Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2001 / ia / Paper 4 / 1E / a / Solution

Suppose $F:X\to \mathcal{P}(X)$ were a surjection onto the power set of the set $X$. Form the subsetSurjectivity would give $a\in X$ with $F(a)=D$. But then $a\in D$ holds exactly when $a\notin F(a)=D$, a contradiction. Hence no such surjection exists, and in particular there is no bijection between a set and its power set. This is the diagonal construction in Cantor's theorem; it also covers the empty set, whose power set has one element.