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Elementary Set Theory

Elementary set theory is the branch of mathematics that studies sets. A set is a collection of distinct objects that can be defined either by listing its elements or using a description. There are several basic concepts in set theory including subsets, universal sets, cardinality, operations like union and intersection, and complement and difference of sets. Set theory provides fundamental concepts used throughout mathematics.

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1K views5 pages

Elementary Set Theory

Elementary set theory is the branch of mathematics that studies sets. A set is a collection of distinct objects that can be defined either by listing its elements or using a description. There are several basic concepts in set theory including subsets, universal sets, cardinality, operations like union and intersection, and complement and difference of sets. Set theory provides fundamental concepts used throughout mathematics.

Uploaded by

Noreen Pataytay
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Elementary Set Theory

Set theory is a branch of mathematics that studies sets. The


study of sets has become a fundamental theory in Mathematics
since 1870 which was introduced by Georg Cantor (1845-1918),
a German mathematician.

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


Are the following sets well-defined?
1. The set of all 20 - year old students in this class.
2. The set of all books written by John Grisham.
3. The pretty girls.
4. The best fruits.
5. The set of all top-selling recording artists of 2018.

There are two ways to represent a set:

1. By Roster Method – this method enumerate the


elements of the set and separate it by a comma, and
enclosed in braces (curly brackets).
E = {𝒂, 𝒆, 𝒊, 𝒐 𝒖 }

2. By Rule Method - this method used to describe the


elements or members of the set. It is also known as set
builder notation.
E ={𝒙|𝒙 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒗𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒍𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐭 }

Basic terminologies:
• A finite set is a set whose elements are limited or
countable, and the last element can be identified. On the
contrary, an infinite set is a set whose elements are
unlimited or uncountable, and the last element cannot be
specified.

• A unit set is a set with only one element, it is also called


singleton. And the unique set with no elements is called
empty set or null set. It is denoted by the symbol ∅ or {┤}.
In addition, all sets under investigation in any application
of set theory are assumed to be contained in some large
fixed set called the universal set, denoted by the symbol
U

• The cardinal number of the set is the number of elements


or members in the set, the cardinality of a set A is
denoted by |𝐴| or n(A).

Example:
If A = {egg, milk, flour, sugar, butter}

Find the cardinality of A.


Solution:
n(A) = 5 or |𝐴| = 5

Note, the empty set, { }, has no elements,


so n({ }) = 0 or |∅| = 0
• If A and B are sets, A is called subset of B written A ⊆ B, if
and only if every element of A is also an element of B.
Symbolically: A ⊆ B ⇔ ∀ 𝑥, 𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 → 𝑥 ∈ B.
A is a proper subset of B written A ⊂ B, if and only if , every
element of A is in B but there is at least element that is not in A.
The symbol ⊄ denotes that it is not a proper subset. A equals B
written, A = B if and only if, every element in A is in B and every
element of B is in A.

• Given the set S from universal set U, the power set of S


denoted by P(S), is the collection of all subsets of S. The
power set of set A ={e, f} is P(A) =22 = 4,
P(A) ={{𝑒}, {𝑓}, {𝑒, 𝑓}, ∅}
Example: Given A = {0,1, 2}
Find the subsets of A.
Solution
B = { 0}
C = { 1}
D = { 2}
E = { 0,1 }
F = {0, 2 }
G = {1, 2 }
H = {0,1, 2 }
I={ }

Operations on Sets
• Union of sets – the union of A and B, denoted by A ∪ B,
is the set of all elements x in the universal set U such
that x is in A or x is in B.
Symbolically:
A ∪ B ={x | x ∈ A ∨ x ∈ B}.

• Intersection of sets - the intersection of A and B denoted


by A ∩ B, is the set of all elements in the universal set
U such that x is in A and x is in B.
Symbolically:
A ∩ B ={x | x ∈ A ∧ x ∈ B}.

Example: A ={1, 2, 3}, B ={3, 4, 5}, U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}

A ∪ B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
A∩B= {3}

The complement of A denoted by A’ or 𝐴𝑐 , is the set of all


elements x in the universal set U but not in A.
Symbolically: A’ = {𝑥 ∈ 𝐔| 𝑥 ∉ A}.
Example: A = {a, b, c, d, e},
U = {a, b, c, e, f, g}
A’ = {f, g}
• The difference of A and B, denoted by A – B, is the is the
set of all elements x in the universal set U such that x is
in A and x is not in B.
Symbolically:
A – B = {𝑥 |𝑥 ∈ A ∧ x ∉ B} = A ∩ B’
Example: A = {a, b, c}, B = {c, d, e},
U = {a, b, c, d, e, f, g}
Therefore: A – B = {a, b}

• If set A and B are two sets , their symmetric difference


as the set consisting of all element that belong to A or B,
but not both A and B denoted by A⊕B.
Symbolically:
A⊕B = {𝑥 |𝑥 ∈ (𝐴 ∪ 𝐵) ∧ 𝑥 ∉ (A ∩ B)}

Example
Given : A = {a, b, c}, B = {c, d, e}, U = {a, b, c, d, e, f, g}
Find : A⊕B

Solution:
First, find A ∪ B = {a, b, c, d, e}
A ∩ B = {c }
Therefore:
A⊕B = {a, b, d, e}

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