Module 3

MS. LOQUE
Sets
and
Set Notation
Introduction
German mathematician G. Cantor introduced the concept of sets. He had defined a set as a
collection of definite and distinguishable objects selected by the means of certain rules or
description.

SET

is a collection of a well defined objects. Usually denoted by capital letters of the alphabet and its
members are enclosed with brackets.

When talking about sets, it is fairly standard to use Capital Letters to represent the set, and
lowercase letters to represent an element in that set.

Elements – are the members or objects of the set which is denoted by a symbol (∈ ).
Two ways of representing Set
❑ Roster Method (Tabular form) - elements of the set are enumerated and separated by a comma.
𝑼 = {𝒂, 𝒔, 𝒅, 𝒇, 𝒈, 𝒉, 𝒋, 𝒌, 𝒍}

❑ Rule Method ( Set builder notation) - used to describe the elements or members of the set using
their common characteristics.
𝐷 = {𝑥|𝑥 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑘𝑒𝑦𝑏𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑}
 Order / Cardinality of a Set
Cardinal Number - refers to the number of elements in a given set. The cardinality of a set is given
by n(A) or 𝐴 .

𝑼 = {𝒂, 𝒔, 𝒅, 𝒇, 𝒈, 𝒉, 𝒋, 𝒌, 𝒍}

𝑈 =

𝐷 = {𝑥|𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑝 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟}

𝐷 =
Types of Set
1) Finite Set – is a set whose elements are limited or countable and the last element can be
identified.

2) Infinite Set – is a set whose elements are unlimited or uncountable and the last element
cannot be specified.

3) Unit Set – is a set with only one element.

4) Empty Set – a unique set with no elements and also called as the Null Set. It is denoted
by { }.

5) Universal Set – the totality of the set, all sets under investigation in any application of set
theory are assumed to be contained in some largely fixed set and is denoted by U.
Types of Set
6) Subset - if A and B are set, A is called a subset of B, written A ⊆ B, if and only if, every
element of A is also an element of B. A is a proper subset of B, written A ⊂ B, if and only
if, every element of A is in B but there is at least one element of B that is not in A.

7) Equal Set - two sets are equal if and only if, every element of A is in B and every element
of B is in A.

8) Equivalent Set - two sets are equivalent if they have the same number of elements and it
is denoted by (~).

9) Disjoint set - two sets that do not have the same elements. This is also known as a non-
intersecting set.
 Operations on Set
❑UNION OF SET- the union of A and B, denoted by A∪ B, is the set of all elements in x in U such
that x is in A or x is in B.

❑INTERSECTION OF SET - the intersection of A and B, denoted by A ∩ B, is the set of all elements
in x in U such that x is in A and x is in B.

❑COMPLEMENT OF SET- The complement of a set or absolute complement A, denoted by A' , is the
set of all elements in x in U such that x is not in A.
 Operations on Set
❑ DIFFERENCE OF SET - The difference of A and B ( or relative complement of B with respect to A) ,
denoted by A - B, is the set of all elements x in U such that x is in A and x is not in B.

❑ CARTESIAN PRODUCT - The Cartesian product of set A and B , written as A x B is the set of all
possible ordered pairs with first element from A and second element from B.
EXERCISE
Refer to these sets:
U = {a, b, c, d, e, f}
A = {a, c, e, f}
B = {c, d, e}
C = {e, f}

What is :
1. A ∩ C
2. (A ∪ B)′
3. A′ ∪ B′
4. B′ ∩ C
5. A ∪ (B′ ∩ C)
Venn Diagram
Venn Diagram is an illustration that shows logical relationships between two or more sets (grouping
items). Venn diagram uses circles (both overlapping and nonoverlapping) or other shapes.
Venn Diagram of the Operations on Set
Identities of Sets
Example:
Given: In a birthday party attended by 40 guest, a dance contest was held. The following participated in the dance
contest:

18 danced the modern dance

20 danced the bogey

15 danced the cha-cha

11 danced the bogey and cha-cha

6 danced the modern and bogey

4 danced the modern and cha-cha

2 danced the three pieces

Questions:
1.How many danced the modern dance only?
2.How many danced the cha-cha only?
3.How many danced the bogey only?
4.How many danced the modern dance and cha-cha but not the bogey?
5.How many danced the modern dance and the bogey but not the cha-cha?
6.How many danced the cha-cha and the bogey but not the modern dance?
7.How many did not dance any of the three pieces?
RELATIONS
MS. LOQUE
Definition:
A (binary) relation R from a set A to a set B is a subset of the cartesian product A X B. If (x, y) is in
R, we write xRy and say that “x is related to y.”
Properties of
Relations
1. Reflexive
A relation R on a set A is called reflexive if 𝑎, 𝑎 ∈ 𝑅 for every element 𝑎 ∈ 𝐴.

Example: 𝐴 = 1, 2, 3

a) R =

b) R = A × A

c) R = 1,1 , 2,2 , 3,3

2. Symmetric
Symmetric

➢A relation R of a set A is said to be symmetric if 𝑏, 𝑎 ∈ 𝑅 whenever 𝑎, 𝑏 ∈ 𝑅 for all a, b ∈ 𝐴.

Examples: 𝐴 = 1, 2, 3

a) R = ∅

b) R = A × A
 3. Antisymmetric
A relation R on a set A such that for all a, b ∈ 𝐴, if (a, b) ∈ 𝑅 and (b, a) ∈ 𝑅, then 𝑎 = 𝑏 is called
antisymmetric.
Example: 𝐴 = 1, 2, 3

a) 𝑅 = ∅

b) 𝑅 = 𝐴 × 𝐴

c) R = 1,1 , 2,2 , 3,3

d) R = 2,1 , 2,3 , 1,1

4. Transitive
A relation R on a set A is called transitive if whenever (a, b) ∈ 𝑅 and b, c ∈ 𝑅, then (a, c) ∈ 𝑅, for all
𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 ∈ 𝐴.

Example: 𝐴 = 1, 2, 3

a) R = ∅

b) R = A × A

c) R = 1,1 , 2,2 , 3,3

d) R = 1,2 , 2,3 , 1,3

e) R = 1,2 , 1,3
More
Examples: 1. 𝑅 = 1,1 , 2,2 , 3,3
a) 𝑅= 1,2 , 2,1 , 1,1 , (2,2)

b) 𝑅= 1,2 , 2,3 , 1,3 2. 𝑅 = 1,1 , 2,1 , 1,1 , (2,2)

c) 𝑅= 1,1 , 2,2 , 3,3 , (1,2)

3. 𝑅 = 3,1 , 1,3 , 2,3
d) 𝑅 = (2,3), 1,2 , 1,1

4. 𝑅 = 1,2 , 2,3 , 1,3

e) 𝑅= 2,3

f) 𝑅= 1,2 , (2,1) 5. 𝑅 = 2,3 , 3,2 , 2,2 , (3,3)

6. 𝑅 = 1,1 , 2,2 , 2,3 , (1,3)

Equivalence Relation

A relation R on a set A is said to be equivalence if R is:

I. Reflexive

II. Symmetric

III. Transitive
 Partial Order Relation/Partial
Order Set
A relation R on a set A is said to be poser if R is

I. Reflexive

II. Antisymmetric

III. Transitive
Examples:
Given:
𝐴 = 1, 2, 3
a) 𝑅 = ∅ 1. 𝑅 = 1,1 , 2,2 , 3,3 , 1,2 , (2,1)

2. 𝑅 = 1,1 , 2,2 , 3,3 , 1,3 , (2,3)

b) 𝑅 = 1,1 , 2,2 , 3,3
3. 𝑅 = 1,1 , 1,2 , 2,3 , 1,3
c) 𝑅 = 1,1 , 2,2 , 3,3 , (2,1)
4. 𝑅 = 1,1 , 1,3 , 2,2 , 2,3 , 3,3
d) 𝑅 = 1,1 , 1,3 , 2,1 , (3,1)
5. 𝑅 = 1,1 , 1,2 , 2,1 , 2,3 , 3,1 , 3,2 , (3,3)

e) 𝑅= 1,1 , 2,2 , 3,3 , 1,2 , 1,3 , 2,1 , (3,1)

6. 𝑅 = 𝐴 × 𝐴
 Inverse of a Relation

The inverse of a relation is

𝑅 −1 = 𝑦, 𝑥 (𝑥, 𝑦) ∈ 𝑅}

Example:
𝑅= 1,1 , 1,2 , 2,1 , 2,3 , 3,1 , 3,2 , (3,3)

The inverse of that is

𝑅 −1 = 1,1 , 2,1 , 1,2 , 3,2 , 1,3 , 2,3 , (3,3)
Composition of a Relation

Composition of a Relation is defined by:

𝑅1 ∘ 𝑅2 = 𝑥, 𝑧 𝑥, 𝑦 ∈ 𝑅2 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦, 𝑧 ∈ 𝑅1 for some 𝑦 ∈ 𝑌}

Example:
𝑅1 = 1,3 , 2,1 , 3,4 , 4,6
𝑅2 = 1,5 , 2,3 , 3,4 , 4,1 , 5,3 , (6,2)

1.𝑅1 ∘ 𝑅2
2.𝑅2 ∘ 𝑅1
Equivalence Class

Equivalence class of 𝑥 is denoted by 𝑥 ,

𝑥 = 𝑦 𝑦 ∈ 𝐴 and (𝑥, 𝑦) ∈ 𝑅}
𝐴 = 1,2,3,4,5
𝑅 = 1,1 , 2,2 , 3,3 , 4,4 , 5,5 , 1,2 , 2,1 , 4,5 , 5,4

1 =

2 =
More examples:
𝑅= 1,1 , 2,2 , 3,3 , 4,4 , 5,5 , 1,2 , 2,1 , 4,5 , 5,4
3 =

4 =

5 =
Functions
MS. LOQUE
Definition
Let 𝐴 and 𝐵 be a nonempty sets. A function 𝑓 from A to B is an assignment of exactly one element
of B to each element of A.

We write 𝑓 𝑎 = 𝑏 is b is the unique element of B assigned by the function 𝑓 to the element a of

A.

If 𝑓 is a function from A to B, we write 𝑓: 𝐴 → 𝐵.

Example of Function and Not a Function
Identify whether the following is function or not.
Types of Functions
1.Injective Function - one-to-one function

2.Surjective Function – onto function

3.Bijective Function – Both injective and surjective

Injective Function
A function f from A to B is called one-to-one or injective if for each b is in B , there is at most
one a in A with 𝑓 𝑎 = 𝑏.

∀𝒂,𝒃 ∈ 𝑨, 𝒇 𝒂 = 𝒇 𝒃 → 𝒂 = 𝒃
Surjective Function
A function f from A to B is called onto, or a surjective, if and only if for every element 𝑏 ∈ 𝐵
there is an element 𝑎 ∈ 𝐴 with 𝑓 𝑎 = 𝑏.
Bijective Function
The function f is a one-to-one correspondence, or a bijection, if it is both one-to-one and
onto.
Examples:
Determine whether the following is injective, surjective and bijective.
 More examples:
Determine whether the following functions are injective, surjective and bijective.
1.𝒇: ℝ → ℝ ; 𝒇 𝒙 = 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟏

Solution:

a.Test if injective
𝑓 𝑎 =𝑓 𝑏
2 𝑎 +1=2 𝑏 +1
2𝑎 = 2𝑏
𝑎=𝑏
∴ 𝐼𝑛𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒, 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑎 = 𝑏.
𝒇: ℝ → ℝ ; 𝒇 𝒙 = 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟏

b. Test if surjective
𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝒓 ∈ ℝ 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇 𝒙 = 𝒓

𝟐𝒙 + 𝟏 = 𝒓

𝒓−𝟏
𝒙=
𝟐

𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒙 ∈ ℝ

C. Bijective, because it is injective and surjective.

 2. 𝒇: ℝ → ℝ ; 𝒇 𝒙 = 𝒙𝟐 − 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟏𝟓

Solution:

a. test if injective
𝒇 𝒂 = 𝒇(𝒃)
𝒂𝟐 − 𝟐𝒂 − 𝟏𝟓 = 𝒃𝟐 − 𝟐𝒃 − 𝟏𝟓
𝒂𝟐 − 𝒃𝟐 − 𝟐𝒂 + 𝟐𝒃 = 𝟎
𝒂𝟐 − 𝒃𝟐 − 𝟐(𝒂 − 𝒃) = 𝟎
𝒂 + 𝒃 𝒂 − 𝒃 − 𝟐(𝒂 − 𝒃) = 𝟎
𝒂 − 𝒃 (𝒂 + 𝒃 − 𝟐) = 𝟎
𝒂 − 𝒃 = 𝟎 ;𝒂 = 𝒃
𝒂 + 𝒃 − 𝟐 = 𝟎 ;𝒂 = 𝟐 − 𝒃
not injective
 2. 𝒇: ℝ → ℝ ; 𝒇 𝒙 = 𝒙 − 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟏𝟓 𝟐

Solution:

b. test if surjective
𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝒓 ∈ ℝ 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇 𝒙 = 𝒓
𝒙𝟐 − 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟏𝟓 = 𝒓
𝒙𝟐 − 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟏𝟓 + 𝟏𝟔 = 𝒓 + 𝟏𝟔
𝒙 − 𝟏 𝟐 = 𝒓 + 𝟏𝟔
𝒙 − 𝟏 = ± 𝒓 + 𝟏𝟔
𝒙 = 𝟏 ± 𝒓 + 𝟏𝟔
𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒙 ∈ ℝ

c. not bijective.
Inverse of a Function
Let 𝑓 be a one-to-one correspondence from the set A to the set B. The inverse function of 𝑓 is the function that assigns to an
element b belonging to B the unique element a in A such that 𝑓 𝑎 = 𝑏.

The inverse function of 𝑓 denoted by 𝑓 −1 𝑏 = 𝑎 when 𝑓 𝑎 = 𝑏.

Example:

1. 𝒇 𝒙 = 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑

𝒇 𝒂 = 𝒇(𝒃)
𝟐𝒂 + 𝟑 = 𝟐𝒃 + 𝟑
𝟐𝒂 = 𝟐𝒃
𝒂=𝒃
𝒚 = 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟑
𝒙 = 𝟐𝒚 + 𝟑
𝒙−𝟑
𝒚=
𝟐
𝒙 −𝟑
𝒇′ (𝒙) =
𝟐
 2
2. 𝑓 𝑥 = 5 − 3 𝑥
𝟐
𝒚=𝟓− 𝒙
𝟑
𝟐
𝒇 𝒂 = 𝒇(𝒃) 𝒙=𝟓− 𝒚
𝟑
𝟐 𝟐
𝟓− 𝒂= 𝟓− 𝒃 𝟐
𝟑 𝟑 𝒚=𝟓−𝒙
𝟑
𝟐 𝟐
− 𝒂=− 𝒃 3 𝟐 3
𝟑 𝟑 𝒚= 𝟓−𝒙
𝒂=𝒃 2 𝟑 2
15 3
𝑦= − 𝑥
2 2
15 − 3𝒙
𝒇′ (𝒙) =
2
Composition of a Function
Let 𝑔 be a function from the set A to the set B and let 𝑓 be a function from the set B to the set C.
The composition of the functions 𝑓 and 𝑔, denoted for all 𝑎 ∈ 𝐴 by 𝑓 ∘ 𝑔, is defined by (𝑓 ∘
𝑔) 𝑎 = 𝑓(𝑔(𝑎).
For example,

Let A, B, and C be sets of natural numbers = {1, 2, 3, 4, ......}. Let 𝒇 ∶ 𝑨 → 𝑩 be

defined as 𝑓(𝑥) = 2𝑥 and, let 𝒈 ∶ 𝑩 → 𝑪 be defined as 𝑔(𝑥) = 𝑥 + 1.
Determine 𝑓 ∘ 𝑔.

𝒈 𝒙 =𝒙+𝟏 𝒇 𝒙 = 𝟐𝒙
𝒈 𝟏 =𝟏+𝟏=𝟐 𝒇 𝟐 =𝟐 𝟐 =𝟒
𝒈 𝟐 =𝟐+𝟏=𝟑 𝒇 𝟑 =𝟐 𝟑 =𝟔
𝒈 𝟑 =𝟑+𝟏=𝟒 𝒇 𝟒 =𝟐 𝟒 =𝟖
𝒈 𝟒 =𝟒+𝟏=𝟓 𝒇 𝟓 =𝟐 𝟓 = 𝟏𝟎

𝒇∘𝒈= 𝟏, 𝟒 , 𝟐, 𝟔 , 𝟑, 𝟖 , 𝟒, 𝟏𝟎 …
 For example,
Let A, B, and C be sets of natural numbers = {1, 2, 3, 4, ......}. Let 𝒇 ∶ 𝑨 → 𝑩 be
defined as 𝑓(𝑥) = 2𝑥 and, let 𝒈 ∶ 𝑩 → 𝑪 be defined as 𝑔(𝑥) = 𝑥 + 1.
Determine 𝑔 ∘ 𝑓.

𝒇 𝒙 = 𝟐𝒙 𝒈 𝒙 =𝒙+𝟏
𝒇 𝟏 =𝟐 𝟏 =𝟐 𝒈 𝟐 =𝟐+𝟏=𝟑
𝒇 𝟐 =𝟐 𝟐 =𝟒 𝒈 𝟒 =𝟒+𝟏=𝟓
𝒇 𝟑 =𝟐 𝟑 =𝟔 𝒈 𝟔 =𝟔+𝟏=𝟕
𝒇 𝟒 =𝟐 𝟒 =𝟖 𝒈 𝟖 =𝟖+𝟏=𝟗
𝒇 𝟓 =𝟐 𝟓 = 𝟏𝟎 𝒈 𝟏𝟎 = 𝟏𝟎 + 𝟏 = 𝟏𝟏

𝒈∘𝒇= 𝟏, 𝟑 , 𝟐, 𝟓 , 𝟑, 𝟕 , 𝟒, 𝟗 , 𝟓, 𝟏𝟏 …
 Permutation
A bijective function from a set to itself.
Let A={1,2,3} then
𝟏 𝟐 𝟑 𝟏 𝟐 𝟑
𝒇𝟏 = 𝟏 𝟐 𝟑
𝒇𝟒 = 𝟐 𝟑 𝟏
𝟏 𝟐 𝟑 𝟏 𝟐 𝟑
𝒇𝟐 = 𝟏 𝟑 𝟐
𝒇𝟓 = 𝟑 𝟏 𝟐
𝟏 𝟐 𝟑 𝟏 𝟐 𝟑
𝒇𝟑 = 𝟐 𝟏 𝟑
𝒇𝟔 = 𝟑 𝟐 𝟏

Composite of Permutation
1. 𝒇𝟒 ∘ 𝒇𝟐

𝟏 𝟐 𝟑
𝒇𝟒 ∘ 𝒇𝟐 = = 𝒇𝟑
𝟐 𝟏 𝟑
 𝟏 𝟐 𝟑 𝟏 𝟐 𝟑
𝒇𝟏 = 𝟏 𝟐 𝟑
𝒇𝟒 = 𝟐 𝟑 𝟏
𝟏 𝟐 𝟑 𝟏 𝟐 𝟑
𝒇𝟐 = 𝟏 𝟑 𝟐
𝒇𝟓 = 𝟑 𝟏 𝟐
𝟏 𝟐 𝟑 𝟏 𝟐 𝟑
𝒇𝟑 = 𝟐 𝟏 𝟑
𝒇𝟔 = 𝟑 𝟐 𝟏

2. 𝒇𝟏 ∘ 𝒇𝟑

𝟏 𝟐 𝟑
𝒇𝟏 ∘ 𝒇𝟑 = = 𝒇𝟑
𝟐 𝟏 𝟑

3. 𝒇𝟒 ∘ 𝒇𝟓

𝟏 𝟐 𝟑
𝒇𝟒 ∘ 𝒇𝟓 = = 𝒇𝟏
𝟏 𝟐 𝟑

4. 𝒇𝟔 ∘ 𝒇𝟑

𝟏 𝟐 𝟑
𝒇𝟔 ∘ 𝒇𝟑 = = 𝒇𝟒
𝟐 𝟑 𝟏
End of MODULE 3
Presentation! Sets and Set Notation
Venn Diagram
Relations
Functions

Prepared by:
MS. LOQUE