INTRODUCTION TO SET THEORY

Jefferson D. Bello, LPT

August 1 5 , 2024

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 OBJECTIVE:

At the end of this lesson,

students must understand
the basic concept of Set.

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LET’S TRY!

3 BEST FAST FOOD

IN THE PHILIPPINES

Introduction to S e t The ory

LET’S TRY!

2 PLANETS IN
OUR SOLAR
SYSTEM

Introduction to S e t The ory

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. What is a Set?

2. What is a Subset?

3. The Size of a Set

4. Venn Diagrams (or Euler Diagrams)

5. Unions and Intersections

6. Complements and Differences

7. Basic Set Properties

Introduction to S e t The ory

DEFINITION OF A SET
The field of “set theory” is a branch of mathematics that is concerned
with describing collections of objects.

A set is a collection of objects, where an “object” is a generic term

that refers to the elements (or members) of the set.

The notation a ∈ A denotes that the object a belongs to the set A.

• The symbol “∈” should be read as “is a member of”
• a ∈ A denotes the lower case letter a is a member (or element) of
the upper case letter A (the set)

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 W h a t is a Se t ?

SPECIFYING A SET
Sets are defined by listing the elements inside curly braces, such as

A = {a 1 , . . . , a n }

where a i is the i-th element of the set A for i = 1, . . . , n.

We could also use a rule or property that specifies the elements, such as

A = {a | some rule or property}

where a denotes an arbitrary member that satisfies the specified rule.

• The vertical bar symbol “|” should be read as “such that”
• The notation {a | rule} denotes that the set consists of all
elements a such that the rule is satisfied
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SET EXAMPLE 1
Define the set C to denote the possible outcomes of a coin toss:
C = {heads, tails}

which is a list containing all of the elements of C .

If we wanted to use the “rule” notation, we could define the set C as

C = {c | c is either “heads” or “tails”}

which denotes the same set that was previously defined.

Given that there are only two elements, the list notation is preferable.
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SET EXAMPLE 2
Define the set D to denote the possible outcomes of the roll of a dice:

D = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

which is a list containing all of the elements of D .

If we wanted to use the “rule” notation, we could define the set D as

D = {d | d is a positive integer less than or equal to 6}

which denotes the same set that was previously defined.

Given that there are only six elements, the list notation is preferable.

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 W h a t is a Subs e t ?

DEFINITION OF A SUBSET

Given sets A and B , we say that B is a subset of A if every member of

set B is also a member of set A.
• The notation B ⊆ A denotes that B is a subset of A.
• “⊆” includes the possibility that A and B are equivalent sets.

Given sets A and B , we say that A and B are equivalent if the two sets
contain the exact same elements.
• The notation A = B denotes that two sets are equivalent.
• Equivalent sets satisfy A ⊆ B and B ⊆ A.

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SUBSET EXAMPLES
Example. Suppose that A is all possible outcomes of the roll of a
standard (six-sided) dice and B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}.
• The sets A and B are equivalent, i.e., A = B ( A is equal to B )
• A ⊆ B ( A is a subset of B ) and B ⊆ A ( B is a subset of A)

Example. Suppose that A is all possible outcomes of the roll of a

standard (six-sided) dice and B = {1, 2, 7}.
• Each set contains at least one unique element
• A /⊆B ( A is not a subset of B )
• B /⊆A ( B is not a subset of A)

Introduction to S e t The ory

 W h a t is a Subs e t ?

DEFINITION OF A PROPER SUBSET

Given sets A and B , we say that B is a proper subset of A if (i) every
member of B is also a member of A, and (ii) A contains at least one
member that is not in B .
• The notation B ⊂ A denotes that B is a proper subset of A.

Example. Suppose that A is all possible outcomes of the roll of a

standard (six-sided) dice and B = {1, 2, 3}.
• B ⊆ A ( B is a subset of A)
• B ⊂ A ( B is a proper subset of A)
• The proper subset notation provides more information

Introduction to S e t The ory

 W h a t is a Subs e t ?

DEFINITION OF THE UNIVERSAL SET

The universal set U refers to the set that contains all other objects of
interest, such that any other set A is a proper subset of U .
• A ⊂ U where A is any other set

Example. Suppose that U = {1, 2, 3, . . .} is the set of all natural

numbers, i.e., all positive integers.
• U would be considered the universal set for the previous examples
• If A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} and B = {1, 2, 3}, then
• A ⊂ U and B ⊂ U for each example

Introduction to S e t The ory

 T h e S i z e of a S e t

CARDINALITY OF A SET

The cardinality (or size) of a set refers to the number of elements in

the set. Note that the cardinality of a set A is typically denoted by |A|.

If |A| ≤ |B| and |B| ≤ |A|, then we write that |A| = |B|, which is the
Schr¨oder-Bernstein theorem.

Note that |A| = |B| does not imply that A = B .

• If A = {cat, dog, fish} and B = {red, white, blue}
• Then |A| = |B| but A /= B

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EXAMPLES OF SET CARDINALITY

The previously discussed examples all had finite cardinalities.

Example. If C = {heads, tails}, then |C| = 2.

Example. If D = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, then |D| = 6.

Example. If S = { s | s is a state in the United States of America},

then |S| = 50.

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FINITE VERSUS INFINITE SETS

A set is finite if the number of elements of the set is countable, whereas
a set is infinite if the number of elements of the set is uncountable.

A set A is considered “countable” (i) if the set has a finite number of

elements, i.e., |A| < ∞, or (ii) if the number of elements of the set has
a 1-to-1 relation with the set of natural numbers N = {1, 2, 3, . . .}.

Example. The set of even numbers is a countably infinite set:

E = {e | e = 2n where n is a natural number}

Example. The set A = {a | a is a point on a circle} is an infinite set

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 U n i o n s a n d I nt e rs ections

UNIONS AND INTERSECTIONS OF SETS

The union of two sets A and B contains all of the objects that are in
either set. The union is denoted as C = A ∪B , where the
C = {c | c ∈ A or c ∈ B } .

The intersection of two sets A and B contains all of the objects that
are in both sets. The intersection is denoted as C = A ∩B , where the
C = {c | c ∈ A and c ∈ B } .

Example. If A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {3, 4, 5, 6}, then the union is

A ∪B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} and the intersection is A ∩B = {3}.

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DEPICTION OF UNIONS AND INTERSECTIONS

A B A B

Figure 2: A ∪ B (left) and A ∩ B (right). C r e a t e d w i t h eulerr R pa ck a g e .

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THE EMPTY SET AND DISJOINT SETS

The empty set is the set that contains no elements, which is denoted
by ∅= { } . Two sets are said to be disjoint if they have no elements in
common, i.e., if A ∩B = ∅.

Note that the empty set is considered to be a subset of all sets, i.e.,
∅⊆ A. As a result, we have that ∅∪A = A for any set A. Note that
we also have that ∅∩A = ∅for any set A.

Example. If A = {cat, dog, fish} and B = {red, white, blue}, then

A ∩B = ∅.

Example. If A = {1, 2, 3}, B = {4, 5, 6}, and C = {1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10}, then

A ∩B ∩C = ∅.
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DEPICTION OF DISJOINT SETS

A B

A B

Figure 3: A ∩ B = ∅(left) and A ∩ B ∩ C = ∅(right). C r e a t e d w i t h eulerr R pa ck a g e.

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ORDER OF OPERATIONS
Note that the order of operations is important if you are talking about
unions and intersections with more than two sets:
• ( A ∪B ) ∩ C is not necessarily equivalent to A ∪( B ∩C )

Example. Using the three sets A = {1, 2, 3}, B = {4, 5, 6}, and
C = {1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10}, we have that ( A ∪B ) ∩C = {1, 4} and
A ∪( B ∩C ) = {1, 2, 3, 4}.

Question for the Reader: Does the order of operations matter if we are
only talking about unions or intersections?
• Is ( A ∪B ) ∪C the same as A ∪( B ∪C)?
• Is ( A ∩B ) ∩C the same as A ∩( B ∩C)?
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DEPICTION OF ORDER OF OPERATIONS

C C

A B A B

Figure 4: ( A ∪ B ) ∩ C (left) and A ∪ ( B ∩ C ) (right). C r e a t e d w i t h eulerr R pa ck a g e .

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COMPLEMENT OF A SET

The complement of a set A, denoted by A c (or sometimes by A),

consists of all elements that are in the universal set U but not in A,
i.e., A c = {a | a ∈ U, a /∈A}.

The concept of a complement requires the definition of both the set of

interest (i.e., A ) and the universal set (i.e., U ). In other words, the
complement of a set is defined with respect to the universal set.

Example. If A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}, then

the complement of A is defined as A c = {6, 7, 8, 9, 10}.

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWO SETS

The difference of a set A minus a set B , denoted by A \ B (or

sometimes by A − B ) , consists of all elements that are in A but not in
B , i.e., A \ B = {a | a ∈ A, a /∈B } .

Note that the set difference ( A − B ) is the intersection of A and the

complement of B , i.e., A \ B = A ∩B c . Also, note that A \ B is not the
same as B \ A (i.e., non-commutative).

Example. If A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} and B = {4, 5, 6}, then A \ B = {1, 2, 3}

and B \ A = ∅.

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 C o m p l e m e n t s a n d Differences

DEPICTION OF SET COMPLEMENTS AND DIFFERENCES

U
A
A B

Figure 5: A c (left) and A \ B (right). C r e a t e d w i t h eulerr R pa ck a g e .

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SEATWORK 1: ANSWER THE FOLLOWING

1. In each of (a)-(c), answer the following: Is A ⊆ B? Is B ⊆
A? Is either A or B a proper subset of the other:
a. A = 2, 4, 6, 8 B = 𝑥ȁ 𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟
b. A = 16, 4 B= 4
c. A = 1 , 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 B = 𝑥ȁ 1 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 6
2. Let sets R, S, and T defined as follows:
R = 𝑥 ∈ 𝑍 ȁ 𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑏𝑦 2
S = 𝑥 ∈ 𝑍 ȁ 𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑏𝑦 3
T = 𝑥 ∈ 𝑍 ȁ 𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑏𝑦 6
a. Is R ⊆ T? Explain.
b. Is T ⊆ S? Explain

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SEATWORK 1: ANSWER THE FOLLOWING

1. Consider the Venn diagram shown below. For each (a)-(c),
copy the diagram and shade the region corresponding to
the indicated set.
a. A ∩ 𝐵 b. A – (B ∪ 𝐶) c. A’ ∩ 𝐵 ′

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