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• A set is a group of “objects”

◼ People in a class: { Alice, Bob, Chris }
◼ Classes offered by a department: { CS 101, CS 202, … }
◼ Colors of a rainbow: { red, orange, yellow, green, blue,
purple }
◼ States of matter { solid, liquid, gas, plasma }
◼ States in the US: { Alabama, Alaska, Virginia, … }
◼ Sets can contain non-related elements: { 3, a, red,
Virginia }

• Although a set can contain (almost) anything, we will most

often use sets of numbers
◼ All positive numbers less than or equal to 5: {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
◼ A few selected real numbers: { 2.1, π, 0, -6.32, e }

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• Order does not matter
◼ We often write them in order
because it is easier for humans to
understand it that way
◼ {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} is equivalent to {3, 5,
2, 4, 1}

• Sets are notated with curly brackets

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• Sets do not have duplicate elements
◼ Consider the set of vowels in the alphabet.
▫It makes no sense to list them as {a, a, a, e,
i, o, o, o, o, o, u}
▫What we really want is just {a, e, i, o, u}
◼ Consider the list of students in this class
▫Again, it does not make sense to list
somebody twice
• Note that a list is like a set, but order does
matter and duplicate elements are allowed
◼ We won’t be studying lists much in this class

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• Sets are usually represented by a capital
letter (A, B, S, etc.)

• Elements are usually represented by an

italic lower-case letter (a, x, y, etc.)

• Easiest way to specify a set is to list all the

elements: A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
◼ Not always feasible for large or infinite
sets
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• Can use an ellipsis (…): B = {0, 1, 2, 3, …}
◼ Can cause confusion. Consider the set C = {3, 5,
7, …}. What comes next?
◼ If the set is all odd integers greater than 2, it is 9
◼ If the set is all prime numbers greater than 2, it
is 11

• Can use set-builder notation

◼ D = {x | x is prime and x > 2}
◼ E = {x | x is odd and x > 2}
◼ The vertical bar means “such that”
◼ Thus, set D is read (in English) as: “all elements
x such that x is prime and x is greater than 2”

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• A set is said to “contain” the various
“members” or “elements” that make up the set
◼ If an element a is a member of (or an
element of) a set S, we use then notation a ∈
S
▫4 ∈ {1, 2, 3, 4}
◼ If an element is not a member of (or an
element of) a set S, we use the notation a ∉ S
▫7 ∉ {1, 2, 3, 4}
▫Virginia ∉ {1, 2, 3, 4}

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• N/Z+ = {1, 2, 3, …} is the set of natural
numbers
• W = {0,1, 2, 3, …} is the set of whole numbers
• Z = {…, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, …} is the set of integers
• Q = {p/q | p ∈ Z, q ∈ Z, q ≠ 0} is the set of
rational numbers
◼ Any number that can be expressed as a
fraction of two integers (where the bottom
one is not zero)
• R is the set of real numbers

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Relation - Any set of ordered
pairs

Function -A type of relation

where there is exactly one
output for every input. For
every x there is exactly one y.
 x y x y
1 6 1 6
2 7 2 7
Not a Function Function
 y = 2x
x-y chart mapping
xy input output
-2 -4 -2 -4
-1 -2 -1 -2
0 0
0 0 1 2
1 2 2 4
2 4 Function
Determine whether the equation is a function.

y= x x= y
x y input output x y input output
-2 2 -2 0 2 -2 0 -2
-1 1 -1 1 -1 -1
0 1 1 0
0 0 0 0
1 1 1 1 1 1
2 2
2 2 2 2 2 2

Function Not a Function

 Vertical Line Test - Functions
y y y y

x x x x

Function

y y y y

x x x x
 Vertical Line Test - Functions
y y y y

x x x x

Function Function

y y y y

x x x x
 Vertical Line Test - Functions
y y y y

x x x x

Function Function Not a

Function
y y y y

x x x x
 Vertical Line Test - Functions
y y y y

x x x x

Function Function Not a Function

Function
y y y y

x x x x
 Vertical Line Test - Functions
y y y y

x x x x

Function Function Not a Function

Function
y y y y

x x x x

Not a Function Not a Not a

Function Function Function
Tell whether the relation below is a function.
1) input output 3) y
0
1 x
5 Function Not a
2 Function
3
2) x y 4) input output
-2 3
-3 -1
4
-3 0 Not a -1
Function 5 Not a
-3 1 0 Function
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-3 2
 Function Notation
y = 2x + 3 f (x) = 2x + 3
when x = 1, y = 5 f (1) = 5
when x = 2, y = 7 f (2) = 7
when x = 3, y = 9 f (3) = 9
when x = 4, y =11f (4) = 11
f ( −4) = −5
 2
g(x) = x h(x) = 3x − 2
Evaluate the following.
1) g(4) = 16 5) h(4) + g(1) =
10 + 1 = 11
2) h( −2) = −8 6) h( −5) • g( −2) =
−17 • 4 = −68
3) g( −3) = +9 7) g (h(3) ) =
g(7) = 49
4) h(5) = 13 8) h (g(2) ) =
h(4) = 10
Evaluate the function over the domain,
x = -1, x = 0, x = 2.
1) f (x) = 4x
{−4, 0, 8 }
2) g(x) = 3x − 9
{−12, − 9, − 3 }
2
3) h(x) = x − 1
{ 0, − 1, 3 }
Graph the linear function.
f (x) = − x + 3 f(x)
x f (x)
-3 6
-2 5
-1 4
0 3 x
1 2
2 1
3 0
BINARY OPERATIONS
A mathematical operation, such as
addition or multiplication, performed
on two elements of a set to derive a
third element.
Properties of Binary Operations. Let °
be a binary operation on S.
° is commutative if x ° y = y ° x for all x, y
∈ S.
° is associative if (x ° y) ° z = x ° (y ° z)
for all x, y ∈ S. 24
BINARY OPERATIONS
An element e ∈ S is an identity for °
if x ° e = e ° x = x for all x ∈ S.
An element z ∈ S is a zero for ° if x °
z = z ° x = z for all x ∈ S.
If x, y ∈ S, and e is an identity, then
y is an inverse of x if x ° y = y ° x = e .

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Binary Operation Tables
If ° is a binary operation on a finite set
S, then we can represent ° in table
form, where the entry in row x and
column y is the value x ° y.
Example. Let S = N4 = {0, 1, 2, 3} and
let x ° y = (x + y) mod 4.
Then the operation table for ° is 0 1 2 3
°

pictured. 0 0 1 2 3
1 1 2 3 0
2 2 3 0 1
3 3 0 1 2
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 ° 0 1 2 3
0 0 1 2 3
1 1 2 3 0

Quiz (1 minute). For the table 2

3
2
3
3
0
0
1
1
2

pictured in the previous example,

state whether ° satisfies any of the
following properties: commutative,
associative, identity, zero, inverses.
Answer. Is commutative; is
associative; has identity 0; no zero;
has inverses 1 ° 3 = 0, 2 ° 2 = 0, and
0 ° 0 = 0. 27
Quiz (6 minutes). Let S = {a, b, c} and
let ° be a binary operation on S. In each
case, find an operation table for ° that
satisfies the given conditions.
1. b is a zero, a is an identity, every
element except b has an inverse, and ° is
commutative.
2. ° is commutative but not associative.
3. ° is associative but not commutative.
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 °a b c ° a b c ° a b c
a a b c a a b c a a b c
b b b b b b b a b a b c
c c b a c c a b c a b c
In (2) we have b ° (b ° c) = b ° a = b
and (b ° b) ° c = b ° c = a. So ° is not
associative.
In (3) we have x ° y = y for x, y ∈ S.
So (x ° y) ° z = z and x ° (y ° z) = x ° z
= z for x, y, z ∈ S. So ° is associative. 29
Using Properties of Operations
Algebras are useful when we apply
properties of the operations to solve
problems.
Example. Suppose we want to prove
the following statement about integers:
x + x = x implies x = 0.
Here is an “equational proof” with
reasons in parentheses.
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Using Properties of Operations
Proof: x = x + 0 (0 is identity
for +)
= x + (x + –x) (–x is the inverse
of x with respect to +)
= (x + x) + –x (+ is associative)
= x + –x (hypothesis)
=0 (–x is the inverse of x
with respect to +). QED.
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Notice in the example that we used
several properties of the algebra 〈Z;
0, +〉.
Namely, that + has an identity, + is
associative, and an inverse exists for
every integer.

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Quiz (3 minutes). Given the algebra
〈Z; 0, +〉. Prove the cancellation law:
x + z = y + z implies x = y.

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Answer. x = x + 0 (0 is identity
for +)
= x + (z + –z) (–z is the inverse of
z with respect to +)
= (x + z) + –z (+ is associative)
= (y + z) + –z (hypothesis)
= y + (z + –z) (+ is associative)
= y + 0 (–z is the inverse of z with
respect to +)
=y (0 is identity for +). QED.
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