Sets

in Discrete Mathematics
SETS AND THEIR REPRESENTATION
• A set is a collection of well-defined objects. By
well-defined, it is meant that given a
particular collection of objects as a set and a
particular object, it must be possible to
determine whether that particular object is a
member of the set or not.
 SETS AND THEIR REPRESENTATION
• The objects forming a set may be of any sort– they may or may not
have any common property. Let us consider the following
collections :
(i) the collection of the prime numbers less than 15 i.e., 2, 3, 5, 7, 11,
13
(ii) the collection of 0, a, Sachin Tendulkar, the river Brahmaputra
(iii) the collection of the beautiful cities of India
(iv) the collection of great mathematicians.

Clearly the objects in the collections (i) and (ii) are well-defined. For
example, 7 is a member of (i), but 20 is not a member of (i).
Similarly, ‘a’ is a member of (ii), but M. S. Dhoni is not a member.
So, the collections (i) and (ii) are sets. But the collections (iii) and
(iv) are not sets, since the objects in these collections are not well-
defined.
SETS AND THEIR REPRESENTATION
• The objects forming a set are called elements or
members of the set. Sets are usually denoted by
capital letters A, B, C, ...; X, Y, Z, ..., etc., and the
elements are denoted by small letters a, b, c, ...;
x, y, z, ..., etc.
• If ‘a’ is an element of a set A, then we write a A
which is read as ‘a belongs to the set A’ or in
short, ‘a belongs to A’. If ‘a’ is not an element of
A, we write a A and we read as ‘a does not belong
to A’. For example, let A be the set of prime
number less than 15.
 Representation of Sets :
• Sets are represented in the following two
methods :
1. Roster or tabular method
2. Set-builder or Rule method
 Representation of Sets :
• In the Roseter method, the elements of a set are listed in
any order, separated by commas and are enclosed within
braces,
For example,
A = {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13}
B = {0, a Sachin Tendulcar, the river Brahmaputra}
C = {1, 3, 5, 7, ...}

• In the set C, the elements are all the odd natural numbers.
We cannot list all the elements and hence the dots have
been used showing that the list continues indefinitely
 Representation of Sets :
• In the Rule method, a variable x is used to
represent the elements of a set, where the
elements satisfy a definite property, say P(x).
Symbolically, the set is denoted by {x : P(x)} or
{x | p(x)}. For example,
 Some Standard Symbols for Sets and
Numbers :
• The following standard symbols are used to
represent different sets of numbers :
 ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
• 1. Examine which of the following collections
are sets and which are not :
(i) the vowels of the English alphabet
(ii) the divisors of 56
(iii) the brilliant degree-course students of
Guwahati
(iv) the renowned cricketers of Assam.
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
THE EMPTY SET
 FINITE AND INFINITE SETS
• Definition : A set containing finite number of distinct elements
so that the process of counting the elements comes to an end
after a definite stage is called a finite set; otherwise, a set is
called an infinite set.
EQUAL SETS
 SUBSETS, SUPERSETS, PROPER
SUBSETS
• Let us consider the sets A = {1, 2, 3}, B = {1, 2, 3, 4} and C = {3, 2,
1}.Clearly, every element of A is an element of B, but A is not equal to B.
Again, every element of A is an element of C, and also A is equal to C. In
both cases, we say that A is a subset of B and C. In particular, we say that
A is a proper subset of B, but A is not a proper subset of C.
• Definition : If every element of a set A is also an element of another set
B, then A is called a subset of B, or A is said to be contained in B, and is
SUBSETS, SUPERSETS, PROPER
SUBSETS
SUBSETS, SUPERSETS, PROPER
SUBSETS
POWER SET
UNIVERSAL SET
 VENN DIAGRAM
• Simple plane geometrical areas are used to represent relationships
between sets in meaningful and illustrative ways. These diagrams are
called Venn-Euler diagrams, or simply the Venn-diagrams.
• In Venn diagrams, the universal set U is generally represented by a set of
points in a rectangular area and the subsets are represented by circular
regions within the rectangle, or by any closed curve within the rectangle.
SET OPERATIONS
UNION OF SETS
UNION OF SETS
INTERSECTION OF SETS
INTERSECTION OF SETS
INTERSECTION OF SETS
INTERSECTION OF SETS
DIFFERENCE OF SETS
DIFFERENCE OF SETS
COMPLEMENT OF A SET
COMPLEMENT OF A SET
LAWS OF THE ALGEBRA OF SETS
 TOTAL NUMBER OF ELEMENTS IN UNION OF
SETS IN TERMS OF ELEMENTS IN INDIVIDUAL
SETS AND THEIR INTERSECTIONS
• We shall now prove a theorem on the total
number of elements in the union of two sets
in terms of the number of elements of the two
individual sets and the number of elements in
their intersection. Its application in solving
some practical problems concerning everyday
life will be shown in the illustrative examples.