SET THEORY

UKO S. JIM
B. Sc. (Hons), M. Sc., Ph. D (in view)1

Department of Mathematics
University of Uyo, P. M. B. 1017, Uyo, Nigeria

August 12, 2021

1
ukojim@uniuyo.edu.ng
UKO S. JIM B. Sc. (Hons), M. Sc., Ph. D (in view)1 (UNIVERSITY
UNIUYO
OF UYO, UYO, NIGERIA) August 12, 2021 1 / 29
 SETS

Definition 1
Set is any well defined collection of distinct objects.

By well defined collection, we mean there is a rule that enables

us to determine whether a given object is an element or a
member of a set.
Definition 2
The elements of a set are the objects in the set.

Usually, we denote sets with uppercase letters and elements

with lowercase letters.
UKO S. JIM B. Sc. (Hons), M. Sc., Ph. D (in view)1 (UNIVERSITY
UNIUYO
OF UYO, UYO, NIGERIA) August 12, 2021 2 / 29
 MEMBERSHIP OF SETS

The following notation is used to show set

membership: x ∈ A means that x is a

member of the set A. x ∈

/ A means that x is

not a member of the set A.

UKO S. JIM B. Sc. (Hons), M. Sc., Ph. D (in view)1 (UNIVERSITY

UNIUYO
OF UYO, UYO, NIGERIA) August 12, 2021 3 / 29
WAYS OF DESCRIBING SET
1
Listing the elements:

A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}.

2
Give a mathematical inclusion rule or roster or

builder form:

A = {x : 1 ≤ x ≤ 6, x is integer}.

3
Give a verbal description: A is the set of all

integers from 1 to 6 inclusive.

 SOME SPECIAL SETS

1
The Null Set or Empty Set:- this is a set

with no element. Often symbolized by ∅ or

{}.
2
The Universal Set :- this is the set of all

elements currently under consideration

and is often symbolized by U or E.

UKO S. JIM B. Sc. (Hons), M. Sc., Ph. D (in view)1 (UNIVERSITY
UNIUYO
OF UYO, UYO, NIGERIA) August 12, 2021 5 / 29
EXAMPLES OF SETS

Standard sets are :

1 Natural numbers N = {1, 2, 3, . . .}

2 Integer numbers Z = {. . . , −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, . . .}

3 Rational numbers Q = { 15 , 2.6, −3.8, 15, . . .}

√
4 Irrational numbers Qc = { 2, π, −6.12122122212222 · · · , . . .}

5 Real numbers R = {47.3, −12, π, . . .}

√ √
6 Complex numbers C = {a + bi : i = −1}, e.g −4 = 2i

We can defined the examples above using set builder notations as

follows:
1 N = {x|x ∈ [1, ∞) and x is an whole number}
2 Z = {x | x ∈ (−∞, ∞) and x is an whole number}
3 Q = { ba | a, b ∈ Z and b 6= 0}
4 Qc = {x | x ∈
/ Q}
5 R = {x | x ∈ Q ∪ Qc } = {x | x ∈ (−∞, ∞)}.
√
6 C = {a + bi : i = −1}
 FINITE AND INFINITE SETS

Definition 3
Finite set is a set with countable number of elements.
Definition 4
Infinite set is a set with uncountable number of
elements.

UKO S. JIM B. Sc. (Hons), M. Sc., Ph. D (in view)1 (UNIVERSITY

UNIUYO
OF UYO, UYO, NIGERIA) August 12, 2021 8 / 29
DEFINITION OF SUBSETS

Definition 5
A ⊆ B means that A is a subset of B. We say A is a subset of B if
x ∈ A ⇒ x ∈ B that is, 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.

Definition 6
A ⊂ B means that A is a proper subset of B. we say A is a proper subset of B
if all the members of A are also members of B, but in addition there exists at
least one element c such that c ∈ B but c ∈
/ A.

The notation for proper subset is very similar to the notation for “less than ”
and means in terms of the sets included in but not equal to.
 SET UNION

A union B is the set of all elements that are in A or B or both.

The ‘or’ is similar to logical operator (∨),

A ∪ B = {x : x ∈ A or x ∈ B}.

A∪B

A B

UKO S. JIM B. Sc. (Hons), M. Sc., Ph. D (in view)1 (UNIVERSITY

UNIUYO
OF UYO, UYO, NIGERIA) August 12, 2021 10 / 29
SET INTERSECTION

A intersect B is the set of all elements that are common in both

A and B.
A ∩ B = {x : x ∈ A and x ∈ B}.

A intersection B is a set containing x such that x belong to A

and x belong to B. The ‘and ’ is similar to logical operator (∧).
A∩B

A B
 SET COMPLEMENT

A complement or not A is the set of all elements not in A. The

complement operator is similar to the logical not and is reflexive
that is A00 = A and A0 = {x : x ∈
/ A}.
U

A′

UKO S. JIM B. Sc. (Hons), M. Sc., Ph. D (in view)1 (UNIVERSITY

UNIUYO
OF UYO, UYO, NIGERIA) August 12, 2021 12 / 29
 SET DIFFERENCE

A minus B is the set of elements that are in A not in B.

Therefore,

A − B = A ∩ B 0 = {x : x ∈ A, x ∈
/ B}

e.g A = {3, 7, 9, 10}, B = {3, 7, 14, 17}, A − B = {9, 10}

B − A = {14, 17}.
A−B

A B

UKO S. JIM B. Sc. (Hons), M. Sc., Ph. D (in view)1 (UNIVERSITY

UNIUYO
OF UYO, UYO, NIGERIA) August 12, 2021 13 / 29
B − A = B ∩ A0 = {x : x ∈ B, x ∈
/ A}

B−A

A B
Symmetric Difference

A∆B = {A − B} ∪ {B − A}

A∆B = {x : x ∈ A but x ∈
/ B or x ∈ B but x ∈
/ A}

Example: If A = {a, f , g} and B = {1, f , 2}, find A∆B.

A − B = {a, g}, B − A = {1, 2}, then A∆B = {a, g, 1, 2}.

A∆B = A ∩ B = A ∪ B − A ∩ B = {A − B} ∪ {B − A}

A B
SET EQUALITY

sets A and B are equal if and only if they contain

exactly the same elements. examples:

A = {9, 2, 7, −3}, B = {7, 9, −3, 2}

A=B

A = {dog, cat, horse}, B = {cat, horse, dog, squirrel}

A 6= B

A = {dog, cat, horse}, B = {cat, horse, dog}

A=B
 CARDINALITY OF SETS

If a set S contain n distinct elements, n ∈ N, we call S

a finite set with cardinality n.

Examples
A = {mercedes, bmw, toyota} |A| = 3

B = {1, {2, 3}, {4, 5}, 6}

UKO S. JIM B. Sc. (Hons), M. Sc., Ph. D (in view)1 (UNIVERSITY

UNIUYO
OF UYO, UYO, NIGERIA) August 12, 2021 17 / 29
 POWER SETS

P(A) = {X : X ⊆ A} (contain all subsets of A)

Examples:

(i) A = {x, y , z}

P(A) = {∅, {x}, {y }, {z}, {x, y}, {x, z}, {y , z},

{x, y , z}}

(ii) B = ∅, P(B) = {∅}.

Note |B| = 0, |P(B)| = 1.

UKO S. JIM B. Sc. (Hons), M. Sc., Ph. D (in view)1 (UNIVERSITY
UNIUYO
OF UYO, UYO, NIGERIA) August 12, 2021 18 / 29
CARTESIAN PRODUCT

The cartesian product of two sets is defined as :

A × B = {(a, b) : a ∈ A and b ∈ B}.

Example:

A = {good, bad,}, B = {student, prof}

A × B = {(good, student), (good, prof), (bad, student),

(bad, prof)}.
THE LAWS OF SET THEORY
1 A00 = A law of double complement.

2 A ∪ B = A0 ∩ B 0 De Morgan’s law A ∩ B = A0 ∪ B 0

3 A∪B =B∪A commuative laws A ∩ B = B ∩ A

4 A ∪ (B ∪ C) = (A ∪ B) ∪ C associative laws A ∩ (B ∩ C) = (A ∩ B) ∩ C
T S T
5 A ∪ (B C) = (A B) (A ∪ C) distributive laws
A ∩ (B ∪ C) = (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C)

6 A ∪ A = A, A ∩ A = A idempotent law

7 A ∪ φ = A, A ∩ U = A identity laws

8 A ∪ A0 = U, A ∩ A = φ inverse laws

9 A ∪ U = U, A ∩ φ = φ domination laws

10 A ∪ (A ∩ A) = A absorption laws A ∩ (A ∪ A) = A
ANALYTIC PROOFS

Proof that A ∪ B = A ∩ B.

Let x ∈ A ∪ B =⇒ x ∈
/ A∪B

=⇒ x ∈
/ A or x ∈
/B

=⇒ x ∈ A and x ∈ B

=⇒ x ∈ A ∩ B

=⇒ A ∪ B ⊆ A ∩ B

Again,
 Let x ∈ A ∩ B =⇒ x ∈ A and x ∈ B

=⇒ x ∈
/ A or x ∈
/B

=⇒ x ∈
/ A∪B

=⇒ A ∩ B ⊆ A ∪ B

∴ A ∩ B = A ∪ B.

UKO S. JIM B. Sc. (Hons), M. Sc., Ph. D (in view)1 (UNIVERSITY

UNIUYO
OF UYO, UYO, NIGERIA) August 12, 2021 22 / 29
 VENN DIAGRAM

A B

UKO S. JIM B. Sc. (Hons), M. Sc., Ph. D (in view)1 (UNIVERSITY

UNIUYO
OF UYO, UYO, NIGERIA) August 12, 2021 23 / 29
 VENN DIAGRAM

B C

UKO S. JIM B. Sc. (Hons), M. Sc., Ph. D (in view)1 (UNIVERSITY

UNIUYO
OF UYO, UYO, NIGERIA) August 12, 2021 24 / 29
QUESTIONS

(1.) Let A be the prime factors of 72 and B be the set of prime

factors of 45. find A ∩ B and A ∪ B.
Solution:

A = {2, 3}

B = {3, 5}

A ∩ B = {3}

A ∪ B = {2, 3, 5}
(2.) Let P be the set of prime factors of 42 and Q be the set of prime
factors of 45. Find P ∩ Q, P ∪ Q.
Solution:

P = {2, 3, 7}

Q = {3, 5}

P ∩ Q = {3}

P ∪ Q = {2, 3, 5, 7}
(3.) if U = {x : x ∈ N, 2 ≤ x ≤ 7},
A = {x : x ∈ U, x is a prime number}, B = {x : x ∈ U, x ≤ 3}
show that (A ∩ B)0 = A0 ∪ B 0
Solution:

U = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}

A = {2, 3, 5, 7}, B = {2, 3}

A ∩ B = {2, 3}

(A ∩ B)0 = {4, 5, 6, 7}

A0 = {4, 6}, B 0 = {4, 5, 6, 7}

A0 ∪ B 0 = {4, 5, 6, 7}

(A ∩ B)0 = A0 ∪ B 0 = {4, 5, 6, 7}
 More Questions in Next Class

UKO S. JIM B. Sc. (Hons), M. Sc., Ph. D (in view)1 (UNIVERSITY

UNIUYO
OF UYO, UYO, NIGERIA) August 12, 2021 28 / 29
 Thank You

UKO S. JIM B. Sc. (Hons), M. Sc., Ph. D (in view)1 (UNIVERSITY

UNIUYO
OF UYO, UYO, NIGERIA) August 12, 2021 29 / 29