Mathematics 7

Basic Ideas of
Sets

Week 1
What I Need To Know
 Basic Ides of Sets
- Well-defined sets - Cardinality sets
- Subset - Union and Intersection of sets
- Universal sets - Different of two sets
- Null set
 Operations on Sets

What I Know

(Activity)
Direction: Answer the following given activity below to test yourself what you already know or what
activity you don’t know. Write your answers on the answer sheet provided on this module.
1. It is a method of describing a set-in word.
A. Listing Method C. Set Builder
B. Roster Notation D. Verbal Description
2. This is a method describing a set by listing each element of the set inside the symbol { }.
A. Listing Method C. Set Builder
B. Roster Notation D. Verbal Description
3. It may be thought of as a collection of objects. These objects are called elements or members of the set.
A. Elements C. Sets
B. Null set D. Union set
4. It is a set of elements that are members of both A and B. Written as A ∩ B.
A. Cardinality set C. Union set
B. Intersection set D. Universal set
5. Which of the following below written/symbol of a subsets?
A. A ∪ B C. A B
∩

B. A B D. A ∩ B
∩

What’s New

Today let’s learn together about The Basic Ideas of Sets and Its operations.
BASIC IDEAS OF SETS
L1: Well-defined sets, subset, universal sets, null set, cardinality sets, union and intersection
of sets and the different of two sets.
 A set may be thought of as a collection of objects. These objects are called elements or members
of the set.
Notation and Description of Sets
 We use capital letters such as A, B, C, D and E to denote sets and lowercase letters as a, b, c, d,
and e to denote the elements of a set. It is also a common practice to list the elements of a set in
braces, { }, and separate these elements by commas. Thus,
A= {5, 10, 15, 20} means “ A set consisting of the elements 5, 10, 15, and 20.” To indicate 5 is an
element of Set A, we write “ 5 ϵ A “ and is read “ 5 is an element of A” or “ 5 is a member A.” The
symbol ϵ is read “ is an element of “ or “ is a member of” and the notation ϵ is read “ is not an
element of.” Using our previous example, we may say that 5 ϵ A, 10 ϵ A, 15 ϵ A, 20 ϵ A, a ϵ A, and
7 ϵ A. A set with no elements is an empty set. The symbol for an empty set is ϕ or { }.
If a set contains many elements, we often use three dots, …, called an ellipsis, to indicate there
are elements in the set that have not been written down.
N = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,…} , W = { 0, 1, 2, 3, …}
What is it

There are three ways in which we can describe a set.

1. The Roster Notation or Listing Method
- This is a method describing a set by listing each element of the set inside the symbol { }. In
listing the elements of the set, each distinct elements is listed once and the order of the
elements does not matter.
Examples:
1. A = { 1, 2, 3, 4} 2. B = { p, h, i, l, n, e, s} 3. C = {5, 10, 15,…} 4. D = { moon}
2. The Verbal Description Method
- It is a method of describing a set in words. We can describe the sets named in no.1 as follows.
1. Set A is the set of counting numbers less than 5.
2. Set B is the set of letters in the word “ Philippines”.
3. Set C is the set of positive multiples of 5.
 4. Set D is the set of a natural earth satellite.
3. The Set Builder Notation
1
- It is a method that lists the rules that determine whether an object is an element of the set
rather than the actual elements. We can describe the sets in no.1, in set builder notation as follows.
Examples:
1. A = { x | x is a counting numbers less than 5 } read as “ the set of all x’s such as x is a counting
numbers less than 5.” The vertical bar after the first x is translated as “ such that,”
2. B = { x | x is a letter in the word “ Philippines”.
3. C = { x | x is a positive multiple of 5}.
4. D = { x | x is a natural satellite of the earth.}
Equal sets and Equivalent sets
 The cardinal numbers of a set A, denoted by n(A), is the numbers of the elements in the set. Thus,
in
A = { a, e, i, o, u}, n(A) = 5 because set A contains 5 elements.
Two sets that contain exactly the same number of elements are equivalent sets. If we are given
A= { 1, 2, 3, 4} and B = ( m, a, t, h), we can say that A is equivalent to B ( A≈ B). Both sets contain
four elements, hence, they are equivalent.
Two sets that contain exactly the same elements are said to be equal sets. If we are given A= {a,
e, i, o, u} and B = {e, o, i, u, a}, then we can say that A= B. These two sets contain exactly the same
elements and, therefore, are equal.
Example: Are the following sets equal?
a. A= { c, a, r} B= { a, r, c} b. C= {1, 2, 3, 4,…} D= {5, 10, 15, 20,…}
Solution:
a. Yes, set A and B are equal sets because they contain exactly the same elements. The order of
the listing of the elements does not change the set.
b. No, sets C and D are not equal sets. They do not contain exactly the same elements.
Example: Are the following sets equivalent?
a. A = {c, a, r} B= {a, r, c} b. C= {m, a, t, h} D={1, 2, 3, 4,…}
Solution:
a. Sets A and B are equivalent because they contain each three elements.
b. Set D contains an infinite number of elements, and C contains four elements. Hence, sets C and
D are not equivalent.
Universal Sets and Subsets
 There are cases where two or more sets contain some , but not all the same elements. Consider the
set of possible even numbers, A= {2, 4, 6, 8,…} and the set of positive whole numbers, B= {1, 2, 3,
4,…}. We can see that 2 ϵ A and 2 ϵ B; similarly, we note that 8 ϵ A and 8 ϵ B. In fact, every
element that is in A is also contained in Set B. Therefore, we can say that Set A is contained in Set
B, or, in symbols, we can write A B .
∩

When a set is contained in another Set B, we can say that A is a subset of B.

Subset
Set A is a subset of set B, written as A B, if only if, every element in A is also an element in B.
∩

Every set is a subset of itself. A subset of a given set that is not the set itself is called a
proper subset. If Set A is a proper subset of Set B, then two conditions must be satisfied : first, A
must be a subset of B; second, Set B must contain at least one element that is not found in Set A. If
A is a proper subset of B, then we say that A is properly contained in B, and we write A B.
∩

Proper Subset
Set A is a proper subset of set B, written as A B, if there is at least one element in B
∩

not contained in A.

Consider the sets A= { a, b, c} and B= {a, b, c, d}, we can say that A B since each
∩

elements in A is also an elements in B, and there is at least one element in B not contained in A. We
cannot say that B A because d ϵ B, but d ϵ A. Hence, B , but A B.
∩

Consider an empty set, { }. The empty has no element. This means that it is impossible to
find an element in the empty set that is not in Set A. since an empty set has no elements, there is
none that can fail to be elements of A. Hence, the empty set is a Subset of A. By the same
reasoning, the empty set is a subset of every set.

Example: Determine all the possible subsets of the set.

a. {1, 2} b. {1, 2, 3}
Solution:
a. We know that every set is a subset of itself:2 thus, {1,2} is a subset. We also know that the
empty set is the subset of all sets, so we have { }. The other subsets are { 1} and {2}. The
complete list of subsets of {1, 2} is {1, 2}, { }, {1}, {2}.
b. Since the set {1, 2, 3} contains three elements, we would have the following:
Zero at a time One at a time Two at a time Three at a time
{ } {1} {1, 2} {1, 2, 3}
{ 2} {1, 3}
{3} { 2, 3}

There are eight subsets for the given set.

The Universal set, denoted by U, is the set of all possible elements of any set used in the
problem. The universal set can change from problem to problem, depending on the nature of the
set being discussed. For example, the universal set U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9} contains the digits
1 through 9. In a discussion using this universal set, we would only consider those sets whose
elements are members of U. For example: A= {1, 3, 5} might be discussed, but C={a, b, c} would
not be because no elements of C are elements of U.

Complement of Set A
The complement of a set A, written as A’, is the set of all the elements in the
universal set (U) that are not in the set A.

Example:
Given: U= {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, A={ 1, 3, 5}, B= {1, 5}, C={ }.
Find : a. A’ b. B’ c. C’
Solution:
a. The complement of A is the set of elements in U but not in A. These elements are 2 and 4.
Thus A’={2, 4}
b. B’= {2, 3, 4} c. C’= (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) = U

Operations on Sets
In arithmetic, we have operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division
that enable us to combine numbers. In sets, we have the intersection and union of sets, and we
shall also do some more work with the complement of a set.

Intersection of sets
The intersection of sets A and B, written as A ∩ B, is a set of elements that are
members of both A and B.

Example:
Given: A= {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, B= {2, 4, 6} and C={1, 3, 5,…}
Find: a. A ∩ B b. A ∩ C c. B ∩ C
Solution:
a. The elements in A that are also in B are 2, 4, and 6. Hence, A ∩ B= {2, 4, 6}.
b. The elements of A that are also C are 1, 3, and 5. Hence, A ∩ C= {1, 3, 5}.
c. Examining sets B and C, we see that there are no elements common to both.
Therefore: B ∩ C = { } or B ∩ C = ϕ
Example:
Given: ∩ = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, A= {1, 2, 3}, and B= (1, 3, 4), find (A ∩B)’
Solution:
( A ∩ B) = { 1, 3}. Therefore: ( A ∩ B)’ = { 2, 4, 5}

Union of set
The union of sets A and B, written as A U B, is the set of elements that are members
of A, or members of B, or member of both A and B.

When we list the elements in the union of two sets, we list all the elements in set A and
all of the elements in set B. If an elements are in both sets, we list it only once.

Example:
Given: A= {a, e, i, o, u} and B= {a, b, c, d, e}, find A U B.
Solution:
A U B= { a, e, i, o, u, b, c, d}
Example:
3
Given: A= {2, 4, 6, …} and B= (1, 3, 5,…), find A U B.
Solution:
We have the set of even numbers and the set of odd numbers. Hence, the union of these
two sets in the set of counting numbers:
A U B = {1, 2, 3, 4,…}
Example:
Given U= {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, A = {1, 3, 5}, B= {3, 4, 5}, and C= {2, 4}
Find: a.) A’ U B’ b.) (A U B)’ c.) ( A U B)’
Solution:
a. A’ U B’ b. ( A U B)’ c. ( A U C)’
A’= {2, 4} A U B ={1, 3, 4, 5} A U C= { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5},
B’= {1, 2} ( A U B)’= { 2} ( A U C)’= { }
A’ U B’= { 1, 2, 4}

What’s More (Activities)

ACTIVITIES
Test Yourself!
Direction: Answers all your activities and write your answers on the Answer Sheet provided on this
module.

Test A: Complete the table:

Roster method, Verbal and Set Builder
Verbal Method Roster Method Set Builder

 A set of letters in the

word “ Mathematics”

 A set of positive multiple

of 7

 A set of a heavenly body

planets.

 A set of a school daily

subjects.

 A set of your favorite

person.

Test B: IDENTIFICATION (write your answers in the blanks provided before the number)
___________1. denoted by U, is the set of all possible elements of any set used in the
problem.
___________2. using three dots if a set contains many elements.
___________3. written as A B, if only if, every elements of A is also elements of B.
∩

___________4. written as A ∩ B, is a set of elements that are members of both A and B.

___________5. a set with no elements. The symbol is ϕ or { }.
Test C: Organize your thoughts!
4
Using the graphic organizer below, compare and contrast the union and intersection of the
sets.

Sets

Union of Set Intersection of Set

Similarities Differences

Test D: Are the following statement True or False?

____________1. { o, n, e}={n, e, o}
____________2. {2, 4, 6,…,50} ≈ {1, 3, 5,…,49}
____________3. {5, 10} {2, 4, 6,…}
∩

_____________4. { I, II, III} = {1, 2, 3}

_____________5. { a, b, c, d} { 3, 5, 7, 9}
∩
 Answer Sheet in Mathematics
5 7 (Week 1)

Name:______________________________________________________________

What I Know
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

What’s More (Activities)

Test A: Roster method, Verbal and Set Builder

Verbal Method Roster Method Set Builder

 A set of letters in the word “
Mathematics”

 A set of positive multiple of 7

 A set of a heavenly body

planets.

 A set of a school daily subjects.

 A set of your favorite person.

Test B
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Test C

Test D
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.