SETS

Sets are denoted by

Capital letters Sets use “curly” brackets

A = {1, 3, 2, 5}
n(A) = | A | = 4

The number of elements

in Set A is 4
3 A
7 A 7 is not an element of A
3 is an element of A
 A set is a distinct collection of objects. The objects are
called elements.
Order does not matter. If a set
{1, 2, 3, 4} = {2, 3, 1, 4} contains the same elements as
another set, the sets are equal.
{1,2,3,2,3,2,3,5,5}
{1, {1,
3, 5}
2} In ascending
We order
never repeat elements in a set.

This symbol means "is a subset of"

AB This is read "A is a subset of B".

A = {1, 2, 3} B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
 If a set doesn't contain any elements it is called the
empty set or the null set. It is denoted by  or { }.
NOT {} 
It is agreed that the empty set is a subset of all other sets
so:
 A where A is any set.


List all of the subsets of {1, 2, 3}.

 {1} {2} {3} {1, 2} {1, 3} {2, 3} {1, 2, 3}

Notice the empty

set is NOT in set
brackets.
 Ways of Describing Sets
• List the elements

A= 1,2,3,4,5,6
Give a verbal description
“A is the set of all integers from 1 to 6,
inclusive”
Give a mathematical inclusion rule
A= Integers x 1  x  6
 Membership Relationships
• Definition. Subset.

A  B “A is a subset of B”

We say “A is a subset of B” if x  A  x  B , i.e.,

all the members of A are also members of B. The
notation for subset is very similar to the notation
for “less than or equal to,” and means, in terms of
the sets, “included in or equal to.”
Number of Possible Subsets Total Number of
Elements in Set Possible Subsets

1. {A} {A}  2

2. {A , B} {A , B} {A} {B}  4

3. {A , B , C} {A , B , C} {A , B} {A , C} 8
{B , C} {A} {B} {C} 

4. {A , B , C, D} {A , B , C , D} {A , B , C} {A
, B , D} {A , C , D} ?
16
{B , C , D} {A , B} {A , C}
{A , D} {A , B} …… {D} 

The number of possible subsets of a set of size n is ? n

2
 A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} B = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}
Remember we do
AB = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9} not list elements
more than once.
This is the union symbol. It means the set that consists of all
elements of set A and all elements of set B.

AB = {1, 3, 5}

This is the intersect symbol. It means the set

containing all elements that are in both A and B.
¼ Sheet of Paper

A={1,2,4,6,7,8,1,34,25}
1. How many elements are there in set A.
2. Finite or infinite set?
3. Is 3 an element of A?
4. How many subset can we form for set A?
5. B={1,4,6,8,1,34,25} A is a subset of B. True or False?

B= {2,4,6,8,10 .......}
6. Finite or infinite set?
7. Describe the set.
8. Is 115 an element of B?
9. How many possible subset can we from set B?
10. Give a subset of B.
These sets can be visualized with circles in what is called a
Venn Diagram.

A
A B
B A B

AB AB
Everything that is in Everything that is in
A or B. A AND B.
Often will have a set that contains all elements that we
wish to consider. This is called the universal set. All other
sets are subsets of this set.
AB=
Universal Set There are no
elements in
AA BA both A and B.
When this is
the case they
are called
disjoint sets.

This means the complement of A, and

A means the set of all elements in the
universal set that are not in A.
Venn Diagrams. Venn diagrams are graphic representations
of sets as enclosed areas in the plane.
the rectangle represents the universal set (the set of all
elements considered in a given problem)
100 people were surveyed. 52 people in a survey owned a
cat. 36 people owned a dog. 24 did not own a dog or cat.
Draw a Venn diagram.

universal set is 100 people surveyed Since 24

52 + 36 = 88 so
did not own
there must be
a dog or
88 - 76 = 12 24
C D cat, there
people that own 12
40 24 must be 76
both a dog and
that do.
a cat.

n(C  D) = 76
Set C is the cat owners and Set D is the dog
owners. The sets are NOT disjoint. Some
people could own both a dog and a cat. This n means the
Counting Formula: number of elements
in the set
n(A  B) = n(A) + n(B) - n(A  B)
Example: Let M, P and C be the sets of students taking Mathematics
courses, Physics courses and Computer Science courses respectively
in a university. Assume |M| = 300, |P| = 350, |C| = 450,
|M n P| = 100, |M n C| = 150, |P n C| = 75, |M n P n C| = 10. How
many students are taking exactly one of those courses?
Exercise : Draw the Venn Diagram of the following situation
As of now, the college of computer science is handling 450
students, 40% of which come from the straight curriculum while
35% are from the ladderized. 10% are cross enrolees which came
from the different colleges. The remaining students are both
enrolled in straight and ladderized department.

1. Find the number of the remaining students both enrolled in

straight and ladderized and interpret using the Venn diagram
2. Find how many students are from the straight and ladderized
3. Draw the venn diagam emphasizing the cross enrolee
students.