MATHEMATICS IN

NATURE
AND
REAL LIFE
Prepared by:
Dr. Noha El-Attar
Faculty of Engineering

A PRETTY FACE?
It is quite obvious that the
human face is symmetrical
about a vertical axis down
the nose.
However, studies have shown
that the symmetry of
another persons face is a
large factor in determining
whether or not we find them
attractive.
In short, the better the
symmetry of someone's face,
the more attractive you
should find them!

BEEHIVE BASICS
A beehive is made up
of many hexagons
packed together.
Why hexagons? Not
squares or triangles?
Hexagons fit most
closely together
without any gaps, so
they are an ideal
shape to maximise
the available space.

MATH IN CHEMISTRY
Example: Suppose two sets of students
were measuring 36.0 mL of water. The
following is their data:
Group 1 = 13.6
Group 2= 0.56
34.6 mL
35.9 mL
34.2 mL
36.0 mL
34.3mL
35.9 mL
Which group is accurate?

Percentage Error

- used to determine how close to the true

values, or how accurate, an experimental value
actually is.

% Error = Experimental Accepted Value x 100

Accepted Value
For Group 1= 13.6% and

Group 2= 0.56%

MATH IN PHARMACY
The strength or concentration of various drugs
can be expressed as a ratio (fraction).
10 mg per ml = 10 mg/1 ml.

EXAMPLE 2

How many milliliters must be injected from an

ampule of a certain drug labeled "10 mg/2 ml" in
order to administer a dose of 7.5 mg?

10 mg () = (7.5mg). (2 ml)
= 1.5 ml

SO..
We

can find a strong relationship

between Mathematics and other Science.

That

leads us to study more about it

SETS AND SETS

OPERATIONS

INTRODUCTION
set is a collection of objects having
specified characteristics.

The

objects in a set are called elements of the set.

When

talking about a set we usually denote the

set with a capital letter (A, B, C .Z).

When

talking about the elements of the set, we

usually a small letters (a,b,c,.z).

HOW TO DESCRIBE A SET OF SOME

ELEMENTS??

1- The Roster Notation:

It defines the specific elements of the set
between brackets
Example:
Let

set A = The set of even numbers

greater than zero, and less than or
equal10 of A={2, 4, 6, 8, 10}

2- EXTENSIONAL DEFINITION
Sometimes

we cant list all the elements of

a set. For instance, Z = The set of integer
numbers. We cant write out all the
integers, there infinitely many integers. So
we adopt a convention using dots
The dots mean continue on in this pattern
forever and ever.
Z = { -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, }

3- SET BUILDER NOTATION

When

it is not convenient to list all the

elements of a set, we use a notation the
employs the rules in which an element is a
member of the set. This is called set builder
notation.
V = { student | students who are registered in
faculty of Pharmacy}
A = {x | x > 5} = This is the set A that has all
real numbers greater than 5.
The symbol | is read as under condition.

NOTATION
well defined set is a set in which we know for
sure if an element belongs to that set.
Example:
The set of all students who are registered in
faculty of pharmacy is well defined. (we can
name every student element in our faculty
set)
The set of all natural numbers which are less
than 5: {0,1,2,3,4}.
The set of best TV shows of all time is not
well defined. (It is a matter of your
opinion.)
A

SPECIAL SETS OF NUMBERS

N

= The set of natural numbers.

= {1, 2, 3, }.
W = The set of whole natural numbers.
={0, 1, 2, 3, }
Z = The set of integers.
= { , -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, }

Rational Number: A number that can be made by

dividing two integers.
Q = The set of rational numbers.
={x| x=p/q, where p and q are elements of Z and
q 0 but it can be 1}

EXAMPLES:

12/4=
33Z
1/2 is a rational number (1 divided by 2)
0.75 (3/4)
1 (1/1)
2 (2/1)
2.12 (212/100)
6.6 (66/10)
1.5 (3/2).

Irrational Number: is any real number that

cannot be expressed as a ratio of integers.

Qc = The set of Irrational numbers.

={x| xp/q, where p and q are elements of Z}
Examples:
= ?/?

= THE SET OF REAL NUMBERS.

= Q QC
NZ Q

which

is the union of the set ofrational

numbers and the set ofirrational numbers.

REAL NUMBERS - CONT..

R

Qc
N

ZZ

C = THE SET OF COMPLEX NUMBERS.

numberis anumberthat can be

expressed in the forma+bi.
It visually represented as a pair of
numbers(a,b)forming a vector
on a diagram called an
Argand diagram, representing the
complex plane. "Re" is the real axis,
"Im" is the imaginary axis, andiis the
imaginary unitwhich satisfiesi2 = 1.
Acomplex

THE MEMBERSHIP
IfAis

a set andxis one of the objects ofA, this is

denotedxA, and is read as "x belongs to A",
or "x is an element of A". Ifyis not a member
ofA then this is written asyA, and is read as
"y does not belong to B".
For example, with respect to the sets
A= {1,2,3,4},B= {Black, white, red}, andF=
{n2 4| nis an integer; and 0 n 10} defined
above,
4 Aand 12 F; but 9 Fand green B.

UNIVERSAL SET AND SUBSETS

Universal Set denoted by U is the set of
all possible elements used in a problem.
When every element of one set is also an
element of another set, we say the first set is a
subset.
The

A B ( x A x B)

is a subset of B if and only if every x in A is

belonging to B.

Example:

if A={2, 3} and B={1,2,3,4,5}

We say that A is a subset of B.
The notation we use is AB or BA, and BA.

THE EMPTY SET

The empty set is a special set. It contains no elements.

It is usually denoted as { } or

The empty set is always considered a subset of any set.

Do not be confused by this question:

Is this set {0} empty?

It is not empty! It contains the element zero.

CARDINAL NUMBER

The Cardinal Number of a set is the number of

elements in the set and is denoted by n(A).
Let A={2,4,6,8,10}, then n(A)=5.

THE POWER SET

is a set which its all elements is a subset of A, and its
It
elements number is 2n , where n is the number of elements
in the set A.
Let A={1,2,3}, list all the subsets of A.
The subsets of S are:

A1={1},
A4=

A2={2}, A3= {3}, (three sets with one element)

{1,2}, A5={1,3}, A6={2,3},(three sets with two elements)

A7={1,2,3}.

(one set with tree elements)

So the numbers of elements in the power set is equal 8: 23

={

SETS OPERATIONS
1- INTERSECTION OF SETS
When an element of a set belongs to two or
more sets we say the sets will intersect.
The intersection of a set A and a set B is
denoted by A B.
A B = {x| x A and x B}

Example

A={1, 3, 5, 7, 9} and B={1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

Then A B = {1, 3, 5}. Note that 1, 3, 5 are in
both A and B.

FOR ANY THREE SETS A, B, C:

A=A
A
A U = A,
A =
A B = B A,
(A B) C = A ( B C)

MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE SETS

We say two sets A and B are mutually exclusive if

A B = .
Think of this as two events that can not happen at the
same time.

VENN DIAGRAMS FOR

INTERSECTION

2- UNION OF SETS
The union of two sets A, B is denoted by
A U B.
A U B = {x| x A or x B}

Example

A={1, 3, 5, 7, 9} and B={1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

then the union of A, B is:
A U B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9}.
The elements of the union are in A or in B or in
both. If elements are in both sets, we do not
repeat them.

FOR ANY THREE SETS A,

B, C:

A
A
A
A

A=A
U = U, A = A
B = A B,
B C = A ( B C)

VENN DIAGRAMS FOR UNION

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SETS:

The
difference between Set A and Set B is denoted by
A-B.
A-B ={ x l xA and x B}
Example:
If A={1, 3, 5, 7, 9} and B={1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
then the difference between A, B is:
A - B = {7, 9}.

VENN DIAGRAMS FOR

DIFFERENCE

COMPLEMENT OF A SET

The complement of set A is denoted by A, or by A .

Ac = {x| x is not in set A}.

Example:
U={1,2,3,4,5}, A={1,2},

then Ac = {3,4,5}.

i
)

DE-MORGAN LOWS:

i
i)
i

For every A, and B:

ii)

( A) A
C
C
,
,
C
C
C
( A B) A B ,
C
C
C
( A B) A A
C

SPECIAL SYMBOLS:

} : Brackets- defining the set elements.

| : under condition.
= : equal
: not equal
: more than
: less than
: more than or equal
: less than or equal
: equal between sets equivalent
: belong to
: not belong to
: Union
: intersection
: subset
, , : not a subset