Set Theory

→ Information :-

 A collection of well defined and distinct objects.

 Denoted by capital english alphabets.
 Their elements are separated are commas (,) and enclosed in
flower brackets { }
 If an element is present in the set then, the element ε (episilon)
or (belongs) to the set
 If an element is not present in the set then, the element does not
belong to the set.
 The number of elements present in a set is called cardinality of a
set.

 It is represented n(set) = Number of elements in a set.

→ Representation of a set :-

 Roster form =

 Elements of the set are separated with commas (,).

 It is enclosed by curly brackets { }.
 Set-Builder form =

 In this method, all the elements of a given set posses a

single common property.
 It is defined as :-
variable
A = {x : x is an element of _______ }
OR
A = {x l x is an element of _______ }
→ Types of a set :- such that

 Null set =

 A set containing no elements is called null set.

 It is denoted by ‘phi’ →Φ and enclosed in curly brackets.
 Singleton set =

 A set having exactly 1 element is called singleton set

 Finite set =

 A set having definite number of elements is called finite

set.

 Infinite set =

 A set having infinite number of elements is called infinite

set.
 Important infinite sets :-
 A set of natural numbers = N = {1,2,3,4,5,6…….∞}
 A set of whole numbers = W = {0,1,2,3,4,5,6…….∞}
 A set of integers = I = {0,±1,±2,±3,±4,±5,±6…….±∞}
 A set of positive integers = I+ U {0} = {0,1,2,3,4,5…….∞}
 A set of negative integers = I-U {0} = {0,-1,-2,-3,-4….-
∞}
 A set of even natural numbers = {2,4,6,8,…….∞}
 A set of even numbers = E = {0,±2,±4,±6,…….±∞}
 A set of prime numbers = P = {1,3,5,7,11……….∞}
 A set of odd numbers = O = {0,±1,±3,±5,±7,…….±∞}
 A set of odd natural numbers = {0,1,3,5,7,…….∞}
 A set of composite numbers = C = {4,6,8,9……∞}
 A set of integral numbers = I = Z = {0,±1,±2…….±∞}

 Equal set =

 Two sets are said to be equal if they are having exactly

same elements.
 Let 2 sets be A and B,

n(A) = n(B)

 Equivalent set =

 Two sets are said to be equivalent if they are having

exactly same elements but the elements may or may not be
equal.
 Let 2 sets be A and B,
 n(A) = n(B) Said to be equivalent

 Subset =

 A said to be subset of B only if all the elements of A must

present in B.
 It is said to be ‘⊆’ [ A⊆B ].
 Read as A is a subset of B.
 Important note :-
 Numbers of subsets of any set A = 2n(A) = 2number of elements in set A

 Proper Subset =

 Set A is said to proper subset of set B if all the elements

of set A is present in B and A ≠ B.
 Condition =
A⊆B and A ≠ B → Proper Subset
↓
Denoted by ‘A C B’
 Important note :-
 Numbers of proper subsets of any set A = 2n- 1.

 Superset =

 Set A is said to be a superset of set B if all the elements

of set A is present in B.
 Denoted by ⊃.

 Powerset =

 It is the collection of all the subsets of a set A.

 Denoted by p(A).
 Number of elements in a power set ‘A’ → n(P(A)) = 2n(A).
 Number of subsets of p(A) → 22^n.

 Universal set =

 It is the superset of all the sets under consideration.

→ Venn diagrams :-

 Sets are represented by circles.

 Universal sets are represented by rectangles.
 Elements are represented by enclosed inside the circles.

→ Types in representation of sets :-

 Open interval = ( )

 Closed interval = [ ]

 Open - Closed interval = ( ]

 Open - Closed interval = [ )

→ Algebra of sets :-

 Union of two set =

 Union of two sets is the set containing the elements of

either A or B or both.
 It is denoted by A U B.
 Read as ‘A Union B’

 If A⊆B , then A U B = B
 If B⊆A , then A U B = A

 Intersection of two sets =

  Intersection of two sets A and B is the set containing the
common elements of sets A and B.
 It is denoted by A ∩ B.
 Read as ‘A Intersection B’

 If A⊆B , then A ∩ B = A.
 If B⊆A , then A ∩ B = B.
 Disjoint sets =
 If 2 sets are non intersecting, these 2 sets are called
disjoint sets.
 If A∩B Φ → sets A and B are disjoint sets

 Difference of two sets A and B=

 It is the set containing the elements of set A and B.

A-B B-A

---------------

 If A⊆B , then A ∩ B = A.
 If B⊆A , then A ∩ B = B.
 Symmetric difference of 2 sets =
 It is the union of sets A - B and B - A.
 Denoted by ‘A Δ B’.
 Read as ‘A delta B’
 A Δ B = (A - B) U (B - A)
= (B - A) U (A - B)
= (A U B) - (A∩B)

 Finding complement of a set =

  Complement of a set is the set containing the elements of Ac or A’
the universal set which are not present in set A. or Á
 It is denoted by Ac or A’ or Á

→ Important properties of algebra sets :-

I.
 AUB=BUA
 A∩B=B∩A
 A-B≠B-A
 AΔB=BΔA

II.
 A U B U C = (A U B) U C = A U (B U C)
 A ∩B ∩ C = A ∩(B ∩ C) = (A ∩B) ∩ C
 A U B U C U D = (A U B) U (C U D)
= A U (B U C U D)
= (A U B U C) U D
 (A - B) - C ≠ A - (B - C)
 A Δ B Δ C = (A Δ B) Δ C = A Δ (B Δ C)

III.
 A U (B U C) = (A U B) ∩ (A U C)
 A ∩(B U C) = (A ∩ B) U (A ∩ C)
 A - (B ∩ C) ≠ (A - B) ∩ (A - C)
 A - (B U C) ≠ (A - B) U (A - C)

IV. De-Morgan’s Laws =

 (A’)’ = A
 (A U B)’ = A’ ∩ B’
 (A ∩ B)’ = A’ U B’
 (A ∩ B’)’ = A’ U B
 (A U B’)’ = A’ ∩ B
 (A U B U C)’ = A’ ∩ B’ ∩ C’
 (A∩B∩C)’ = A’ U B’ U C’
 (A - B) = A ∩ B’
 (B - A) = B ∩ A’
 A - (B U C) = A∩(B U C)’
= A ∩(B’ ∩ C ‘)
= (A ∩ B’) ∩ (A ∩ C ‘)
 A - (B U C) = (A - B) ∩ (A - C)
V. Miscellaneous questions =
 AUΦ=A
 A∩Φ=Φ
 AUU=U
 A∩U=A
 (A’)’ = A
 (A - B) = A ∩ B’
 (B - A) = B ∩ A’
 (A - B) ∩ (A ∩ B) = Φ
 (A - B) U (A ∩ B) = A
 A ⊆ B = B’ ⊆ A’
 A - (B - C) ≠ (A - B) - C

→ Cardinality of union of two sets :-

I.
 n(A only) = n(A - B)
=a
= n(A) - n(A ∩ B)

II.
 n(B only) = n(B - A)
=c
= n(B) - n(A ∩ B)

III.
 n(Exactly one of the sets A or B ) = n(A only) + n(B only)
= n(A - B) + n(B - A)
= n(A) - n(A ∩ B) + n(B) - n(A ∩ B)
= n(A) + n(B)- 2n(A ∩ B)
 IV.
 n(At least one of the sets A or B ) = n(A U B)
=a+b+c
= n(A - B) + n(A ∩ B) + n(B - A)
= n(A) - n(A U B) + n(B) - n(A U B)
+ n(B) - n(A U B)

n(A U B) = n(A) + n(B) - n(A U B)

V.
 n(Neither set A nor B ) = n((A U B)’)
= A’ ∩ B’
= n(U) - n(A U B)

n((A U B)’) = n(U) - [ n(A) + n(B) - n(A U B) ]

→ Important note :-

I.
 n(A U B)max = n(A) + n(B)

Only if A and B are

disjoint sets

II.
 n(A U B)min = max {n(A), n(B)}

If A ⊆ B or B ⊆ A
A

AUB=B

A
 AUB=A

III.

 n(A ∩ B)max =
= min {n(A), n(B)}

A∩B=A
If A ⊆ B

A∩B=B
If B ⊆ A
IV.

null set , if A ∩ B=Φ

 n(A ∩ B)min =
n( A)+n(B) −n( A U B), If A ∩ B=Φ

n(A U B) = n(A) + n(B) - n(A ∩ B)

n(A∩ B) = n(A) + n(B) - n(A U B)

n(A ∩ B) = 0
→ Cardinality of union of three sets :-

A B

a d b
e f

c
g
C

I.

 n(set A and B but not C) = n(sets of A and B only)

= n((A ∩ B) - C)
= n(A ∩ B ∩ C ‘)
= n(A ∩ B) - n(A ∩ B ∩ C)
II.

 n(B and C only) = n(B and C not in A)

= n((B ∩ C) - A)
= n(B ∩ C ∩ A ‘)
=f
= n(B ∩ C ) - n(A ∩ B ∩ C)
III.

 n(A and C only) = n(A and C not in B)

= n((A ∩ C) - B’)
= n(A ∩ C ∩ B‘)
=e
= n(A ∩ C ) - n(A ∩ B ∩ C)

IV.

 n(A only) = a
= n(A) - n(A ∩ B) + n(A ∩ C) - n(A ∩ B ∩ C)
V.

 n(B only) = b
= n(B) -(d + g + f)
= n(B) - n(A ∩ B) + n(B ∩ C) - n(A ∩ B ∩ C)

VI.

 n(C only) =
= n(B) -(e + g + f)
= n(C) - n(B ∩ C) + n(C ∩ A) - n(A ∩ B ∩ C)

VII.

 n(Exactly one of the sets A or B or C) = n(A) only + n(b) only +

n(c)only
= [IV] + [V] + [VI]
= n(A) + n(B) + n(C) -
2{n(A ∩ B) + n(B ∩ C) + n(A ∩ C) +
3n(A ∩ B ∩ C)}

VIII.

 n(Exactly 2 of the sets) = d + e + f

= n(A ∩ B) + n(B ∩ C) + n(A ∩ C) - 3n(A ∩ B ∩ C)

IX.

 n(At-least one of the sets A or B or C) = a + b + c + d + e + f + g

= n(Exactly one of the sets A or B or C) + n(Exactly
two of the sets A or B or C) + n(Exactly three
sets)
= [I] + [II] + [III] + [IV] + [V] + (A ∩ B ∩ C)
= n(A) + n(B) + n(C) - n(A ∩ B) - n(B ∩ C) - n(A ∩ C) +
n(A ∩ B ∩ C)
X.

 n(Neither A nor B nor C) = n((A U B U C)’)

= n(U) - n(A U B U C)
= n(U) - {n(A) + n(B) + n(C) - n(A ∩ B) - n(B ∩ C) -
n(A ∩ C) + n(A ∩ B ∩ C)}