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Having read Velleman's 'How to prove it' I came across a question I am not sure I can answer. He states that the power set of the empty set is equal to a set consisting only of the empty set: $ \mathscr P (\emptyset) = \{\emptyset \}. $ That is clear. He then asks what the power set of $\{\emptyset \}$ is.

What is $ \mathscr P (\{\emptyset \})$ equal to?

Thanks in advance.

Asaf Karagila
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Eugene
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1 Answers1

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This is just Brian's words.

Empty set is a subset of every set. So, $\emptyset\in\mathscr P (\{\emptyset\})$. And for any set $a\in \mathscr P(a)$. But there are no elements of $\{\emptyset\}$ except $\emptyset$. So, $\mathscr P(\{\emptyset\})=\{\emptyset, \{\emptyset\}\}$.