Chapter 3

Set Theory
1 Sets and Subsets
+ A set is a well-defined collection of objects or elements.
These objects are called elements and said to be members of the set.
capital letters A, B, represent sets.

lowercase letters represent elements.

e.g. A = {1, 2, 3, 4}
B = {x | x is an integer and 1 x 4}
C = {y | y is a tall student in this class} 8

Definition 1
1. If a is one of the objects of the set A, we say that a is an element of A or a belongs to A, denoted
by a A.

2. A set A is a subset of a set B (denoted by A B) if every element of A is an element of B, that is

xA x B.

3. If A and B are sets, then we say A equals B , written A = B, whenever for any x

xA x B.

OR
A=B A B and B A

4. If A B and A 6= B, we write A B and say that A is a proper subset of B.

5. The empty set, denoted by or by { }, is the set that contains no elements. The universal set U
is a set that has the property that all sets under consideration are subsets of it.

6. The size or cardinality of a finite set, A, denoted by |A| is the number of elements in the set A.

Example 1
U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} A = {1, 2} B = {x|x2 U } = {1, 2}

Example 2
U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, x, y, {1, 2}, {1, 2, 3}, {1, 2, 3, 4}}
Then |U |=11
a) If A = {1, 2, 3, 4} then |A| = 4 and
A U , A U , A U , {A} U , {A} U , /U
{A}

1
b) If B = {5, 6, x, y, A} = {5, 6, x, y, {1, 2, 3, 4}},
then |B| = 5 and
A B, {A} B, {A} B, {A} / B, A 6 B

Theorem 1. Let A, B,C U

a) If A B and B C, then A C

b) If A B and B C, then A C

c) If A B and B C, then A C

d) If A B and B C, then A C

Example 3 C = {1, 2, 3, 4}

1. 2 2 2 2 = 24 = 16 subsets of C. (Include and {1,2,3,4} )

2. 40 + 41 + 42 + 43 + 44 = 4k=0 4k = 16

Definition 2
If A is a set from U , the power set of A, denote P(A), is a collection of all subsets of A.

Example 4
P(C) = {, {1}, {2}, {3}, {4},
{1, 2}, {1, 3}, {1, 4}, {2, 3}, {2, 4}, {3, 4},
{1, 2, 3}, {1, 2, 4}, {1, 3, 4}, {2, 3, 4}, {1, 2, 3, 4}}
|P(C)| = 24 = 16

+ For any finite set A with |A| = n 0, we find that A has 2 n subsets and that |P(A)| = 2n
i.e.       n  
n n n n
+ ++ = = 2n , n 0
0 1 n k=0 k

Example 5
Determine the # of paths from (2, 1) to (7, 4). 4
Up or Right 3
2
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Example 6 There are 26 ways to write 7 as a sum of one or more positive ints.

2
 n+1

= nr + r1
n



Example 7 For integers n, r with n r 1 r

         
5 6 7 8 14
Example 8 + + + ++
0 1 2 3 9

Example 9 Pascals triangle

+ Notation
a) Z = the set of integers = {0, 1, -1, 2, -2, 3, -3, . . . }
b) N = the set of nonnegative integers or natural numbers = {0, 1, 2, 3,. . . }
c) Z+ = the set of positive integers = {1, 2, 3,. . . } = {x Z x > 0}
d) Q = the set of rational numbers = {a/b a, b Z, b 6= 0}
e) Q+ = the set of positive rational numbers = {r Q r > 0}
f) Q = the set of nonzero rational numbers
g) R = the set of real numbers
h) R+ = the set of positive real numbers
i) R = the set of nonzero real numbers
j) C = the set of complex numbers = {x + yi|x, y R, i2 = 1 }
k) C = the set of nonzero complex numbers
l) For each n Z+ , Zn = {0, 1, 2,. . . ,n-1}
m) For real numbers a, b with a < b,
[a, b] = {x R a x b},
(a, b) = {x R a < x < b},
[a, b) = {x R a x < b},
(a, b] = {x R a < x b}.
The first set is called a closed interval, the second set an open interval,
and the other two sets half-open intervals.

3
2 Set Operations and the Law of Set Theory
Definition 1
For A, B U ,

a) A B (the union of A and B) = {x|x A x B}

b) A B (the intersection of A and B) = {x|x A x B}

c) A 4 B (the symmetric difference of A and B)

= {x|(x A x B) x
/ A B}
= {x|x A B x / A B}

Example 1 U = {1, 2, 3, . . . , 9, 10} A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, B = {3, 4, 5, 6, 7}, C = {7, 8, 9}

1. A B=

2. A B=

3. A C=

4. A 4 B=

5. A 4C=

+ AB A AB
x A B x A and x B
xA
x A x A or x B
x AB

Definition 2
Let S, T U . The sets S and T are called disjoint, or mutually disjoint, when S T =

Theorem 2.
If S, T U , then S and T are disjoint iff S T = S 4 T

4
Definition 3

a) A U , the complement, of A, denoted U A or A, is given by {x|x U x

/ A}

b) For A, B U , the (relative) complement of A in B, denoted B A, is given by {x|x B x

/ A}

Example 2 For U = R, let A = [1, 2] and B = [1, 3).Then

a) A = {x|1 x 2} {x|1 x < 3} = B

b) A B = {x|1 x < 3} = B

c) B = (, 1) [3, ) (, 1) (2, ) = A

Theorem 3. For any universe U and any set A, B U , the following statements are equivalent :

a) A B

b) A B = B

c) A B = A

d) B A

+ The Laws of Set Theorem

For any sets A, B, and C taken from a universe U

1. A = A Law of Double Complement

2. A B = A B DeMorgans Laws
AB = AB

3. A B = B A Commutative Laws
AB = BA

4. A (B C) = (A B) C Associative Laws
A (B C) = (A B) C

5. A (B C) = (A B) (A C) Distributive Laws
A (B C) = (A B) (A C)

6. A A = A Idempotent Laws
AA = A

7. A = A Identity Laws
AU = A

8. A A = U Inverse Laws
AA =

9. A U = U Domination Laws
A =

5
 10. A (A B) = A Absorption Laws
A (A B) = A

+ Venn diagrams

6
Example 3 Simplify the expression (A B) C B

Definition 4 Let I be a nonempty set and U a universe. For each i I, let Ai U . Then I is called an
index set, and each i I is called an index.
[
Ai = {x|x Ai for at least one i I}
iI
and \
Ai = {x|x Ai for every i I}
iI

+ [
x Ai i I(x Ai )
iI
\
x Ai i I(x Ai )
iI

Example 4 Let I = {3, 4, 5, 6, 7}, and Ai = {1, 2, 3, 4, . . . i}

S T
iI Ai =? iI Ai =?

Theorem 4. Generalized DeMorgans Law

Let I be an index set where for each i I, Ai U . Then
S T
a) iI Ai = iI Ai
T S
b) iI Ai = iI Ai

7
3 Counting and Venn Diagrams
+
1. A A = U , A A =
|A| + |A| = |U |, or |A| = |U | |A|

2. If A B =
|A B| = |A| + |B|

+ If A and B are finite sets, then |A B| = |A| + |B| |A B|. Consequently, finite sets |A| and |B|
are (mutually) disjoint if and only if |A B| = |A| + |B|
In addition, when U is finite, from DeMorgans Law we have |A B| = |A B| = |U | |A B| =
|U | |A| |B| + |A B|

+ If A, B,C are finite sets, then |A B C| = |A| + |B| + |C| |A B| |A C| |B C| + |A B C|.

From the formula for |A B C| and DeMorgans Law, we find that if the universe U is finite, then |A
B C| = |A B C| = |U | |A B C| = |U | |A| |B| |C| + |A B| + |A C| + |B C| |A B C|