LESSON 2

Mathematical Language and Symbol

Sets
Learning Outcomes:
At the end the lesson, the student should be able:
1. discuss the language of, symbols and conventions
of mathematics;
2. define sets;
3. state the basic operations on sets;
4. perform the indicated operations on mathematical
expressions correctly; and
5. apply the concepts of set in real-world problems
The Language, Symbols, Syntax and
Rules of Mathematics
The language of mathematics is the
system used by mathematicians to
communicate mathematical ideas among
themselves.
What is the mathematical language and
symbols?
In mathematics, a symbolic language is
a language that uses characters or
symbols to represent concepts, such as
mathematical operations, expressions, and
statements, and the entities or operands
on which the operations are performed.
What is a syntax in math?
Syntax is defined as grammar conventions,
symbols, tables, and graphs (traditionally, most
people define syntax simply as the way words
are organized in sentences). Using the word
syntax only matters if your students are using
symbols or making tables and graphs to
represent information (e.g. in science and
math).
The language of mathematics makes it easy
to express the kinds of thoughts that
mathematicians like to express.
 precise (able to make very fine
distinctions);
 concise (able to say things briefly);
 powerful (able to express complex
thoughts with relative ease).
The language of mathematics can
be learned, but requires the
efforts needed to learn any
foreign language.
Writing Mathematical Language as an
Expression or a Sentence

Every language has its vocabulary (the words)

and its rules for combining these words into
complete thoughts (the sentences).

Mathematics is no exception.
An expression is the mathematical analogue of an
English noun; it is a correct arrangement of
mathematical symbols used to represent a
mathematical object of interest.

An expression does not state a complete thought;

it does not make sense to ask if an expression
is true or false.
The most common expression types
are numbers, sets, and functions.
Numbers have lots of different names: for example,
the expressions

10
5 2+3 (6−2) + 1 1+1+1+1+1
2

all look different, but are all just different names for
the same number.

This simple idea—that numbers have lots of different

names—is extremely important in mathematics!
The basic syntax for entering mathematics
formulas for expressions in the system enables
you quickly enter expressions using 2-D notation.
The most common mistakes is to forget
parentheses “( )”.

For example,

2 /(x + 1) is different from 2/x + 1 which the system

interprets as (2/x) + 1.
A mathematical sentence is the analogue of an
English sentence; it is a correct arrangement of
mathematical symbols that states a complete
thought.

Sentences have verbs.

In the mathematical sentence 3 + 4 = 7,

the verb is ‘=’.
A sentence can be (always) true, (always) false, or
sometimes true/sometimes false.
For example, the sentence “1 + 2 = 3” is true.

The sentence ”1+2 = 4” is false.

The sentence “x = 2” is sometimes true/sometimes

false: it is true when x is 2, and false otherwise.

The sentence “x + 3 = 3 + x” is (always) true, no

matter what number is chosen for x
What are mathematical conventions?
A mathematical convention is a fact, name,
notation, or usage which is generally agreed upon by
mathematicians.

For instance, the fact that one evaluates multiplication

before addition in the expression is merely
conventional. There is nothing inherently significant
about the order of operations.
The following symbols are commonly used in the order
of operations
Symbol Meaning Example
+ Add, plus 4+5=9
- Subtract, minus 9–8=1
x Multiply, times 4 x 5 = 20
÷ Divide 30 ÷ 6 = 5
/ Divide 12/4 = 3
∞ Infinity Is endless
= Equals 2+3=4
 Approximately to   3.1415
 Therefore b=aa=b
 is not equal 3+49–3
 Less than 7  10
 Greater than 15  7
What are the steps of order of operations?
• First, we solve any operations inside of
parentheses or brackets.
• Second, we solve any exponents.
• Third, we solve all multiplication and division from
left to right.
• Fourth, we solve all addition and subtraction from
left to right.
We can remember the order using
PEMDAS: Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication and
Division (from left to right), Addition and Subtraction
(from left to right).

Examples:
1.Evaluate: (12 – 3) x 4 – 5 + 2
Solution:
Remove the parenthesis: 9x4–5+2
Multiply: 36 – 5 + 2
Subtract: 31 + 2
Add: 33
2. Evaluate: 20 ÷ 4 + 10 ÷ 2 x 4

Using the PEMDAS, we need to evaluate the division

and multiplication before subtraction and addition: It is
recommended that you put in a parenthesis to remind
yourself the order of operations.
= (20 ÷ 4) + (10 ÷ 2) x 4
=5+5x4
= 5 + 20
= 25
3. Simplify: 9 – 2[3 – 2(5 – 2)] ÷ 2
= 9 – 2 [3 – 2(3)] ÷ 2
= 9 – 2[3 – 6] ÷ 2
= 9 – 2[-3] ÷ 2
=9+6÷2
=9+3
= 12

4. Simplify: 14 – 2(5 – 3)2 ÷ 2

= 14 – 2(2)2 ÷ 2
= 14 – 2(4) ÷ 2
= 14 – 8 ÷ 2
= 14 – 4
= 10
ACTIVITY 1
Simplify

1.) 27 + 43 – [5(9-5)}

2.) 23 + 23 ÷ 2 + 42

3.) 6(12-8) – 3(3+ 1)

4.) 43 + 2{7 – (5-2)2} – 10

5.) 5 + (9 – 5)3 ÷ 4 x 2 + 3
Note:
In the UK they say BODMAS (Brackets, Orders,
Divide, Multiply, Add, Subtract),
“Orders” means square roots and indices (which
you may know as square numbers, powers or
exponents).

In Canada they say BEDMAS (Brackets,

Exponents, Divide, Multiply, Add, Subtract).
“Indices” (square numbers, powers or
exponents) are used instead of Orders.
The Four Basic Concepts of
Mathematics

1. Set
2. Relation
3. Functions
4. Binary Functions
Sets
A set is a collection of objects. The objects are called
the elements of the set. To describe a set, we use braces
{ }, and use capital letters to represent it.
Examples:
1.The books in the shelves in a library
2.The set of natural numbers N = {1, 2, 3, …}
3.The set of days in a week.

Note: the three dots in enumerating the elements of the set

are called ellipsis and indicating a continuing pattern.
A finite set contains elements that can be counted and
terminates at certain natural number

Example:

• The set of all colors in the rainbow.

• N = {x : x ∈ N, x < 7}
• P = {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, ...... 97}

Empty set is also called a finite set.

Infinite Set:

The set whose elements cannot be listed, i.e., set

containing never-ending elements is called an infinite set.

For example:
• Set of all points in a plane

• A = {x : x ∈ N, x > 1}

• Set of all prime numbers

• B = {x : x ∈ W, x = 2n}
Specification of Sets
There are three main ways to specify a set:

1.List Notation/Roster Method

Listing all its members, list of elements of a set, separate
them by commas and enclose them in braces:
Examples:
2. {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15}
3. {January, March, May, July, August, October, December}
4. {a, e, i, o, u }
5. {1, 2, …, 100}
2. Predicate Notation/Rule Method/Set-Builder
Notation
Stating a property of its elements. It has a property that
the members of the set share (a condition or predicate
which holds for members of this set).

Examples:
1. {x/x is a natural number and x < 8} means “the set of all
x such that x is a natural number and is less than 8”
2. {x/x is a letter of English alphabet}
3. {y/y is a student of MSTIP and y is older than 25}
3. Recursive Rules
Defining a set of rules which generates or defines
its members

Examples:
1. The set of E of even numbers greater than 3.
2. 4 ε E
3. If x ε E, then x + 2 ε E.
ACTIVITY 2
1. Use roster and rule notation to describe the set F
F = { xx = 5n, where n  Z and 0 < n 10}

2. Write set A using roster notation if A = {x | x is odd, x = 7n, 0 < x < 70}.

3. Write set D using a rule if D = {1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, … }.

4. Use the roster or rule notation to describe the set B

B={x|x is an odd number between 11 and 20}
EQUAL SETS

Two sets are equal if they contain exactly the same

elements.

Examples:
1. {3,8,9} = {9,8,3}
2. {a, b, c,} = {b, c, a}
3. {1, 3, 5, 7} = {3, 5, 1, 7}
EQUIVALENT SETS

Two sets are equivalent if they contain the same number of elements.
The symbol for denoting an equivalent set is '↔’.

Example:

1. If A = {1,−7, 2, 55} and B = {1,2,3,4},

then A is equivalent to B.

2.A = {1, 2, 3} Here n(A) = 3

B = {p, q, r} Here n(B) = 3

Therefore, A ↔ B
Important Points to Remember on Equivalent Sets
• All the null sets are said to be equivalent to each other.
• Not all the infinite sets remain equivalent to each other. For
example, the equivalent set of all the real numbers and the
equivalent set of the integers.
• If P and Q are stated to be two sets such that P is equal to Q,
that is, (P = Q). This example means that two equal sets will
always remain to be equivalent, but the converse of the
equivalent set may or may not remain true.
• An equal set can be an equivalent set, but it is not necessary for
an equivalent set to be an equal set.
Empty Set or Null Set:
A set which does not contain any element is called an empty set, or the
null set or the void set and it is denoted by ∅ and is read as phi. In
roster form, ∅ is denoted by { }.

Example:

1.The set of whole numbers less than 0.

Clearly there is no whole number less than 0.
Therefore, it is an empty set.

2. N = {x : x ∈ N, 3 < x < 4}
Singleton Set:

A set which contains only one element is called a

singleton set.
Example:

1.A = {x : x is neither prime nor composite}

It is a singleton set containing one element, i.e., 1.

2.B = {x : x is a whole number, x < 1}

This set contains only one element 0 and is a singleton
set.
3. Let A = {x : x ∈ N and x² = 4}
Here A is a singleton set because there is only one
element 2 whose square is 4.

4. Let B = {x : x is a even prime number}

Here B is a singleton set because there is only one
prime number which is even, i.e., 2.
Universal Set
A set that contains all the elements considered in
a particular situation and denoted by U.

Example:
U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}
Subset
If A and B are two sets, and every element of set A is also an element
of set B, then A is called a subset of B. he symbol "⊆" means "is a
subset of". The symbol "⊂" means "is a proper subset of".

Example 1:
Is A a subset of B, where A = {1, 3, 4} and B = {1, 4, 3, 2}?

Guide:
1 is in A, and 1 is in B as well.
3 is in A and 3 is also in B.
4 is in A, and 4 is in B.
That's all the elements of A, and every single one is in B, so we're done.
Yes, A is a subset of B
Subset
Example 2;
Let A = {2, 4, 6}, and B = {6, 4, 8, 2}

Here A is a subset of B
Since, all the elements of set A are contained in set B.
But B is not the subset of A
Since, all the elements of set B are not contained in set A.

NOTE
Every set is a subset of itself.
Null set or ∅ is a subset of every set.
Proper Subset
If A and B are two sets, then A is called the proper subset of
B if A ⊆ B but B ⊇ A i.e., A ≠ B. The symbol ‘ ⊂’ is used to
denote proper subset. Symbolically, we write A ⊂ B.

For example;
1. A = {1, 2, 3, 4}
Here n(A) = 4
B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
Here n(B) = 5

We observe that, all the elements of A are present in B but the element ‘5’
of B is not present in A.

So, we say that A is a proper subset of B.

Symbolically, we write it as A ⊂ B
2. A = {p, q, r}
B = {p, q, r, s, t}

Here A is a proper subset of B as all the elements of set

A are in set B and also A ≠ B.

Note:
No set is a proper subset of itself.
Empty set is a proper subset of every set.
Power Set:
The collection of all subsets of set A is called the power set of A.
It is denoted by P(A). In P(A), every element is a set.

Example;
If A = {p, q} then all the subsets of A will be
P(A) = {∅, {p}, {q}, {p, q}}

Number of elements of P(A) = n[P(A)] = 4 = 22

In general, n[P(A)] = 2m where m is the number of elements in set

A.
Number of Subsets of a given Set:
If a set contains ‘n’ elements, then the number of subsets of the set is 2 n.

Number of Proper Subsets of the Set:

If a set contains ‘n’ elements, then the number of proper subsets of the
set is 2n - 1.
If A = {p, q} the proper subsets of A are [{ }, {p}, {q}]
⇒ Number of proper subsets of A,
using the formula 2n – 1,
22 - 1 = 4 – 1 is 3
In general, number of proper subsets of a given set = 2n - 1, where n
is the number of elements.
Example:

1. If A {1, 3, 5}, then write all the possible subsets of A. Find their numbers.

Solution:
The subset of A containing no elements = { }
The subset of A containing one element each = {1} {3} {5}
The subset of A containing two elements each ={1, 3} {1, 5} {3, 5}
The subset of A containing three elements = {1, 3, 5}
Therefore, all possible subsets of A are
{ }, {1}, {3}, {5}, {1, 3}, {1, 5}, {3, 5},{1, 3, 5}
Therefore, number of all possible subsets of A is 8 which is equal 23.
OPERATIONS ON SETS

Union
Is an operation for sets of A and B in which set is formed that consists of all the
elements included in A or B or both denoted by  as A  B.
Examples:
Given U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}
A = {1, 3, 5, 7}
B = {2, 4, 6, 8} and
C = {1, 2}
Find:
1. A  B 2. A  C 3. (A  B)  C

Solutions:
2. A  B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}
3. A  C = {1, 2, 3, 5, 7}
4. (A  B)  C = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}
Union
Union of two sets can also be defined as
A∪B=n(A)+n(B)−n(A∩B)

For Example,
Set A = {1,2,3,4} and Set B = {3,4,5,6}
A ∪ B = {1,2,3,4,5,6}
Intersection of Sets

For two given sets A and B, A  B (Read as A intersection B) is the set

of common elements that belong to set A and B.

Intersection of two sets can also be defined as

A  B = n(A)+n(B)−n(A∪B)
where n(A) is the cardinality of set A,
n(B) is the cardinality of set B,

Example,
Set A={1,2,3,4}and Set B={3,4,5,6}
A  B={3,4}
Example:
Given U = {a, b, c, d, e}
A = {c, d, e}
B = {a, c, e}
C = {a}; and
D = {e}
Find:
1. B  C 2. A  C 3. B  D 4. A  D

Solution:
2. B  C = {a}
3. A  C = {}
4. B  D = {e}
5. A  D = {e}
Disjoint Sets
Two sets A and B are said to be disjoint if there are no common
elements, In other words, the intersection of the two sets is empty.

Example

Set A={1,2,3,4} and Set B={5,6,7,8}

A and B are disjoint sets as they do not have any common elements.
Set Difference
The difference between sets A and B, A−B lists all the
elements in set A but not in set B.

Example,
Set A={1, 2, 3, 4} Set B={2, 3, 5, 7}
A−B= {1,4}
Complement of Sets
Complement of a set A. A′ (Read as A complement) is defined as
the set of all the elements in the given universal set(U) that are not
present in set A.

Example,
Set U = {2,4,6,8,10,12}
A = {4,6,8}
A′= {2,10,12}
2. Given U = {a, b, c, d, e}, and A = {c, d, e}, find A’
Solution:
A’ = {a, b}

3. If U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}, and A = {1, 3, 7} find A'.

Solution:
We observe that 2, 4, 5, 6 are the only elements of U which do not belong to A.
Therefore, A' = {2, 4, 5, 6}

Note:
The complement of a universal set is an empty set.
The complement of an empty set is a universal set.
The set and its complement are disjoint sets.
ACTIVITY 3
Given:
U={a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l}
Set A={a, b, c, d, e}, Set C = {b, c, d, e, f}
Set B={a, e, i, o, u}, Set D = {c, e, g, i, l}

Find
a) A  B e.) D’ i.) D’  B’
b) A  B f.) C’ j.) A’  C’
c) A′  C g.) D  B
d) A  B’ h.) C  D
Properties of Operations of Sets
The important properties on operations of sets are stated below.

Commutative Property of Sets

For any two given sets A and B, the commutative property is defined
as, A∪B = B∪A.

This means that union of two sets are commutative.

A∩B = B∩A

This means that intersection of two sets are commutative.

Associative Property of Sets
For any three given sets A,B and C the associative
property is defined as, (A ∪ B) ∪ C = A ∪ (B ∪ C)

This means union of sets is associative.

(A ∩ B) ∪ C = A ∪(B ∩ C)

This means intersection of sets is associative.

Distributive Property of Sets
For any three given sets, A, B and C the distributive
property is defined as,
A ∩ (B ∪ C) =(A ∩ B) ∪(A ∩ C)

Here intersection is distributed over union of sets B

and C.
A ∪ (B ∩ C) = (A ∪ B) ∩ (A ∪ C)

Here the union is distributed over intersection of sets

B and C.
Example
In a school 200 students played football, 150 students played soccer and
100 students played both. Find how many students were there in the
school?
Solution
Let us represent the number of students who played football as n(F) and number of
students who played soccer as n(S)
Then
n(F)=200 n(S)=150 n(F ∩ S)=100

We know that,
n(F∪S)=n(F)+n(S)−n(F∩S)

Therefore,
n(F∪S)=(200+150)−100
n(F∪S)=350−100
n(F∪S)=250 There are 250 students were in the school
Example

From a group of 400 people, 150 people liked swimming, 80 people

liked both swimming and scuba-diving. How many scuba-diving?

Solution
Let us represent the number of people who liked swimming as n(S)
And

Number of people who liked scuba-diving as n(D)

And

the total number of people who liked both swimming and scuba-diving
as n(S ∩ D)

and total number of people in the group as n(S ∪ D)

Cont.

n(S)=150
n(D)=?
n(S ∪ D)=400
n(S ∩ D)=80

Number of people who liked scuba-diving is,

n(S∩D) = n(S)+n(D)−n(S∪D)
80 = {150+n(D)}−400
80 = n(D)−250
80 = n(D)−250
80 + 250 = n(D)8
330 = n(D)

The number of people who liked scuba-diving is 330

THANK YOU