CHAPTER 2

NUMBER SYSTEMS
AND SETS

Ms. Sun
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SECTIONS
2A Set notation
2B Sets of numbers
2C Surds
2D Natural numbers
2E Problems involving sets
Learning Goals
• To understand and use set notation, including the symbols and .
• To be able to identify sets of numbers, including the natural
numbers, integers, rational numbers, irrational numbers and real
numbers.
• To understand and use interval notation.
• To know and apply the rules for working with surds, including:
• simplification of surds
• rationalisation of surds.
• To know and apply the definitions of factor, prime number,
highest common factor and lowest common multiple.
• To be able to solve problems with sets.
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 2A
SET NOTATION
Set notation
• A set is a name given to any collection of things or numbers.
• A list of the members of the set or a statement are used to describe them.
E.g.,
• Note: { x : … }is read as ‘the set of all x such that . . . ’.

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Set notation (cont.)

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Venn diagrams
• Venn diagrams are used to illustrate sets.
• For example, the diagram below shows two subsets A and B of a universal set such
that A and B have no elements in common. Two such sets are said to be disjoint.

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Operations of sets
• The union of two sets
• The set of all the elements that are members of set A or set B (or both) is called the union of A
and B. The union of A and B is written A B.

• The intersection of two sets

• The complement of a set

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Example 1
Let = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}, A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {1, 2, 9, 10}.
Find A B and illustrate on a Venn diagram.

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Example 2
Let = {prime numbers less than 40}, A = {3, 5, 7, 11} and B = {3, 7, 29, 37}.
Find A B and illustrate on a Venn diagram.

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Example 3
Let = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}, A = {odd numbers} = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}, B = {multiples of 3} = {3, 6, 9}
a) Show these sets on a Venn diagram.
b) Use the diagram to list the following sets:
i A’ ii B’ iii A B iv the complement of A B, i.e. (A B)’ v A’ B’

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Finite and infinite sets
• When all the elements of a set may be counted, the set is called a finite set.
• E.g., the set A = {months of the year} is finite. The number of elements of a set A will be
denoted |A|.
• In this example, |A| = 12. If C = {letters of the alphabet}, then |C| = 26.
• Sets which are not finite are called infinite sets.
• E.g, the set of real numbers, , and the set of integers, , are infinite sets.

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 2B
SETS OF NUMBERS
Sets of numbers

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Set notation
• Set notation can be used to describe subsets of the real numbers.
• E.g.,

• The set of all ordered pairs of real numbers is denoted by . That is,

• Cartesian product of with itself.

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Rational numbers
• Every rational number can be written as a terminating or recurring decimal.
• A fraction

• A real number has a terminating decimal representation if and only if it can be

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Example 4
Write each of the following in the form , where m and n are integers:
a) b)

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Real numbers
• The set of real numbers is made up of two important subsets: the algebraic numbers
and the transcendental numbers.
• Algebraic numbers:
• Every rational number is algebraic because a rational number , where p and q are integers, is
the solution of the equation .
• The irrational number is algebraic, as it is a solution of the equation .
• is not an algebraic number; it is a transcendental number.

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Interval notation
• Among the most important subsets of R are the intervals.
• a and b are real numbers with .

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Example 5
Illustrate each of the following intervals of real numbers:
a) b) c) d) e)

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Special notations

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 2C
SURDS
Surds
• A quadratic surd is a number of the form , where is a
rational number which is not the square of another
rational number.
• is taken to mean the positive square root.
• In general, a surd of order n is a number of the form ,
where is a rational number, which is not a perfect nth
power.
• E.g.

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Properties of square roots
• For positive numbers and :
•, e.g.
• , e.g.

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Properties of surds
• Simplest form
If possible, a factor which is the square of a rational number is
‘taken out’ of a square root.
When the number under the square root has no factors which
are squares of a rational number, the surd is said to be in
simplest form.
• Like surds
• Surds which have the same ‘irrational factor’ are called like
surds.
• E.g., , and are like surds

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Example 6
Write each of the following in simplest form:
a) b) c) d)

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Example 7
Express each of the following as a single surd in simplest form:
a) b)
c)

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Rationalising the denominator
Example 8
Rationalise the denominator of each of the following:
a) b) c) d)

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Example 9
Expand the brackets in each of the following and collect like terms,
expressing surds in simplest form:
a) b)

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 2D
NATURAL
NUMBERS
Factors and composites
• A natural number is a factor of a natural number if there exists
a natural number such that .
• A natural number greater than 1 is a prime number if its only
factors are itself and 1.
• A natural number is a composite number if it can be written as
a product , where and are natural numbers greater than 1 and
less than .

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Prime decomposition
• Expressing a composite number as a product of powers of prime
numbers is called prime decomposition.
• E.g.
• Fundamental theorem of arithmetic
• Every natural number greater than 1 either is a prime number or can be
represented as a product of prime numbers. Furthermore, this
representation is unique apart from rearrangement of the order of the
prime factors.

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Example 10
Give the prime decomposition of 17 248 and hence list the factors
of this number.

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Highest common factor
• The highest common factor of two natural numbers and is the
largest natural number that is a factor of both and . It is
denoted by .
• The highest common factor is also called the greatest common divisor.
• Using prime decomposition to find HCF

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Example 11
a) Find the highest common factor of 528 and 3168.
b) Find the highest common factor of 3696 and 3744.

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Lowest common multiple
• A natural number is a multiple of a natural number if there
exists a natural number such that .
• The lowest common multiple of two natural numbers and is the
smallest natural number that is a multiple of both and . It is
denoted by .
• Using prime decomposition to find LCM

Take the higher power of each

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 2E
PROBLEMS
INVOLVING SETS
Example 12
Two hundred and eighty students each travel to school by either train or tram or
both. Of these students, 150 travel by train, and 60 travel by both train and
tram.
a) Show this information on a Venn diagram.
b) Hence find the number of students who travel by:
i tram
ii train but not tram
iii just one of these modes of transport.

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Example 13
An athletics team has 18 members. Each member competes in at least one of
three events: sprints (S ), jumps (J ) or hurdles (H ). Every hurdler also jumps or
sprints. The following additional information is available:
, , , and
a) Draw a Venn diagram.
b) Find:
i ii iii iv

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"Success is not final;
failure is not fatal: It is the
courage to continue that
counts."

Winston S. Churchill

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