MATHEMATICS

SET is a group or collection of objects.

● Sets are simply collection of objects or items.
● It is named using CAPITAL LETTERS.
● Each object in a set is called element (∈).

Example:
A = {Days in a week}
B = {Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday}

Monday ∈ A Monday is an element of A .

December ∉ B December is not an element of B.

WELL-DEFINED SET / WAYS OF DEFINING OR WRITING A SET

Well-defined set
● is a set wherein you can identify the objects inside it.
● You can easily count its quantity and it has an end.

Ways of Defining a Set:

1.) Roster Method / Listing or Roster Notation
● listing the elements
● If the set does not contain very large number of elements
● Examples: A = {a, e, i, o, u}
B = {yellow, red, blue}
2.) Set-Builder Notation
● describing the elements
● If there are too many elements
● Example: C = {x/x is a letter in the alphabet}
C is the set of all x, such that x is a letter in the alphabet.
 3.) Verbal Description
● Example: D = {FB, IG, Tiktok, Twitter}
D is a set of social media platforms.

Roster Method Set-Builder Notation

A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12} A = {x/x is a factor of 12}

B = {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13} B = {x/x is prime number less than 17}

C = {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, …} C = {x/x is prime number}

D = {red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, D = {x/x is a color of the rainbow}
violet}

FINITE AND INFINITE SETS / EQUAL AND EQUIVALENT SETS

Classification of Sets:
A.

FINITE set INFINITE set

● set having a finite/countable number ● a set whose elements can not be

of members counted.

● countable set ● An infinite set is one that has no last

element.

Examples:

M = {a, b, c, d, e} n(M) = 5 Finite

K = {2} n(K) = 1 Finite
∅ n(∅) = 0 Finite
R = {1, 2, 3, …100} n(R) = 100 Finite

E = {all even numbers} n(E) = ∞ Infinite

B.

EQUAL = EQUIVALENT ~ or ≡

● Two sets are equal if and only if they ● Two sets are equivalent if and only if
contain exactly the same elements. there is a one-to-one correspondence
between the sets.

● same elements and same cardinality ● not the same elements but same
cardinality.

Example 1:
A = {orange, apple, guava}
B = {guava, lemon, apple}
C = {apple, guava, orange}

A=C A and C are equal sets.

A≡B A and B are equivalent sets.

B≡C B and C are equivalent sets.

If two sets are equal, are they equivalent? YES.

If two sets are equivalent, are they equal? NO.

Example 2:
A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
B = {2, 3, 4, 6}
C = {3, 2, 4, 1, 5}
D = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}

A=C A and C are equal sets.

C≡D C and D are equivalent sets.

A≡D A and D are equivalent sets.

B and C are neither.

 UNIVERSAL SET / SUBSET / PROPER SUBSET / NUMBER OF SUBSETS

Universal Set (U)

● contains all the elements

Subset
● is a set whose elements are all members of another set.
● ⊆ subset
⊈ not a subset

Example 1: A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
B = {1, 2, 3}
C = {2, 8}

B⊆A B is a subset of A . Because {1, 2, 3} in B are also in A.

A⊈B A is not a subset of B. Because {4, 5} in A are not in B.

C⊈A C is not a subset of A . Because {8} in C is not in A.

Example 2: U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}

Subsets:
A = {1, 2, 3, 4}
B = {2, 4}
C = {2, 3, 5, 7}
D = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}
E = {1, 2, 3, 4}

Proper Subset
● If and only if every element in set A is also an element in set B, and set B contains
contains at least one element that is not in set A.
Proper Subset
● Set A is considered to be a proper subset of Set B if Set B contains at least one element
that is not present in Set A.
● ⊂ proper subset
⊄ not a proper subset

Example: A = {3}
B = {1, 2, 3}
A⊂B
A⊆B

A proper subset is always a subset.

A subset is not a proper subset.

Number of Subsets:

Number of subsets = 2n
n is the number of elements

Example 1: {a, b}
{} = 1 subset
{a}, {b} = 2 subsets 1 + 2 + 1 = 4 subsets 22 = 4 subsets
{a, b} = 1 subset

Example 2: {1, 2, 3}
{} = 1 subset
{1}, {2}, {3} = 3 subsets 1 + 3 + 3 + 1 = 8 subsets
{1, 2}, {1, 3} {2, 3} = 3 subsets
{1, 2, 3} = 1 subset

23 = 8 subsets
 Example 3: {l, o, v, e}
{} = 1 subset
{l}, {o}, {v}, {e} = 4 subsets 1 + 4 + 6 + 4 + 1 = 16 subsets
{l, o}, {l, v} {l, e}, {o, v}, {o, e}, {v, e} = 6 subsets
{l, o, v}, {l, o, e}, {l, v, e}, {o, v, e}, = 4 subsets 24 = 16 subsets
{l, o, v,e} = 1 subset

CARDINALITY OF A SET

Cardinality of a set
● is the number of elements in a given set
● n(A) Cardinality of set A .

Example:

M = {a, b, c, d, e} n(M) = 5 Cardinality of M is equal to 5.

K = {2} n(K) = 1 Cardinality of K is equal to 1.

∅ n(∅) = 0 Cardinality of an empty set is zero.

R = {1, 2, 3, …100} n(R) = 100 Cardinality of R is equal to 100.

E = {all even numbers} n(E) = ∞ Cardinality of E is infinite.

Ellipsis ...
● used if there are too many elements to be listed
● can be used for finite and infinite sets
Empty set { } or Null set ∅
● a set with no members or elements

● Examples:
A = {set of triangles with 4 sides} A = {∅}
B = {set of months in a year that start with B} B = {∅}
C = {set of whole numbers less than 0} C = {∅}

● n(∅) = 0 The cardinality of an empty set is zero.

● |∅| = 0 The cardinality of an empty set is zero.

Tricky question!
A = {set of days in a week that start with A}

What is the cardinality of A? n(A) = 0 The cardinality of A is 0.

What are the elements of A? ∈ = { } or ∈ = ∅ There are no elements.

UNION AND INTERSECTION OF SETS / VENN DIAGRAM

INTERSECTION of sets (∩)

● The intersection of the sets A and B (A ∩ B) is the set containing elements that belong to
both A and B.
● sets that contain both elements
● sets have common elements

● Example 1: A = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}
B = {2, 3, 5, 7, 11}

A ∩ B = {3, 5, 7} The intersection of A and B is 3, 5, 7.

● Joint sets are sets with common elements.

INTERSECTION of sets
● Example 2: A = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}
B = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}

A∩B={} The intersection of A and B is an empty set.

● Disjoint sets are sets with no common element.

UNION of sets (∪)

● The union of the sets A and B (A ∪ B) is the set containing elements that belong to A, B
or both.
● combine all elements of the sets.
● Example: A = {1, 3, 5, 7}
B = {1, 2, 3, 4}

A ∪ B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7}
The union of A and B is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7.

Example for Union/Intersection of sets:

A = {1, 3, 5, 7} C = {2, 4, 6, 8}
B = {2, 3, 5, 7} D = {2, 3, 4, 5}

1.) A ∩ B = {3, 5, 7}
2.) A ∪ B = {1, 2, 3, 5, 7}
3.) A ∩ C = { }
4.) C ∩ D = {2, 4}
5.) B ∪ D = {2, 3, 4, 5, 7}
 COMPLEMENT AND DIFFERENCE OF SETS / VENN DIAGRAM

The complement of set A (A’), is the set of all elements found in the universal set (U) that are
not found in set A.
● Example:
U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
A = {2, 4}
B = {2, 3, 4}
C = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
D={}

1.) A’ = {1, 3, 5}

2.) B’ = {1, 5}

3.) C’ = { }

4.) D’ = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
The difference of sets A and B (A - B) is the set of elements which belong to A but not to B.
● Example:
A = {1, 2, 4, 5}
B = {2, 3, 5}
C = {1, 3, 5}
D = {2, 4, 5}

1.) A - B = {1, 4}
2.) B - A = {3}
3.) A - C = {2, 4}
4.) C - D = {1, 3}
5.) D-A={}

VENN DIAGRAM / SET NOTATION

VENN DIAGRAM
● introduced by John Venn
● an illustration that uses circles to show the relationships among things or finite group of
things.

SET NOTATION
● describing the Venn diagram, or the shaded Venn diagram, or the solution
● helps in identifying or finding the answers or solutions

Set Notation given by the shaded region in the Venn Diagram:

1.) Set A
2.) A’ (Complement of A)

3.) A ∩ B (Intersection of A and B) 4.) A ∪ B (Union of A and B)

5.) (A ∩ B)’ 6.) (A ∪ B)’

(Complement of the Intersection of A and B) (Complement of the union of A and B)
7.) (A - B) 8.) (B - A)
(Difference of A and B) (Difference of B and A)

or A ∩ B’ (Intersection of A and Complement of B)

9.) A ∩ B (Intersection of A and B),

A ∩ C (Intersection of A and C),
B ∩ C (Intersection B and C)
10.) A ∩ B ∩ C
(Intersection of A , B and C)

11.) (A ∩ B) ∩ C’
(Intersection of A and B,
but complement of C)

12.) (A ∩ C) ∩ B’
(Intersection of A and C ,
but complement of B)
13.) (B ∩ C) ∩ A’
(Intersection of B and C ,
but complement of A)

14.) B ∪ C (Union of B and C)

15.) A ∪ C (Union of A and C)

16.) A ∪ B (Union of A and B)

17.) (A ∪ C) ∩ B’
(Union of A and C ,
but complement of B)

18.) (A ∪ B) ∩ C’
(Union of A and B,
but complement of C)
19.) (B ∪ C) ∩ A’
(Union of B and C ,
but complement of A)

20.) (A ∪ B ∪ C)
(Union of A , B, and C)
 SOLVING PROBLEMS USING VENN DIAGRAM

In problem solving, we use the cardinality of elements.

Example:
A = {apple}
B = {banana}
O = {orange}
set notation
1.) apple and banana
A ∩ B n(A ∩ B)

2.) apple or banana

A ∪ B n(A ∪ B)

3.) apple only

A - B n(A - B)

4.) apple
A n(A)

5.) apple and banana, but not orange

A ∩ B - O n(A ∩ B) - O
or
A ∩ B ∩ O’ n(A ∩ B) ∩ O’

6.) neither of the three

‘ A∪B∪O n(A ∪ B ∪ O)’

7.) all three

∩ A∩B∩O n(A ∩ B ∩ O)

8.) banana or orange but not apple

B ∪ O - A n(B ∪ O) - A
or
B ∪ O ∩ A’ n(B ∪ O) ∩ A’