SETS

A set is a well – defined collection of objects. By ‘well-defined’ we mean that we can definitely decide whether a given
object belongs to a given collection or not.
The following points may be noted while studying sets.
(i) Objects, elements and members of a set are synonymous terms.
(ii) Sets are usually denoted by capital letters A, B, C, X, Y, Z.
(iii) The elements of a set are occupied by small letters a, b, c, x, y, z etc.

The objects that belong to a set are called members or elements of the set. The Greek symbol  is used to denote the
phrase ‘belongs to’. The symbol  is used to denote the phrase ‘does not belong to’.

Representation of a set: There are three ways of representing a set.

1. In words. We use words to describe a set.
2. Roster or tabulation method. In this form, all the elements of a set are listed, the elements being separated by
commas and are enclosed within braces { }. It may be noted that while writing the set in roster form, an element
is not repeated. For example, the set of letters forming the word “SCHOOL” is
{ S, C, H, O, L }.
3. Rule method or Set Builder method. In this method, all the elements of a set possess a single common
property. It may be observed that we describe the set by using a symbol x for elements of the set (any other
symbol like the letters y, z etc. could also be used in place of x ). After the sign of ‘colon’ write the characteristic
property possessed by the elements of the set and then enclose the description within braces. For example, the
set {a, e, i, o, u } in set builder form is written as V = {x: x is a vowel in the English alphabet}.

TYPES OF SETS
The Empty Set: A set which does not contain any element is called the empty set or the null set or the void set.
Finite and Infinite Sets: A set which is empty or consists of a definite number of elements is called finite. Otherwise, the
set is called infinite
Singleton set. A set containing only one element is called a singleton set.

Equal sets: Two sets A and B are called equal or identical sets, written as A = B, if they have exactly the same elements.
Cardinal number: the number of elements in a finite set is called the cardinal number of the set. The cardinal number of
a set A is denoted by n(A).

Equivalent sets: Two finite sets A and B are said to be equivalent, if they have the same number of elements, i.e.,
n(A) = n(B).

Overlapping sets: Two sets are called overlapping sets if, they have at least one element in common.
Disjoint sets: Two sets are called disjoint sets if they have no element in common.

INTERVALS
Closed Interval: The set a  x  b is called closed interval, where a  b . Closed interval is denoted by [a, b] .
[a, b]  {x  R : a  x  b}
Open Interval: The set a  x  b is called open interval, where a  b . Open interval is denoted by (a, b) .
(a, b)  {x  R : a  x  b}
Semi-Closed Interval or Semi-Open Interval: The intervals [a, b) and (a, b] , where a  b are called semi-closed
interval or semi-open Interval.
SUBSETS
If A and B are sets such that every member of set A is a member of set B, then set A is called a subset of set B

Proper Subset: Set A is called a proper subset of set B if every member of set A is a member of set B, and set B has at
least one element more than set A. The set B is called the superset of set A.
Symbolic representation:
 is a subset of
 is a proper subset of
 is not a proper subset of
 is a superset of

Some theorems on subsets

1. Every set is a subset of itself.
2. The empty set is a subset of all sets.
3. If A  B and B  C , then A  C .
4. For any two sets A and B, if A  B and B  A , then A  B and vice-versa.
Number of subsets of a given set
n
A set having n elements has 2 subsets.

Family of sets and power set: If we have a set whose elements are sets themselves, then the set formed is called the
family of sets, or class of sets or the set of sets.
The family of all the subsets of a given set is called the power set. Power set of a given set A is denoted by P(A).

Universal Set
If in any particular context of sets, we find that a set U or  which contains all the sets under consideration as subsets of
 , then the set  is called the universal set.

Operation on Sets
Union of Sets: The union of two sets A and B is a set C formed by combining the elements of A and B. It contains all the
elements in either of the sets A or B. The symbol A  B means the union of A and B and is read as
“A union B”
A  B  {x : x  A or x  B or x  both A and B}
Properties of Union of Sets
Let A, B, C be any sets, then
1. A  B  B  A (Commutative Law)
2. ( A  B)  C  A  (B  C) (Associative Law)
3. A  A  B and B  A B
4. If A  B , then A  B  B
5. A    A
Intersection of Sets: the intersection of two sets A and B is a set that contains elements that are both in A and B. The
symbol A  B means the intersection of A and B.
A  B  {x : x  A and x  B}
Properties of Intersection of Sets
Let A, B, C be any sets, then
1. A  B  B  A (Commutative Law)
2. ( A  B)  C  A  (B  C) (Associative Law)
3. If A  B , then A  B  A
4. A  B  A and A  B  B
5. A   
Distributive law: If A, B and C are any three sets then
(i) A  (B  C)  ( A  B)  ( A  C) (ii) A  (B  C)  ( A  B)  ( A  C)

Difference of Sets
Let A and B be two sets. Then the set of all elements of A which belong to A but do not belong to B is called the
difference of sets A and B and is denoted by A  B
The set of all elements of B which belong to B but do not belong to A is called the difference of sets B and A and is
denoted by 𝐵 − 𝐴. Thus
A  B  {x | x  A, x  B}
B  A  {x | x  B, x  A}
Symmetric Difference of Two Sets
The symmetric difference of two sets A and B is the set ( A  B)  (B  A) and is denoted by AB .
AB  ( A  B)  (B  A)  {x : x  A  B}
Complement of a Set
If A is a subset of a universal set  then the set of all those elements of  which do not belong to A is the complement
of A and is denoted by A or A or A .
c

Thus A    A  {x | x  , x  A}
Laws of complement of a Set
1. The complement of the complement of a set is the set itself. ( A)  A .
2. The complement of the universal set is the empty set and vice-versa.     and     .
3. (i) A  A   and (ii) A  A   .
4. De Morgan’s Laws
(i) ( A  B)  A  B (ii) ( A  B)  A  B

Theorems on cardinal number

If A and B are two sets, then
1. n( A  B)  n( A)  n(B)  n( A  B)
2. n( A  B)  n( A)  n( A  B)  n( A)  n( A  B)  n( A  B)
3. n( A  B)  n( A  B)  n(B  A)  n( A  B)
4. n( )  n( A)  n( A)  n(B)  n(B)

If A , B and C are three sets, then

5. 𝑛(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 ∪ 𝐶) = 𝑛(𝐴) + 𝑛(𝐵) + 𝑛(𝐶) − 𝑛(𝐴 ∩ 𝐵) − 𝑛(𝐵 ∩ 𝐶) − 𝑛(𝐶 ∩ 𝐴) + 𝑛(𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 ∩ 𝐶)