Set Theory

Basic, Essential, and Important

Properties of Sets
 Definitions
 A set is a collection of objects.

 Objects in the collection are called

elements of the set.
 Examples - set
The collection of persons living in
Arnold is a set.
 Each person living in Arnold is an element of
the set.

The collection of all counties in the

state of Texas is a set.
 Each county in Texas is an element of the set.
 Examples - set
The collection of all quadrupeds is a
set.
 Each quadruped is an element of the set.

The collection of all four-legged dogs

is a set.
 Each four-legged dog is an element of the set.
 Examples - set
The collection of counting numbers is
a set.
 Each counting number is an element of the
set.

The collection of pencils in your

briefcase is a set.
 Each pencil in your briefcase is an element of
the set.
 Notation
 Sets are usually designated with
capital letters.

 Elements of a set are usually

designated with lower case letters.

 We might talk of the set B. An individual

element of B might then be designated by b.
 Notation
 The roster method of specifying a
set consists of surrounding the
collection of elements with braces.
Example – roster method
For example the set of counting
numbers from 1 to 5 would be
written as
{1, 2, 3, 4, 5}.
 Example – roster method
A variation of the simple roster method
uses the ellipsis ( … ) when the pattern
is obvious and the set is large.

{1, 3, 5, 7, … , 9007} is the set of odd

counting numbers less than or equal to
9007.

{1, 2, 3, … } is the set of all counting

numbers.
 Notation
 Set builder notation has the general
form

{variable | descriptive statement }.

The vertical bar (in set builder notation) is always
read as “such that”.

Set builder notation is frequently used when the

roster method is either inappropriate or
inadequate.
Example – set builder notation
{x | x < 6 and x is a counting number}
is the set of all counting numbers less
than 6. Note this is the same set as
{1,2,3,4,5}.
{x | x is a fraction whose numerator is
1 and whose denominator is a
counting number }.
Set builder notation will become much more concise and
precise as more information is introduced.
 Notation – is an element of
 If x is an element of the set A, we
write this as x  A. x  A means x is
not an element of A.
If A = {3, 17, 2 } then
3  A, 17  A, 2  A and 5  A.

If A = { x | x is a prime number } then

5  A, and 6  A.
 Venn Diagrams
It is frequently very helpful to depict a
set in the abstract as the points inside
a circle ( or any other closed shape ).

We can picture the set A as

the points inside the circle A
shown here.
 Venn Diagrams
Venn Diagrams are used in mathematics,
logic, theological ethics, genetics, study
of Hamlet, linguistics, reasoning, and
many other areas.
 Definition
 The set with no elements is called the
empty set or the null set and is
designated with the symbol .
 Examples – empty set
The set of all pencils in your briefcase
might indeed be the empty set.

The set of even prime numbers

greater than 2 is the empty set.

The set {x | x < 3 and x > 5} is the

empty set.
 Definition - subset
 The set A is a subset of the set B if
every element of A is an element of
B.

 If A is a subset of B and B contains

elements which are not in A, then A is
a proper subset of B.
 Notation - subset
If A is a subset of B we write
A  B to designate that relationship.

If A is a proper subset of B we write

A  B to designate that relationship.

If A is not a subset of B we write

A  B to designate that relationship.
 Example - subset
The set A = {1, 2, 3} is a subset of the set
B ={1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} because each
element of A is an element of B.

We write A  B to designate this

relationship between A and B.

We could also write

{1, 2, 3}  {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
 Example - subset
The set A = {3, 5, 7} is not a subset
of the set B = {1, 4, 5, 7, 9} because
3 is an element of A but is not an
element of B.

The empty set is a subset of every

set, because every element of the
empty set is an element of every
other set.
 Example - subset
The set
A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} is a subset of the set
B = {x | x < 6 and x is a counting number}
because every element of A is an element
of B.

Notice also that B is a subset of A because every

element of B is an element of A.
 Definition
 Two sets A and B are equal if A  B
and B  A. If two sets A and B are
equal we write A = B to designate
that relationship.
 Example - equality
The sets
A = {3, 4, 6} and B = {6, 3, 4} are
equal because A  B and B  A.

The definition of equality of sets shows that the

order in which elements are written does not
affect the set.
 Example - equality
If A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and
B = {x | x < 6 and x is a counting number}
then A is a subset of B because every element
of A is an element of B and B is a subset of A
because every element of B is an element of A.

Therefore the two sets are equal and

we write A = B.
 Example - equality
The sets A = {2} and B = {2, 5} are not
equal because B is not a subset of A. We
would write A ≠ B. Note that A  B.

The sets A = {x | x is a fraction} and

B = {x | x = ¾} are not equal because A
is not a subset of B. We would write
A ≠ B. Note that B  A.
 Definition - intersection
 The intersection of two sets A and
B is the set containing those elements
which are
elements of A and elements of B.

We write A  B
 Example - intersection
If A = {3, 4, 6, 8} and
B = { 1, 2, 3, 5, 6} then
A  B = {3, 6}
 Example - intersection
If A = { , , , , , , , ,  }
and B = { , , , @, ,  } then
A ∩ B = { ,  }

If A = { , , , , , , , , }
and B = { , , ,  } then
A ∩ B = { , , ,  } = B
 Example - intersection
If A is the set of prime numbers and
B is the set of even numbers then
A∩B={2}

If A = {x | x > 5 } and
B = {x | x < 3 } then
A∩B=
 Example - intersection
If A = {x | x < 4 } and
B = {x | x >1 } then
A ∩ B = {x | 1 < x < 4 }

If A = {x | x > 4 } and
B = {x | x >7 } then
A ∩ B = {x | x < 7 }
Venn Diagram - intersection
A is represented by the red circle and B is
represented by the blue circle.
When B is moved to overlap a
portion of A, the purple
colored region
illustrates the intersection
A∩B
of A and B
Excellent online interactive demonstration
 Definition - union
 The union of two sets A and B is the set
containing those elements which are
elements of A or elements of B.

We write A  B
 Example - Union
If A = {3, 4, 6} and
B = { 1, 2, 3, 5, 6} then
A  B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}.
 Example - Union
If A = { , , , , ,  }
and B = { , , , @, ,  } then
A  B = {, , , , , , , , @,  }

If A = { , , , , }
and B = {, ,  } then
A  B = {, , , ,  } = A
 Example - Union
If A is the set of prime numbers and
B is the set of even numbers then
A  B = {x | x is even or x is prime }.

If A = {x | x > 5 } and
B = {x | x < 3 } then
A  B = {x | x < 3 or x > 5 }.
 Venn Diagram - union
A is represented by the red circle and B is
represented by the blue circle.
The purple colored region
illustrates the intersection.
The union consists of all
A∩B
points which are colored
red or blue or purple.

Excellent online interactive demonstration AB

 Cardinal Number
 The Cardinal Number of a set is the
number of elements in the set and is
denoted by n(A).
 Let A={2,4,6,8,10}, then n(A)=5.

 The Cardinal Number formula for the

union of two sets is
n(A U B)=n(A) + n(B) –
n(A∩B).
 The Cardinal number formula for the
complement of a set is n(A) +
n(A’)=n(U).
 Algebraic Properties
 Union and intersection are
commutative operations.

AB=BA

A∩B=B∩A

For additional information about the algebra of sets go HERE

 Algebraic Properties
 Union and intersection are associative
operations.

(A  B)  C = A  (B  C)

(A ∩ B) ∩ C = B ∩ (A ∩ C)
For additional information about the algebra of sets go HERE
 Algebraic Properties
 Two distributive laws are true.

A ∩ ( B  C )= (A ∩ B)  (A ∩ C)

A  ( B ∩ C )= (A  B) ∩ (A  C)
For additional information about the algebra of sets go HERE
 Algebraic Properties
A few other elementary properties of
intersection and union.

A   =A A∩=

AA=A A∩A=A

For additional information about the algebra of sets go HERE

 Cartesian Product (1)
 Definition: Let A and B be two sets. The Cartesian
product of A and B, denoted AxB, is the set of all
ordered pairs (a,b) where aA and bB
AxB = { (a,b) | (aA)  (b  B) }
 The Cartesian product is also known as the cross
product
 Definition: A subset of a Cartesian product, R  AxB is
called a relation. We will talk more about relations in the
next set of slides
 Note: AxB  BxA unless A= or B= or A=B. Find a
counter example to prove this.
 Cartesian Product (2)
 Cartesian Products can be generalized
for any n-tuple
 Definition: The Cartesian product of
n sets, A1,A2, …, An, denoted
A1A2… An, is
A1A2… An ={ (a1,a2,…,an) | ai  Ai for
i=1,2,…,n}
 Exercises
1. In a survey of 400 students of a school, 100 were listed
as smokers and 150 as chewers of Gum, 75 were listed as
both smokers and gum chewers. Find out how many
students are neither smokers nor gum chewers.

2. In a survey of the Dhaka city, it was found that 65% of

the people watched the news on BTV, 40% read a
newspaper and 25% read a newspaper and watched the
news on BTV. What percent of the people survey neither
watched the news on BTV nor read a newspaper?
 Exercises
3. Dhaka city has a total population of 8000000. Out of it
1800000 are service holders and 1000000 are businessmen
while 120000 are in both positions. Indicate how many
people are neither service holders nor businessmen.

4. Let A and B be two finites sets such that n(A) = m and

n(B) = n. If the ratio of number of elements of power sets
of A and B is 64 and n(A) + n(B) = 32. Find the value of m
and n.
 Exercises
5. In a survey of 25 students it was found that 15 had
taken Maths, 12 had taken Physics and 11 had taken
Chemistry, 5 had taken Maths and chemistry, 9 had taken
Maths and Physics, 4 had taken Physics and Chemistry and
3 had taken all the three subjects. Find the number of
students that had taken:
 i) Only Chemistry

 ii) Physics and Chemistry but not Maths

 iii) Only one of the subject

 iv) At least one of the subjects

 v) None of the subjects

6. A company studies the product preferences of 25,000
consumers. It was found that each of the products A, B
and C was liked by 8000, 7000 and 6000 respectively and
all the products were liked by 1500. Products A and B were
liked by 3000, products A and C were liked by 2000 and
products B and C were liked by 2200. Check the validity of
this study results.

7. Demand function of a product D = 10p/(p-3) and supply

function S = P Square ; where p means the price in dollar
of the product per unit. Using set theory determine
equilibrium price and quantity.
 Exercises
8. A class of 60 students appeared for an examination of
Mathematics, Statistics and Economics. 25 students failed
in Mathematics, 24 failed in Statistics, 32 failed in
Economics, 9 failed in Mathematics alone, 6 failed in
Statistics alone; 5 failed in Statistics and Economics only
and 3 failed in Mathematics and Statistics only. (i)How
many students failed in all three subjects? (ii) How many
students passed in all three subjects?