NUMBER SENSE: SET THEORY

Forget everything you know about numbers. In fact, forget you even know what a number is. This is where
Mathematics starts. Instead of Math with numbers, we will now think about Math with "things".

What is a set? Well, simply put, it's a collection.

First we specify a common property among "things" (we define this word
later) and then we gather up all the "things" that have this common
property.

For example, the items you wear: hat, shirt, jacket, pants, and so on. I'm
sure you could come up with at least a hundred. This is known as a set.

So it is just things grouped together with a certain

property
in common. There is a fairly simple notation for sets. We
simply list each element (or "member") separated by a
comma, and then put some curly brackets around the
whole thing:

The curly brackets { } are sometimes called "set brackets" or "braces". This is the notation for the two previous
examples:
{socks, shoes, watches, shirts, ...} {index, middle, ring, pinky}

Notice how the first example has the "..." (three dots together). So that means the first example continues on ...
for infinity.

(OK, there isn't really an infinite amount of things you could wear, but I'm not entirely sure about that! After an
hour of thinking of different things, I'm still not sure. So let's just say it is infinite for this example.)

So:
● The set of things to wear: {socks, shoes, watches, shirts, ...} we call an infinite set as there are countless
things to wear.
● The set of fingers in the hand: {index, middle, ring, pinky} we call a finite set as there are a fixed number
of fingers.
But sometimes the "..." can be used in the middle to save writing long lists: Example: The set of letters: {a, b, c,
..., x, y, z}. In this case it is a finite set (there are only 26 letters, right?)

So what does this have to do with Mathematics? When we define a set, all we have to specify is a common
characteristic. Who says we can't do so with numbers?

● Set of even numbers: {..., −4, −2, 0, 2, 4, ...}

● Set of odd numbers: {..., −3, −1, 1, 3, ...}
● Set of prime numbers: {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, ...}
● Positive multiples of 3 that are less than 10: {3, 6, 9}
We can come up with all different types of sets. The above way or method of writing down the sets is called the
listing method or Roster Method where a list of elements is made.

Examples of listing method :

● The set of letters in the word, "California" is written as A = {c, a, l, i, f, o, r, n}. Note that repeated letters are
written only once in the set.
 ● The set of consonants in the word POMEGRANATE can be written as D = {P, M, G, R, N, T}.
● The set of odd numbers less than 10 is written as B = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}
● The set of vowels in English alphabet is written as C = {a, e, i, o, u}

We can also define a set by its properties, such as {x: x > 0}

which means "the set of all x's, such that x is greater than
0". In other words any value greater than 0. The "x" is just a
place-holder, it could be anything, such as { q | q > 0 }.
Some people use ":" instead of "|", so they write {x : x > 0 }.

This way or method of describing the sets is called set builder method or set builder notation. Why do we use
this method? The answer is simple. Some sets are big or have many elements, so it is more convenient to use
set-builder notation as opposed to listing all the elements which is not practical when doing math.

There are various symbols used to represent the set-builder notation. A couple of them are listed below.
● ∈ means "is an element of" or “belongs to”.
● ∉ means "is not an element of" or “does not belong to”.

Examples of set builder notation:

● A = {x | x ∈ N, 5 < x < 10} and is read as "set A is the set of all ‘x’ such that ‘x’ is a natural number between
5 and 10." This set can be listed as A = {6, 7, 8, 9}
● B = {x / x = 5n, n is an integer } and is read as “set B is the set of all ‘x’ such that ‘x’ is a multiple of 5”. This
set can be listed as B = {5, 10, 15,...}
● C = {p : p is a letter of the word EXAMINATION} and is read as “set C is the set of all ‘p’ such that ‘p’ is a
letter of the word EXAMINATION}. This set can be listed as C = {E, X, A, M, I, N, T, O}

And we can have sets of numbers that have no common property, they are just defined that way. For example:
● {2, 3, 6, 828, 3839, 8827}
● {4, 5, 6, 10, 21}
● {2, 949, 48282, 42882959, 119484203}

Are all sets that I just randomly banged on my keyboard to produce!!!

Sets are the fundamental property of Mathematics. Now as a word of warning, sets, by themselves, seem pretty
pointless. But it's only when we apply sets in different situations do they become the powerful building block of
mathematics that they are.

Math can get amazingly complicated quite fast. Graph Theory, Abstract Algebra, Real Analysis, Complex Analysis,
Linear Algebra, Number Theory, and the list goes on. But there is one thing that all of these share in common:
Sets.

Cardinality The cardinality of a set is a measure of the “number of elements” of the set. Cardinality used to
define the size of a set.

For example, If A= {1, 4, 8, 9, 10}. Set A contains number of elements = 5 Therefore, cardinality of set = 5. It is
denoted as n(A) = 5. It is read as the number of elements in set A is equal to 5.
TYPES OF SETS

EMPTY OR NULL SETS

This is probably the weirdest thing about sets. As an example, think of the set of piano keys on a guitar. "But
wait!" you say, "There are no piano keys on a guitar!"
And right you are. It is a set with no elements. This is known as the Empty Set (or Null Set). There aren't any
elements in it. Not one. Zero.

It is represented by �� (Greek letter ‘phi’) or by { } (a set with no elements).

One more example of an empty set is the set of countries South of the South Pole.

SINGLETON SETS

If a set contains only one element, then it is called a singleton set.

For e.g.
A = {x : x is an even prime number}. A = {2}
B = {y : y is a whole number which is not a natural number}. B = {0}

UNIVERSAL SETS

At the start we used the word "things" in quotes. We call this the universal set. It's a set that contains everything.
A universal set (usually denoted by U) is a set which has elements of all the related sets, without any repetition
of elements.

Say if A and B are two sets, such as

A = {1, 2, 3} and
B = {1, a, b, c}, then the universal set associated with these two sets is given by U = {1, 2, 3 ,a, b, c}.

A universal set can be either a finite or infinite set. It is always represented by a rectangle shape with the letter U
mentioned on the top.

FINITE SETS

In this set, the number of elements is finite. All the empty sets also fall into the category of finite sets. If the set is
non-empty, it is called a non-empty finite set.

An example of finite set is: A = {x : x is a month in a year}; Set A will have 12 elements

INFINITE SETS

Just contrary to the finite set, it will have infinite elements. If a given set is not finite, then it will be an infinite set.

For e.g.
A = {x : x is a natural number}; There are infinite natural numbers. Hence, A is an infinite set. B = {y: y is
the ordinate of a point on a given line}; There are infinite points on a line. So, B is an infinite set.
EQUAL SETS

Two sets are equal if they have precisely the same members. Now, at first glance they may not seem equal, so we
may have to examine them closely!
Example: A and B equal where:
● A is the set whose members are the first four positive whole numbers
● B = {4, 2, 1, 3}
Let's check. They both contain 1. They both contain 2, and 3, and 4. We have checked every element of both sets,
so: Yes, they are equal! The order of the elements. In sets it does not matter what order the elements are in.

And the equals sign (=) is used to show equality, so we write: A = B

EQUIVALENT SETS

Sets are said to be equivalent to each other if only the number of elements in both the sets remain equal. In
other words, their cardinality is the same. Note that the sets don't need to hold the same elements, or they stay
to be a subset of each other.

For eg:
● A = {1, 2, 3}, n(A) = 3
● B = {a, b, c}, n(B) = 3
Yes, they are equivalent! They both contain exactly the same number of members which are 3.

REMEMBER: All equal sets are equivalent but all equivalent sets and not

equal.

SUBSETS

A set is also made up of smaller sets that are called subsets. Look at the figure.
Elements of set A = {1, 2, 3} are part of set B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}. Let us look at other
examples.

Example 1:
Let M = {a, b, c, x, y, z} and N = { a, b, c, d, e, x, y, z} be two sets.

Set M is said to be a subset of set N if the elements of set M belong to set N. Observe that the elements a, b, c, x,
y and z are present in set N as well. We denote this as M ⊆ N. The symbol ⊆ represents ‘a subset of’.

Example 2:
Let A = {-1, -2, -3} and B = {-4, -5, -6, -7} be two sets.

Observe that the elements -1, -2 and -3 are not present in the set B. Hence, A is not a subset of B and B is not a
subset of A. We denote this as A ⊈ B and B ⊈ A respectively. The symbol ⊈ represents ‘not a subset of’. Example 3:
Let A be all multiples of 4 and B be all multiples of 2. Is A a subset of B? And is B a subset of A?
Well, we can't check every element in these sets, because they have an infinite number of elements. So we need
to get an idea of what the elements look like in each, and then compare them.

The sets are:

● A = {..., −8, −4, 0, 4, 8, ...}
● B = {..., −8, −6, −4, −2, 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, ...}
By pairing off members of the two sets, we can
see that
every member of A is also a member of B, but not every
member of B is a member of A. So, A is a subset of B,
but B is not a subset of A

LISTING DOWN SUBSETS OF A SET

Set List of subsets No. of subsets Pattern

A = {1}
n(A) = 1 {��}, {1}, {2}, {1, 2} 4 2 x 2 = 22 = 4 {��}, {1}, {2},

A = {1, 2} n(A) = 2
{3}, {1, 2}, {2, 3}, {1, 3}, {1, 2, 3} 8 2 x 2 x 2 = 23 = 8
A = {1, 2, 3} n(A) = 3
{��}, {1} 2 21 = 2
A = {1, 2, 3, 4} n(A) = 4 {��}, {1}, {2}, {3}, {4}, {1, 2}, {2, 3}, {2, 3, 4}, {1, 3, 4}, {1, 2, 4},{ 1, 2, 3, 4}
{3, 4}, {1, 3}, {1, 4}, {2, 4}, {1, 2, 3}, 16 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 24 = 16

Listing down all the subsets is obviously a tedious task, right? Imagine if the number of elements is greater than
5? There are chances that we may forget to list down some subsets and have to recheck what we have missed
listing down!

So, in order to avoid this confusion and without listing down, we can find out the number of subsets of a given set
using the general formula 2n where n represents the number of elements in the given set.

Using the above formula, can you now find out the number of elements of a set having 7 elements? Do you know
how many? Well, try it!

REMEMBER: �� is a subset of all the sets.

PROPER SUBSETS

If we look at the definition of subsets and let our mind wander a bit, we come to a weird conclusion. Let A be a
set. Is every element of A in A?

Well, umm, yes of course, right? So that means that A is a subset of A. It is a subset of itself!

This doesn't seem very proper, does it? If we want our subsets to be proper we introduce (what else but) proper
subsets: A is a proper subset of B if and only if every element of A is also in B, and there exists at least one
element in B that is not in A.
This little piece at the end is there to make sure that A is not a proper subset of itself: we say that B must have at
least one extra element.

Example 1:
{1, 2, 3} is a subset of {1, 2, 3}, but is not a proper subset of {1, 2, 3}.

Example 2:
{1, 2, 3} is a proper subset of {1, 2, 3, 4} because the element 4 is not in the first set.
Notice that when A is a proper subset of B then it is also a subset of B.

Now, if we are clear with proper subset, can you guess how many proper subsets will a set have? Well, yes, it will
always be one less than the total number of subsets. We can find out the number of proper subsets using the
formula 2n- 1. In this formula, We know that 2nrepresents the total number of subsets.

FINDING THE NUMBER OF PROPER SUBSETS

Set No. of subsets: 2n No. of proper subsets: 2n- 1

A = {1}, n(A) = 1 21 = 2 2 - 1 = 1

A = {1, 2}, n(A) = 2 22 = 4 4 - 1 = 3

A = {1, 2, 3}, n(A) = 3 23 = 8 8 - 1 = 7

A = {1, 2, 3, 4}, n(A) = 4 24 = 16 16 - 1 = 15

VENN DIAGRAMS

Ten Best Friends

Let us look at this example of ten best friends.
● {Alex, Blair, Casey, Drew, Erin, Francis, Glen, Hunter, Ira, Jade}
Each friend is an "element" (or "member") of the set.

Now let's say that Alex, Casey, Drew and Hunter play Soccer. Soccer = {alex,
casey, drew, hunter}. (It says the Set "Soccer" is made up of the elements alex,
casey, drew and hunter.)

Casey, Drew and Jade play Tennis. Tennis = {Casey, Drew, Jade}. (It says the
Set
"Tennis" is made up of the elements Casey, Drew and Hunter.)

We can put their names in two separate circles like this. It is also a
way of set representation. It is called a Venn Diagram. It is not
mandatory to make circles. You can draw other shapes too, but
circles become easy to construct.
OPERATIONS ON SETS

UNION OF SETS

You can now list your friends that play Soccer OR Tennis. This is called a "Union" of sets and has the special
symbol ∪.
So, a set which is union of Soccer OR Tennis is: Soccer ∪ Tennis = {Alex, Casey, Drew, Hunter, Jade}.

Observe that:
● Casey and Drew play both the games Soccer and Tennis.
● Alex and Hunter play only Soccer.
● Jade plays only Tennis.

We can show that in a "Venn Diagram" as shown here.

A Venn Diagram is clever because it shows lots of information:

● Do you see that Alex, Casey, Drew and Hunter are in the "Soccer"
set?
● Also that Casey, Drew and Jade are in the "Tennis" set?
● Here is the clever thing: Casey and Drew are in BOTH sets!

Let us say the third set is "Volleyball", which Drew, Glen and Jade play. So,

Volleyball = {Drew, Glen, Jade} Let's be more "mathematical" and

use a Capital Letter for each set:

● S means the set of Soccer players

● T means the set of Tennis players
● V means the set of Volleyball players

The Venn Diagram of S ∪ T ∪ V is now like as shown here.

INTERSECTION OF SETS

"Intersection" is when you must be in BOTH sets. In this case that means they play both Soccer AND Tennis
... which is Casey and Drew.

The special symbol for Intersection is an upside down "U" like this: ∩
And this is how we write it: Soccer ∩ Tennis = {Casey, Drew}

In a Venn Diagram, it looks like as shown here.

From the example taken, we can see (for example) that:

● Drew plays Soccer, Tennis and Volleyball

● Jade plays Tennis and Volleyball
● Alex and Hunter play Soccer, but don't play Tennis or Volleyball
● no-one plays only Tennis

We can now have some fun with Unions and Intersections ...
 This is just set S. This is the Union of Sets T and V S = {Alex, Casey, Drew, Hunter} T ∪ V =
{Casey, Drew, Gade, glen}

This is the Intersection of Sets S and V

S ∩ V = {Drew}

DIFFERENCE OF SETS

You can also "subtract" one set from another. For example, taking Soccer and subtracting Tennis means people
that play Soccer but NOT Tennis ... which is Alex and Hunter.

This is how we write it: Soccer − Tennis = {Alex, Hunter}

In a Venn Diagram, it looks like shown here.

And how about this ...take the previous set S ∩ V and then subtract T

This is the Intersection of Sets S and V

minus Set T
(S ∩ V) − T = { } or ��

Hey, there is nothing there!

That is OK, it is just the "Empty Set".

It is still a set, so we use the curly brackets with nothing inside: { } or ��

COMPLEMENT OF SETS

Say, the Universal Set is our Ten Best Friends.

 U = {Alex, Blair, Casey, Drew, Erin, Francis, Glen, Hunter, Ira, Jade}

We can show the Universal Set in a Venn Diagram by putting

a
box around the whole thing.

Now, there is a special way of saying "everything that is not", and it is called

"complement". We show it by writing a little "C" like this: Sc or S’

Which means "everything that is NOT in S", like this:

Sc = {Blair, Erin, Francis, Glen, Ira, Jade}

Note that U - S (Universal Set - Set S) will also give you Sc. In
other
words, everyone who does not play soccer.

To summarize:

● ∪ is Union: is in either set or both sets

● ∩ is Intersection: only in both sets
● − is Difference: in one set but not the other
● Acis the Complement of A: everything that is not in A
SHADING VENN DIAGRAMS