Show that the number of binary operations on {1, 2} having 1 as identity and having 2 as the inverse of 2 is exactly one.
A binary operation * on {1, 2} is a function from {1, 2} x {1, 2} to {1,2}, i.e., a function from {(1, 1), (1, 2), (2, 1), (2, 2)} → {1,2}.
Since 1 is the identity for the desired binary operation *,
* (1, 1) = 1, *(1, 2) = 2, * (2, 1) = 2 and the only choice left is for the pair (2, 2). Since 2 is the inverse of 2, i.e., * (2, 2) must be equal to 1. the number of desired binary operation is only one.