SET THEORY

Definition of a Set

A set is a well-defined collection of distinct objects.

 "well-defined" means that we can determine whether an

object belongs to a set or not.

 "distinct" means that we do not replicate the same

object in a set.

 Objects in the collection are called elements of the

set.
 Example of Sets

a. the set of students in this class.

b. the set of counting numbers greater than 5.
c. the set of days in a week
d. the set of vowels in the alphabet.
e. the set of Filipino astronauts
Set Notations

Sets are usually designated with capital letters.

Elements of a set are usually designated with lower case

letters.

 We might talk of the set B. An individual element of B might then be

designated by b.
Membership Notation

Let A be a set.
 If x belongs to A , then we write x A , which reads
“x is an element of A”.

 To denote that “y is not an element of A”, we write y  A

Example:
Let A be the set of counting numbers less than 5. Then

3 V 6 A 3.5  A
Ways of Describing Sets

A set may be described in either of the following methods.

1. Roster or Tabulation Method

This is done by listing the elements and follows the
format:
{element 1, element 2, element 3,…, element n}.

2. Set-builder Notation
This has the general form
{variable | descriptive statement }.

The vertical bar is always read as “such that”.

Special Sets of Numbers

• N = The set of natural numbers.

= {1, 2, 3, …}.
• W = The set of whole numbers.
={0, 1, 2, 3, …}
• Z = The set of integers.
= { …, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, …}
• Q = The set of rational numbers.
={x| x=p/q, where p and q are elements of Z and q ≠ 0 }
• Q’ = The set of irrational numbers.
• R = The set of real numbers.
Ways of Describing Sets

Use the roster method to describe the following sets:

(a) A is the set of natural numbers less than 6.
(b) B is the set of natural numbers greater than 4.

SOLUTION:
(a) A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
(b) B = {5, 6, 7, 8, . . .}
Ways of Describing Sets

Use set-builder notation to designate each set.

(a) The set R contains the elements 2, 4, and 6.
(b) The set W contains the elements red, yellow,
and blue.

SOLUTION
(a) R = {x │ x  E and x  7}
The set of all x such that x is an even natural number and x
is less than 7.

(b) W = {x │ x is a primary color}

The set of all x such that x is a primary color.
Ways of Describing Sets

Use set-builder notation to designate the following sets.

(a) A = { 0, 5, 10, 15, …}
(b) B = { 2, 3, 5, 7}
(c) C = {1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24}
Finite and Infinite Sets

 A set is said to be finite if it contains a limited or

countable number of elements

A set that is not a finite set is called an infinite set.

Finite and Infinite Sets

Classify each set as finite or infinite.

(a) {x │ x  N and x  100}
(b) Set R is the set of letters used to make Roman numerals.
(c) {100, 102, 104, 106, . . .}
(d) Set M is the set of people in your immediate family.
(e) Set of A is the set of negative integers greater than 0.

SOLUTION
(a) The set is finite since there are 99 natural numbers that are less than 100.
(b) The set is finite since the letters used are C, D, I, L, M, V, and X.
(c) The set is infinite since it consists of an unlimited number of elements.
(d) The set is finite since there is a specific number of people in your immediate family.
(e) The set is finite because no negative integer is greater than 0.
Some Special Sets

Null Set or Empty Set

 a set with no elements, often symbolized by are { } or .

Universal Set
 the set of all elements currently under consideration, and is often
symbolized by 𝒰.
Cardinality

The cardinality of a finite set A is the number of elements

in the set.
Symbol: n(A) or |A|

Examples: Find the cardinal number of each set.

(a) A = {5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30} Answers:
(a) n(A) = 6
(b) B = {10, 12, 14, . . . , 28, 30}
(b) n(B) = 11
(c) C = {16} (c) n(C) = 1
(d) n() = 0
(d) 
Set Relations

1. Equivalent and Equal Sets

 Two sets A and B are equal (written A = B) if they have exactly the same
members or elements.
 Two finite sets A and B are said to be equivalent (written A  B) if they
have the same number of elements: that is, n(A) = n(B).

Examples: State whether each pair of

sets is equal, equivalent, or neither. Answers:
(a) Equivalent
(a) A = {p, q, r, s}; B = {a, b, c, d}
(b) Equal and equivalent
(b) A= {8, 10, 12}; B = {12, 8, 10} (c) Neither
(c) A = {213}; B = {2, 1, 3} (d) Equivalent
(d) A = {1, 2, 10, 20}; B = {2, 1, 20, 11} (e) Equal and equivalent
(e) A = {even natural numbers less than 10};
B = {2, 4, 6, 8}
Set Relations

2. Joint and Disjoint Sets

 Two sets A and B are said to be joint if they have a common
element. Otherwise, they are disjoint.

Example:
Which of the following sets are joint or
disjoint?
A = the set of prime numbers
B = {x| x is a solution of 𝑥 2 − 1 = 0}
C = the set of even numbers
Answer:
A and C are joint sets
A and B are disjoint sets
B and C are disjoint sets
Set Relations
Set Relations
3. The Membership Relation

The set A is a subset of the set B, denoted by A  B, if

every element of A is an element of B.

If A is a subset of B and B contains elements which are

not in A, then A is a proper subset of B, denoted by
A  B.
Any subset that is not a proper subset of a set is called
an improper subset.

If A is not a subset of B we write A  B.

Set Relations
Set Relations
3. The Membership Relation

Example:
1. Let S = {1,2,3,4,5}, T = {1,3,5}, and V = {2,4,6}. Which set
of is a subset of another?

2. Let S = {1,2,3,4,5}, T = {1,3,5}, and V = {x|x is an odd

number less than 10}. Which set of is a subset of another?
Set Relations

Examples: List all the subsets of the given set.

1. 

2. A = {1}

3. B = {a,b}

4. C = {x,y,z}
Set Relations

Remarks:
1. The empty set is a subset of any set.
2. Any set is a subset of itself.
3. If n(A)= k, then the number of subsets of A is 2𝑘 .
SET OPERATIONS
Operation on Sets
1. Union
The union of two sets A and B, denoted by A  B,
is the set containing those elements which are in A
or B or both.

In symbols,

A  B   x x  A or x  B
Operation on Sets

1. Union
Examples: Determine the union of the following sets.

1. A = {3, 4, 5, 7} and B = { 1, 2, 3, 5, 6}
A  B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}.

2. A = {x | x > 5 } and B = {x | x < 3 }

A  B = {x | x < 3 or x > 5 }.
Operation on Sets

2. Intersection
The intersection of two sets A and B, denoted by
A  B, is the set containing those elements which
are elements of A and elements of B.

In symbols,

A  B   x x  A and x  B
Operation on Sets

2. Intersection
Examples: Find the intersection of the following sets.
1. A = {3, 4, 5, 7} and B = { 1, 2, 3, 5, 6} A  B = {3, 5}.

2. A = {x | x > 5 } and B = {x | x < 3 } AB=

3. A = {x|x is a prime number} and

A  B = {2}
B = {x|x is an even number}

4. A = {x | x < 4 } and
A ∩ B ={x | 1 < x < 4 }
B = {x | x >1 }
 Operation on Sets

2. Complements
 If A is a subset of the universal set U, then the complement
of A, denoted by 𝐴𝑐 𝑜𝑟 𝐴, is the set of all elements in the
universal set that are not in A.

In symbols,
𝐴 = {𝑥|𝑥 ∈ 𝒰 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥 ∉ 𝐴}
 Operation on Sets

2. Complements

Example: Let U= {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}. Find the

complement of each of the following sets.

A= {x|x is a prime number}

B = {2,4,6}

C = {3,5, 6, 8}
Operation on Sets
Operation on Sets
4. Difference of Sets

The difference between sets A and B, denoted by A – B,

is the set containing all the elements in A but not in B

In symbols,
. A  B   x  A and x  B
Operation on Sets
Operation on Sets

4. Difference of Sets

Examples: Let A= {1,2,4,6} and B = {1,3,4,5}.

Determine

1. A–B

2. B - A
Operation on Sets

5. Symmetric Difference

The symmetric difference of the sets A and B,

denoted by 𝐴⨁𝐵, is the set containing those
elements in either A or B, but not in both A and B.

Symbolically,
A  B   A  B   A  B
Operation on Sets

5. Symmetric Difference
Examples: Let A= {1,2,4,6}, B = {1,3,4,5} and C={3,5}.

Determine

1. A⨁B

2. B ⨁ A

3. A ⨁ C
Operation on Sets

6. Cartesian Product

The Cartesian product of the sets A and B,

denoted by 𝐴 × 𝐵, is the set
𝐴 × 𝐵 = {(𝑎, 𝑏)|𝑎 ∈ 𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏 ∈ 𝐵.
Examples: Let A= {1, 2, 3} and B = {1, 4, 5} and C={3, 5}.

Determine

1. A×B

2. B×A

3. A×C
VENN DIAGRAM
Venn Diagram

• a pictorial representation of sets and set operations.

• RECTANGLE represents the UNIVERSAL set
• Circles or ellipses represent the subsets of Universal set

U
A B

C
Venn Diagram

Union A  B

A B
Venn Diagram

Intersection A  B
Venn Diagram

A complement A
Venn Diagram

Set Difference, A  B
Venn Diagram

Symmetric Difference A B
Venn Diagram

Shade the region of the Venn Diagram indicated by the

following sets.

1. A  B

2. A  B

3. A B
Venn Diagram

A B
Venn Diagram

A B
Venn Diagram AC  B
Venn Diagram
B ( A C )
Venn Diagram
Venn Diagram

Determine the set indicated by the Venn diagram.

A  B  C   A  B  C
Venn Diagram

Example

In a class of 40 students, 27 like to play Basketball and 25

like to play Patintero. However, 9 students didn't like to
play any of the two games.

How many students like to play

1. Basketball but not Patintero?
2. Patintero but not Basketball?
3. both games?
 Venn Diagram

A survey of 60 people was taken and the following results were seen:
12 customers drank only tea and coffee
6 customers drank only juice
29 customers drank tea
2 customers drank only tea and juice
10 customers drank tea, coffee and juice
33 customers drank coffee
1 customer drank only juice and coffee

1. How many customers drank juice?

2. How many customers did not drink juice, tea or coffee?
3. How many customers drank only coffee?
4. How many customers drank only tea?
Venn Diagram

A survey of 230 pet owners shows that:

78 people own Tigers

81 people own Lions
63 people own Crocs
46 people own Lions and Tigers
62 people own exactly two of these exotic pets
31 people own Tigers and Crocs
16 people own Tigers, Lions, and Crocs

a. How many people do not own Tigers, Lions, or Crocs?

b. How many people own Crocs only?
c. How many people own Lions or Crocs?
Venn Diagram

Example
A chicken farmer surveyed his flock with the following results. The farmer has:
9 fat red roosters(male) 37 fat chickens 6 thin red roosters
2 fat red hens 7 thin brown hens 5 thin red hens
26 fat roosters (total) 18 thin brown roosters

How many chickens are:

a) fat?
b) red?
c) male?
d) fat, but not male?
e) brown, but not fat?
f) red and fat?
(Assume that there are only colors, red or brown.

(HINT: in your Venn diagram make a circle for fat, for male and for red)
 Venn Diagram

Example

I have 24 dogs. Twelve of the dogs are black, six of the dogs have short
tails, and fifteen of the dogs have long hair. There is only one dog that
is black with a short tail and long hair. Two of the dogs are black with
short tails and do not have long hair. Two of the dogs have short tails
and long hair but are not black. If all my dogs have at least one of the
mentioned characteristics, how many of my dogs are black with long
hair but do not have short tails?
SET IDENTITIES

1. Identity 4. Complement Laws 7. Associativity

AU=A AA=U (A  B)  C = A  ( B  C)

A=A AA= (A  B)  C = A  ( B  C)

2. Domination 5. Double complement 8. Distributivity

AU=U A  (B  C) = (A  B)  (A  C)
A=A A=A
A  (B  C) = (A  B)  (A  C)

3. Idempotent 6. Commutativity 9. DeMorgan’s Law

AA=A AB=BA
(𝑨 ∪ 𝑩) = 𝑨 ∩ 𝑩
AA=A AB=BA (𝑨 ∩ 𝑩) = 𝑨 ∪ 𝑩
SET IDENTITIES

Prove that

SOLUTION:

DeMorgan’s Law

DeMorgan’s Law

Commutativity
Commutativity
SET IDENTITIES

Prove:  A  B   A  B   B
Solution:

 A  B   A  B   B  A  B  A Commutativity


 B  A A  Distributivity

 B U Complement Laws

B Identity