COLEGIO DE SAN FRANCISCO JAVIER OF RIZAL,

ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE, INC.

MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD

II. SPEAKING MATHEMATICALLY

Module 5 Variables
THE LANGUAGE OF SETS
The Language of Relations and Functions

CONTENT DISCUSSION

The Language of Sets

Use of the word set as a formal mathematical term was introduces in 1879 by Georg Cantor (1845 – 1918). For most mathematical
purposes we can think of a set intuitively, as Cantor did, simply as a collection of elements. For instance, if C is the set of all
countries that are currently in the United Nations, then the United States is an element of C, and if I is the set of all integers from 1
to 100, then the number 57 is an element of I.

If S is a set, the notation x ∈ S means that x is not an element of S. A set may

be specified using the set – roster notation by writing all of its elements
between braces. For example, {1, 2, 3} denotes the set whose elements are 1,
2, and 3. A variation of the notation is sometimes used to describe a very large
NOTATION set, as when we write {1, 2, 3, …, 100} to refer to the set of all integers from 1
to 100. A similar notation can also be described an infinite set, as when we
write ({1, 2, 3, ..} to refer to the set of all positive integers. (The symbol … is
called an ellipses and is read “and so forth.”)

An axiom of extension says that a set is completely determined by what its elements are – not the order in which they might be
listed or the fact that some elements might be listed more than once.

Example 1: Using the Set – Roster Notation

a. Let A = {1, 2, 3} , B = {3, 1, 2}, and C = {1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3}. What are the elements of A, B and C? How are A, B, and C
related?
b. Is [0} = 0?
c. How many elements are in the set {1, {1}}?
d. For each nonnegative integer n, let U n ={ n ,−n } . Find U 1 , U 2 ,U 0 .

Solution:
a. A, B, and C have exactly the same three elements: 1, 2, and 3. Therefore, A, B, and C are simply different ways to
represent the same set.
b. {0} ≠ 0 because {0} is a set with one element, namely 0, whereas 0 is just the symbol that represents the number zero.
c. The set {1, {1}} has two elements: 1 and set whose only element is 1.
d. U 1= {1 ,=1 } , U 2= { 2,−2 } ,U 0= { 0 ,−0 }={0,0 }={0 }.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

ACTIVITY 1: ANSWER ME

a. Let X = {a, b, c}, Y = {a, c, b}, and Z = {a, b, b, c, c, c}. what are the elements of X, Y, and Z? How are X, Y, and Z related?
b. How many elements are in the set {a, {a, b}, {a}}?
c. For each positive integer x, let A x ={ x , x 2 } .Find A1 , A 2 ,and A3.

Certain sets of numbers are so frequently referred to that they are given special symbolic names. These are summarized in the
table below.

Symbol Set
 R Set of all real numbers
Z Set of all integers
Q Set of all rational numbers, or quotients of integers
Addition of a superscript + or – or the letters nonneg indicates that only the positive or negative nonnegative elements of the set,
respectively, are to be included. Thus R denotes the set of positive real numbers, and Z nonneg refers to the set of nonnegative
+¿ ¿

integers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and so forth. Some authors refer to the set of nonnegative integers as the set of natural number and denote
it as N . Other authors call only the positive integers natural numbers.

The set of real numbers is usually pictured as the set of all points on a line, as shown below. The number 0 corresponds to a
middle point, called the origin. A unit of distance is marked off, and each point to the right of the origin corresponds to a positive
real number found by computing its distance from the origin. Each point to the left of the origin corresponds to a negative real
number, which is denoted by computing its distance from the origin and putting a minus sign. In front of the resulting number. The
set of real numbers is therefore divided into three parts: the set of positive real numbers, the set of negative real numbers, and the
number 0. Note that 0 is neither positive nor negative.
Labels are given for a few real numbers corresponding to points on the line shown below.

The real number line is called continuous because it is imagined to have no holes. The set of integers corresponds to a collection of
points located at fixed intervals along the real number line. Thus every integer is a real number, and because the integers are all
separated from each other, the set of integers is called discrete. The name discrete mathematics comes from the distinction
between continuous and discrete mathematical objects.

Another way to specify a set uses what is called the set-builder notation.

Let S denote set and let P(x) be a property that elements of S may or may not
satisfy. We may define a new set to the set of all elements x in S such that
Set-Builder P(x) is true. We denote this set as follows:
Notation
{x ∈ s∨P ( X ) }

The set of all such that

Occasionally we will write {x∨P ( X ) } without being specific about where the element x comes from. It turns out that
unrestricted use of this notation can lead to genuine contradictions in set theory.

Example 2: Using the Set – Builder Notation

Given that R denotes the set of all real numbers, Z is the set of all integers, and Z+¿ ¿the set of all positive integers, describe each
of the following sets.
a. {x ∈ R∨−2< x< 5}
b. {x ∈ Z∨−2< x <5 }
c. {x ∈ Z+ ¿∨−2< x<5 }¿
Solution:
a. {x ∈ R∨−2< x< 5} is the open interval of real numbers (strictly) between -2 and 5. It is pictured as follows:

b. {x ∈ Z∨−2< x <5 } is the set of all integers (strictly) between -2 and 5. It is equal to the set {-1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4}.
are positive, {x ∈ Z+ ¿∨−2< x<5 }¿ = {1, 2, 3, 4{}
+¿ ¿
d. Since all the integers in Z

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

ACTIVITY 2: ANSWER ME
Given that R denotes the set f all real numbers, Z the set of all integers, and Z+¿ ¿ the set of all negative integers, describe each of
the following sets.

a. {x ∈ R∨−5< x <1}
b. {x ∈ Z∨−5< x <1 }
c. {x ∈ Z+ ¿∨−5< x<1 }¿
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Subsets
A basic relation between sets is that of subset.

If A and B are sets, the A is called a subset of B, written A ⊆ B , if, and only if,
every element of A is also an element B.
Symbolically:
Subset
A ⊆ B means that For all elements x, if x ∈ A then x ∈ B .

The phases A is contained in B and B contains A are alternative ways of

saying that A is a subset of B.

It follows from the definition of subset that for a set A not to be a subset of a set B means that there is at least one element of A that
is not an element of B. Symbolically,

A ⊈ B means that There is at least one element x such that x ∈ A then x ∉ B .

Proper Subset
Let A and B be sets. A is a proper subset of B if, and only if, every element of B is in B but there is at least one element of B that is
not in A.

Example 3: Subsets
+¿ ,B = {n ∈Z|0 ≤ n≤ 100 } ,∧C= {100 ,200 ,300 ,400 ,500 } .¿
Let A=Z Evaluate the truth and falsity of each of the following statements.

a. B⊆ A
b. C is a proper subset of A
c. C and B have at least one element in common
d. C⊆B
e. C⊆C

Solution:
a. False. Zero is not a positive integer. Thus zero is in B but zero is not in A and so B ⊈ A.
b. True. Each element in C is a positive integer and, hence, is in A, but there are elements in A that are not in C. For,
instance, 1 is in A and not in C.
c. True. For example, 100 is in both C and B.
d. False. For example, 200 is in C but not in B.
e. True. Every element in C is in C. in general, the definition of subset implies that all sets are subsets of themselves.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

ACTIVITY 3: ANSWER ME
2
Let A = {2, {2}, ( √ 2 ) } , B = {2, {2}, {{2}}} and C = {2}. Evaluate the truth and falsity of the following statements.

a. A⊆B
b. B⊆A
c. A is a proper subset of B
d. C⊆B
e. C is a proper subset of A

Example 4: Distinction between ∈ and ⊆

Which of the following are true statements?

a. 2 ∈ {1, 2, 3}
b. {2} ∈ {1, 2, 3}

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 c. 2 ⊆ {1,2, 3}
d. {2} ⊆ {1, 2, 3}
e. {2} ⊆ {{1}. {2}}
f. {2} ∈ {{1}, {2}}

Solution:
Only (a), (d) and (f) are TRUE.
For (b) to be true, the set {1, 2, 3} would have to contain the element {2}. But the only elements of {1, 2,3} are 1, 2, and 3
and 2 is not equal to {2}. Hence b is false.
For (c) to be true, the number 2 would have to be a set and every element in the set 2 would have to be an element of (1,
2, 3}. This is not the case, so (c) is false.
For (e) to be true, every element in the set containing only the number 2 would have to be an element of the set whose
elements are {1} and {2}. But 2 is not equal to either {1} or {2} and so (e) is false.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

ACTIVITY 4: ANSWER ME
Which of the following are true statements?

a. x∈{x, y ,z}
b. x ⊆ { { x } , { y } ,{z }}
c. x ⊆ { x , y , z }
d. {x }⊆ { { x } , { y } , {z }}

Cartesian Products
With the introduction of Georg Cantor’s set theory in the late nineteenth century, it began to seem possible to put
mathematics on a firm logical foundation by developing all of its various branches from set theory and logic alone. A major
stumbling block was how to use sets to define and ordered pair because the definition of a set is unaffected by the order in which
its elements are listed. For example, {a, b} and {b, a} represent the same set, whereas in an ordered pair we want to be able to
indicate which element comes first.
In 1914, the crucial breakthroughs were made by Norbert Wiener (1894 – 1964), a young American who had recently
received his Ph. D. from Harvard and the German mathematician Felix Hausdorff (1868 – 1942). Both gave definitions showing that
an ordered pair can be defined as a certain type of set, but both definitions were somewhat awkward. Finally, in 1921, the Polish
mathematician Kazimierz Kuratowski (1896 – 1980) published the following definition, which has since become standard. It says
that an ordered pair is a set of the form.
{{a}, {a, b}}
This set has elements, {a} and {a, b}. If a ≠ b, then the two sets are distinct and a is in both sets whereas b is not. This
allows us to distinguish between a and b and say that a is the first element of the ordered pair and b is the second element of the
pair. If a = b, then we can simply say that a is both the firs and the second element of the pair. In this case the set that defines the
ordered pair becomes {{a}, {a, a}}, which equals [{a}}.

However, it was only long after ordered pairs had been used extensively in mathematics that mathematicians realized that
it was possible to define them entirely in terms of sets, and, in any case, the set notation would be cumbersome to use on a regular
basis. The usual notation for ordered pairs refers to {{a}, {a,b}} more simply {a.b}

Given elements a and b, the symbol (a, b) denotes the ordered pair consisting
of a and b together with the specification that a is the first element of the pair
and b is the second element. Two ordered pairs (a, b) and (c, d) are equal if,
Ordered Pair and only if, a = c and b = d. symbolically:

(a, b) = (c, d) means that a = c and b = d

Example 5: Ordered Pairs

a. Is (1, 2) = (2, 1)?

b. Is (3 , 105 )=(√ 9 , 12 ) ?
c. What is the first element of (1, 1)?

Solution:
a. No. by definition of equality of ordered pairs,
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 (1, 2) = (2, 1) if, and only if, 1 = 2 and 2 = 1.
But 1 ≠2 ,and so the ordered pairs are not equal.
b. Yes. By definition of equality of ordered pairs,
5 1
(3 , 105 )=(√ 9 , 12 ) if , and only if, 3 = √ 9 and =
10 2
Because these equations are both true, the ordered pairs are equal.
c. In the ordered pair (1,1), the first and the second elements are both 1.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

ACTIVITY 5: ANSWER ME
Which of the following are true statements?
a. Is (0, 10) = (10, 0)?
b. Is (4, 33) = (22, 27)?
c. What is the first element of (2, 5)?

Given sets A and B, the Cartesian Product of A and B, denoted A × B and read “A
cross B,” is the set of all ordered pairs (a, b), where a is in A and b is in B.
Cartesian Product symbolically,
A × B= { ( a , b ) } a ∈ A∧b ∈ B }

Example 6: Cartesian Products

Let A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {u, v}.
a. Find A × B
b. Find B× A
c. Find B× B
d. How many elements are in A × B , B× A , and B× B ?
e. Let R denote the set of all real numbers. Describe R × R .

Solution.
a. A × B= { ( 1, u ) . ( 2, u ) , ( 3 ,u ) , ( 1 , v ) , ( 2 , v ) , ( 3 , v ) }
b. B× A={( u ,1 ) , ( u , 2 ) , ( u , 3 ) , ( v ,1 ) , ( v , 2 ) , ( v , 3 ) }
c. B× B={ (u ,u ) , ( u , v ) , ( v ,u ) , ( v , v ) }
d. A × B has six elements. Note that this is the number of elements in A times the number of elements in B, B× A has
six elements, the number of elements in B times the number of elements in A. B× B has four elements, the number of
elements in B times the number of elements in B.
e. R × R is the set of all ordered pairs (x, y) where both x and y are real numbers. If horizontal and vertical axes are
drawn on a plane and a unit length is marked off, then each ordered pair in R × R corresponds to unique point in the
plane, with the first and second elements of the pair indicating, respectively, the horizontal and vertical positions of the
point. The term Cartesian Plane is often used to refer to a plane with this coordinate system, as illustrated in Figure 2.
1.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

ACTIVITY 6: ANSWER ME

Let Y = {a, b, c} and Z = {1, 2}

a. Find Y × Z
b. Find Z ×Y
c. Find Y ×Y
d. How many elements are there in Y × Z ? Z × Y ? Y ×Y ?

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 REFERENCES
Aufmann R. N, et al, Mathematics Excursions 14th Edition

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