Set Theory: Formulae & Shortcuts

1. A Set is a well defined collection of objects. Everything in the

universe can be represented in the form of Set or Subset.

8. Venn Diagrams
a) Two Sets

2. The number of elements in a set is called its cardinal number

and is written as n(A).

n(Universe) = n(AB) + n(AB)

3. A set with cardinal number 0 (zero) is called a Null Set or

Empty Set or Void Set and denoted by or {}.

n(AB) = n(A) + n(B) n(AB)

= only A + only B + n(AB)

4. The Universal Set is defined as the set of all possible objects

under consideration and is denoted by U.

If AB = ,
then n(AB) = n(A) + n(B)

5. Set A is said to be a Subset of Set B if each and every element

of Set A is also contained in Set B. A set with n elements will
have maximum of 2n subsets.
6. Set A is said to be a Proper Subset of Set B if Set B has at
least one element that is not contained in Set A. A proper set
with n elements will have maximum of 2n-1 subsets.
7. Operations on Sets:
a) The Complement of a subset A of
Universal Set U is the set of all elements of
U which are not the elements of A.
A or A = U A
b) The Union of two sets A and B is the set of
all those elements which are either in A or
in B and denoted by A B
c) The Intersection of two sets A and B is the
set of all elements which are common and
denoted by A B
d) If A and B are two sets such that A B = , then A and B are
called Disjoint Sets
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b) Three Sets
n(Universe) = n(ABC)
+ n(ABC)
n(ABC)
= n(A) + n(B) + n(C)
n(AB) n(BC) n(AC)
+ n(ABC)
c) Four Sets