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Cardinality of A Set: (The Empty Set), Then The

The document defines and provides examples of key concepts relating to sets and cardinality: 1. The cardinality of a set represents the number of elements it contains. Finite sets have a natural number cardinality while infinite sets have a cardinality of infinity. 2. Notation uses vertical bars to represent the cardinality of a set. Examples show the cardinalities of finite, countably infinite, and uncountably infinite sets. 3. A set is countable if it is either finite or there exists a one-to-one correspondence with the natural numbers, making it countably infinite. Uncountable sets have no such correspondence.

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Ronaldo Manaoat
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31 views22 pages

Cardinality of A Set: (The Empty Set), Then The

The document defines and provides examples of key concepts relating to sets and cardinality: 1. The cardinality of a set represents the number of elements it contains. Finite sets have a natural number cardinality while infinite sets have a cardinality of infinity. 2. Notation uses vertical bars to represent the cardinality of a set. Examples show the cardinalities of finite, countably infinite, and uncountably infinite sets. 3. A set is countable if it is either finite or there exists a one-to-one correspondence with the natural numbers, making it countably infinite. Uncountable sets have no such correspondence.

Uploaded by

Ronaldo Manaoat
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Cardinality of a Set

“The number of elements in a set.”

Let A be a set.
a. If A =  (the empty set), then the
cardinality of A is 0.

b. If A has exactly n elements, n a natural


number, then the cardinality of A is n.
The set A is a finite set.

c. Otherwise, A is an infinite set.


Notation
The cardinality of a set A is denoted by | A |.

a. If A =  , then | A |= 0.

b. If A has exactly n elements, then | A | = n.

c. If A is an infinite set, then | A | = .


Examples:

A = {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19}; | A | = 8

A = N (natural numbers); | N | = 

A = Q (rational numbers); | Q | = 

A = {2n | n is an integer}; | A | = 
(the set of even integers)
DEFINITION: Let A and B be sets. Then,
|A| = |B| if and only if there is a one-to-one
correspondence between the elements of A and the
elements of B.

Examples:

1. A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
B = {a, e, i, o, u}
1 a, 2 e, 3 i, 4 o, 5 u; |B| = 5
2. A = N (the natural numbers)
B = {2n | n is a natural number} (the even natural
numbers)
n 2n is a one-to one correspondence between
A and B. Therefore, |A| = |B|; |B| = .

3. A = N (the natural numbers)


C = {2n 1 | n is a natural number} (the odd
natural numbers)
n 2n 1 is a one-to one correspondence between
A and C. Therefore, |A| = |C|; |C| = .
Countable Sets

DEFINITIONS:
1. A set S is finite if there is a one-to-one
correspondence between it and the set
{1, 2, 3, . . ., n} for some natural number
n.

2. A set S is countably infinite if there is a


one-to-one correspondence between it and
the natural numbers N.
3. A set S is countable if it is either finite or
countably infinite.

4. A set S is uncountable if it is not countable.


Examples:
1. A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7},
 = {a, b, c, d, . . . x, y, z}
are finite sets; |A| = 7, | | = 26 .

2. N (the natural numbers), Z (the


integers), and Q (the rational
numbers) are countably infnite sets;

that is, |Q| = |Z| = |N|.


3. I (the irrational numbers) and 
 (the real numbers) are uncountable sets;
that is
|I| > |N| and | | > |N|.
Some Facts:
1. A set S is finite if and only if for any
proper subset A  S, |A| < |S|; that is,
“proper subsets of a finite set have fewer
elements.”

2. Suppose that A and B are infinite sets and


A  B. If B is countably infinite then A
is countably infinite and |A| = |B|.
3. Every subset of a countable set is countable.

4. If A and B are countable sets, then A  B


is a countable set.
Irrational Numbers, Real Numbers
Irrational numbers: “points on the real line
that are not rational points”; decimals that
are neither repeating nor terminating.

Real numbers: “rationals”  “irrationals”


2 is a real number:
2 is not a rational number, i.e., 2
is an irrational number.

Proof:
Suppose 2 is a rational number. Then
...
Other examples of irrational numbers:
Square roots of rational numbers that are not
perfect squares.

Cube roots of rational numbers that are not


perfect cubes.

And so on.

  3.14159, e  2.7182182845
Algebraic numbers –
roots of polynomials with integer coefficients.

Transcendental numbers –
irrational numbers that are not algebraic.
THEOREM: The real numbers are
uncountable!

Proof: Consider the real numbers on the


interval [0,1]. Suppose they are countable.
Then . . .
Arrive at a contradiction.

COROLLARY: The irrational numbers


are uncountable.
Proof: Real numbers: “rationals”  “irrationals”
The Real Line

x
-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
Absolute Value
DEFINITION: Let a be a real
number. The absolute value of a,
denoted |a|, is given by
a if a  0
| a | 
 a if a  0
Geometric interpretation: |a| is the
distance on the real number line from the
point a to the origin 0.
|5|=5, |3|=3
Absolute value inequalities
Find the real numbers x that satisfy:
1. |x| < 3

2. |x|  2

3. |x  3|  4

4. |x + 2| > 5

5. |2x  3| < 5
Answers:
1. (3,3); 3 < x < 3

2. (,2]  [2,); x  2 or x  2

3. [1,7]; 1x7

4. (,7)  (3,); x < 7 or x > 3

5. (1,4); 1 < x < 4

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