Operations on sets

Let X and Y are two sets.

1. The union of X and Y , denoted by X ∪Y , is the set that consists of all elements of X
and also
all elements of Y . More specifically, X ∪ Y = {x | x ∈ X or x ∈ Y}.
2. The intersection of X and Y , denoted by X ∩ Y , is the set of all common elements of X
and
Y. More specifically, X ∩ Y = {x | x ∈ X and x ∈ Y}.
3. The sets X and Y are said to be disjoint if X ∩ Y = ∅.

Example:

1. Let A = {1, 2, 4, 18} and B = {x: x is an integer, 0 < x ≤ 5}. Then,

A ∪ B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 18} and A ∩ B = {1, 2, 4}.

2. Let S = {x ∈ R: 0 ≤ x ≤ 5} and T = {x ∈ R: .1 ≤ x < 7}. Then,

S ∪ T = {x ∈ R: 0 ≤ x < 7} and S ∩ T = {x ∈ R: .1 ≤ x ≤ 5}.

3. Let X = {{b, c}, {{b}, {c}}, b} and Y = {a, b, c}. Then

X ∩ Y = {b} and X ∪ Y = {a, b, c, {b, c}, {{b}, {c}}}.

Definition: Let X and Y be two sets.

1. The set difference of X and Y, denoted by X \ Y, is defined by X \ Y = {x ∈ X: x ∉ Y}.

2. The set (X \ Y) ∪ (Y \ X), denoted by X ∆ Y, is called the symmetric difference of X
and Y.

Example:

1. Let A = {1, 2, 4, 18} and B = {x ∈ Z: 0 < x ≤ 5}. Then,

A \ B = {18}, B \ A = {3, 5} and A∆B = {3, 5, 18}.

2. Let S = {x ∈ R: 0 ≤ x ≤ 1} and T = {x ∈ R: 0.5 ≤ x < 7}. Then,

 S \ T = {x ∈ R: 0 ≤ x < 0.5} and T \ S = {x ∈ R: 1 < x < 7, and
S ∆ T = {x ∈ R: 0 ≤ x < 0.51< x <7}
3. Let X = {{b, c}, {{b}, {c}}, b} and Y = {a, b, c}. Then
X \ Y = {{b, c}, {{b}, {c}}}, Y \ X = {a, c} and X∆Y = {a, c, {b, c}, {{b}, {c}}}.

Definition: Let U be the universal set and X ⊆ U. Then, the complement of X, denoted by X c
, is defined by X c = {x ∈ U: x ∉ X}.

Definition: Let X and Y are two sets. Then their Cartesian product, denoted byX ×Y , is
defined asX ×Y ={(a , b): a∈ X , b ∈Y }. The elements of X ×Y are also called ordered pairs,
with the elements of X as the first entry and elements of Y as the second entry. Thus,
( a 1 , b1 ) =( a2 , b2 )if and only if a 1 = a 2 and b 1 = b 2.
The number of elements (ordered pairs) of a Cartesian product is given by m× n .

Example:

1. Let X = {a, b, c} and Y = {1, 2, 3, 4}. Then

X × X = {(a, a), (a, b), (a, c), (b, a), (b, b), (b, c), (c, a), (c, b), (c, c)}.

X × Y = {(a, 1),(a, 2),(a, 3),(a, 4),(b, 1),(b, 2),(b, 3),(b, 4),(c, 1),(c, 2),(c, 3),(c, 4)}.

Note.1 Euclidean plane, denoted by R2= R × R = {(x, y): x, y ∈R }.

2. By convention, ∅ × Y = X × ∅ = ∅. In fact, X × Y = ∅ if and only if X = ∅ or Y = ∅.

Example: Prove the following:

1. X × Y × Z = (X × Y) × Z = X × (Y × Z).
2. X × (Y ∪ Z) = (X × Y) ∪ (X × Z).
3. X × (Y ∩ Z) = (X × Y) ∩ (X × Z).
4. (X × Y) ∩ (Z × W) = (X ∩ Z) × (Y ∩ W).
5. (X × Y) ∪ (Z × W) ⊆ (X ∪ Z) × (Y ∪ W). Give an example to show that the converse
need not be true.
Definition: Let X and Y be two nonempty sets. A relation R from X to Y is a subset of X × Y,
i.e., it is a collection of certain ordered pairs. We write xRy to mean (x, y) ∈ R ⊆ X × Y. A
relation from X to X is called a relation on X.

Example:

Let A = {a, b, c, d}. Some relations R on A are:

(a) R = A × A.
(b) R = {(a, a), (b, b), (c, c), (d, d), (a, b), (a, c), (b, c)}.
(c) R = {(a, a), (b, b), (c, c)}.
(d) R = {(a, a), (a, b), (b, a), (b, b), (c, d)}.
(e) R = {(a, a), (a, b), (b, a), (a, c), (c, a), (c, c), (b, b)}.
(f) R = {(a, b), (b, c), (a, c), (d, d)}.
(g) R = {(a, a), (b, b), (c, c), (d, d), (a, b), (b, c)}.
(h) R = {(a, a), (b, b), (c, c), (d, d), (a, b), (b, a), (b, c), (c, b)}.
(i) R = {(a, a), (b, b), (c, c), (a, b), (b, c)}.

Definition: Let X and Y are two nonempty sets and let R be a relation from X to Y. Then, the
inverse relation, denoted by R−1 , is a relation from Y to X, defined by R−1 = {(y, x) ∈ Y × X: (x,
y) ∈ R}. So, for all x ∈ X and y ∈ Y, (x, y) ∈ R if and only if (y, x) ∈ R−1 .

Example:

1. If R = {(1, a), (1, b), (2, c)} then R−1 = {(a, 1), (b, 1), (c, 2)}.
2. Let R = {(a, b), (b, c), (a, c)} be a relation on A = {a, b, c} then
R−1 = {(b, a), (c, b), (c, a)} is also a relation on A.

Definition: Let R be a nonempty relation from X to Y. Then,

1. the set dom R= {x : (x, y) ∈ R} is called the domain of R, and

2. the set range R:= {y ∈ Y : (x, y) ∈ R} is called the range of R.

Example: Let a, b, c, and d be distinct symbols and let R = {1, a), (1, b), (2, c)}. Then,

dom R = {1, 2}, range R = {a, b, c}.