HANDOUT FOR DISCRETE STRUCTURES
elements 1, 2, and 3 of set A are also present in set B
A set is a mathematical representation of a
collection of distinct objects (elements) that are
grouped in a particular manner.
An element refers to the individual object that
composes a set.
Z = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50} is read as “Z containing the
elements 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50”.
10, 30, 40 ∈ Z is a notation that uses the Greek letter
epsilon (∈) can be read as “10, 30, and 40 are element
of Z”.
m ∉ B is a notation that can be read as “m is not an
element of B”.
The cardinality of a set is a measure of a set's size,
meaning the number of elements in the set.
For instance, the set A = {10, 20, 30} has a cardinality of
3, |A| = 3, for there are three elements that are in it.
SPECIAL SETS
▪ Empty Set (∅)
Is a set that contains no elements at all. It is
denoted by the symbol ∅ to represent the absence
of elements.
▪ Set of Natural Numbers (ℕ)
Is a that set that includes all positive whole
numbers, starting from 1 and continuing infinitely.
▪ Set of Integers (ℤ)
Is a set that encompasses all whole numbers,
including positive, negative, and zero.
▪ Set of Rational Numbers (ℚ)
Is a set that comprises all numbers that can be
expressed as a fraction where the numerator and
denominator are integers (excluding zero in the
denominator).
▪ Set of Real Numbers (ℝ)
Is set incorporates all numbers with decimal
points.
OPERATIONS ON SETS
▪ Union of Sets (∪)
Is an operation that combines all the elements of
both sets, removing its duplicates.
▪ Intersection of Sets (∪)
Is an operation that lists down all the elements
that are present in both sets.
▪ Difference of Sets (–)
Is an operation that list down all the elements that
are present in the one set but not in the other set.
▪ Complement of Sets (C)
Is an operation that determine elements that are
not in the given set but belong to the universal set
SUBSETS AND POWERSETS
A set can be considered as a subset if and only if all
its elements are elements of another set.
Let us have A = {1,2,3} and B = {1,2,3,4,5} since
we can therefore say that “A is a subset of B” or A  B.
A superset is a set that contains all the elements of
another set with additional elements.
Let A = { 1, 2, 3} and B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} from these values
we can say that “B is a superset of A” or B  A since
set B has all the elements of set A.
The power set is the collection of all possible
subsets of a given set including the empty set (∅) and
the set itself.
The Cartesian Product refers to the set of all
possible ordered pairs where the first element of the
pair is from set A and the second element is from set
B.
MATHEMATICAL STATEMENTS
A statement is any declarative sentence which is
either true or false.
Atomic Statement refers to a statement that is too
elementary that it cannot be divided into smaller
statements,
Molecular Statement are statements that are
composed of two or more statements that are joined
by logical connectives.
LOGICAL CONNECTIVES
▪ P  Q is read “P AND Q” and called a Conjunction
• P  Q is read “P OR Q” and called a Disjunction.
▪ P → Q is read “if P then Q” and called an
Implication.
• P  Q is read “P if and only if Q” and called a
Biconditional.
•  P is read “NOT P” and called a Negation.
TRUTH VALUES FOR LOGICAL CONNECTIVES
▪ P  Q is TRUE when both P and Q are TRUE
• P  Q is TRUE when either P or Q is TRUE or both
▪ P → Q is TRUE when:
• P is FALSE
• Q is TRUE
• P is FALSE and Q is TRUE
• P  Q is TRUE when:
• P and Q are both TRUE
• P and Q are both false.
•  P is TRUE when P is FALSE
The inverse of an implication P → Q is the implication
 P →  Q.
The converse of an implication P → Q is the
implication Q → P.
The contrapositive of an implication P → Q is the
implication  Q→  P.