INTRODUCTION TO

SET THEORY
 A ‘Set’ is any well defined collection of objects
SETthe elements or members of the set.
called

Following are some examples of sets:

• The collection of all planets in our universe.
• The collection of all states in India.
• The collection of vowels in English alphabets, i.e.
A = {a, e, i, o, u}.
• The collection of first five natural numbers.
A = {1,2,3,4,5}

x  S means “x is an element of set S.”

x  S means “x is not an element of set S.”
NOTE:
{1, 2, 3} is the set containing “1” and “2” and “3.”

{1, 1, 2, 3, 3} = {1, 2, 3} since repetition is irrelevant.

{6, 11} = {11, 6} = {11, 6, 6, 11}

{1, 2, 3} = {3, 2, 1} since sets are unordered.

{1, 2, 3, ..., 100},where the ellipsis ("...") indicates that the list
continues in the obvious way.
Ellipsis may also be used where sets have infinitely many
members. Thus, the set of positive even numbers can be written as {2,
4, 6, 8, ... }.

{0,1, 2, 3, …} is a way we denote an infinite set (in this case, the

natural numbers).
 SOME IMPORTANT SETS:
• N : For the set of natural numbers
• Z or I : For the set of integers
• Z+ or I+ : For the set of all positive integers
• Q : For the set of all rational numbers
• Q+ : For the set of all positive rational numbers
• R : For the set of all real numbers
• R+ : For the set of all positive real numbers
• C : For the set of all complex numbers
 REPRESENTATION OF A SET
A set is often represented in the following two ways:
(I) Roster form (Tabular form)
-set is described by listing elements separated by commas, within
braces { }.
Eg: the set of even natural numbers {2, 4, 6, 8, ...}.

(II)Set Builder form( Rule form)

- set is described by a characterizing property P(x) of its element x.
{x : P(x) holds} or {x / P(x) holds}
The symbol ‘|’ or ‘:’ is read as ‘such that’.
Eg: 1) Set of vowels of English
Roster form :- A= {a,e,i,o,u}
Set Builder Form:- A= {x: x is an English vowel}
2) Set of first ten natural numbers
Roster form :- A= {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10}
Set Builder Form:- A= {x: x  N and 1≤x ≤10}
3) {x: x is an integer and 4 < x ≤8}={5,6,7,8}
4) {x: x is a month with exactly 30 days}={April,June,September,November}
 TYPES OF SETS
Empty set:
A set containing no element is called an empty
set. It is also known as null set or void set. It is
denoted by {},Φ
Eg:
 
(a) A  x  R / x 2  10  
(b) B  set of immortal man  

Singleton set:
A set having exactly one element
is called singleton set. 2
For example, 5
{2}, {0}, {5} are singleton sets.
A={x:x is a solution of the equation 2x-5=0}
Finite set:
A set consisting of a finite number of elements is called a
finite set.
Eg:
•{1, 2, 4, 6} is a finite set because it has four elements.
•The set of months is a finite set because it has 12 elements.

Infinite set:
A set which is not a finite set, i.e., a set consisting of
infinite number of elements is called an infinite set.

Eg:
(i) The set of all straight line in a given plane.
(ii) The set of all natural numbers.
(iii) The set of real numbers between ‘1’ and ‘2’.
 CARDINAL NUMBER OF
A SET
The number of elements in a finite set is called
cardinal number or order of the set. It is referred as the
cardinality of the set A and is denoted by n(A),ǀAǀ or #(A).
For example, if
A   1, 2, 3, 4, 5  n  A   5 or o  A   5.
If S = {3,3,3,3,3}, |S| = 1
If S =  then |S| = 0.

Set of sets:
A set S having all its elements as sets is called set
of sets.
Eg:
S = { {1, 2}, {2, 4}, {3, 5, 9} }
3  S

But S = { {1, 2}, 4, {3, 5, 9} } is not a set of sets

as element 4 ϵ S is not a set.
EQUIVALENT AND EQUAL SETS
Equivalent sets:
Two finite sets A and B are equivalent if their cardinal
number is same, i.e. n(A) = n(B).

Equal sets:
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.

For example:
A = {4, 5, 6} and
B = {a, b, c} are equivalent ie. A Ξ B
but
A = {4, 5, 6} and
C = {6, 5, 4} are equal, ie. A = C.
Subsets:
A set A is said to be a subset of a set B, written as
A  B, if each element of A is also an element of B.

A  B , if x  A  x  B

Eg:
Subsets
A Let A = {2, 4, 6, 8},
B = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12},
then A  B.

B  A: B is a superset of A
B contains A
 Proper subset: 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.

A  B means “A is a proper subset of B.”

A  B, and A  B.

A subset which is not proper is called improper subset.

For example:
Let A = {1, 2, 3}, B = {2, 3, 4, 1, 5}, then A  B

Thus, if A is a proper subset of B, then there exists an

element x  B such that x  A.
For example, {1}   1, 2, 3 but  1, 4   1, 2, 3 .

{1,2,3}  {1,2,3,4,5}
{1,2,3}  {1,2,3,4,5}
SOME RESULTS ON
SUBSETS
(i) Every set is a subset of itself.
(ii) The empty set  is a subset of every set.
(iii) The total number of subsets of a finite set
containing n elements is 2n.
Proof : We know that nCr denotes the number of ways for
choosing r things from n different things. Therefore
each selection of r things gives a subset of the set A
containing r elements.
 The number of subsets of A having no element nC0
The number of subsets of A having one element nC1
 The number of subsets of A having two elements = nC2
----------------------------------
----------------------------------
----------------------------------
The number of subsets of A having n elements = nCn.

Hence, the total number of subsets of A

 nC0  nC1  nC2  ...  nCn  2n

[  We know that  1  x   nC0  nC1x  nC2 x 2  ...  nCn x n .

n

Putting x = 1, we get 2n  nC0  nC1  nC2  ...  nCn .]

 POWER SET
The set of all the subsets of a given set A is said to be
the power set of A and is denoted by P(A).

i.e. P  A    S|S  A  S  P  A   S  A

Also,   P  A  and A  P  A  for all sets A.

The power set of a finite set with n elements has
2n elements.
For example,
if A = {a, b, c}, then
P(A)   ,  a ,  b ,  c ,  a, b ,  a, c ,  b, c ,  a, b, c   .
A
P(A)
 UNIVERSAL SET
Any set which is super set of all the sets under
consideration is called the universal set and is denoted by
 or .
For example:
(i) When we are using sets containing natural numbers then N
is the universal set.

Euler-Venn Diagram- a pictorial representation of sets


B
A

A  B
 SET OPERATIONS
Union of sets:
The union of A and B, denoted by A ∪ B, is the set of all things
which are members of either A or B.

 A B   x:x  A or x  B . 
Clearly, if x  A B  x  A or x  B

and x  A B  x  A and x B
•{1, 2} ∪ {red, white} ={1, 2, red, white}.
A B
•If A = {Charlie, Lucy, Linus}, and B = {Lucy, Desi}, then
A  B
A  B = {Charlie, Lucy, Linus, Desi}
(a )

Generalised definition
If A1, A 2 , ...A n is a finite family of sets, then their union is
n
A1  A 2  A 3 ...UA n or A . n
i1
 Intersection of sets:
The intersection of A and B, denoted by A ∩ B, is
the set of all things which are members of both A and B.

A B   x : x  A and x  B 
Clearly, if x  A B  x  A and x  B
and x  A B  x  A or x  B.
A B
•If A = {Charlie, Lucy, Linus}, and
A  B
B = {Lucy, Desi}, then
A  B = {Lucy} 

•{1, 2} ∩ {red, white} = ∅.

A
•{1, 2, green} ∩ {red, white, green} = {green}.
•{1, 2} ∩ {1, 2} = {1, 2}. B

Generalised definition A  B

The intersection of sets A1, A 2 , ...A n is the set of all the elements

which are common to all the sets A1, A 2 , ... A n . It is denoted by

n
A1  A 2  A 3 ...  A n or A i
i 1
DIFFERENCE OF SETS
The difference of two sets A and B, 
denoted by A-B or A \ B, is a set which
contains those elements of A which are not
in B.
A  B   x:x  A and x  B A (c ) B
W h e n A-B
n e it h e r A  B
nor B  A
nor B  A
W h e n n e it h e r A  B
(c )
A B

Eg:
If A={1,2,3,4} and B={3,4,5,6} 
A B
then A-B={1,2}
B-A
B-A={5,6}
Disjoint sets:
Sets whose intersection is empty are called disjoint sets

A B   

Eg:
Let A={a,b,c,d,e} and B= {x,y,z}
A B
Then, clearly A B   A  B

Complement of set (A’, Ac, A )


A’=U-A=
A´
x  A  x  A A

Eg: If U={1,2,3,4,5} and

A’
A={12,3}
Then, A’=U-A = {4,5}
SYMMETRIC DIFFERENCE OF SETS
The symmetric difference of sets A and B ,
denoted by A  B or A Δ B, consists of those elements
which belong to either A or B but not both. ie.
A  B = { x : (x  A and x  B) or (x  B and x  A)}
= (A – B)  (B – A)

(A U B)-(A  B)
x  A  B  x  A B
Eg: A B
If A={1,2,3,4} and B={3,4,5,6} W h e n n e it h e r B  A
AB
then A-B={1,2} nor B  A
B-A={5,6} (b )
AB = (A – B)  (B – A)
= {1,2,5,6}
CARTESIAN PRODUCT
The Cartesian product of two sets A and B, denoted by A × B is
the set of all ordered pairs (a, b) such that a is a member of A and b
is a member of B.
A  B = { (a, b) : a  A and b  B}
Let A and B be finite sets, then
| A × B | = | B × A | = | A | × | B |.

A1  A2  …  An = {(a1, a2,…, an): a1  A1, a2  A2, …, an  An}

Eg:

•{1, 2} × {red, white} = {(1, red), (1, white), (2, red), (2, white)}.

•{1, 2} × {a, b} = {(1, a), (1, b), (2, a), (2, b)}.
BINARY AND UNARY
OPERATION
A unary operation is an operation with only one operand, i.e. a single input.
input
Specifically, it is a function f :A→ A where A is a set .
In this case f is called a unary operation on A.
Common notations are
prefix (e.g. +, −, not), postfix (e.g. n!), functional notation (e.g. sin x or sin (x)),
and superscripts (e.g. complement A, transpose AT).

A binary operation is a calculation involving two operands.

Let A, B and C be three sets .
Then a relation * from A × B → C is a binary relation. a*b=c
Typical examples of binary operations are the addition (+) and multiplication (×) of
numbers and matrices as well as composition of functions on a single set.
In sets:
unary operation: complement
binary operation : union, intersection, difference, symmetric difference.
REMARK:
(i) U   x: x  U and x  U  .

(ii)    x:x  U and x    U.

(iii)  A     x:x  U and x  A 

  x : x  U and x  A A

(iv) A  A    x:x  U and x  A  x:x  U and x  A  U

(v) A  A    x:x  U and x  A   x:x  U and x  A  

PROCEDURE FOR PROVING
EQUALITY OF SETS
As we have discussed earlier that two sets A and B are
said to be equal if every element of set A is an element
of set B and every element of B is an element of A.

It is clear that
A  B  A  B and B  A.

i.e. A  B   x  A  x  B  .
ALGEBRA OF SETS
Idempotent laws For any set A, we have
(i) A A  A
(ii) A A  A

Identity laws For any set A, we have

(i) A   A
(ii) A U  A

Involution Laws (A’)’= A

Complement Laws (i) A U A’=U

(ii) A  A’ = Φ
(iii) U’ =Φ

(iv) Φ’ = U
 Commutative laws
For any two sets A and B, we have
(i) A B  B  A
(ii) A B  B  A
i.e. union and intersection are commutative.
Proof: As we know that two sets X and Y are equal if
X  Y and Y  X.
(i) Let x be any arbitrary element of A B.
 x  A B  x  A or x  B
 x  B or x  A
 x  B A  A B  B  A ...(i)
(ii) Similarly, let y be any arbitrary element of B  A
 y  B  A  y  B or y  A
 y  A or y  B
 y  A B …(ii)

From (i) and (ii)

A B  B  A
Associative laws
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.
Proof:
(i) Let x be any arbitrary element of  A B   C .
 x   A B   C  x   A B  or x  C
  x  A or x  B  or x  C
 x  A or  x  B or x  C 
 x  A or  x  B  C 
 x  A  B C
  A B   C  A   B  C  ...(i)
(ii) Similarly, let y be any arbitrary element of A   B  C 
 y. A   B  C   y  A or y   B C 
 y  A or  y  B or y  C 
  y  A or y  B  or y  C
  y  A B  or y  C
 y   A B   C
 A   B  C    A B   C ...(ii)

From (i) and (ii)

 A B   C  A   B  C  Pr oved.
Distributive laws
If A, B and C are any three sets, then
(i) A   B  C    A B    A  C 
A   B  C    A B    A  C 
(ii)
ie, union and intersection are distributive over intersection and union respectively.

Proof:
(i) Let x be any arbitrary element of A   B  C
. 
 x  A  B C  x  A or x   B  C 
 x  A or  x  B and x  C 
  x  A or x  B  and  x  A or x  C 
[ ‘or’ is distributive over ‘and’]
 x   A B  and x   A  C 
 x   A B    A  C 

 A   B  C    A B    A  C  ...(i)
(ii) Similarly, let y be any arbitrary element of  A B    A  C .
 y   A B    A  C   y   A B  and y   A  C 
  y  A or y  B  and  y  A or y  C 
 y  A or  y  B and y  C 
 y  A or  y  B C 
 y  A  B C

  A B    A  C   A   B  C  ...(ii)

From (i) and (ii),

A   B  C    A B    A  C  Pr oved.
 DE MORGAN’S LAW
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 the set  A B  .
 x   A B    x   A B 
 x  A and x  B
 x  A  and x  B
 x  A  B    A B    A   B ...(i)

(ii)Now, let y be an arbitrary element of A  B

 y  A  B  y  A  and y  B
 y  A and y  B
 y  A B
 y   A B    A   B   A  B  ' ...(ii)
From (i) and (ii),

 A B    A  B
 Q: For any two sets A and B, prove that
A  B  A  B  A  B.
First, let A = B.
Then A  B  A and A B  A
 A B  A B
 A  B  A B  A B ...(i)
Conversely, let A B  A B.
 xA  x  A B
 x  A B
 x B
Now let
 x  A and x  B  A  B ...(ii)
y B  y  A B
 y  A B
 yA
 y  A and y  B  BA ...(iii)
From (ii) and (iii), we get A = B
Thus, A  B  A B  A  B ...(iv)
From (i) and (iv), A B  A B  A  B
Q: If a  N such that aN   ax: x  N
,
describe the set 3N  7N.

Sol:We have aN   ax:x  N

 3N   3x:x  N   3, 6, 9, 12, 15, ...

7N   7x:x  N   7, 14, 21, 28, ...

Hence, 3N  7N   21, 42, 63, ...   21x:x  N  21N

Note that aN  bN  cN where c = LCM of a, b.

 Q:If A, B and C are any three sets, then prove that
A   B C   A  B  A  C .
Let x be any element of A   B . C 
 x  A   B  C   x  A and x   B  C 
 x  A and  x  B or x  C 
  x  A and x  B  or  x  A and x  C 
 x   A  B  or x   A  C 
 x   A  B  A  C
 A   B  C   A  B    A  C ...(i)
Again y be any element of  A  B    A  C  .
 y   A  B    A  C   y   A  B  or y   A  C 
  y  A and y  B  or  y  A and y  C 
 y  A and  y  B or y  C 
 y  A and  y   B C 
 y  A   B C
  A  B   A  C  A   B C ...(ii)
From (i) and (ii),
A   B C   A  B    A  C  Pr oved.
Q: Let A, B and C be three sets such that A  B  C and
A  B  . .
then
 We prove
have A Bthat
 C. A=C–B

 C  B   A B   B
  A B  B  X  Y  X  Y 

  A B    B  B  [By distributive law]

  A  B   
 A  B
=A–B
=A  A  B   Pr oved.
If A, B and C are the sets such that A  B,
then prove that C  B  C  A .
Let x be any arbitrary element of C – B.
 x  C  B  x  C and x  B
 x  C and x  A  A  B
 xC  A

 CB  C A Pr oved.
PROBLEMS
Q.1. A survey was conducted, it was found that the number of
people who prefer only Burger, only Pizza, both Burger and
Pizza and neither of them are 40, 45, 18 & 22 respectively. Find
the number of people surveyed.

A. 69
B. 79
C. 82
D. 89
Q.2.There are 300 students in a class 10th. Among them,
80 students are learning both History & Geography. A
total of 180 students are learning History. If every
student is learning at least one of these two subjects, how
many students are learning Geography in total.
Q.3. In class 12th, 70% of the students study
Accountancy and 40% of the students study Business
Studies. If 15% of the total students study both
Accountancy and Business Studies, what % of the
students do not study either of the two subjects?
Q.4. Among a group of students, 50 played cricket, 50
played hockey and 40 played volley ball. 15 played both
cricket and hockey, 20 played both hockey and volley
ball, 15 played cricket and volley ball and 10 played all
three. If every student played at least one game, find the
number of students and how many played only cricket,
only hockey and only volley ball?