Basics of Set Theory
Lecture Video Link:
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Set
• A well defined collection of distinct objects is called a set.
• The objects are called the elements or members of the set.
• Sets are denoted by capital letters A, B, C …, X, Y, Z.
• The elements of a set are represented by lower case letters
a, b, c, … , x, y, z. Predicates
• If an object x is a member of a set A, we write x∈A, which
reads “x belongs to A” or “x is in A” or “x is an element of A”,
otherwise we write x∉A, which reads “x does not belong to
A” or “x is not in A” or “x is not an element of A”.
TABULAR FORM
• We list all the elements of a set, separated by commas
and enclosed within braces or curly brackets{}.
EXAMPLES
• In the following examples we write the sets in Tabular
Form.
• A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} is the set of first five Natural Numbers.
• B = {2, 4, 6, 8, …, 50} is the set of Even numbers up to 50.
• C = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, …} is the set of positive odd numbers.
• NOTE : The symbol “…” is called an ellipsis. It is a short for
“and so forth.”
DESCRIPTIVE FORM
We state the elements of a set in words.
EXAMPLES
Now we will write the above examples in the Descriptive
Form.
• A = set of first five Natural Numbers. ( Descriptive Form )
• B = set of positive even integers less or equal to fifty.
• ( Descriptive Form )
• C = set of positive odd integers. ( Descriptive Form )
SET BUILDER FORM
We write the common characteristics in symbolic form,
shared by all the elements of the set.
EXAMPLES:
• Now we will write the same examples which we write in
Tabular as well as Descriptive Form ,in Set Builder Form
.
• A = { x∈N | x≤5} ( Set Builder Form)
• B = { x∈E | 0 < x≤50} ( Set Builder Form)
• C = { x∈O | 0 < x } ( Set Builder Form)
SETS OF NUMBERS
• 1. Set of Natural Numbers
N = {1, 2, 3, … }
• 2. Set of Whole Numbers
W = {0, 1, 2, 3, … }
• 3. Set of Integers
Z = {…, -3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3, …}
= {0, ±1, ±2, ±3, …}
{“Z” stands for the first letter of the German word for integer: Zahlen.}
• 4. Set of Even Integers
E = {0, ± 2, ± 4, ± 6, …}
• 5. Set of Odd Integers
O = {± 1, ± 3, ± 5, …}
• 6. Set of Prime Numbers
P = {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, …}
SETS OF NUMBERS
7. Set of Rational Numbers (or Quotient of Integers)
Q = { x | x =p/q , p, q ∈ Z, q≠ 0}
For example 2 can be expressed as 8/4
8. Set of Irrational Numbers
9. Set of Real Numbers
R = Q ∪Q'
SUBSET
• If A & B are two sets, then A is called a subset of B. It is written
as A ⊆ B. The set A is subset of B if and only if any element of A
is also an element of B.
Symbolically:
A ⊆ B ⇔ if x∈A, then x∈B
REMARK:
1. When A ⊆ B, then B is called a superset of A.
2. When A is not subset of B, then there exist at least one x ∈ A
such
that x ∉B.
3. Every set is a subset of itself.
EXAMPLES
Let
A = {1, 3, 5} B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
C = {1, 2, 3, 4} D = {3, 1, 5}
Then
A ⊆ B ( Because every element of A is in B )
C ⊆ B ( Because every element of C is also an element of B )
A ⊆ D ( Because every element of A is also an element of D and also note
that every element of D is in A so D ⊆ A ) and A is not subset of C . (
Because there is an element 5 of A which is not in C )
PROPER SUBSET
• Let A and B be sets. A is a proper subset of B, if and only if,
every element of A is in B but there is at least one
element of B that is not in A, and is denoted as A ⊂ B.
EXAMPLE:
Let A = {1, 3, 5} B = {1, 2, 3, 5}
then A ⊂ B ( Because there is an element 2 of B which is
not in A).
EQUAL SETS
• Two sets A and B are equal if and only if every element
of A is in B and every element of B is in A and is denoted
A = B.
• Symbolically:
A = B iff A ⊆ B and B ⊆ A
EXAMPLE:
Let A = {1, 2, 3, 6} B = the set of positive divisors of 6
C = {3, 1, 6, 2} D = {1, 2, 2, 3, 6, 6, 6}
Then A, B, C, and D are all equal sets.
NULL SET
• A set which contains no element is called a null set, or an
empty set or a void set. It is denoted by the Greek letter ∅
(phi) or { }.
• EXAMPLE
A = {x | x is a person taller than 10 feet} = ∅
( Because there does not exist any human being which is
taller then 10 feet )
B = {x | x2 = 4, x is odd} = ∅
(Because we know that there does not exist any odd number
whose square is 4)
REMARK:
∅ is regarded as a subset of every set.
UNIVERSAL SET
• The set of all elements under consideration is called
the Universal Set. The Universal Set is usually denoted
by U.
Example
A = { 2, 4, 6 }
B = {1, 3, 5 }
Universal set = U = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 }
FINITE AND INFINITE SETS
• A set S is said to be finite if it contains exactly m distinct
elements where m denotes some non negative integer.
In such case we write |S| = m or n(S) = m
A set is said to be infinite if it is not finite.
EXAMPLES:
1. The set S of letters of English alphabets is finite and |S| = 26
2. The null set ∅ has no elements, is finite and |∅| = 0
3. The set of positive integers {1, 2, 3,…} is infinite.
Examples
Determine which of the following sets are
finite/infinite.
1. A = {month in the year} FINITE
2. B = {even integers} INFINITE
3. C = {positive integers less than 1} FINITE
4. D = {animals living on the earth} FINITE
5. E = {lines parallel to x-axis} INFINITE
MEMBERSHIP TABLE
• A table displaying the membership of elements in sets. To
indicate that an element is in a set, a 1 is used; to indicate that
an element is not in a set, a 0 is used.
• Membership tables can be used to prove set identities.
• The above table is the Membership table for Complement of A.
Now in the above table note that if an element is the member
of A, then it cannot be the Member of Ac thus where in the
table we have 1 for A in that row we have 0 in Ac.
• Similarly, if an element is not a member of A, it will be the
member of Ac.
• So we have 0 for A and 1 for Ac.