SET

Define Set with examples.2022

Solution: A set is an unordered collection of objects, called elements or
members of the set. A set is said to contain its elements. We write a ∈ A
to denote that a is an element of the set A.
The notation a ∉ A denotes that a is not an element of the set A.
Example: The set V of all vowels in the English alphabet can be written
as V = {a, e, i, o, u}. The set O of odd positive integers less than 10 can
be expressed by O = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}.

Set Equality: Two sets are equal if and only if they have the same
elements. Therefore, if A and B are sets, then A and B are equal if and
only if ∀x(x ∈ A ↔ x ∈ B). We write A = B if A and B are equal sets.
Example: The sets {1, 3, 5} and {3, 5, 1} are equal, because they have the
same elements. Note that the order in which the elements of a set are listed
does not matter. Note also that it does not matter if an element of a set is
listed more than once, so {1, 3, 3, 3, 5, 5, 5, 5} is the same as the set {1,
3, 5} because they have the same elements.

Empty Set: If a set has zero elements, it’s called the empty set, and is
denoted by ∅. Thus,  = { }. It can be an element of other sets
 { , 1, 2, 3, x } is a valid set
 ≠{}
 The first is a set of zero elements
 The second is a set of 1 element
Venn Diagram: Sets can be represented graphically using Venn
diagrams, named after the English mathematician John Venn, who
introduced their use in 1881. In Venn diagrams the universal set U, which
contains all the objects under consideration, is represented by a
rectangle. Inside this rectangle, circles or other geometrical figures are
used to represent sets. Sometimes points are used to represent the
particular elements of the set. Venn diagrams are often used to indicate
the relationships between sets.

Subset: The set A is a subset of B if and only if every element of A is also

an element of B. We use the notation A ⊆ B to indicate that A is a subset
of the set B.
Draw a Venn diagram to illustrate the relationship A ⊆ B and B ⊆
C.2022

Proper Subset: If S is a subset of T, and S is not equal to T, then S is a

proper subset of T. It can be written as: R  T and R  T
Example: Let T = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
 If S = {1, 2, 3}, S is not equal to T, and S is a subset of T
 A proper subset is written as S  T
  Let Q = {4, 5, 6}. Q is neither a subset or T nor a proper subset
of T
Draw the Venn diagram of AB and BC.

Show that, For every set S, (i ) ∅ ⊆ S and (ii ) S ⊆ S.

Solution:
i) A set A ⊆ B if and only if ∀x(x ∈ A → x ∈ B). So to prove ∅ ⊆ S
we must show that ∀x (x ∈ ∅ → x ∈ S) is true.
Because the empty set contains no elements, it follows that x ∈ ∅ is always
false. So we can say that x ∈ ∅ → x ∈ S is always true. Therefore, ∀x(x ∈
∅ → x ∈ S) is true.
ii) To prove S ⊆ S, we must show that ∀x (S ∈ S → S ∈ S) is true.
Let, S be any set and x be an arbitrary element. If x ∈ S, then it
must be x ∈ S → x ∈ S is true for all x. So S ⊆ S.

Set Cardinality: The cardinality of a set is the number of elements in a

set, written as |A|.
Examples
 Let R = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}. Then |R| = 5
 || = 0
  Let S = {, {a}, {b}, {a, b}}. Then |S| = 4

Power Set: Given a set S, the power set of S is the set of all subsets of
the set S. The power set of S is denoted by P(S).

Example: What is the power set of the set {0, 1, 2}?

Solution: The power set P({0, 1, 2}) is the set of all subsets of {0, 1, 2}.
Hence, P({0, 1, 2}) = {∅, {0}, {1}, {2}, {0, 1}, {0, 2}, {1, 2}, {0, 1, 2}}.
Note that the empty set and the set itself are members of this set of
subsets.
Example: What is the power set of the empty set? What is the power
set of the set {∅}?
Solution: The empty set has exactly one subset, namely, itself.
Consequently, P(∅) = {∅}.
The set {∅} has exactly two subsets, namely, ∅ and the set {∅} itself.
Therefore, P({∅}) = {∅, {∅}}.
If a set has n elements, then its power set has 2n elements.
Cartesian Product of a Set: Let A and B be sets. The Cartesian product
of A and B, denoted by A × B, is the set of all ordered pairs (a, b), where
a ∈ A and b ∈ B. Hence, A × B = {(a, b) | a ∈ A ∧ b ∈ B}.
Example: What is the Cartesian product of A = {1, 2} and B = {a, b,
c}?
Solution: The Cartesian product A × B is A × B = {(1, a), (1, b), (1, c),
(2, a), (2, b), (2, c)}.
Example: What is the Cartesian product A × B × C, where A = {0,
1}, B = {1, 2}, and C = {0, 1, 2} ?
Solution: The Cartesian product A × B × C consists of all ordered triples
(a, b, c), where a ∈ A, b ∈ B, and c ∈ C. Hence, A × B × C = {(0, 1, 0),
(0, 1, 1), (0, 1, 2), (0, 2, 0), (0, 2, 1), (0, 2, 2), (1, 1, 0), (1, 1, 1), (1, 1, 2),
(1, 2, 0), (1, 2, 1), (1, 2, 2)}.

What are the ordered pairs in the less than or equal to relation, which
contains (a, b) if a ≤ b, on the set {0, 1, 2, 3}?
Solution: The ordered pair (a, b) belongs to R if and only if both a and b
belong to {0, 1, 2, 3} and a ≤ b. Consequently, the ordered pairs in R are
(0,0), (0,1), (0,2), (0,3), (1,1), (1,2), (1,3), (2,2), (2, 3), and (3, 3).

What do the statements ∀x∈R (x2 ≥ 0) and ∃x∈Z (x2 = 1) mean?2022

Solution: The statement ∀x∈R(x2 ≥ 0) states that for every real number
x, x2 ≥ 0. This statement can be expressed as “The square of every real
number is nonnegative.” This is a true statement.
The statement ∃x∈Z(x2 = 1) states that there exists an integer x such that
x2 = 1. This statement can be expressed as “There is an integer whose
square is 1.” This is also a true statement because x = 1 is such an integer
(as is −1).

SET OPERATION
Define Union of a set.
Solution: Let A and B be
sets. The union of the sets
A and B, denoted by A ∪
B, is the set that contains
those elements that are
either in A or in B, or in
both.
An element x belongs to the union of the sets A and B if and only if x
belongs to A or x belongs to B. This tells us that A ∪ B = {x | x ∈ A ∨ x ∈
B}.
Example: The union of the sets {1, 3, 5} and {1, 2, 3} is the set {1, 2, 3,
5}; that is, {1, 3, 5} ∪ {1, 2, 3} = {1, 2, 3, 5}.

Define Intersection of a set.

Solution: Let A and B be sets. The intersection of the sets A and B, denoted
by A ∩ B, is the set containing those elements in both A and B. An element
x belongs to the intersection of the sets A and B if and only if x belongs to
A and x belongs to B. This tells us that A ∩ B = {x | x ∈ A ∧ x ∈ B}.
Example: The intersection of the sets {1, 3, 5} and {1, 2, 3} is the set {1,
3}; that is, {1, 3, 5} ∩ {1, 2, 3} = {1, 3}.

Disjoint Set: Two sets are called disjoint if their intersection is the empty
set. Let A = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9} and B = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}. Because A ∩ B = ∅, A
and B are disjoint.

Define Difference of a set.

Solution: Let A and B be sets. The difference of A and B, denoted by A −
B, is the set containing those elements that are in A but not in B. The
difference of A and B is also called the complement of B with respect to A.
An element x belongs to the difference of A and B if and only if x ∈ A andx
/∈ B. This tells us that A − B = {x | x ∈ A ∧x /∈ B}.
Example: The difference of {1, 3, 5} and {1, 2, 3} is the set {5}; that is,
{1, 3, 5} − {1, 2, 3} = {5}. This is different from the difference of {1, 2,
3} and {1, 3, 5}, which is the set {2}.
Complement Set: Let U be the universal set. The complement of the set
A, denoted by A’, is the complement of A with respect to U. Therefore, the
complement of the set A is U − A. An element belongs to A if and only if
x ∉ A. This tells us that A = {x ∈ U | x ∉ A}.
Example: Let A be the set of positive integers greater than 10 (with
universal set the set of all positive integers). Then A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
8, 9, 10}.

Formal definition for the complement of a set: A = { x | x  A } = Ac

 Or U – A, where U is the universal set
Further examples (assuming U = Z)
 {1, 2, 3}c = { …, -2, -1, 0, 4, 5, 6, … }
 {a, b}c = Z
Properties of complement sets
 (Ac)c = A Complementation law
 A U Ac = U Complement law
  A ∩ Ac =  Complement law

EXAMPLE 15 Let A = {0, 2, 4, 6, 8}, B = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4}, and C = {0, 3,

6, 9}. What are A ∪ B ∪ C and A ∩ B ∩ C?
Solution: The set A ∪ B ∪ C contains those elements in at least one of A,
B, and C. Hence,
A ∪ B ∪ C = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9}.
The set A ∩ B ∩ C contains those elements in all three of A, B, and C.
Thus,
A ∩ B ∩ C = {0}.

Let A, B, and C be sets. Show that:

a) (AUB)  (AUBUC) b) (A∩B∩C)  (A∩B) c) (A-B)-C  A-C d)
(A-C) ∩ (C-B) = 