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Chapter 2
SET THEORY
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
1. Define sets and identify the types/kinds of sets.
2. Demonstrate the operations on sets and relate them to Venn Diagram.
3. Solve practical problems involving sets and its operations.
2.0 SET
It is a well-defined collection of distinct objects. It is denoted by capital letters of the
English alphabet.
Example 1: A = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}
B = {1, 2, 3, …}
C = {colors of the rainbow}
D = {l, o, v, e}
E = {x ∈ R │x ≥ 10 }
Read: "The set of all x's that are a member of the Real Numbers, such that x is greater
than or equal to 10”
or “All Real Numbers from 10 upwards"
Note: The elements of sets A, B and C are well-defined because we could easily identity the
elements of each set. Also, each set have distinct objects because each member of a set is
different from one another and therefore cannot be written more than once in each set.
The following are examples are not well-defined collection of objects because the criterion for
determining them varies from person to person.
A = {Five most popular artists in Asia}
B = {10 most beautiful girls in the Philippines}
C = {The best pediatrician in Manila}
Members/Element of a set are objects that composed a set. It is represented by the symbol ∈.
Example 2: From sets A, B and C in the previous examples,
8 ∈ A, read “8 is an element of set A”
100 ∈ B, read “100 is a member of set B”
0 ∉ B, read “0 is not an element of set B”
Amber ∉ C read “Amber is not an element of set C
2.1 WAYS OF WRITING A SET
1. The Tabular or roster form is a method of writing a set by enumerating its elements within a
pair of braces and each element is separated by a comma.
Example 3: A = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}
B = {1, 2, 3, …}
2. The Rule form is a method of writing a set by describing the elements of a set.
Example 4: A = {set of all even numbers less than 11}
or A = {set of all even numbers between 0 and 11)
B = {set of positive integers}
or B = {set of counting numbers}
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SET-BUILDER NOTATION is a method of writing the rule form into symbolic form. It uses the
following symbols:

Or sometimes it shows the type of number the variable x represents.

The following are commonly used symbols to express some type of numbers:
1. Whole numbers are numbers 0, 1,2,3 …
2. N- the set of counting numbers/Natural numbers are whole numbers without the zero, such as
1,2, 3, …
3. Z – the set of integers are whole numbers but includes the negative numbers, such as …, -2, -
1, 0, 1, …
4. Q – the set of rational numbers are numbers which can be expressed as ratio of integers such
as ½, 5/3, 100/23…

5. P – Irrational numbers are numbers which can’t be expressed as ration of integers such as √2,
𝜋, e, …
6. R – the set of real numbers are composed of both rational and irrational numbers, such 2/3,
3.5, 10, √2, 𝜋, …

7. I – the set of imaginary numbers such as 2i, 2-3i, √−10,…

Example 5: Write the previous examples of sets A and B to Set-Builder Notation form.

Solution: Roster Form: A = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}

Rule Form: A = {𝑥|𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 11}
or A = {𝑥|𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 11}
Set-Builder Notation: 𝐴 = {𝑥 ∈ 𝑍|𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 ⋀ 1 < 𝑥 < 11}
𝐴 = {𝑥 ∈ 𝑍|𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 ⋀ 𝑥 < 11}

Roster Form: B = {1, 2, 3, …}

Rule Form: B = {set of natural numbers}
Set-Builder Form: B = {x / x ∈ N}
2.2 Cardinality of a set
It is the total number of elements in each set. It may be denoted by symbols n(S) = N,
where S represent the name of the set and N is the total number of elements in the given set.
Example 6: A = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10} B=𝜙
n(A) = 5 n(B) = 0
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2.3 TYPES OF SETS

1. Equal Sets
Sets A and B are equal denoted by A = B if A and B have the same elements.
Example 7:

2. Equivalent Sets
Sets A and B are equivalent, denoted by A ∼ B, if A and B have the same number of
elements.

Example 8: M = {red, blue, yellow} P = {earing, necklace, bracelet, ring}

N = {blue, yellow, red} Q = {ring, bracelet, necklace, earing}
M∼N P∼Q
3. Finite Sets
Finite sets are sets having finite or countable number of members.
Example 9: The above sets A, B, M, N, P and Q are finite sets.
More examples: P = {set of people living in your barrio}
S = {set of newborn babies in March 2021 in Manila}
E = {set of kitchen utensils for sale at SM department store}
R = {set of days in a week}
4. Infinite Sets
A set which contains an infinite number of elements.
Example 10: C = {0,1,2, 3. . .}
D = {stars in the sky}
E = {Fibonacci numbers}
5. Universal Sets
A universal set is all the elements, or members, of any group under consideration,
denoted by capital letter U.
Example 11: U = {set of natural numbers}
U = {set of basic geometric shapes}
U = {the set of Mathematics books in PUP library}
6. Joint Sets
Sets that have common elements. They can be illustrated in the Venn diagram as
overlapping circles.
Example 12: F = {5, 10, 15, 20, 25}
G = {10, 20, 30 ,40, 50}
Sets F ang G have common elements 10 and 20, therefore they are joint sets.
7. Disjoint Sets
Sets that have no common element.
Example 13: R = {triangle, square, quadrilateral}
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S = {hexagon, pentagon, octagon}

Sets R and S have no common element; therefore, they are disjoint sets.
8. Null Set/Empty Set
It is a set with no element, denoted by { } or the symbol 𝜙.
9. Singleton Set/Unit set
A set which contains a single element. It is in the form A = {a}.
Example 14a: {moon}, {set of all prime even numbers}, {Set of months having less than 30
days}, {Set of Months beginning with letter N}.
More examples of singleton sets.
E = {x / x ϵ N and x3 = 27}
W = {v / v is a vowel letter and v is the first alphabet of English}

2.4 RELATIONS BETWEEN SETS

1. Subsets

Set A is a subset of B, “A ⊆ B”, if every element of A belongs to B.

Example 14: M = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10} and K = {1,3,5,7,9}

K⊆M K⊆K M⊆M

∅ ⊆M ∅ ⊆K M⊄ K

Take Note: 1. That an empty set is a subset of any set.

2. That every set is a subset of itself.
2. Proper Subsets

Set A is a proper subset of B, “A ⊂ B” if every element of A belongs to B and B has at least

one element not found in A.

Example: Given M = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10} and K = {1,3,5,7,9}

K⊂M M⊄ M K⊄K
∅⊂ K ∅⊂ M ∅⊄{}

Take Note: 1. The empty set is a proper set of all sets except null set.

Power set, P(A) – is the set of all subsets of a given set and can be found by the formula:
2n where n is the number of elements in the given set.

Example 15: Set A = {1,2,3} has 8 subsets, because 23 = 8 subsets

The subsets are as follows: {1, 2, 3}; {1, 2}; {1, 3}; {2, 3}; {1}; {2;} {3}; { }

2.5 OPERATIONS ON SETS

I. Union of Sets,
𝐴 ∪ 𝐵, is the set of all elements found in A or B or both.
2. Intersection of Sets,
𝐴 ∩ 𝐵, is the set of all elements common to both A and B.
3. Complement of A
A’ is the set of all elements in the universal set but not found in A.
4. Difference of sets A and B (Relative complement)
A – B, is the set of all elements found in A but not in B.
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B – A, is the set of all elements found in B but not in A.

5. Symmetric difference of two sets also known as the disjunctive union, is the set of elements
which are in either of the sets, but not in their intersection. It is denoted by the symbol ∆.

2.6 LAWS OF ALGEBRA OF SETS

1. COMMUTATIVE LAWS: The order in which the sets are taken does not affect the result.
A U B = B U A; A∩B=B∩A
2. ASSOCIATIVE LAWS: The grouping in which three or more sets are taken does not affect the
result.
A U (B U C) = (A U B) U C; A ∩ (B ∩ C) = (A ∩ B) ∩ C
3. IDENTITY LAWS: For any subset A of the universal set U the following identities hold:
1. A ∪ ∅ = A 3. A ∩ ∅ = ∅
2. A ∩ U = A 4. A ∪ U = U
4. INVERSE OR COMPLEMENT LAWS: For any subset A of the universal set U the following
identities hold:
1. A U A’ = U; 2. A ∩ A’ = ∅
5. DISTRIBUTIVE LAWS: For any given three sets involving two different operations.
1. A ∪ (B ∩ C) = (A ∪ B) ∩ (A ∪ C)
2. A ∩ (B ∪ C) = (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C)
6. DE MORGAN’S LAWS: This relates the intersection and union of sets through complements.
1. (A ∪ B)’ = A’ ∩ B’
2. (A ∩ B)’ = A’ ∪ B’

2.7 VENN DIAGRAM

A Venn diagram is a pictorial representation of the relationships between sets. It may
also refer to as primary diagram, logic diagram or set diagram.
It was popularized by English Logician John Venn in 1880. It was invented for use in Set
Theory, another branch of Mathematics.
Geometric shapes such rectangles and circles may represent universal set and subsets
of universal set, respectively.

https://puzzlewocky.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/VennDiagramWithFourElements-1.jpg
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COMPONENTS OF VENN DIAGRAMS

A B A B A B

Intersection of Sets Union of Sets Symmetric Difference

Overlapping circles Combined circles The shaded part of two sets
A∩B AUB are the parts that are different
from each other.
𝐀∆𝐁

A B A B

Relative Complement Absolute Complement Universal Set

The shaded section of an The shaded section of the The shaded portion of the
individual circle that is not diagram and does not include rectangles including the
included into the intersection. the circles. circles.
B-A (A U B)’ U

Example 14: A survey was conducted on the Television Channels the residents of one barangay
in Metro Manila have watched last during the last quarter of the year. There are 150 respondents,
and the result of the survey is as follows:
75 residents watched channel X
80 residents watched channel Y
95 residents watched channel Z
32 watched channels X and Y
48 watched channels X and Z
39 watched channels Y and Z
15 watched channels X, Y and Z

Illustrate the above information using a Venn diagram and answer the following questions.
1. How many residents watched channels X and Y only?
2. How many residents watched channels X and Z only?
3. How many residents watched channels Y and Z only?
4. How many residents did not watch any of the said channels?
Solution: First draw the Venn diagram as follows. Enter 15 to the intersection of the 3 channels
and see the computation below of other entries.

For the intersection of X and Y: 32 - 15 = 17

For the intersection of X and Z: 48 – 15 = 33

For the intersection of Y and Z: 39 – 15 = 24

For those residents that did not watch any

channels: 150 - (10+17+15+33+24+24+23) = 4

Checking our solutions:

n(X∪Y∪Z) = n(X) +n(Y)+n(Z) - n(X ∩ Y) - n(X ∩ Z) - n(Y ∩ Z) + n(A ∩ B ∩ C)
150 = 79 + 80 + 95 - 32 – 48 - 39 + 15
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So, the answer to the following questions are:

1. How many residents watched channels X and Y only? 17
2. How many residents watched channels X and Z only? 33
3. How many residents watched channels Y and Z only? 24
4. How many residents did not watch any of the said channels? 4
Example 15: Angel, Bobby, Claire, Daniel, Eric, Fred, George, Hero, Imee and John are best
friends. They’ve been friends for a long time and shared many common things such as the kind
of sports they like and play.
Angel, Claire, Daniel, and Hero play soccer
Claire, Daniel, and John play Tennis
Daniel, George, and John play Volleyball

Draw the Venn diagram showing the above information. Give a summary of your findings in the
Venn diagram.
Solution:

The diagram shows the ff. information

U Eric
about the ten best friends’ kind of
sports: Fred
• Daniel plays soccer, volleyball and Bobby Imee
tennis
• Claire plays Soccer and tennis
• John plays tennis and volleyball
• George plays volleyball only
• Angel and Hero can both play Soccer
only
• Nobody plays tennis alone.
• Bobby, Eric, Fred and Imee does not
play any of the said games

Example 16: Each student in a class of 40 plays at least one indoor game chess, carrom and
scrabble. 18 play chess, 20 play scrabble and 27 play carrom. 7 play chess and scrabble, 12
play scrabble and carrom and 4 play chess, carrom and scrabble. Find the number of students
who play the following.

a. Chess and carrom.

b. Chess, carrom but not scrabble.

Solution:

Let A - be the set of students who play chess

B - be the set of students who play scrabble.

C - be the set of students who play carrom.

Then, we are given the following: n(A ∪ B ∪ C) = 40,

n(A) = 18 n(B) = 20 n(C) = 27
n(A ∩ B) = 7, n(C ∩ B) = 12 n(A ∩ B ∩ C) = 4

Without using the Venn diagram, we have

n(A ∪ B ∪ C) = n(A) + n(B) + n(C) - n(A ∩ B) - n(B ∩ C) - n(C ∩ A) + n(A ∩ B ∩ C)

Substituting the given values,

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40 = 18 + 20 + 27 - 7 - 12 - n(C ∩ A) + 4

40 = 50 - n(C ∩ A)

n(C ∩ A) = 10

Therefore, the number of students who play chess and carrom are 10.

Also, number of students who play chess, carrom and not scrabble.

= n(C ∩ A) - n(A ∩ B ∩ C)
= 10 – 4 = 6
Therefore, the number of students who play chess, carrom and not scrabble is 6
students

Example 17: Given U = {1,2, 3…10};

A = {1, 2, 5, 6, 9}; B = {3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10} and C = {4, 7, 10}.
List the elements of the following.
1. A U B 2. A U B U C
3. A’ ∩ B’ ∩ C’ 4. (A ∩ B)’
5. B – C 6. C – A
7. A ∩ B ∩ C 8. (A ∩ B ∩ C)’
Solution: Answers to some questions can be solved mentally while other questions are provided
with detailed solutions.
1. A U B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}
2. A U B U C = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}
3. A’ ∩ B’ ∩ C’ = { }
Solution: A’ = {3, 4, 7, 8, 10}
B’ = {1, 2, 6, 9}
C’ = {1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9}
4. (A ∩ B)’ = {1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}
Solution: A ∩ B = {5}
5. B – C = {3, 5, 8}
6. C – A = {4, 7, 10}
7. A ∩ B ∩ C = { }
8. (A ∩ B ∩ C)’ = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}

Example 18. A Venn diagram showing two sets is given below, find the indicated sets:

U
A B

1. A ∩ B 2. (A ∩ B)'
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3. A ∪ B' 4. A ∩ B'
5. B' 6. B - A
Solution:

REVIEW EXERCISES 2.1

Name _________________________________ Score ___________ Date ________________

Course, Year & Section _____________Student no. ________Professor _______________

Answer the following problems:

I. Write T if the statement is true and F if not.

_____ 1. Equal sets are always equivalent sets.
_____ 2. The set of negative integers are finite.
_____ 3. {1, 2, 3…10} is an infinite set.
_____ 4. {w,a,s,p} ∼ {s,w,a,p}
_____ 5. If A { a, e, I, o, u} then a ∈ A

_____ 6. Given C = {𝑥|𝑥 𝜖 𝐼 ∧ 5𝑥 ≤ 15} and D = {𝑥|𝑥𝜖 𝐼 ∧ 𝑥 2 < 25}, then C ≠ D

_____ 7. Using the given in problem 6, Q = R.
_____ 8. The set of even numbers less than 100 is infinite.
_____ 9. The cardinality of a null set is zero.
_____10. The set of dots in a plane is an infinite set.

II. Tell whether each of the following set is a well-defined set or not.
____________ 11. The set of whole numbers more than 407.
____________ 12. The set of all months with 31 day
____________ 13. The set of competent mathematicians in all state colleges and universities.
____________ 14. The set of all actors in the movie “Harry Potter”.
____________ 15. The set of excellent students in MMW class.
III. Using the Roster Method, list down the elements of each of the following sets described below.
1. A = { all elements that belong to the Halogen family }
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2. B = { all positive integers between 5 and 10 }

3. C = { all letters in the word “Philippines” }

4. D = { all negative odd integers greater than − 13 but less than − 11}

IV. Using the Rule Method and the Set builder notation to describe each of the following sets
whose elements are listed below.
1. D = { Rudy, crocodile,  } ___________________________________________________
2. A = { h, e, l, o } ___________________________________________________________
3. B = { 0 } _______________________________________________________________
4. C = { 2,4,6, … ,200 }________________________________________________________

V. Tell whether finite or infinite set.

____________ 1. A = { set of even numbers}
____________ 2. B = { set of intergers less than 20}
____________ 3. M = {−5 ≤ x ≤ 5}
____________ 4. R = { set of elements in the periodic table}
____________ 5. S = {x|x = 2n , n ϵ N ∧ n ≤ 5}
VI. Write the following in the Roster Method.
𝑥
1. {5 |𝑥 < 5 } 3. {𝑥|𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑑𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 0 𝑎𝑛𝑑 10}

1
2. {𝑥 2 |𝑥 2 − 1|0 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 5, 𝑥 ∈ 𝑍} 4. {𝑥 |𝑥 ∈ 𝑁}

VII. Given the following: U = {x|0 ≤ x ≤ 20}

A = {2x|0 ≤ x ≤ 5}
B = {2x − 1|1 ≤ x ≤ 7}
Find the following:
1. A U B 2. A ∩ B
3. A’ U B’ 4. A’ ∩ B’
5. A – B 6. B – A
7. (A ∩ B)’ 8. (A U B)’
9. A’ 10. B’
VIII. Given the following Venn diagram of Universal set U and subsets A, B, and C, shade the
portion indicated in the following sets:

1. A U B U C 2. A ∩ B ∩ C
3. A – ( B ∩ C) 4. ( A U B ) – C
5. A’ U B’ U C’ 6. A’ ∩ B’∩ C’
7. A – ( B ∩ C)’ 8. ( A U B )’ – C
9. ( A – B)’ 10. (B – C)’
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IX. Solve the following problems. Use Venn diagram to answer the questions below:
In the College of Engineering, 100 students were asked about their favorite subjects, the
result is as follows:
55 liked Algebra
48 liked Chemistry
53 liked English
25 liked both Algebra and Chemistry
26 liked both Algebra and English
22 liked both Chemistry and English
10 like all three subjects

a. How many students like Algebra and Chemistry but not English? ______________________
b. How many students like Algebra and English but not Chemistry? ______________________
c. How many students like English and Chemistry but not Algebra? ______________________
d. How many students like exactly 1 subject? ______________________
e. How many students did not like any subject? _____________________

X. The Mathematics Club is preparing for year end team building and outing. There are 50
members from which the members of standing committees are taken. There are 8 members of
Finance Committee, 5 are members of Program committee and 10 are members of planning
committees. Also 4 are also members of Finance and Program, 8 are both members of Finance
and Planning and 4 are also members of Program and Planning and 1 of whom was of whom is
in Finance too. How many members are on exactly 2 committees?

XI. Suppose a survey of 60 freshmen accounting students at the Main Campus of the Polytechnic
University of the Philippines produced the following results:

19 of the students read Manila Bulletin Today

18 read Philippine Daily Inquirer
50 read Philippine Star
13 read Manila Bulletin Today and Philippine Daily Inquirer
11 read Philippine Daily Inquirer and Philippine Star
13 read Manila Bulletin Today and Philippine Star
9 read all three.

1. How many students read none of the publications?

2. How many read only Philippine Star?
3. How many read Manila Bulletin Today and Philippine Daily Inquirer, but not Philippine Star?

XII. Copy the Venn diagram below and shade the region or region corresponding to the given
set.

1. A’ 2. 𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 3. 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 4. 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵′ 5. 𝐴′ ∪ 𝐵