Definition 5.39 (Transitive)

A relation R on a set A is called transitive if whenever (a,b)R and (b,c)R, then (a,c)R, for all a,b,cA

Example

If we consider the relation R that contains (x,y) if x is older than y on the set of all students in the class, then we know that if (x,y)R and (y,z)R, then (x,z)R

Tip

This can be formalised in predicate logic by

xyz(((x,y)R(y,z)R)(x,z)R)

Where the domain is the set of all elements in A