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Language of Sets

This document defines and provides examples of sets, set notation, and set relationships. A set is a well-defined collection of objects that can be described explicitly using braces enclosing the elements or using a rule to define membership. Sets are denoted by capital letters and elements by small letters. Relationships like subset and proper subset are defined, where a subset includes all elements of another set and a proper subset excludes at least one element. Examples demonstrate listing elements, set-builder notation, subsets, and proper subsets.

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Niñarita Fe Buot
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75 views20 pages

Language of Sets

This document defines and provides examples of sets, set notation, and set relationships. A set is a well-defined collection of objects that can be described explicitly using braces enclosing the elements or using a rule to define membership. Sets are denoted by capital letters and elements by small letters. Relationships like subset and proper subset are defined, where a subset includes all elements of another set and a proper subset excludes at least one element. Examples demonstrate listing elements, set-builder notation, subsets, and proper subsets.

Uploaded by

Niñarita Fe Buot
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Language of Sets

THE LANGUAGE OF SETS


A set is a well-defined collection of objects, which may be
concrete or abstract.
Concrete objects mean objects that can be touched or
seen while abstract objects are those that cannot be seen nor
touched.
It is also emphasized that the set has to be “well-
defined,” which means it is clearly described so that there is
no question as to whether a certain object does or does not
belong to the set.
Examples:
1. The set of male students at NDU.
2. The set of algebra books in the library.
3. The set of female students in this class.
4. The set of natural numbers less than 10.
5. The
set of distinct letters in the word
mathematics.
Sets are conventionally denoted by capital letters, for instance
A, B and C. Small letters are used as names for the objects.

The object of a set is called its member or element.


The symbol “∈” denotes membership to a set,
while the symbol “ ∉“ denotes non-membership to a set.

Hence, “2∈A” (read as 2 is an element of set A) means that


the object 2 is an element of the set A, while “7 ∉A” (read as 7
is not an element of A) indicates that 7 does not belong to set A.

The number of elements of a set is called its cardinal number


and is denoted by n(A), read as ‘the cardinal number of Set A.’
Describing Sets
Sets can be defined in words, or by listing the
elements between braces or curly brackets,
separated by commas, or between braces
containing some other defining symbols.
The Set-Roster Method / The
List Method
A method used to describe or define a set by
explicitly listing its elements between braces.
Example of Set-Roster Method / The
List Method
1. Set A is the set of distinct letters in the word “paper.”
 
Solution:
By set-roster method,
set A is described as A = { p, a, e, r }

Note: The elements of the set should be written only


once. A set cannot contain two or more identical objects.
Hence, p is written only once inside the braces.
Example of Set-Roster Method / The
List Method
2. Set B is the set of whole numbers less than 5.

Solution:
Set B is described as
B = { 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 }
or B = { 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 }

Note: The order in which the elements of a set are listed is


not important.
Example of Set-Roster Method / The
List Method
3. Set C is the set of positive integers less than 500.

Solution:
Set C is described as
C = { 1, 2, 3, 4, . . . , 499 }

Note: If the set has many elements, an abbreviated


list can sometimes be used. The three dots, called the
ellipsis, indicates that the list continues in that
pattern and that the last element is 499.
The Set-builder Notation / The Rule Method

In this method, a set is defined by enclosing in


braces a descriptive phrase, and agreeing that the
elements of the set have the described/common
property.
This method also uses the set builder notation,
wherein the symbol x is used to represent any
member of the given set and the vertical bar ( │ ),
read as “such that.”
Example of Set-builder Notation / The
Rule Method
 
1. Set A is the set of distinct letters in the word “paper.”

Solution:
Set A can be written as
A = { x│x is a distinct letter in the word “paper” }
This is read as “A is the set of all x’s such that x is a
distinct letter in the word “paper””.
 
Example of Set-builder Notation / The
Rule Method
 
2. Set B is the set of whole numbers less than 5.

Solution:
For set B, we let W to denote the set of whole numbers,
thus set B can be described as
B = { x ∈ W │ x < 5 },
read as “B is the set of whole numbers x, such that x is
less than 5.”  
Example of Set-builder Notation / The
Rule Method
 
3. Set C is the set of positive integers less than 500.

Solution:
For set C, the set of positive integers is denoted by Z+,
hence set C can be described as,
C = { x ∈ Z+ │ x < 500 }  
read as “C is the set of positive integers x, such that x is
less than 500.”  
Set Relations
Subset
Set A is considered to be a subset of another set
B, written A⊆B, if every element of A is also an
element of B.
If A has at least one element that is not an
element of B, then A is not a subset of B, denoted
by A ⊈B.
Examples:
1. If A = { a, b, c, d }
B = { a, c, d, b }
C = { e, f, g, h }
then A is a subset of B (A ⊆ B). C is not a subset of A; C⊈A
  as B ⊈C.
While, B is not a subset of C, written
2. If D = { 1, 2, 3, 4 }
E = { 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 } ,
then D ⊆ E, E ⊈ D
 
3. If F = { 1, 2 }
then its subsets are:
{ }, { 1 }, { 2 }, and { 1, 2 }
Note:
1. Any set is a subset of itself.

2. An empty set denotes as { } or the null set


denotes as ∅is considered to be a subset
of every set.

3. For any set A, the null set and the set


itself are called the trivial subsets of A.
Proper Subset
A is a proper subset of B, written A ⊂ B, if
every element of A is an element of B, and there is
at least one element in B which is not found in A.
Examples:
1. If A = { 1, 3, 5 }
B = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }
then A ⊂ B.
All elements of A are found in B and there are elements in B which are not found in
A.
 
2. If C = { 1, 3 }
then its proper subsets are:
{ }, { 1 }, and { 3 }.

NOTE:
1. The set itself is not a proper subset.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
1. Set Roster and Builder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLgiccWl434

2. Subset and proper subset


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8FGAclojcs

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