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Introduction To Sets: Basic, Essential, and Important Properties of Sets

The document introduces basic concepts about sets including definitions, notation, examples, and properties. It defines a set as a collection of objects and elements as the objects in a set. It discusses notation for sets using capital letters and roster, set builder, and Venn diagram representations. The document also covers important set relationships and operations including subsets, intersections, unions, complements and cardinal numbers.

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226 views

Introduction To Sets: Basic, Essential, and Important Properties of Sets

The document introduces basic concepts about sets including definitions, notation, examples, and properties. It defines a set as a collection of objects and elements as the objects in a set. It discusses notation for sets using capital letters and roster, set builder, and Venn diagram representations. The document also covers important set relationships and operations including subsets, intersections, unions, complements and cardinal numbers.

Uploaded by

Tasabih
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction to

Sets
BASIC, ESSENTIAL, AND IMPORTANT
PROPERTIES OF SETS
Definitions

 A set is a collection of objects.

 Objects in the collection are called


elements of the set.
Examples - set

The collection of persons living in Dubai is a


set.
 Each person living in Dubai is an element of
the set.

The collection of all counties in Asia is a set.


 Each county in Asia is an element of the set.
Examples - set

The collection of all cars is a set.


 Each cars is an element of the set.

The collection of all four-legged cats is a


set.
 Each four-legged cats is an element of the set.
Examples - set
The collection of counting numbers is a
set.
 Each counting number is an element of the
set.

The collection of pencils in your briefcase


is a set.
 Each pencil in your briefcase is an element of
the set.
Notation
 Sets are usually designated with capital letters.

 Elements of a set are usually designated with lower


case letters.

 We might talk of the set B. An individual


element of B might then be designated by b.
Notation
 Theroster method of specifying a set
consists of surrounding the collection
of elements with braces.

Example – roster method


For example the set of counting
numbers from 1 to 5 would be
written as
{1, 2, 3, 4, 5}.
Example – roster method
A variation of the simple roster method uses the ellipsis (
… ) when the pattern is obvious and the set is large.

{1, 3, 5, 7, … , 9007} is the set of odd


counting numbers less than or equal to
9007.

{1, 2, 3, … } is the set of all counting


numbers.
Notation 9
 Set builder notation has the general form
{variable | descriptive statement }.

The vertical bar (in set builder notation) is


always read as “such that”.

Set builder notation is frequently used when


the roster method is either inappropriate or
inadequate.
Example – set builder notation
 {x | x < 6 and x is a real number}
is the set of all counting numbers less than 6.
Note this is the same set as {1,2,3,4,5}.

 {x | x is a fraction whose numerator is 1 and


whose denominator is a real number }.

Set builder notation will become much more


concise and precise as more information is
introduced.
Notation for belongs or is an
element of
 If x is an element of the set A, we write this as x  A.
x  A means x is not an element of A.

If A = {3, 17, 2 } then


3  A, 17  A, 2  A and 5  A.

If A = { x | x is a prime number } then


5  A, and 6  A.
Venn Diagrams

It is frequently very helpful to depict a


set in the abstract as the points inside
a circle ( or any other closed shape ).

We can picture the set A as


the points inside the circle
A
shown here.
Venn Diagrams
To learn a bit more about Venn
diagrams and the man John Venn
who first presented these diagrams History

click on the history icon at the right.

U
S
Venn Diagrams
Venn Diagrams are used in mathematics,
logic, theological ethics, genetics, study
of Hamlet, linguistics, reasoning, and Universal
set
many other areas. Sets
AUB

A A B
Universal Set and Subsets
 The Universal Set denoted by U is the set of
all possible elements used in a problem.
 When every element of one set is also an
element of another set, we say the first set is
a subset.
 Example A={1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and B={2, 3}
We say that B is a subset of A. The notation
we use is B A.
 Let S={1,2,3}, list all the subsets of S.
 The subsets of S are :  , {1}, {2}, {3}, {1,2},
{1,3}, {2,3}, {1,2,3}.
Definition
 The set with no elements is called the empty
set or the null set and is designated with the
symbol .
 For example:
The set of all pencils in your briefcase might
indeed be the empty set.
The set of even prime numbers greater than 2
is the empty set.
The set {x | x < 3 and x > 5} is the empty set.
Definition - subset

 The set A is a subset of the set B if every


element of A is an element of B.

 If A is a subset of B and B contains


elements which are not in A, then A is a
proper subset of B.
Notation - subset
If A is a subset of B we write
A  B to designate that relationship.

If A is a proper subset of B we write


A  B to designate that relationship.

If A is not a subset of B we write


A  B to designate that relationship.
Example - subset

The set A = {1, 2, 3} is a subset of the set B


={1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} because each element of
A is an element of B.

We write A  B to designate this


relationship between A and B.

We could also write


{1, 2, 3}  {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
Example - subset

The set A = {3, 5, 7} is not a subset of


the set B = {1, 4, 5, 7, 9} because 3 is
an element of A but is not an
element of B.

The empty set is a subset of every


set, because every element of the
empty set is an element of every
other set.
Example - subset
The set
A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} is a subset of the set
B = {x | x < 6 and x is a counting number}
because every element of A is an element
of B.

Notice also that B is a subset of A because


every
element of B is an element of A.
Definition

 Twosets A and B are equal if A 


B and B  A. If two sets A and B
are equal we write A = B to
designate that relationship.
Example - equality
The sets
A = {3, 4, 6} and B = {6, 3, 4} are
equal because A  B and B  A.

The definition of equality of sets shows that the


order in which elements are written does not
affect the set.
Example - equality
If A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and
B = {x | x < 6 and x is a counting number}
then A is a subset of B because every element
of A is an element of B and B is a subset of A
because every element of B is an element of
A.

Therefore the two sets are equal and


we write A = B.
Example - equality
The sets A = {2} and B = {2, 5} are not
equal because B is not a subset of A. We
would write A ≠ B. Note that A  B.

The sets A = {x | x is a fraction} and


B = {x | x = ¾} are not equal because A
is not a subset of B. We would write
A ≠ B. Note that B  A.
Definition - intersection
 The intersection of two sets A and B is the
set containing those elements which are
elements of A and elements of B.
We write A  B

A∩B
Example - intersection
If A = {3, 4, 6, 8} and
B = { 1, 2, 3, 5, 6} then
A  B = {3, 6}
Example - intersection

If A = { , , , , , , , ,  }
and B = { , , , @, ,  } then
A ∩ B = { ,  }

If A = { , , , , , , , , }
and B = { , , ,  } then
A ∩ B = { , , ,  } = B
Example - intersection

If A is the set of prime numbers and


B is the set of even numbers then
A∩B={2}

If A = {x | x > 5 } and
B = {x | x < 3 } then
A∩B=
Example - intersection

If A = {x | x < 4 } and
B = {x | x >1 } then
A ∩ B = {x | 1 < x < 4 }

If A = {x | x > 4 } and
B = {x | x >7 } then
A ∩ B = {x | x < 7 }
Venn Diagram - intersection
A is represented by the red circle and B is
represented by the blue circle.
When B is moved to overlap a
portion of A, the purple
colored region
illustrates the intersection
A∩B
of A and B
Mutually Exclusive Sets

 We say two sets A and B are


mutually exclusive if A ∩ B =  .
 Think of this as two events that can
not happen at the same time.
Definition - union
 The union of two sets A and B is the set
containing those elements which are

elements of A or elements of B.

We write A  B
Example - Union

If A = {3, 4, 6} and
B = { 1, 2, 3, 5, 6} then
A  B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}.
Example - Union
If A = { , , , , ,  }
and B = { , , , @, ,  } then
A  B = {, , , , , , , , @,  }

If A = { , , , , }
and B = {, ,  } then
A  B = {, , , ,  } = A
Example - Union
If A is the set of prime numbers and
B is the set of even numbers then
A  B = {x | x is even or x is prime }.
A  B = {2,3,5,7,11,13,17….}

If A = {x | x > 5 } and
B = {x | x < 3 } then
A  B = {x | x < 3 or x > 5 }.
A  B={1,2,6,7,8…….}
Venn Diagram - union
A is represented by the red circle and B is
represented by the blue circle.
The purple colored region
illustrates the intersection.
The union consists of all
points which are colored A∩B
red or blue or purple.

AB
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Home work

 Exercise 1
Question 1 & 2
 Exercise 2
Question 1,2,3
Complement of a Set
 The complement of set A is denoted by
A’ or by AC.
 A’ = {x| x is not in set A}.
 The complement set operation is
analogous to the negation operation in
logic.
 Example Say U={1,2,3,4,5},
 A={1,2}, then A’ = {3,4,5}.
Complement of set B:
_
B
U

A B
Cardinal Number
 The Cardinal Number of a set is the
number of elements in the set and is
denoted by n(A).

 Let A={2,4,6,8,10}, then n(A)=5.

 The Cardinal Number formula for the


union of two sets is
n(A U B)=n(A) + n(B) – n(A∩B).
 The Cardinal number formula for the
complement of a set is n(A) + n(A’)=n(U).

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