 ∑ni(ni−1)=32\sum n_i(n_i - 1) = 32 ni≥7⇒ni(ni−1)≥42>32 (impossible)n_i \ge 7 \Rightarrow n_i(n_i-1) \ge 42 > 32 \ (\text{impossible}) ni=6: 6⋅5=30⇒a part 2⇒{6,2,1,1}n_i = 6: \ 6\cdot 5 = 30 \Rightarrow \text{a part } 2 \Rightarrow \{6,2,1,1\} ni=5: 5⋅4=20⇒need 12=4⋅3⇒{5,4,1}n_i = 5: \ 5\cdot 4 = 20 \Rightarrow \text{need } 12 = 4\cdot 3 \Rightarrow \{5,4,1\} no other partition works\text{no other partition works} {6,2,1,1}: 10!6! 2! (1!)2 2!=36288002880=1260\{6,2,1,1\}: \ \frac{10!}{6!\,2!\,(1!)^2\,2!} = \frac{3628800}{2880} = 1260 {5,4,1}: 10!5! 4! 1!=36288002880=1260\{5,4,1\}: \ \frac{10!}{5!\,4!\,1!} = \frac{3628800}{2880} = 1260 ∣X∣=1260+1260=2520|X| = 1260 + 1260 = 2520

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