READING ASSIGNMENT

SETS & RELATION

1. SET THEORY

Collection of well defined objects which are distinct and distinguishable. A collection is said to be well defined if
each and every element of the collection has some definition.

1.1 Notation of a set : Sets are denoted by capital letters like A, B, C or { } and the entries within the bracket are
known as elements of set.

1.2 Cardinal number of a set : Cardinal number of a set X is the number of elements of a set X and it is denoted
by n(X) e.g. X = {x1,x2,x3}  n(X) =3

2. REPRESENTATION OF SETS

2.1 Set Listing Method (Roster Method) :

In this method a set is described by listing all the elements, separated by commas, within braces { }

2.2 Set builder Method (Set Rule Method) :

In this method, a set is described by characterizing property P(x) of its elements x. In such case the set is
described by {x : P(x) holds} or {x | P(x) holds}, which is read as the set of all x such that P(x) holds. The
symbol ‘|’ or ‘:’ is read as such that.

3. TYPE OF SETS

3.1 Finite set :

A set X is called a finite set if its element can be listed by counting or labeling with the help of natural numbers
and the process terminates at a certain natural number n. i.e. n(X) = finite no.
eg (a) A set of English Alphabets (b) Set of soldiers in Indian Army

3.2 Infinite set :

A set whose elements cannot be listed counted by the natural numbers (1, 2, 3.......n) for any number n, is
called a infinite set. e.g.
(a) A set of all points in a plane
(b) X = {x : x  R, 0 < x < 0.0001}
(c) X = {x : x  Q, 0  x  0.0001}
3.3 Singleton set :
A set consisting of a single element is called a singleton set. i.e. n (X) = 1,
e.g. {x : x  N, 1 < x < 3}, {{}} : Set of null set, {} is a set containing alphabet .
3.4 Null set :
A set is said to be empty, void or null set if it has no element in it, and it is denoted by . i.e. X is a null set if
n(X) = 0. e.g. : {x : x  R and
x2 + 2 = 0}, {x : x > 1 but x < 1/2}, {x : x  R, x2 < 0}
3.5 Equivalent Set :
Two finite sets A and B are equivalent if their cardinal numbers are same i.e. n(A) = n(B).
3.6 Equal Set :
Two sets A and B are said to be equal if every element of A is a member of B and every element of B is a
member of A. i.e. A = B, if A and B are equal and
A  B, if they are not equal.

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4. UNIVERSAL SET
It is a set which includes all the sets under considerations i.e. it is a super set of each of the given set. Thus, a
set that contains all sets in a given context is called the universal set. It is denoted by U. e.g. If A = {1, 2, 3}, B =
{2, 4, 5, 6} and
C = {1, 3, 5, 7}, then U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7} can be taken as the universal set.

5. DISJOINT SET

Sets A and B are said to be disjoint iff A and B have no common element or A  B = . If A  B   then A and B
are said to be intersecting or overlapping sets.
e.g. : (i) If A = {1, 2, 3}, B = {4, 5, 6} and
C = {4, 7, 9} then A and B are disjoint set where B and C are intersecting sets. (ii) Set of even natural numbers
and odd natural numbers are disjoint sets.

6. COMPLEMENTARY SET
Complementary set of a set A is a set containing
all those elements of universal set which are
not in A. It is denoted by A , AC or A. So
AC = {x : x  U but x  A}. e.g. If set
A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and universal set
U = {1, 2, 3, 4,.......50} then A = {6, 7, .......50}
NOTE :
All disjoint sets are not complementary sets but all complementary sets are disjoint.

7. SUBSET

A set A is said to be a subset of B if all the elements of A are present in B and is denoted by A  B
(read as A is subset of B) and symbolically written as : x  A  x  B  A  B
7.1 Number of subsets :
Consider a set X containing n elements as
{x1, x2, ......., xn} then the total number of subsets
of X = 2n
Proof : Number of subsets of above set is equal to the number of selections of elements taking any number of
them at a time out of the total n elements and it is equal to 2n
 n
C0 + nC1 + nC2 + ...... + nCn = 2n
7.2 Types of Subsets :
A set A is said to be a proper subset of a set B if every element of A is an element of B and B has at least one
element which is not an element of A and is denoted by A  B.
The set A itself and the empty set is known as subset and is denoted as A  B.
e.g. If X = {x1, x2, .....,xn} then total number of proper subsets = 2n – 1 (excluding itself). The statement A  B
can be written as B  A, then B is called the super set of A and is written as B  A.

8. POWER SET

The collection of all subsets of set A is called the power set of A and is denoted by P(A)
i.e. P(A) = {x : x is a subset of A}. If
X = {x1, x2, x3, ..........xn} then n(P(X)) = 2n ; n(P(P(x))) = 2 2 n .

9. VENN (EULER) DIAGRAMS

The diagrams drawn to represent sets are called Venn diagram or Euler-Venn diagrams. Here we represents the

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 universal U as set of all points within rectangle and the subset A of the set U is represented by the interior of a
circle. If a set A is a subset of a set B, then the circle representing A is drawn inside the circle representing B. If
A and B are not equal but they have some common elements, then to represent A and B by two intersecting
circles.
e.g. If A is subset of B then it is represented diagrammatically in fig.

U
B A

e.g. If A is a set then the complement of A is represented in fig.

U
A
A

10. OPERATIONS ON SETS

10.1 Union of sets :

If A and B are two sets then union () of A and B is the set of all those elements which belong either to A or to B
or to both A and B. It is also defined as
A  B = {x : x  A or x  B}. It is represented through Venn diagram in fig.1 & fig.2

A B

Fig. (1)

A B

Fig. (2)

10.2 Intersection of sets :

If A and B are two sets then intersection () of A and B is the set of all those elements which belong to both A
and B. It is also defined as
A  B = {x : x  A and x  B} represented in Venn diagram (see fig.)

A B

10.3 Difference of two sets :

If A and B are two sets then the difference of A and B, is the set of all those elements of A which do not belong to
B.

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 U

A B

A–B

Thus, A – B = {x : x  A and x  B}
or A – B = {x  A ; x  B}
Clearly x  A – B  x  A and x  B
It is represented through the Venn diagrams.

10.4 Symmetric difference of two sets :

Set of those elements which are obtained by taking the union of the difference of A & B
is (A – B) & the difference of B & A is (B – A), is known as the symmetric difference of two sets
A & B and it is denoted by (A  B).
Thus A  B = (A – B)  (B – A)

Representation through the venn diagram is given in the fig.

A B

AB

11. NUMBER OF ELEMENTS IN DIFFERENT SETS

If A, B & 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) (if A & B are disjoint sets)

(iii) n(A – B) = n(A) – n(A B)

(iv) n(A B) = n[(A – B)  (B – A)]

= n(A) + n(B) – 2n(A  B)

(v) n(A  B  C) = n(A) + n(B) + n(C) – n(A B)

– n(B  C) – n(A  C) + n(A  B  C)

(vi) n(A B) = n(A  B) = n(U) – n(A  B)

(vii) n(A B) = n(A  B) = n(U) – n(A  B)

12. CARTESIAN PRODUCT OF TWO SETS

Cartesian product of A to B is a set containing the elements in the form of ordered pair (a, b) such that a  A and
b  B. It is denoted by A × B.

i.e. A × B = {(a, b) : a  A and b  B}

= {(a1, b1),(a1, b2),(a2, b1),(a2, b2),(a3, b1),(a3, b2)}
If set A = {a1, a2, a3} and B = {b1, b2} then
A × B and B × A can be written as :
A × B = {(a, b) : a  A and b  B and
B × A = {(b, a) ; b  B and a  A}
Clearly A × B  B × A until A and B are equal
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Note :
1. If number of elements in A : n(A) = m and
n(B) = n then number of elements in
(A × B) = m × n
2. Since A × B contains all such ordered pairs of the type (a, b) such that a  A & b  B, that means it
includes all possibilities in which the elements of set A can be related with the elements of set B. Therefore,
A × B is termed as largest possible relation defined from set A to set B, also known as universal relation from A
to B.

13. ALGEBRAIC OPERATIONS ON SETS

13.1 Idempotent operation :

For any set A, we have (i) A  A = A and

(ii) A  A = A
Proof :
(i) A  A = {x : x  A or x  A} = {x : x  A}=A
(ii) A  A = {x : x  A & x  A} = {x : x  A}=A
13.2 Identity operation :
For any set A, we have
(i) A   = A and
(ii) A  U = A i.e.  and U are identity elements for union and intersection respectively
Proof :
(i) A   = {x : x  A or x  }
= {x : x  A} = A
(ii) A  U = {x : x  A and x  U}
= {x : x  A} = A
13.3 Commutative operation :
For any set A and B, we have
(i) A  B = B  A and (ii) A  B = B  A
i.e. union and intersection are commutative.
13.4 Associative operation :
If A, B and C are any three sets then
(i) (A  B)  C = A  (B  C)
(ii) (A  B)  C = A  (B  C)
i.e. union and intersection are associative.

13.5 Distributive operation :

If A, B and C are any three sets then
(i) A  (B  C) = (A  B)  (A  C)
(ii) A  (B  C) = (A  B)  (A  C)
i.e. union and intersection are distributive over intersection and union respectively.

13.6 De-Morgan’s Principle :

If A and B are any two sets, then
(i) (A  B) = A  B
(ii) (A  B) = A  B
Proof : (i) Let x be an arbitrary element of
(A  B) . Then x  (A  B)  x  (A  B)
 x  A and x  B  x  A  B
Again let y be an arbitrary element of A  B. Then y  A  B
 y  A and y  B  y  A and y  B
 y  (A  B)  y  (A  B)

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  A  B  (A  B).
Hence (A  B) = A  B
Similarly (ii) can be proved.

14. RELATION
A relation R from set X to Y (R : X  Y) is a correspondence between set X to set Y by which some or more
elements of X are associated with some or more elements of Y. Therefore a relation (or binary relation) R, from a
non-empty set X to another non-empty set Y, is a subset of X × Y. i.e. RH : X  Y is nothing but subset of A × B.
e.g. Consider a set X and Y as set of all males and females members of a royal family of the kingdom Ayodhya
X = {Dashrath, Ram, Bharat, Laxman, shatrughan} and Y = {Koshaliya, Kakai, sumitra, Sita, Mandavi, Urmila,
Shrutkirti} and a relation R is defined as “was husband of ”from set X to set Y.
RH

Koshalya
Dashrath Sumitra
Ram Kakai
Bharat Urmila
Laxman Sita
Shatrughan Mandavi
Shrutkirti

X Y
Then RH = {(Dashrath, Koshaliya), (Ram, sita), (Bharat, Mandavi), (Laxman, Urmila), (Shatrughan, Shrutkirti),
(Dashrath, Kakai), (Dashrath, Sumitra)}
Note :
(i) If a is related to b then symbolically it is written as a R b where a is pre-image and b is image
(ii) If a is not related to b then symbolically it is written as a R/ b.

14.1 Domain, Co-domain & Range of Relation :

Domain : of relation is collection of elements of the first set which are participating in the correspondence i.e. it
is set of all pre-images under the relation R. e.g. Domain of RH : {Dashrath, Ram, Bharat, Laxman, Shatrughan}
Co-Domain : All elements of set Y irrespective of whether they are related with any element of X or not
constitute co-domain. e.g. Y = {Koshaliya, Kakai, Sumitra, Sita, Mandavi, Urmila, Shrutkirti} is co-domain of RH.
Range : of relation is a set of those elements of set Y which are participating in correspondence i.e. set of all
images. Range of RH : {Koshaliya, Kakai, Sumitra, Sita, Mandavi, Urmila, Shrutkirti}.

15. TYPES OF RELATIONS

15.1 Reflexive Relation


R : X  Y is said to be reflexive iff x R x V
 x  X; (x, x)  R then relation R is
x  X. i.e. every element in set X, must be a related to itself therefore V
called as reflexive relation.
15.2 Identity Relation :
Let X be a set. Then the relation Ix = {(x, x) :
x  X} on X is called the identity relation on X. i.e. a relation Ix on X is identity relation if every element of X
related to itself only. e.g. y = x
Note : All identity relations are reflexive but all reflexive relations are not identity.
15.3 Symmetric Relation
R : X  Y is said to be symmetric iff
(x, y)  R  (y, x)  R for all (x, y)  R i.e. x R y  y R x for all (x, y)  R. e.g. perpendicularity of lines in a
plane is symmetric relation.
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15.4 Transitive Relation
R : X  Y is transitive iff (x, y)  R and (y, z)  R  (x, z)  R for all (x, y) and (y, z)  R. i.e. x R y and y R z
 x R z. e.g. The relation “being sister of ” among the members of a family is always transitive.
Note :
(i) Every null relation is a symmetric and transitive relation.
(ii) Every singleton relation is a transitive relation.
(iii) Universal and identity relations are reflexive, symmetric as well as transitive.
15.5 Anti-symmetric Relation
Let A be any set. A relation R on set A is said to be an antisymmetric relation iff (a, b)  R and (b, a)  R  a =
b for all a, b  A e.g. Relations “being subset of ”; “is greater than or equal to” and “identity relation on any set A”
are antisymmetric relations.

15.6 Equivalence Relation

A relation R from a set X to set Y (R : X  Y) is said to be an equivalence relation iff it is reflexive, symmetric as
well as transitive. The equivalence relation is denoted by ~ e.g. Relation “is equal to” Equality, Similarity and
congruence of triangles, parallelism of lines are equivalence relation.

16. INVERSE OF A RELATION

Let A, B be two sets and let R be a relation from a set A to B. Then the inverse of R, denoted by
R–1 , is a relation from B to A and is defined by
R–1 = {(b, a) : (a, b)  R}, Clearly,
(a, b)  R  (b, a)  R–1 Also,
Dom of R = Range of R–1 and
Range of R = Dom of R–1

Solved Examples
Ex.1 If a set A = {a, b, c} then find the number of subsets of the set A and also mention the set of all
the subsets of A.
Sol. Since n(A) = 3
 number of subsets of A is 23 = 8
and set of all those subsets is P(A) named as power set
P(A) : {, {a}, {b}, {c}, {a,b},{b,c},{a,c},{a,b,c}}

Ex.2 Show that n {P[P()]} = 4

Sol. We have P() = {}  P(P()) = {, {}}
P[P(P())] = { , {}, {{}}, {, {}}}.
Hence, n{P[P()]} = 4

Ex.3 If A = {x : x = 2n + 1, n  Z and
B = {x : x = 2n, n  Z}, then find A  B.
Sol. A  B = {x : x is an odd integer}  {x : x is an even integer} = {x : x is an integer} = Z

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Ex.4 If A = {x : x = 3n, n  Z} and
B = {x : x = 4n, n  Z} then find A  B.
Sol. We have,
x  A  B  x = 3n, n  Z and x = 4n, n  Z
    x is a multiple of 3 and x is a
multiple of 4
 x is a multiple of 3 and 4 both
 x is a multiple of 12  x = 12n,
n  Z
Hence A  B = {x : x = 12n, n  Z}

Ex.5 If A and B be two sets containing 3 and 6 elements respectively, what can be the minimum number of
elements in A  B? Find also, the maximum number of elements in A  B.
Sol. We have, n(A  B) = n(A) + n(B) – n(A  B).
This shows that n(A  B) is minimum or maximum according as n(A  B) is maximum or minimum
respectively.
Case-I
When n(A  B) is minimum, i.e., n(A  B) = 0
This is possible only when A  B = . In this case,
n(A  B) = n(A) + n(B) – 0 = n(A) + n(B) = 3 + 6 = 9.
So, maximum number of elements in A  B is 9.
Case-II
When n(A  B) is maximum.
This is possible only when A  B. In this case, n(A  B) = 3
 n(A  B) = n(A) + n(B) – n(A  B)
= (3 + 6 – 3) = 6
So, minimum number of elements in A  B is 6.

Ex.6 If A = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7} and B = {3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13} then find A – B and B – A..
Sol. A – B = {2, 4, 6} & B – A = {9, 11, 13)

Ex.7 If the number of elements in A is m and number of element in B is n then find

(i) The number of elements in the power set of A × B.
(ii) number of relation defined from A to B
Sol. (i) Since n(A) = m; n(B) = n then n(A × B )= mn
So number of subsets of A × B = 2mn
 n (P(A × B)) = 2mn
(ii) number of relation defined from A to B = 2mn
Any relation which can be defined from set A to set B will be subset of A × B
 A × B is largest possible relation A  B
 no. of relation from A  B = no. of subsets of set (A × B)

Ex.8 Let A and B be two non-empty sets having elements in common, then prove that A × B and B × A
have n2 elements in common.
Sol. We have (A × B)  (C × D) = (A  C)× (B  D)
On replacing C by B and D by A, we get
 (A × B)  (B × A) = (A  B) × (B  A)

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 It is given that AB has n elements so
(A  B) × (B  A) has n2 elements
But (A × B)  (B × A) = (A  B) × (B  A)
 (A × B)  (B × A) has n2 elements
Hence A × B and B × A have n2 elements in common.
Ex.9 Let R be the relation on the set N of natural numbers defined by
R : {(x, y)} : x + 3y = 12 x  N, y  N} Find
(i) R (ii) Domain of R (iii) Range of R
Sol. (i) We have, x + 3y =12  x = 12 – 3y
Putting y = 1, 2, 3, we get x = 9, 6, 3 respectively
For y = 4, we get x = 0  N. Also for
y > 4, x  N
 R = {(9, 1), (6, 2), (3, 3)}
(ii) Domain of R = {9, 6, 3}
(iii) Range of R = {1, 2, 3}

Ex.10 If X = {x1, x2, x3} and y = (x1, x2, x3,x4,x5} then find which is a reflexive relation of the following :
(a) R1 : {(x1, x1), (x2, x2)
(b) R1 : {(x1, x1), (x2, x2), (x3, x3)
(c) R3 : {(x1, x1), (x2, x2),(x3, x3),(x1, x3),(x2, x4) (d) R3 : {(x1, x1), (x2, x2),(x3, x3),(x4, x4)
Sol. (a) non-reflexive because (x3, x3)  R1
(b) Reflexive
(c) Reflexive
(d) non-reflexive because x4  X

Ex.11 If x = {a, b, c} and y = {a, b, c, d, e, f} then find which of the following relation is symmetric
relation :
R1 : { } i.e. void relation
R2 : {(a, b)}
R3 : {(a, b), (b, a)(a, c)(c, a)(a, a)}
Sol. R1 is symmetric relation because it has no element in it.
R2 is not symmetric because (b, a)  R2
& R3 is symmetric.

Ex.12 If x = {a, b, c} and y = (a, b, c, d, e} then which of the following are transitive relation.
(a) R1 = { }
(b) R2 = {(a, a)}
(c) R3 = {(a, a}.(c, d)}
(d) R4 = {(a, b), (b, c)(a, c),(a, a), (c, a)}
Sol. (a) R1 is transitive relation because it is null relation.
(b) R2 is transitive relation because all singleton relations are transitive.
(c) R3 is transitive relation
(d) R4 is also transitive relation
Ex.13 Let R be a relation on the set N of natural numbers defined by xRy  x divides y  for all x, y 
N.
Sol. This relation is an antisymmetric relation on set N. Since for any two numbers a, b  N.
a | b and b | a  a = b, i.e., a R b and
b R a  a = b.
It should be noted that this relation is not antisymmetric on the set Z of integers, because we find
that for any non zero integer a a R (a) and (–a) R a, but a  – a.
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Ex.14 Prove that the relation R on the set Z of all integers numbers defined by (x, y)  R  x – y is divisible by n
is an equivalence relation on Z.
Sol. We observe the following properties
Reflexivity :
For any a  N, we have
a – a = 0 × n  a – a is divisible by
n  (a, a)  R
Thus (a, a) R for all Z. so, R is reflexive on Z.
Symmetry :
Let (a, b)  R. Then (a, b)  R  (a – b)
is divisible by n
 (a – b) = np for some p  Z  b – a = n(–p)
 b – a is divisble by n  (b, a)  R
Thus (a, b)  R  (b, a)  R for all a, b,  Z.
So R is symmetric on Z.
Transitivity :
Let a, b, c  Z such that (a, b)  R and
(b, c)  R. Then
(a, b)  R  (a – b) is divisible by
n  a – b = np for some p  Z
(b, c)  R  (b – c) is divisible by
n  b – c = np for some q  Z
 (a, b)  R and (b, c)  R  a – b = np and b – c = nq
 (a – b) + (b – c) = np + nq  a – c = n(p + q)
 a – c is divisible by n  (a, c)  R
Thus (a, b)  R and (b, c)  R  (a, c)  R for all a, b, c  Z. So R is transitive relation on Z.
Thus, R being reflexive, symmetric and transitive is an equivalence relation on Z.
Ex.15 Let a relation R1 on the set R of real numbers be defined as (a, b)  R1  1 + ab > 0 for all a, b
 R. Show that R1 is reflexive and symmetric but not transitive.
Sol. We observe the following properties :
Reflexivity :
Let a be an arbitrary element of R. Then
a  R  1 + a . a = 1 + a2 > 0  (a, a)  R1
Thus (a, a)  R1 for all a  R. So R1 is reflexive on R.
Symmetry :
Let (a, b)  R. Then
(a, b)  R1  1 + ab > 0  1 + ba > 0
 (b, a)  R1
Thus (a, b)  R1  (b, a)  R1 for all a, b  R
So R1 is symmetric on R
Transitive :
We observe that (1, 1/2)  R1 and (1/2, –1)  R1 but (1,–1)  R1 because 1 + 1 × (–1) = 0 / 0. So R1
is not transitive on R.

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Ex.16 Let A be the set of first ten natural numbers and let R be a relation on A defined by
(x, y)  R  x + 2y = 10 i.e.,
R = {(x, y) : x  A, y  A and x + 2y = 10}. Express R and R–1 as sets of ordered pairs.
Determine also :
(i) Domains of R and R–1
(ii) Range of R and R–1

10  x
Sol. We have (x, y)  R  x + 2y = 10  y = , x, y  A
2
where A = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10}
10  1 9
Now, x = 1  y =   A
2 2
This shows that 1 is not related to any element in A. Similarly we can observe that 3, 5, 7, 9 and
10 are not related to any element of a under the defined relation. Further we find that
10  2
for x = 2, y = = 4  A  (2, 4)  R
2
10  4
for x = 4, y = = 3  A  (4, 3) R
2
10  6
for x = 6, y = = 2  A  (6, 2)  R
2
10  8
for x = 8, y = = 1  A  (8, 1)  R
2
Thus R = {(2, 4), (4, 3), (6, 2), (8, 1)}
 R–1 = {(4, 2), (3, 4), (2, 6), (1, 8)}
Clearly, Dom (R) = {2, 4, 6, 8} = Range (R–1)
and Range (R) = {4, 3, 2, 1} = Dom (R–1)

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