Lesson 3.

SETS
PATRICIA DE RAMOS ACERO
Description of the Lesson
This lesson will discuss sets, its types, some of the basic terminologies
on sets, representations, and operations.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Students should be able to develop critical thinking skills through analysis
and solving mathematics related problems.

Targets/Objectives:

 define a set and represent the same in different forms;

 differentiate finite and infinite sets, recognize empty set, singleton set,
equivalent sets, equal sets, subsets and cite examples thereof;
 define and cite examples of universal set, complement of a set and
difference between two sets;
 perform operations on sets, union, intersection, difference of two sets, and
cross product .
Learning Guide Questions:

1. How are symbols used in mathematics?

2. When do we say that a set is well-defined?
A SET can be defined as any collection of items which
have the same properties or characteristics. It is a well-
defined collection of objects, numbers, etc.
Sets are distinct from each other because of its characteristic of being well-
defined. They are usually denoted by capital letters A,B, C, and the elements (or
members) of the set are denoted by small letters a, b, c, ….

Standard Notations for Sets

N: A set of natural numbers.

W: A set of whole numbers.

Z: A set of integers.

Q: A set of all rational numbers.

ℜ: A set of real numbers.

i: A set of imaginary numbers.

C: A set of all complex numbers.

Basic Terms, their Meanings and Examples

Set - any well-defined collection of objects, the objects are called

elements. Elements are separated by commas. Capital letters of the
English alphabet are normally used to name sets.
A = set of vowels in the English alphabet
A = {a, e, i, o, u}

Cardinal number of a set A, written as n(A) - number of elements of set A

Set A has 5 elements, hence,
n(A) = 5

Finite Set - a set whose elements can be numbered through from 1 to n, for
some positive integer n; n is the cardinal number of the set

Set of vertices of a triangle Set of months in a year

Set of colors in a rainbow
Infinite Set - a set which is not finite; no definite cardinal number
Set of points in a line Set of counting numbers
Basic Terms, their Meanings and Examples
Unit Set or Singleton - a set with one element
X = set of even prime numbers
X = {2}
Empty or Null Set denoted by { } or Φ - a set without any element
Y = set of 25-hour days Y = { } or Φ

Equal or Identical sets - sets with exactly the same elements

C = set of vowels in the word “facetious” C = {a, e, i, o, u}
D = set of vowels in the English Alphabet D = {a, e, i, o, u}
thus, C = D
Equivalent sets - sets with the same number of elements; that is, they
have the same cardinality
E = set of factors of 5 E = {1, 5} n(E) = 2
F = set of letters in the word “noon” F = {n, o} n(F) = 2
thus, EF
Basic Terms, their Meanings and Examples
Improper Subset - a subset which contains all the elements present in
the other subset
G = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} H = {5, 4, 3, 2, 1}
𝑮⊆𝑯
Proper Subset Set A is a proper subset of set B (A ⊂ B) if all of the
elements of set A are members of set B, but there is at
least one element of set B that is not an member of set A
A = set of letters in the word “time” A = {t, i, m, e}
B = set of letters in the word “committee” B = {c, o, m, i, t, e}
thus, A ⊂ B
Union of two sets X and Y, written as X  Y
- set consisting of the combined elements of sets X and Y, each element
written only once
X = {1, 2, 3, 6} Y = {2, 3, 10}

X  Y = {1, 2, 3, 6, 10}
Basic Terms, their Meanings and Examples
Intersection of two sets X and Y written as X  Y
- set consisting of the common elements of sets X and Y
X = {1, 2, 3, 6} Y = {2, 3, 10}
X  Y = {2, 3}
Disjoint sets - two sets that do not have any element in common
The set of even numbers and the set of odd numbers are disjoint.

Universal set denoted by ⋃ - the totality of sets under a particular

discussion
Let ⋃ be the set of counting numbers less than 6
⋃ = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
Complement of set M, written as M’ or Mc or 𝐌
- set of elements that are not in M but are in the universal set.
Let M = {x│x is an even number in ⋃}. Then, Mc = set of odd
numbers in ⋃
Basic Terms, their Meanings and Examples

Power set of S, written as P(S)

- set consisting of all subsets of S; the set S with n elements has 2n
subsets
Let ⋃ be the set of counting numbers less than 6
J = {j│j is an odd number in ⋃}
J = {1, 3, 5}
n(J) = 3
P(J) = 2n = 23 = 8

which means that set J has 8 subsets.

{1, 3, 5}, {1, 3}, {1, 5}, {3, 5}, {1}, {3}, {5}, { } or Φ
Notation for Describing a Set
Listing Method or Roster Method
- elements of the set are listed, each element separated by comma
and written only once
Example: Set A is a set of counting numbers less than 6:
A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} Roster Method
Set-builder Notation
- specifies the set using a predicate to indicate the attributes
of the elements of the set
Example: B = {x│x > 0}

Set B is the set of all x such that x is greater than zero

Set B is the set of all x such that x is greater than zero

Concept Check:
Label each set below as finite or infinite. If finite, list all elements,
use ellipsis when necessary. If infinite, list some elements and
then use ellipsis

1. Set of primary colors finite {red, yellow, blue}

2. Set of integers infinite {. . ., -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, . . .}
3. Set of months of the year finite {January, February, March, . . .
November, December}

4. Set of positive integers

infinite {5, 10, 15, 20, 25, . . .}
which are multiples of 5
5. Set of whole numbers
infinite {11, 12, 13, 14, 15, . . .}
greater than 10
Write the set A = { x : x is a natural number ≤ 8} in roster form
A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}
Write B = {x : x ∈ N, 2 < x ≤ 10} in roster form
B = {3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}
Write in roster form: X = {x : x = 2n, n ∈ N and n ≤ 5}
X = {2, 4, 8, 16, 32} 𝑿 = {𝟐𝟏 , 𝟐𝟐 , 𝟐𝟑 , 𝟐𝟒 , 𝟐𝟓 }
Represent X = {Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday, Saturday} in set-builder form
X = {x/x is a day in a week}
1 1 1 1
Represent in set – builder form: A = {1, , , , …}
2 3 4 5
𝟏
A = {x/x = 𝒏 , 𝒏 ∈ 𝑵}
Represent the set of whole numbers less than 20 and divisible by 3 in
set-builder form
Y = {y/y = 𝟑𝒏, 𝒏 ∈ 𝑾, 𝒏 ≤ 𝟔 }
Operations on Sets
Union of Sets
Let A = {1, 3, 5} and B = {1, 7,9}, then
A  B = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9} contains all the elements of sets A and B

Intersection of Sets
Let A = {1, 3, 5, 7} and B = {2, 3, 5, 8}, then
A  B = {3, 5} contains the elements common to both A and B

Difference of two Sets

Let A = {2, 4, 6, 8} and B = {4, 6, 8, 10}, then
A – B = {2} contains the element(s) in A that is/are not in B
B – A = {10} contains the element(s) in B that is/are not in A
Given three sets A, B and C such that:
A = {x │ x is a natural number between 14 and 17}, A = {15, 16}
B = {y : y is an even number between 12 and 20} and B = {14, 16, 18}
C = {13, 14, 15, 16, 17}, then
A – B = {15} B – A = {14, 18}
B – C = {18} C – A = {13, 14, 17}

Cartesian Product of Sets

Let A = {a, b} and B = {1, 2, 3}, then

A x B = {(a,1), (a, 2), (a, 3), (b, 1), (b, 2), (b, 3)}
Concept Check: Supply what is asked for.

1. Let U = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}
A = {0, 2, 4, 6, 8} C = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
B = {2, 3, 5, 7} D = {6, 7, 9}

Find:
a. A ∪ D = {0, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9}

b. B ∩ C = {2, 3, 5}

c. A’ ∩ C = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9} ∩ {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} = {1, 3, 5}

d. (C ∪ D)’ = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9}’ = {0, 8}

e. B’ ∩ C’ = {0, 1, 4, 6, 8, 9} ∩ {0, 6, 7, 8, 9} = {0, 6, 8, 9}

2. M = {letters in the word ‘COMPUTER’} and
N = {letters in the word ‘CALCULATOR’}
Find: (a) M ∪ N, (b) M ∩ N, and (c) N - M
First, list down the elements of each set.
M = {C, O, M, P, U, T, E, R}

N = {C, A, L, U, T, O, R}

(a) M ∪ N = {C, O, M, P, U, T, E, R, A, L}

(b) M ∩ N = {C, O, U, T, R}

(c) N - M = {A, L}
3. If A = {3, 5, 7, 9}, B = { 0, 2, 4, 6, 8}, C = {1, 4, 9}, and D = {2, 3, 5, 7}
State whether true or false

3∈A true {Φ} ⊂ B false

{9} ⊂ C true A=D false

4∉D true AD true

Fill in the blanks.

0 _____
∈ B {1, 9} _____
⊂ C

6 _____
∉ C ⊂ D
Φ_____

{9} _____
⊂ A ⊄ A
{8} _____