Set Theory

Set Theory is a branch of mathematical logic where we learn sets and their properties. A set is a
collection of objects or groups of objects. These objects are often called elements or members of
a set. For example, a group of players in a cricket team is a set.

Since the number of players in a cricket team could be only 11 at a time, thus we can say, this set
is a finite set. Another example of a finite set is a set of English vowels. But there are many sets
that have infinite members such as a set of natural numbers, a set of whole numbers, set of real
numbers, set of imaginary numbers, etc.

Set Theory Origin

Georg Cantor (1845-1918), a German mathematician, initiated the concept „Theory of sets‟ or
„Set Theory‟. While working on “Problems on Trigonometric Series”, he encountered sets, that
have become one of the most fundamental concepts in mathematics. Without understanding sets,
it will be difficult to explain the other concepts such as relations, functions, sequences,
probability, geometry, etc.

Definition of Sets
As we have already learned in the introduction, set is a well-defined collection of objects or
people. Sets can be related to many real-life examples, such as the number of rivers in India,
number of colours in a rainbow, etc.

Example
To understand sets, consider a practical scenario. While going to school from home, Nivy
decided to note down the names of restaurants which come in between. The list of the
restaurants, in the order they came, was:

List 1:RA RB RC RD RE

The above-mentioned list is a collection of objects. Also, it is well-defined. By well-defined, it is

meant that anyone should be able to tell whether the object belongs to the particular collection or
not. E. g. a stationary shop can‟t come in the category of the restaurants. If the collection of
objects is well-defined, it is known as a set.
The objects in a set are referred to as elements of the set. A set can have finite or infinite
elements. While coming back from the school, Nivy wanted to confirm the list what she had
made earlier. This time again, she wrote the list in the order in which restaurants came. The new
list was:

List 2:RE RD RC RB RA

Now, this is a different list. But is a different set? The answer is no. The order of elements has no
significance in sets so it is still the same set.

Representation of Sets
Sets can be represented in two ways:

1. Roster Form or Tabular form

2. Set Builder Form

Roster Form
In roster form, all the elements of the set are listed, separated by commas and enclosed between
curly braces { }.

Example: If set represents all the leap years between the year 1995 and 2015, then it would be
described using Roster form as:

A ={1996,2000,2004,2008,2012}

Now, the elements inside the braces are written in ascending order. This could be descending
order or any random order. As discussed before, the order doesn‟t matter for a set represented in
the Roster Form.

Also, multiplicity is ignored while representing the sets. E.g. If L represents a set that contains
all the letters in the word ADDRESS, the proper Roster form representation would be

L ={A,D,R,E,S }= {S,E,D,A,R}

L≠ {A,D,D,R,E,S,S}

Set Builder Form

In set builder form, all the elements have a common property. This property is not applicable to
the objects that do not belong to the set.

Example: If set S has all the elements which are even prime numbers, it is represented as:

S={ x: x is an even prime number}

where „x‟ is a symbolic representation that is used to describe the element.

„:‟ means „such that‟

„{}‟ means „the set of all‟

So, S = { x:x is an even prime number } is read as „the set of all x such that x is an even prime
number‟. The roster form for this set S would be S = 2. This set contains only one element. Such
sets are called singleton/unit sets.

Another Example:

F = {p: p is a set of two-digit perfect square numbers}

How?

F = {16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81}

We can see, in the above example, 16 is a square of 4, 25 is square of 5, 36 is square of 6, 49 is

square of 7, 64 is square of 8 and 81 is a square of 9}.

Even though, 4, 9, 121, etc., are also perfect squares, but they are not elements of the set F,
because the it is limited to only two-digit perfect square.

Types of Sets
The sets are further categorised into different types, based on elements or types of elements.
These different types of sets in basic set theory are:

 Finite set: The number of elements is finite

 Infinite set: The number of elements are infinite
 Empty set: It has no elements
 Singleton set: It has one only element
  Equal set: Two sets are equal if they have same elements
 Equivalent set: Two sets are equivalent if they have same number of elements
 Power set: A set of every possible subset.
 Universal set: Any set that contains all the sets under consideration.
 Subset: When all the elements of set A belong to set B, then A is subset of B

Set Theory Symbols

There are several symbols that are adopted for common sets. They are given in the table below:

Table 1: Symbols denoting common sets

Symbol Corresponding Set

Represents the set of all Natural numbers i.e.

all the positive integers.
N
This can also be represented by Z+.

Examples: 9, 13, 906, 607, etc.

Represents the set of all integers

The symbol is derived from the German

word Zahl, which means number.
Z
Positive and negative integers are denoted by
Z+ and Z– respectively.

Examples: -12, 0, 23045, etc.

Represents the set of Rational numbers

The symbol is derived from the

word Quotient. It is defined as the quotient of
Q two integers (with non-zero denominator)

Positive and negative rational numbers are

denoted by Q+ and Q– respectively.

Examples: 13/9. -6/7, 14/3, etc.

R Represents the Real numbers i.e. all the
 numbers located on the number line.

Positive and negative real numbers are

denoted by R+ and R– respectively.

Examples: 4.3, π, 4√ 3, etc.

Represents the set of Complex numbers.
C
Examples: 4 + 3i, i, etc.

Other Notations

Symbol Symbol Name

{} set

A∪B A union B

A∩B A intersection B

A⊆B A is subset of B

A⊄B A is not subset B

A⊂B proper subset / strict subset

A⊃B proper superset / strict superset

A⊇B superset

A⊅B not superset

Ø empty set

P (C) power set

A=B Equal set

 Ac Complement of A

a∈B a element of B

x∉A x not element of A

Set Theory Formulas

 n( A ∪ B ) = n(A) +n(B) – n (A ∩ B)
 n(A∪B)=n(A)+n(B) {when A and B are disjoint sets}
 n(U)=n(A)+n(B)–n(A∩B)+n((A∪B)c)
 n(A∪B)=n(A−B)+n(B−A)+n(A∩B)
 n(A−B)=n(A∩B)−n(B)
 n(A−B)=n(A)−n(A∩B)
 n(Ac)=n(U)−n(A)
 n(PUQUR)=n(P)+n(Q)+n(R)–n(P⋂Q)–n(Q⋂R)–n(R⋂P)+n(P⋂Q⋂R)

Set Operations
The four important set operations that are widely used are:

 Union of sets
 Intersection of sets
 Complement of sets
 Difference of sets
Fundamental Properties of Set operations:

Like addition and multiplication operation in algebra, the operations such as union and
intersection in set theory obeys the properties of associativity and commutativity. Also, the
intersection of sets distributes over the union of sets.

Sets are used to describe one of the most important concepts in mathematics i.e. functions.
Everything that you observe around you, is achieved with mathematical models which are
formulated, interpreted and solved by functions.

Problems and Solutions

Q.1: If U = {a, b, c, d, e, f}, A = {a, b, c}, B = {c, d, e, f}, C = {c, d, e}, find (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C).

Solution: A ∩ B = {a, b, c} ∩ {c, d, e, f}

A∩B={c}

A ∩ C = { a, b, c } ∩ { c, d, e }

A∩C={c}

∴ (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C) = { c }

Q.2: Give examples of finite sets.

Solution: The examples of finite sets are:

Set of months in a year

Set of days in a week

Set of natural numbers less than 20

Set of integers greater than -2 and less than 3

Q.3: If U = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11}, A = {3, 5, 7, 9, 11} and B = {7, 8, 9, 10, 11}, Then
find (A – B)′.

Solution: A – B is a set of member which belong to A but do not belong to B

∴ A – B = {3, 5, 7, 9, 11} – {7, 8, 9, 10, 11}

A – B = {3, 5}

According to formula,

(A − B)′ = U – (A – B)

∴ (A − B)′ = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11} – {3, 5}

(A − B)′ = {2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11}.

Relations Definition
A relation in mathematics defines the relationship between two different sets of information. If
two sets are considered, the relation between them will be established if there is a connection
between the elements of two or more non-empty sets.
In the morning assembly at schools, students are supposed to stand in a queue in ascending order
of the heights of all the students. This defines an ordered relation between the students and their
heights.
Therefore, we can say,
‘A set of ordered pairs is defined as a relation.’

This mapping depicts a relation from set A into set B. A relation from A to B is a subset of A x
B. The ordered pairs are (1,c),(2,n),(5,a),(7,n). For defining a relation, we use the notation where,
set {1, 2, 5, 7} represents the domain.
set {a, c, n} represents the range.
Sets and Relations
Sets and relation are interconnected with each other. The relation defines the relation between
two given sets.
If there are two sets available, then to check if there is any connection between the two sets, we
use relations.
For example, an empty relation denotes none of the elements in the two sets is same.
Let us discuss the other types of relations here.
Relations in Mathematics
In Maths, the relation is the relationship between two or more set of values.
Suppose, x and y are two sets of ordered pairs. And set x has relation with set y, then the values
of set x are called domain whereas the values of set y are called range.
Example: For ordered pairs={(1,2),(-3,4),(5,6),(-7,8),(9,2)}
The domain is = {-7,-3,1,5,9}
And range is = {2,4,6,8}
Types of Relations
There are 8 main types of relations which include:
 Empty Relation
 Universal Relation
 Identity Relation
 Inverse Relation
 Reflexive Relation
 Symmetric Relation
 Transitive Relation
 Equivalence Relation
Empty Relation
An empty relation (or void relation) is one in which there is no relation between any elements of
a set. For example, if set A = {1, 2, 3} then, one of the void relations can be R = {x, y} where, |x
– y| = 8. For empty relation,
R=φ⊂A×A
Universal Relation
A universal (or full relation) is a type of relation in which every element of a set is related to
each other. Consider set A = {a, b, c}. Now one of the universal relations will be R = {x, y}
where, |x – y| ≥ 0. For universal relation,
R=A×A
Identity Relation
In an identity relation, every element of a set is related to itself only. For example, in a set A =
{a, b, c}, the identity relation will be I = {a, a}, {b, b}, {c, c}. For identity relation,
I = {(a, a), a ∈ A}
Inverse Relation
Inverse relation is seen when a set has elements which are inverse pairs of another set. For
example if set A = {(a, b), (c, d)}, then inverse relation will be R-1 = {(b, a), (d, c)}. So, for an
inverse relation,
R-1 = {(b, a): (a, b) ∈ R}
Reflexive Relation
In a reflexive relation, every element maps to itself. For example, consider a set A = {1, 2,}.
Now an example of reflexive relation will be R = {(1, 1), (2, 2), (1, 2), (2, 1)}. The reflexive
relation is given by-
(a, a) ∈ R
Symmetric Relation
In a symmetric relation, if a=b is true then b=a is also true. In other words, a relation R is
symmetric only if (b, a) ∈ R is true when (a,b) ∈ R. An example of symmetric relation will be R
= {(1, 2), (2, 1)} for a set A = {1, 2}. So, for a symmetric relation,
aRb ⇒ bRa, ∀ a, b ∈ A
Transitive Relation
For transitive relation, if (x, y) ∈ R, (y, z) ∈ R, then (x, z) ∈ R. For a transitive relation,
aRb and bRc ⇒ aRc ∀ a, b, c ∈ A
Equivalence Relation
If a relation is reflexive, symmetric and transitive at the same time, it is known as an equivalence
relation.
Representation of Types of Relations
Relation Type Condition

Empty Relation R=φ⊂A×A

Universal Relation R=A×A

Identity Relation I = {(a, a), a ∈ A}

Inverse Relation R-1 = {(b, a): (a, b) ∈ R}

Relation Type Condition

Reflexive Relation (a, a) ∈ R

Symmetric Relation aRb ⇒ bRa, ∀ a, b ∈ A

Transitive Relation aRb and bRc ⇒ aRc ∀ a, b, c ∈ A