Key Mathematicians

These mathematicians influenced the development of set

theory and logic:

Georg Cantor
John Venn
George Boole
Augustus DeMorgan
 Georg Cantor 1845 -1918

developed set theory

set theory was not initially
accepted because it was
radically different
set theory today is widely
accepted and is used in
many areas of
mathematics
 …Cantor
the concept of infinity was expanded by Cantor’s set theory
Cantor proved there are “levels of infinity”
an infinitude of integers initially ending with  or
an infinitude of real numbers exist between 1 and 2;
0
there are more real numbers than there are integers…
 John Venn 1834-1923

studied and taught logic and

probability theory

articulated Boole’s algebra of

logic

devised a simple way to

diagram set operations (Venn
Diagrams)
 George Boole 1815-1864
self-taught mathematician with an
interest in logic

developed an algebra of logic

(Boolean Algebra)

featured the operators

– and
– or
– not
– nor (exclusive or)
Augustus De Morgan 1806-1871

developed two laws of negation

interested, like other
mathematicians, in using
mathematics to demonstrate
logic
furthered Boole’s work of
incorporating logic and
mathematics
formally stated the laws of set
theory
 Set Theory Notation
Symbol Meaning

Upper case designates set name

Lower case designates set elements
{ } enclose elements in set
 or  is (or is not) an element of
 is a subset of (includes equal sets)
 is a proper subset of
 is not a subset of
 is a superset of
| or : such that (if a condition is true)
| | the cardinality of a set
SET THEORY
What is a set?

A set is a collection of distinct

objects. The objects in a set are called
the elements or the members of the
set.

©1999 Indiana University Trustees

The following are sets.
1. The set of telecommunications companies
in the Philippines

2. The set of punctuation marks

3. The set of counting numbers less than 100

4. The set of Philippine presidents

5. The set of quadrilaterals

©1999 Indiana University Trustees

If x is an element of a set A, we say that
x belongs to or is a member of A, and is
expressed symbolically as x  A.

If y is not a member of A, then this is

symbolically denoted as y  A

©1999 Indiana University Trustees

The name of the set is written in upper
case and the elements of the set are
written in lower case.
Example
The set of counting numbers less than 100
A = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, … }

Name of Elements of
the set the set
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Let V be the set of all vowels. Then V is
written as

V= {a, e, i, o, u}

The curly brackets

Name of the Denoting the beginning
and end
set
The order in which elements appear do not
matter, so
{a,o,i,e, u}, {u, e, o, a, i}, {o, e, a, i,u} are all V

a = {a}
a is an element whereas {a} is a set whose
element is a. {} makes all the difference in set
notation.
Sets given by defining property.
{x  R | -2 < x < 5 }

Is read as (from left to right)

the set of all x such that x is a real number and also

x is greater than –2 and less than 5. Can you list
some of the members of this set?

C = {x : x is an integer, x > – 3 }

This is read as: “C is the set of elements x such that

x is an integer greater than –3.”

©1999 Indiana University Trustees

 Set Notation Elements
an element is a member of a set
notation:  means “is an element of”
 means “is not an element of”
Examples:

– A = {1, 2, 3, 4}
1A 6A
2A zA
– B = {x | x is an even number  10}
2B 9B
4B zB
 Set Notation
Set generally named with capital letters
3 ways to indicate a set – description, roster & set-builder

Set notation Definition Example

Describes the set and it The set of days in a week containing the
description elements in a word elements Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Listing the elements of Set A is the set of the days in a week,

roster a set inside a pair of A = {Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
braces { } Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday}

A rule is given that

describe the definite A = {x|x is the day in a week}
Set-builder properties an object x must Read as ‘A is a set of all element in x
satisfy to qualify for such that x is the day in a week’
membership in the set
16
1. Roster or Tabular method.
This method describes a set by listing all
its elements separated by commas and
enclosing them in braces.

The general form using roster method is

{ elem1 , elem2 , elem3 , … }, where elemi for
i = 1, 2, 3, ... represents any element of a set

©1999 Indiana University Trustees

Example
1. Set C is the set of all lowercase letters
of the English alphabet
C = { a, b, c, d, … x, y, z }
2. Set A is the set of all positive odd numbers.
A = { 1, 3, 5, 7, … }
3. Set S is the set of Engineering programs
offered in DHVTSU
S = { Civil, Electrical, Mechanical,
Industrial }
2. Rule method or Set-builder notation
This method describes a set by enclosing
in braces a descriptive phrase stating the
properties that all its elements have in
common.

The general form of set builder notation is

{x | P(x) }, where the variable x represents
any element of a set P(x) is a descriptive
phrase of element x of a set, and the
vertical bar | is read as “ such that”
©1999 Indiana University Trustees
Example
1. A = { 1, 3, 5, 7, … 15, 17, 19 }
A = { x | x is a counting odd numbers
less than 20 }
“A is the set of all x such that x is a
counting odd number less than 20”
2. S = { a, b, c, d, … x, y, z }
S = { x | x is a lowercase letter of the
English alphabet}
Examples:
1. A = {2,4,6,8,10}
A = {x|x is a positive even integer <12}

2. A = {1, 2, 3, 4}
1A 6A
2A zA

3. B = {x | x is an even number  10}

2B 9B
4B zB
 Cardinality of Sets

Cardinality refers to the number of elements in a

set

notation: |A| or n(A) represents the cardinality of

Set A

The number of elements in a set A is

denoted by | |
Example

1. If A = { x | x is a letter in the Filipino alphabet },

|A| = n(A) = 28.

2. If E = { x | x is a counting number less than 10},

|B| = n(B) = 9.

3. If E = { x | x is a vowel in the word “spy”},

|E| = n(E) = 0.
 Kinds of Sets

A finite set is a set with countable number but

limited number of elements

An infinite set is a set that has an unlimited

number of elements as the set of natural numbers
Finite sets
If the elements of a finite set are listed one
after another, the process will eventually “run
out” of elements to list.

Example
1. A = {0, 2, 4, 6, 8, …, 100}

2. C = {x : x is an integer, 1 < x < 10}

Example
3. D = { x | x is a nation member ASEAN}

4. The set of all perfect squares less than 25

5. The set of all employees in DHVSU

An infinite set
It is not possible to explicitly list out all the
elements of an infinite set.

Example:
1. T = {x | x is an even counting number}

2. N is the set of natural numbers

3. A is the set of fractions

Determine the kind of set, identify the sets and cardinality

1. If A is the set of positive integers less than 12

then
A={1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11}
and n(A) = 11
2. If C is the set of numbers which are also
multiples of 3
then
C = {3, 6, 9, …}
and C is an infinite set
3. If D is the set of integers x defined by –3 < x < 6
Then,
D = {–2, –1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

and n(D) = 8

4. If Q is the set of letters in the word ‘HELLO’

then
Q = {H, E, L, O } ,

n(Q) = 4 ← ‘L’ is not repeated

Empty (null) set
is a set that has no elements and is denoted
by either Ø or { }.
Example
1. The set of all female players in Philippine
Basketball Association (PBA)

3. F = { x | x is a perfect square integer between

10 and 15
 Universal Sets
The universal set is the set of all things pertinent to a given
discussion
and is designated by the symbol U

Example:
U = {all students of DHVSU}

U = {all basketball players in PBA}

Example:
U = {all students of DHVSU}

Some Subsets:
A = {all Computer Technology students}

B = {freshmen students}

C = {sophomore students}
 Subsets
a subset exists when a set’s members are also contained in
another set
notation:

 means “is a subset of”

 means “is a proper subset of”

 means “is not a subset of”

Subset
if every element of a set A is also an
element of set B, then A is a subset of B,
denoted by A  B
Proper subset
if a set A is a subset of set B but B has
atleast one element that is not in A,
then A is a proper subset of B, denoted
by A  B, otherwise it is an improper
subset

©1999 Indiana University Trustees

 Subset Relationships
A = {x | x is a positive integer  8}
set A contains: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
B = {x | x is a positive even integer  10}
set B contains: 2, 4, 6, 8
C = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}
set C contains: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10

Subset Relationships

AA AB AC

BA BB BC
CA CB CC
Example:

1. For A = {red, blue} and B = {red, white, blue},

A ⊆ B since every element of A is also an element of B.

2. Let C = {a, b, c} and D = {b, c, d, e}.

Then C ⊈ D, read “C is not a subset of D” since a is
an element of C but not an element of D. Also, D ⊈ C
since e ∈ D and e ∉ C.

Note: A ⊆ A and ∅ ⊆ A.
A set is a subset of itself since a set contains all its
elements. Also, the empty set is a subset of every set,
because every element in the empty set belongs to any set
since the empty set has no elements.
 Listing Subsets: List all the subsets of {a, b, c}.

Example:

The set {a, b, c}

∅, {a}, {b}, {c}, {a, b}, {a, c}, {b, c}, and {a, b, c}.

has 8 subsets.
Proper Subset:

A proper subset is a special type of subset. There are

two requirements for set A to be a proper subset of set
B. They are:
1. A is a subset of B, i.e., A ⊆ B and
2. A is not equal to B, i.e., A ≠ B.

Notation: A ⊂ B is read, “Set A is a proper subset of

set B.”
Example: For A = {red, blue} and B = {red, white, blue},
A ⊂ B since both requirements are met:
1. A ⊆ B since red and blue are in both sets A and
B; and
2. A ≠ B since set B contains the element “white”
but set A does not.

Example:
Listing Proper Subsets: List all the proper subsets of
{a, b, c}.

∅, {a}, {b}, {c}, {a, b}, {a, c}, and {b, c}.

The set {a, b, c} has 7 proper subsets.

Note that {a, b, c} is not a proper subset of {a, b, c}.
Also, note that there is always one less proper subset
than there are subsets of a set since a set cannot be a
proper subset of itself.
 0-element 1- element 2- element 3-element 4-element
subsets subsets subsets subsets subsets
(1) (4) (6) (4) (1)
{b} {b, w} {b, w, g} {b, w, g, s}
{ } {w} {b, g} {b, w, s}
{g} {b, s} {b, g, s}

{s} {w, g} {w, g, s} (She decides to

(She decides not {w, s} wear all the
to wear any bracelets.)
{g, s}
bracelet.)
 Sets Relationships
Two sets A and B are said to be equivalent,
denoted by A  B or A  B, if they have the
same cardinality.
The following illustrate equivalent sets

1. { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}  {a, b, c, d, e }

2. { x | x2 – 4 = 0}  { y | y2 – 9 = 0 }
3. { x | x is a prime number less than 25}  { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 }
Two sets A and B are said to be equal, denoted
by A = B, if and only if all their elements are
exactly the same

The following illustrate equal sets

1. { r, a, t } = { a, r, t}
2. { a, l, g, e, b, r, a } = { a, l, g, e, b, r }

3. { x | x2 – 49 = 0} = { - 7, 7}
Two sets A and B are joint if and only if A
and B have common elements, otherwise
they are disjoint.

Example
1. L = {, , ,, , ,  } and M = { , , , , , }

Sets L and M are joint set

Sets L and M have common elements , , 

2. Sets Q = {, , , } and R = {, , , , , }

Sets Q and R are disjoint sets

Sets Q and R have no common elements

 Finite Set Cardinality
Set Definition Cardinality

A = {x | x is a lower case letter} |A| = 26

B = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7} |B| = 6

C = {x | x is an even number  10} |C|= 4

D = {x | x is an even number  10} |D| = 5

 Infinite Set Cardinality
Set Definition Cardinality

A = {1, 2, 3, …} |A| =  0

B = {x | x is a point on a line} |B| =  0

C = {x| x is a point in a plane} |C| = 1

 Venn Diagram
U

- A useful technique for picturing set relationship

- The Universal Set U is represented by a rectangle, and subsets of U
are represented by regions lying inside the rectangle

Universal set
U The set that contains all the elements for any specific discussion
48
 Set Terminologies & Concepts
A B Read “A subset B”. Set A is a subset of set B if element of a
set A is also an element of a set B

A AU

Read “A not subset B”. Set A is a not a subset of set B if

A
 B element of a set A is not an element of a set B

49
A B Read “A is proper subset of B”.
Set A is a proper subset of set B if
U 1. A subset B
B A 2. there exists at least one element in set B that is not in set A
Set A is properly “smaller” than set B

U U
B
A A B

A B 50
 Simple Set Example
the universal set is
a deck of ordinary playing
cards
each card is an element in
the universal set
some subsets are:
– face cards
– numbered cards
– suits
– poker hands
 Set Equality
Two sets are equal if and only if they contain precisely the same
elements.
The order in which the elements are listed is unimportant.
Elements may be repeated in set definitions without increasing the
size of the sets.
Examples:
A = {1, 2, 3, 4} B = {1, 4, 2, 3}
A  B and B  A; therefore, A = B and B = A
A = {1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2} B = {1, 2, 3, 4}
A  B and B  A; therefore, A = B and B = A
 The Empty Set
Any set that contains no elements is called the empty set
the empty set is a subset of every set including itself
notation: { } or 

Examples ~ both A and B are empty

A = {x | x is a Chevrolet Mustang}
B = {x | x is a positive number  0}
 The Power Set ( P )
The power set is the set of all subsets that can be created
from a given set
The cardinality of the power set is 2 to the power of the
given set’s cardinality
notation: P (set name)
Example:
A = {a, b, c} where |A| = 3
P (A) = {{a, b}, {a, c}, {b, c}, {a}, {b}, {c}, A, }
and |P (A)| = 8
In general, if |A| = n, then |P (A) | = 2n
 Venn Diagrams
Venn diagrams show relationships between sets and their
elements
Sets A & B

Universal Set
 Venn Diagram Example 1
Set Definition Elements
A = {x | x  Z+ and x  8} 12345678
B = {x | x  Z+; x is even and  10} 2 4 6 8 10
AB
BA
 Venn Diagram Example 2
Set Definition Elements
A = {x | x  Z+ and x  9} 123456789
B = {x | x  Z+ ; x is even and  8} 2468

AB
BA
AB
 Venn Diagram Example 3
Set Definition Elements
A = {x | x  Z+ ; x is even and  10} 2 4 6 8 10
B = x  Z+ ; x is odd and x  10 } 1 3 5 7 9

AB
BA
 Venn Diagram Example 4
Set Definition
U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}
A = {1, 2, 6, 7}
B = {2, 3, 4, 7}
C = {4, 5, 6, 7}

A = {1, 2, 6, 7}
 Venn Diagram Example 5
Set Definition
U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}

A = {1, 2, 6, 7}
B = {2, 3, 4, 7}
C = {4, 5, 6, 7}

B = {2, 3, 4, 7}
 Venn Diagram Example 6
Set Definition
U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}

A = {1, 2, 6, 7}
B = {2, 3, 4, 7}
C = {4, 5, 6, 7}

C = {4, 5, 6, 7}