Sets and Relation

Summary
Sets & Relations
1. SET
A set is a collection of well defined objects which are distinct from each other. Set are
generally denoted by capital letters A, B, C , ........ etc. and the elements of the set by a, b,
c ... .... etc.

2. Methods to write a set :

(i) Roster Method : In this method a set is described by listing elements, separated by
commas and enclose then by curly brackets.
(ii) Set builder from : In this we write down a property or rule. which gives us all the
element of the set. A {x '' P ( x )}, where P ( x ) is the property by which x ∈ A.

3. Types of sets:

(i) Null set or empty set : A set having no element in it is called an empty set or a null
set or void set, it is denoted by φ or {}
(ii) Singleton : A set consisting of a single element is called a singleton set.
(iii) Finite set : A set which has only finite number of elements is called a finite set.
(iv) Infinite set : A set which has an infinite number of elements is cal1ed an infinite
set.
(v) Equal sets : Two sets A and B are said to be equal if every element of A is member
of B, and every element of B is a member of A.
(vi) Equivalent sets: Two finite sets A and Bare equivalent if their number of elements
are same i.e. n(A) = n(B).
(vii) Subset : Let A and B be two sets if every element of A is an element B then A is
called a subset of B if A is a subset of B. We write A ⊆ B .
(viii) Proper subset : If A is a subset of B s.t. A ≠ B then A is a proper subset of B. and
we write A ⊂ B .
(ix) Universal set: A set consisting of all possible elements which occur in the
discussion is called a universal set and is denoted by U
(x) Power set : Let A be any set. The set of all subsets of A is called power set of A
and is denoted by P(A).

4. Some Operation on sets :

(i) Union of two sets : A ∪ B= {x : x ∈ A or x ∈ B}

(ii) Intersection of two sets : A ∩ B= {x : x ∈ A or x ∈ B}
(iii) Difference of two sets : A − B= {x : x ∈ A and x ∉ B}
(iv) Complement of a set : A ' ={x : x ∉ A but x ∈ U } =U − A

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(v) De-morgan laws : ( A ∪ B ) ' =A '∩ B '' ( A ∩ B ) ' =A '∪ B '

(vi) Distributive laws :
A ∪ ( B ∩ C ) = ( A ∪ B) ∩ ( A ∪ C ); A ∩ ( B ∪ C ) = ( A ∩ B) ∪ ( A ∩ C )
(vii)Commutative laws : ( A ∪ B ) = B ∪ A; A ∩ B = B ∩ A
(viii) Associative laws : ( A ∪ B ) ∪ C = A ∪ ( B ∪ C ) ; ( A ∩ B ) ∩ C = A ∩ ( B ∩ C )
(ix) A ∩ φ ; A ∩ U= A A ∪ φ= A; A ∪ U= U
(x) A ∩ B ⊆ A; A ∩ B ⊆ B (xi) A ⊆ A ∪ B; B ⊆ A ∪ B (xiii) A ⊆ B ⇒ A ∩ B =A
(xiii) A ⊆ B ⇒ A ∪ B = B

5. Disjoint sets :

If A ∩ B =
φ , then A,B are disjo int

6. Symmetric difference of sets :

A∆B = ( A − B ) ∪ ( B − A ) ( A ') ' = A A ⊆ B ⇒ B ' ⊆ A'

7. Venn diagrams

8. Some important results on number of elements in sets :

If A, B and c are finite sets, and U be the finite universal set, then

(i) n ( A ∪ B )= n ( A ) + n ( B ) − n ( A ∩ B )
(ii) n ( A ∪ B )= n ( A ) + n ( B ) ⇒ A, B are disjoint non-void sets.
(iii) n ( A − B )= n( A) − n ( A ∩ B ) i.e. n( A − B) + n( A ∩ B)= n ( A )

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(iv) n ( A ∪ B ∪ C )= n ( A ) + n ( B ) + n ( C )= n ( A ∩ B ) − n ( B ∩ C ) − n ( A ∩ C ) + n ( A ∩ B ∩ C )
(v) Number of elements in exactly two of the sets A, B, C
= n ( A ∩ B ) + n ( B ∩ C ) + n ( C ∩ A ) − 3n ( A ∩ B ∩ C )
(vi) Number of elements in exactly one of the sets A, B, C
= n ( A ) + n ( B ) + n ( C ) − 2n ( A ∩ B ) − 2n ( A ∩ B ) − 2n ( B ∩ C ) − 2n ( A ∩ C ) + 3n ( A ∩ B ∩ C )
(vii) n ( A '∪ B ') = n ( ( A ∩ B ) ') = n (U ) − n ( A ∩ B )

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Practice Questions
1. Two sets A and B are as under: A = {(a, b) 𝜖𝜖 R × R: |a – 5| < 1 and |b – 5| < 1};
B = {(a, b) 𝜖𝜖 R × R: 4(a – 6)2 + 9(b – 5)2 ≤ 36}. Then:
(a) neither A ⊂ B nor B ⊂ A
(b) B ⊂ A
(c) A ⊂ B
(d) A ∩ B = Φ (an empty set)

2. Let S = {(𝜆𝜆, µ) ∈ R × R : = f(t) = (|𝜆𝜆|e|t| - µ). Sin (2(2|t|), t ∈ R, is a differentiable function}. Then
S is a subset of:
(a) R × [0, ∞)
(b) R × (-∞, 0)
(c) (-∞, 0) × R
(d) (-∞, 0) × R

3. Let R = {(3, 3), (6, 6), (9, 9), (12, 12), (6, 12), (3, 9), (3, 12), (3, 6) be a relation on the set A =
{3, 6, 9, 12}. The relation is
(a) reflexive and symmetric only
(b) an equivalence relation
(c) reflexive only
(d) reflexive and transitive only

4. The number of elements in the power set of {a, b, c}

(a) 3
(b) 7
(c) 8
(d) 6

5. Let R = {(1, 3), (4, 2), (2, 4), (2, 3), (3, 1)} be a relation on the set A = {1, 2, 3, 4}. The relation
R is
(a) a function
(b) transitive
(c) not symmetric
(d) reflexive

6. Let A and B be two sets containing four and two elements respectively. Then the number of
subsets of the set A × B, each having at least three elements is:
(a) 219
(b) 256

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(c) 275
(d) 510

7. In a certain town, 25% of the families own a phone and 15% own a car; 65% families
own neither a phone nor a car and 2,000 families own both a car and a phone. Consider the
following three statements:
(a) 5% families own both a car and a phone.
(b) 35% families own either a car or a phone.
(c) 40,000 families live in the town.
Then,
(a) Only (a) and (b) are correct.
(b) Only (a) and (c) are correct.
(c) Only (b) and (c) are correct.
(d) All (a), (b) and (c) are correct.

8. Let A = {x1, x2, …, x7} and B = {y1, y2, y3} be two sets containing seven and three distinct
elements respectively. Then the total number of functions f : A → B that are onto, if there exist
exactly three elements x in A such that f (x) = y2, is equal to:
(a) 14.7 C2
(b) 16.7 C3
(c) 12.7 C2
(d) 14.7 C3

9. If X = {4n – 3n – 1 : n 𝜖𝜖 N} and Y = {9n – 1} : n 𝜖𝜖 N}, where N is the set of natural numbers,

then X ∪ Y is equal to
(a) X
(b) Y
(c) N
(d) Y – X

10. If A, B and C are three sets such that A B = A C and A B = A C, then

(a) A = C
(b) B = C
(c) A ∩ B = ∅
(d) A = B

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11. Let ∪ be the universal set and A ∪ B ∪ C = ∪. Then {(A – B) ∪ (B – C) ∪ (C – A)} ' is equal
to
(a) A ∪ B ∪ C
(b) A ∪ (B ∩ C)
(c) A ∩ B ∩ C
(d) A ∩ (B ∩ C)

12. Which of the following is a function from A to B (where A = {1, 2, 5} and B = {a, b, c, d}
(a) {(1, a), (2, c), (1, d), (5, b)}
(b) {(1, a), (2, c)}
(c) {(1, d), (2, b), (5, c)}
(d) None of these

13. Let a relation R on the set N of natural number be defined as (x, y) 𝜖𝜖 R if and only if x2 – 4xy
+ 3y2 = 0 for all x, y 𝜖𝜖 N. The relation R is -
(a) reflexive
(b) symmetric
(c) transitive
(d) an equivalence relation

14. R is relation defined on R × R by (a, b) R (c, d) if a – c is an integer and b = d. The relation R

is
(a) an identity relation
(b) a universal relation
(c) an equivalence relation
(d) none of these

15. For the set A = {a, b, c, d, e} the correct statement is

(a) {a, b} 𝜖𝜖 A
(b) {a} 𝜖𝜖 A
(c) a 𝜖𝜖 A
(d) a ∉ A

16. The solution set of the equation x3 – 3x + 2 = 0 in roster form is

(a) {1, -2}
(b) {1, 2}
(c) {1, 2, 3}
(d) {-1, 2}

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17. The number of proper subsets of the set {1, 2, 3} is

(a) 8
(b) 7
(c) 6
(d) 5

18. If A and B are two given sets, then A ∪ (A ∩ B) is equal to

(a) A
(b) B
(c) Ac
(d) Bc

19. If A and B are two sets then (A – B) ∪ (B – A) ∪ (A ∩ B) is equal to

(a) A ∪ B
(b) A ∩ B
(c) A
(d) B '

20. If A, B and C are any three sets, then A – (B ∩ C) is equal to

(a) (A – B) ∩ (A – C)
(b) (A – B) ∪ (A – C)
(c) (A – B) ∪ C
(d) (A – B) ∩ C

21. Let A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}; B = {2, 3, 6, 7}. Then the number of elements in (A × B) ∩ (B × A) is
(a) 18
(b) 6
(c) 4
(d) 0

22. Let A = {1, 2, 3}. The total number of distinct relations that can be defined over A is
(a) 29
(b) 6
(c) 8
(d) None of these

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23. Let A = {1, 2, 3, 4} and R be a relation in A given by R = {(1, 2), (2, 2), (3, 3), (4, 4), (1, 2),
(2, 1), (3, 1), (1, 3)}. Then R is
(a) Reflexive
(b) Anti symmetric
(c) Transitive
(d) An equivalence relation

24. Consider the following two binary relations on the set A = {a, b, c} : R1 = {(c, a), (b, b), (a, c),
(c, c), (b, c), (a, a)} and R2 = {(a, b), (b, a), (c, c), (c, a), (a, a), (b, b), (a, c)}.
Then:
(a) R2 is symmetric but it is not transitive
(b) both R1 and R2 are not symmetric
(c) both R1 and R2 are transitive.
(d) R1 is not symmetric but it is transitive

25. Let the relation R be defined by R = {(4, 5), (1, 4), (4, 6), (7, 6), (3, 7)}, then R–1 oR is
(a) Reflexive only
(b) Symmetric only
(c) Transitive only
(d) Equivalence

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Answer Key

1. (c) 2. (a) 3. (d) 4. (c) 5. (c) 6. (a) 7. (d)

8. (d) 9. (b) 10. (b) 11. (c) 12. (c) 13. (a) 14. (a)
15. (c) 16. (a) 17. (c) 18. (a) 19. (a) 20. (a) 21. (c)
22. (a) 23. (a) 24. (a) 25. (d)

“Detail solutions are mentioned in the content library”

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