True or false: In symmetric cryptography, there exists a public key and a private key.

Question

Accepted Answer

False — in symmetric cryptography, there is only ONE shared secret key used by both parties.
The key types by cryptographic system:

System
Keys

Symmetric
One shared secret key (both parties have the same key)

Asymmetric
A key pair: one public key (shared openly) and one private key (kept secret)

The concept of "public key" and "private key" belongs exclusively to asymmetric (public-key) cryptography. In symmetric crypto, if the key leaks to anyone, the system is broken for all users of that key.

System	Keys
Symmetric	One shared secret key (both parties have the same key)
Asymmetric	A key pair: one public key (shared openly) and one private key (kept secret)