Course Code: STA 142

Course Title: INTRODUCTION TO PROBABILITY

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 TOPIC 2: < SET THEORY >

Topic 2: SET THEORY.

Introduction

In this topic, we will test the hypothesis for population means, variances and proportions for a single
sample from a normal population.

Objectives

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

1. Perform a test of hypothesis on population mean, when variance is given and when variance is
not given
2. Perform a test of hypothesis on population variance, when mean is given and when mean is not
given
3. Perform a test of hypothesis on population proportion

Learning Activities

Activity 1:
 Students to take note of the exercises provided within the text and at the end of the topic

Topic Resources

Students to take note of the reference text books provided in the course outline

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SET THEORY

 The origin of set theory dates back in 1895 by German Mathematician G. Cantor.

 A set is any well-defined collection of objects called the elements or members of the set.

 Capita letters are usually used to denote sets while lower case letters denote the elements of sets.

 The statement x is an element of A or equivalently x belongs to A is written x  A .

 The statement x is not an element of A is written as x  A .

Representation of a set.

1. Rooster or tabular:
The elements are listed, being separated by commas and are enclosed within braces.
E.g. A  0,1, B  a, e, i, o, u.
Note: Repeated elements in a set can be ignored.
2. Rule Method or Set builders method.
In this method, a set is defined by specifying the property that elements of the set have in common, E.g.
A  x : P( x)
Example:
i. The set A consisting of elements a, e, i, o, u written as A   x : x is a vowel in English .
ii. The set B  {1,4,9,16,25,36} can be written as
B  x : x 2  n2 where n is a real valued number  6
iii. The set C  {2,4,6,8} can be written as C  x : x is an even integer between 1 and 9 .

Some Definitions and Notations.

1. Finite sets:
It’s a set with finite number of elements. For example; set B  a, e, i, o, u
2. Infinite set:
It’s a set with infinite number of elements. For example; set
A  x : x is an even integer  A  2, 4,6,...
3. Null set (Empty or void sets:
It’s a set which contains no element at all. It’s denoted by  . E.g.
A  x : x is a multiple of 4; x is odd .
4. Singleton set:

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A set which has only one element. E.g. S  {a}

5. Subset:
If A and B are sets such that every element of A is also an element of B then A is said to be a subset
of B . (Or A is contained in B ) and is denoted by A  B . In other words A  B if x  A and x  B .
If A is not a subset of B, at least one element of A does not belong to B. We write: A  B
Important results:

i. Every set A is a subset of itself A  A

ii. The null set  is considered as a subset of any set A i.e.   A
iii. If A is a subset of B , B is a subset of C , then A is a subset of C i.e. If A  B and
B  C then A  C .
Example: The set A  {1,3,4} is a subset of B  {1,2,3,4,5} because each element of A also
belongs to set B
6. Power of set (Number of subsets of a set).
If a set contains n elements, then number of possible subsets is 2 n .
For example:
a) If set A  {a, b, c} contains three elements, then the total number of subsets is 2 5  32
The subsets are:   { } , {a} , { b} , {c} , {a, b} , {a, c} , { b, c} , and {a, b, c}
b) If set A  {2,4,5,6,7} contains five elements, then the total number of subsets is 2 5  32 .
Task: Can you list them?
7. Superset:
If A is a subset of B , then B is called the superset of A and is written as B  A which is read as
“ B is a superset of A ”.
8. Proper subset
Any subset A is said to be a proper subset of another set B if A is a subset of B but there is at least
one element of B which does not belong to A i.e. if A  B but A  B . It is written as A  B .
E.g. A  {1,5}, B  {1,5,6}, C  {1,6,5} . A  C, B  C and A  C but B  C since B  C
9. Equal sets
Two sets A and B are said to be equal if and only if every element of A is an element of B and
consequently every element of B is an element of A ; that is A  B and B  A and is written as
A B.
10. Universal set / Universe of Discourse
It’s a non-empty set of which all the sets under consideration are subsets.

Set Operation
1. Union:
Let A and B be two sets. The union of set A and B denoted by A  B is the set containing all the
elements of A and B .
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The union of the sets A j ; j  1,2,..., n is denoted by A1  A2  ...  An

2. Intersection:
Let A and B be two sets. The intersection of A and B is the set containing all common elements between
A and B and is denoted by A  B .
n
The intersection of the sets A j ; j  1,2,..., n is denoted by A1  A2  ...  An or A
j 1
j

Example 2.1:
Let A  {1,2,3,4}, B  {0,1,3,5,7}, C  {2,4,6,8} . Find i) A  B ii) B  C iii) A  B iv) B  C .
Solution:
i. A  B  {0,1, 2,3, 4,5,7}
B  C  ............................???
ii. A  B  {1,3}
iii. B  C  ..............??
3. Disjoint or non-intersecting sets.
Let A and B be two sets. Then A and B are disjoint if they have no elements in common i.e. A  B  
4. Compliments
Let U be the universal set and A be any subset of U . The absolute compliment of A or simply
compliment of A denoted by A c or A' or A is the set of elements which belong to U but which don’t
belong to A . Diagrammatically;

U A

A1
the shaded blue area denotes A c
5. Difference or relative compliment.
Let A and B be two sets. The relative compliment of B with respect to A or simply difference of

A and B denoted by A  B or A  Bc is the set of elements which belong to A but which do not belong
to B .

Thus; A  B  {x : x  A and x  B} .
Likewise, B  A  {x : x  B and x  A} .
Note:
i. A  B  A  Bc , ii B  A  B  Ac iii. A  B  B  A
Example 2.2:
Let A  {a, b, c} and B  {b, c, d , e} .
Then A  B  A  Bc  {a} and B  A  B  Ac  {d , e}
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6. Symmetric Difference/Boolean Sum of two sets.

The symmetric difference of two sets A and B denoted by A  B is the set of elements that belong to
A or B but not to both A and B .
A  B  ( A  B)  ( B  A) or A  B  ( A  B)  ( B  A) .
Example 2.3:
If A  {3, 0, 1, 2} and B  {1, 2, 3, 4} , then A  B  {3, 0} and B  A  {3, 4} .
A  B  {3,0} {3, 4}  {3,0,3, 4}

Algebra of Sets
1. The Idempotent laws: A  A  A .
Proof:
Let x be any arbitrary element of the set A . Then, x  A  x  A or x  A
 x A A
A  A  A …… (i)
Conversely, if x  A  A then x  A or x  A
Hence A  A  A ……. (ii)
From (i) and (ii), A  A  A

2. The Commutative law: A  B  B  A .

Proof:
Let x be an element of A  B .
Then x  A  B
 x  A or x  B
 x  B or x  A
 xB A
x A B  xB  A
Thus A  B  B  A …... (i)
Conversely, let x be an element of B  A .
Then x  B  A
 x  B or x  A
 x  A or x  B
 x A B
Thus, B  A  A  B ….. (ii)
From (i) and (ii), A  B  B  A .

3. The Commutative law: A  B  B  A .

Proof:
Let x be an element of A  B . Then x  A  B
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 TOPIC 2: < SET THEORY >

 x  A and x  B
 x  B and x  A
 xB A
Thus A  B  B  A ….. (i)
Conversely, let x be an element of B  A . Then x  B  A
 x  B and x  A
 x  A and x  B
 x A B
Thus B  A  A  B … (ii)
From (i) and (ii), A  B  B  A

4. The Distributive law: A  ( B  C )  ( A  B)  ( A  C ) .

Proof:
Let x be any arbitrary element of the set A  ( B  C ) .
Then x  A  ( B  C )
 x  A or x  ( B  C )
 x  A or ( x  B and x  C )
 ( x  A or x  B) and ( x  A or x  C )
 x  A  B and x  A  C
 x  ( A  B)  ( A  C )
Thus A  ( B  C )  ( A  B)  ( A  C ) ….. (i)
Conversely, let x be any arbitrary element of the set ( A  B)  ( A  C ) .
Then x  ( A  B)  ( A  C ) .
 x  ( A  B) and x  ( A  C )
 ( x  A or x  B) and ( x  A or x  C )
  x  Aand x  A or  x  B and x C
 x  A or  x  B and x  C 
 x  A  ( x  B  C)
 x  A  (B  C)
Or ( A  B)  ( A  C)  A  ( B  C) … (ii)
From (i) and (ii), A  ( B  C )  ( A  B)  ( A  C ) .

Exercise 2.1:

Prove that A  ( B  C )  ( A  B)  ( A  C )

5. The De Morgans Laws: ( A  B)c  Ac  Bc

Proof:

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Let x be any arbitrary element of the set ( A  B)c .

Then, x  ( A  B)c
 x  ( A  B)
 x  A and x  B
 x  Ac or x  B c
 x  ( Ac or B c )
 x  ( Ac  Bc )
Or ( A  B)c  Ac  Bc … (i)
Conversely, let x be any arbitrary element of the set Ac  Bc .
Then, x  Ac  Bc
 x  Ac or x  B c
 x  A or x  B
 x does not belong to both A and B
 x  ( A  B)
 x  ( A  B) c
Thus Ac  Bc  ( A  B)c … (ii)
From (i) and (ii), ( A  B)c  Ac  Bc
Exercise 2.2:
Prove the other forms of De Morgans Laws:
 A  B  Ac  Bc
c
i.
c
 A   A cj
ii.  j 
 j  j

c
 A   A cj
iii.  j 
 j  j

Exercise 2.3:

Proofs of these other laws of sets are left as exercises:

6. Identity laws
i. A   A
ii. A U  A
7. Identity laws
i. A U  U
ii. A  
8. A 
c c
A
9.

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 TOPIC 2: < SET THEORY >

i. A  Ac  U
ii. A  Ac  
10.
i. Uc  
ii.  c U

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