Worksheet in GE Math:

Wk- 10
Nature of Mathematics
The Language of the Sets 2.3.3
Cartesian Products
Objectives:
1. Understand Cartesian Product.
2. Determine the product of the sets.

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 an 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 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 where as b is not. This allows us to distinguish between a and b and say that a is 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 first 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
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 refer to {{a}, {a, b}} more simply as (a, b).
 Ordered Pairs

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, 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 ,
5
10
= √9 , ?
1
2 )
c. What is the first element of (1, 1)?

Solution
a. No. By definition of equality of ordered pairs,
(1, 2) = (2, 1) if, and only if, 1 = 2 and 2 = 1.
b. Yes. By definition of equality of ordered pairs,
3, ( ) (
5
10
1
)
= √ 9 , if, and only if, 3 = √ 9 and = .
2
5 1
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 5:

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)?

Cartesian Product
Given sets A and B, the Cartesian product of A and B, denoted A x B and read “A across B,” is the
set of all ordered pairs (a, b), where a is in A and b is in B. Symbolically:

A x B = {(a, b)| a ∈ A and b ∈ B}.

Example 6 Cartesian Products

Let A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {u, v}.
a. Find A x B
b. Find B x A
c. Find B x B
d. How many elements are in A x B, B x A, and B x B?
Solution
a. A x B = {(1, u), (2, u), (3, u), (1, v), (2, v), (3, v)}
b. B x A = {(u, 1), (u, 2), (u, 3), (v, 1), (v, 2), (v, 3)}
c. B x B = {(u, u), (u, v), (v, u), (v, v)}
d. A x B has six elements. Note that this is the number of elements in A times the number of
elements in B. B x A has six elements, the number of elements in B times the number of
elements in A. B x B has four elements, the number of elements in B times the number of
elements in B.

Check your progress 6:

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

a. Find Y x Z.
b. Find Z x Y.
c. Find Y x Y.
d. How many elements are in Y x Z, Z x Y, and Y x Y?