Sets

Chapter 1
Sets

JESRAEL B. PALCO, PhD

Department of Physical Sciences and Mathematics

College of Science and Environment
Mindanao State University at Naawan
Sets
Basic Definitions and Notation

Definition 1
Set is a well-defined collection of objects. The objects in
the set are called elements of the set
For convention,
A, B, X, Y are used to denote the names of sets
a, b, x, y are used to denote the elements of sets
a ∈ A means the object a is an element of the set A
x∈ / X means the object x is not an element of the set
X
Sets
Basic Definitions and Notation

Methods of Describing Sets

The roster method. We describe a set by listing the
names of its elements, separated by commas, with the
full list enclosed in braces.
Example 1
A = {1, 2, 3, 4} and B = {M anticao, N aawan, Initao} are
sets consisting of four and three elements, respectively,
described by the roster method.
The rule, or description method. We describe a
set in terms of one and more properties to be satisfied
by objects in the set, and by those objects only.
Sets
Basic Definitions and Notation

Example 2

A = {x|x is a natural number and x ≤ 100}

X = {x|x is a male citizen of Naawan}

Definition 2
Universal set is the set of all objects under discussion in a
particular setting and is denoted by U.
Sets
Basic Definitions and Notation

Definition 3
(a) N the set {1, 2, 3, 4, . . .} of all positive integers
(natural numbers)
(b) Z the set {0, ±1, ±2, . . .} of all integers (signed whole
numbers)
(c) Q the set of all rational numbers (quotient of integers)
(d) R the set of all real numbers
(e) C the set of all complex numbers
Sets
Basic Definitions and Notation

Definition 4
A set I, all of whose elements are real numbers. is called an
interval if and only if whenever a and b are elements of I
and c is a real number with a < c < b, then c ∈ I

Definition 5
Let a, b ∈ R. Then
1. {x ∈ R|a ≤ x ≤ b}, a closed and bounded interval,
denoted by [a, b].
2. {x ∈ R|a < x < b}, an open and bounded interval,
denoted by (a, b).
3. {x ∈ R|a ≤ x < b}, a closed-open and bounded
interval, denoted by [a, b).
4. {x ∈ R|a < x ≤ b}, an open-closed and bounded
interval, denoted by (a, b].
Sets
Basic Definitions and Notation

5. {x ∈ R|a ≤ x}, a closed and unbounded above

interval, denoted by [a, ∞).
6. {x ∈ R|a < x}, an open and unbounded above
interval, denoted by (a, ∞).
7. {x ∈ R|x ≤ b}, a closed and unbounded below interval,
denoted by (−∞, b].
8. {x ∈ R|x < b}, an open and unbounded below interval,
denoted by (−∞, b).
9. R itself is an interval and is sometimes denoted by
(−∞, ∞).
Sets
Basic Definitions and Notation

Example 3
Assuming that the universal set is R, solve the following
inequalities and express each solution set in interval
notation:
(a) 7x − 9 ≤ 16
(b) |2x + 3| < 5
(c) 2x2 + x − 28 ≤ 0

Solution.
(a) 7x − 9 ≤ 16 is equivalent to 7x ≤ 25, which is
equivalent to x ≤ 25
7
. The set
 solutions is
25 25

x ∈ R|x ≤ 7 = −∞, 7
Sets
Basic Definitions and Notation

(b) If a ∈ R, then |x| < a is equivalent to −a < x < a.

Hence, |2x + 3| < 5 is equivalent to −5 < 2x + 3 < 5,
or −8 < 2x < 2, or −4 < x < 1, which is expressed in
interval notation as (−4, 1).
(c) If a > 0, the quadratic inequality ax2 + bx + c ≤ 0 is
satisfied by precisely those numbers between and
including the roots of the equation ax2 + bx + c = 0.
We find the latter by factoring 2x2 + x − 28 into
(2x − 7) (x + 4), yielding x = 72 and x = −4 as roots.
7
Thus we arrive at the solution set −4 ≤ 7x≤ 2 , which
is expressed in interval notation as −4, 2 .
Sets
Basic Definitions and Notation

Definition 6
An empty set or null set is a set with no elements and is
denoted either ∅ or {}.

Remark 1
Let A and B be sets. We will regard the statement A
equals B, denoted A = B, to mean that A and B have
precisely the same elements.
Characterization of Equality
Sets A and B are equal if and only if every element of A is
also an element of B and every element of B is also an
element of A.
Sets
Basic Definitions and Notation

Remark 2
Let A and B be sets. We regard the statement A is a
subset of B, denoted A ⊆ B, to mean that every element
of A is also an element of B. We write A * B to denote
that A is not a subset of B. Finally, we define B is a
superset of A to mean A ⊆ B.

Example 4
N ⊆ Z, Z ⊆ Q, Q ⊆ R, and R ⊆ C

Definition 7
Let A and B be sets. We say that A is a proper subset
of B, denoted A ⊂ B, if and only if A ⊆ B, but A 6= B.
We write A 6⊂ B to symbolize the statement that A is not a
proper subset of B (which could mean that either A * B or
A = B).
Sets
Basic Definitions and Notation

Example 5
Explore various subset and proper subset relationships
among the sets A = {1, 2, 3}, B = {1, 2, 3, 4}, C = {2, 3, 1},
and D = {2, 4, 6}.

Solution The subset relationships are A ⊆ B, C ⊆ B,

A ⊆ C, and C ⊆ A. As for proper subset relationships, we
have A ⊂ B and C ⊂ B. Note, however, that A is not a
proper subset of C (nor C of A) since A and C are equal.
Finally, note that even though A and D are not equal, A is
not a proper subset of D since A is not a subset of D.
Sets
Basic Definitions and Notation

Definition 8
Let A be a set. We denote by P(A) , the power set of A,
the set of all subsets of A.
Example 6
List all elements of P(A) , where A = {1, 2, 3}.

Solution. There are 2n = 23 = 8 subsets of P(A), namely,

∅, {1}, {2}, {3}, {1, 2}, {1, 3}, {2, 3} and A.
Sets
Operations on Sets

Definition 9
Let A and B be sets. We define a set formed from A and
B, called the intersection of A and B, denoted A ∩ B
(read ”A intersection B”) by the rule

A ∩ B = {x|x ∈ A and x ∈ B}

Definition 10
Let A and B be sets. We define the union of A and B,
denoted A ∪ B (read ”A union B”) by the rule

A ∪ B = {x|x ∈ A or x ∈ B}
Sets
Operations on Sets

Definition 11
Let A be a subset of a universal set U . We define the
0
complement of A, denoted A , by the rule
0
A = {x ∈ U |x ∈
/ A} .

Example 7
Let R be the universal set, calculate the complement of the
1

sets A = [−1, 1], B = − 2 , 2 , C = (−∞, 0], and
D = (0, ∞).
0
Solution. A consists of all real numbers that are not
between −1 and 1 inclusive, that is, all numbers either less
0
than −1 or greater than 1. Thus, A = (−∞, −1) ∪ (1, ∞).
0 0
Similarly, B = −∞, − 21 ∪ (2, ∞), C = (0, ∞) = D,

0
D = (−∞, 0] = C.
Sets
Operations on Sets

Definition 12
Let A and B be sets. We define the difference B − A (read
”B minus A”) by the rule

B − A = {x|x ∈ B and x ∈
/ A} .

Definition 13
Let A and B be sets. We define the symmetric
difference of A and B, denoted A∆B, by the rule

A∆B = (A − B) ∪ (B − A) .
Sets
Operations on Sets

Definition 14
Given ordered pairs (a, b) and (c, d), we say that these
ordered pairs are equal, denoted (a, b) = (c, d), if and only
if a = c and b = d.
Definition 15
Given sets A and B, we define the cartesian product
AxB (read ”A cross B,” cartesian product is often called
cross product) by the rule

A × B = {(a, b) |a ∈ A, b ∈ B} .
Sets
Operations on Sets

Definition 16
A Venn diagram is a pictorial representation which shows
the relationships of a given universal set and a collection of
some of its subsets. The universal set is usually represented
by a rectangular region and the subsets are represented by
circular regions.
Sets
Operations on Sets

Example 8
Let U = {a, b, c, d, e, f }, A = {b, c, d}, B = {c, d} and
C = {a, b, d, f }. A figure below is a Venn diagram showing
the following sets.

U B
A c
d
b a
e f
C
Sets
Algebraic Properties of Sets
Elementary Property of Sets

Conjecture 1
Let X be any set with universal set U . Then

1 X ∪ X0 = U
2 X ∩ X0 = ∅
3 X 00 = X
4 X ∪X =X
5 X ∩X =X
Sets
Algebraic Properties of Sets
Commuatativity and Associativity

Conjecture 2
Let X, Y, and Z be any sets. Then

1 X ∩ (Y ∩ Z) = (X ∩ Y ) ∩ Z and
X ∪ (Y ∪ Z) = (X ∪ Y ) ∪ Z
2 X ∩ Y = Y ∩ X and X ∪ Y = Y ∪ X
Sets
Algebraic Properties of Sets
Distributivity

Conjecture 3
Let X, Y, and Z be any sets. Then

1 X ∩ (Y ∪ Z) = (X ∩ Y ) ∪ (X ∩ Z)
2 X ∪ (Y ∩ Z) = (X ∪ Y ) ∩ (X ∪ Z)
Sets
Algebraic Properties of Sets
De Morgan’s Laws

Conjecture 4
Let X and Y be sets. Then

1 (X ∪ Y ) 0 = X 0 ∩ Y 0
2 (X ∩ Y ) 0 = X 0 ∪ Y 0
Sets
Algebraic Properties of Sets
De Morgan’s Laws

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