SET THEORY

What is a set?
A set is a collection of distinct objects. The objects in a set are called the
elements or the members of the set. The name of the set is written in upper
case and the elements of the set are written in lower case. If x is an element of
a set A, we say that x belongs to or is a member of A, and is expressed
symbolically as
x A.
If y is not a member of A, then this is symbolically denoted as
y A

Let V be the set of all vowels. Then V is written as

V= {a, e, i, o, u}
The curly brackets
Name of the Denoting the beginning
set And end

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The order in which elements appear do not matter, so
{a,o,i,e, u}, {u, e, o, a, i}, {o, e, a, i,u} are all V

a {a}
a is an element whereas {a} is a set whose element is a. {} makes all the difference
in set notation.
Page 242, #6-c, d
Page 266, #6-c, d
Sets given by defining property.
{x R | -2 < x < 5 }
Is read as (from left to right) the set of all x such that x is a real number and also x is
greater than 2 and less than 5. Can you list some of the members of this set?
Page 242, #4-b
Page 266, #4-b
Finite and infinite sets.
Sets whose elements can be listed are called finite sets, like
H={seasons in a year}
Which of the above sets are finite and which are infinite?

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SUBSETS

If A and B are sets , A is called the subset of B, written as A B, if and only if,
every element of A is also an element of B.
Symbolically,
A B , x, if x A then x B.
Also A is contained in B or B contains A are ways of saying that A is a subset of B.
Page 242, #6-g, h
Page 266, #6-g, h
EMPTY SET
Consider the set
X= {x : x 9,2 x 4}
2

Can you find any x which satisfies the above condition?

A = {set of all animals}
P={x A| x is a pink elephant}
What could possibly be the elements of P?

A set with no elements is called an empty set denoted as . An empty
Set is a subset of every set. A, where A is any set.
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 { } because is the set with no elements {}, whereas { } is the set
with one element, the empty set.

Subsets revisited
Let A and B be sets. A is a proper subset of B if, and only if, every element of A
Is in B but there is at least one element of B that is not in A

For every set A

A A, i.e. each set is its own subset
And
A, i.e. the empty set is subset of every set

U is the universal set or universe of discourse. It is considered the all

encompassing set. Every set is a subset of U.

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Venn Diagrams
What is a Venn Diagram?
A Venn Diagram is a pictorial representation of sets. U is the universal set which
is represented as a rectangle. Other sets are represented as circles.
For example, if A and B are sets and
A B, that is B contains A, then this situation is represented as

A B

More on Venn Diagrams later

Z = set of integers
Q = set of rational numbers.
R= set of real numbers
Can you show the subset relation between Z, Q and R using notation and Venn
Diagram notation ?
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Set Equality
Given two sets A and B, A equals B, written A = B, if, and only if, every
element of A is in B and every element of B is in A.
Symbolically,

A B A B and B A
Venn Diagram

A=B

Page 243, #10-a, c Page 266, #10-a, c

versus

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Set Operations.
Let A and B be subsets of the universal set U.
1. The Union of A and B , denoted A B , is the set of all elements x in U such
that x is either in A or in B.
2. The Intersection of A and B , denoted A B , is the set of all elements x in U
such that x is in both A and B.
3. The Difference of B minus A , denoted B-A, is the set of all elements x in U
such that x is in B, but not in A.
4. The complement of a set A, denoted as Ac is the set of all elements x in U such
that x is not in A.
Symbolically
A B {x U | x A or x B}
A B {x U | x A and x B}
B A {x U | x A and x B}
Ac {x U | x A}

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Show the facts of previous slides using Venn Diagrams

A B

Class Activity
Draw the rest on your own

Page 242, #7
Page 266, #7

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 c = U.
Uc = .
Complement
A Ac = .
A Ac = U.
Distributivity
A (B C) = (A B) (A C).
A (B C) = (A B) (A C).
Identity
A U = A.
A = A.
Commutativity
A B = B A.
A B = B A.

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 Associativity
(A B) C = A (B C).
(A B) C = A (B C).
Idempotent
A A = A.
A A = A.
Universal Bounds
A = .
A U = U.

Two sets A and B are called disjoint if they have no elements in common, i.e.
AB=

Page 267, #6-a, 8

Page 268, #19-a, 290 #4

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Given 2 sets A and B, the Cartesian
Product of A and B , denoted
Given a set A, the power set of A,
A B , is the set of all ordered denoted P (A), is the set of all
pairs(a,b), where a is in A and b is
in B. subsets of A.
Given sets A1 , A2 ,..., An , the For all sets A and B, then
Cartesian Product of A1 , A2 ,..., An , 1.
denoted by A B, P( A) P( B)
2.
is the set of all ordered n-tuples For all integers, n 0 ,
A1 A2 ... An , (a1 , a2 ,..., an )
if a set X has n elements then
where a1 A1 , a2 A2 ,...an An
P(X) has 2 n elements
Symbolically, Page 268, #40
A B {( a, b) | a A, b B}
Page 268, #26
A1 A2 ... An {( a1 , a2 ,..., an ) |
a1 A1 , a2 A2 ,...an An }

Page 238, example 5.1.10

Page 265, example 5.1.15

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 Two sets A and B are disjoint if A B = .
Sets A1, , An are pairwise disjoint if Ai Aj
= for all i, j {1, , n}, with i j.
A collection of sets {A1, , An} is a partition
of a set A if
A1 An = A, and
A1, , An are pairwise disjoint.

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 Let
A0 = {n Z | n = 3k for some k Z}.
A1 = {n Z | n = 3k + 1 for some k Z}.
A2 = {n Z | n = 3k + 2 for some k Z}.
Then {A0, A1, A2} is a partition of Z.

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Set Identities

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 Boolean Algebras

A Boolean algebra is a set S that

includes two elements 0 and 1,
has two binary operations + and ,
has one unary operation ,
which satisfy the following properties for all a, b, c in S:

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 Boolean Algebras

Commutativity
a + b = b + a.
a b = b a.
Associativity
(a + b) + c = a + (b + c).
(a b) c = a (b c).

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 Boolean Algebras

Distributivity
a (b + c) = (a b) + (a c)
a + (b c) = (a + b) (a + c)
Identity
a + 0 = a.
a 1 = a.

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 Boolean Algebras

Complementation
a + a = 1.
a a = 0.

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 Examples: Boolean Algebras

Let U be a nonempty universal set. Let 0 be and 1 be U. Let + be

and be . Let be complementation. Then U is a Boolean algebra.
Let U be a nonempty universal set. Let 0 be U and 1 be . Let + be
and be . Let be complementation. Then U is a Boolean algebra.

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 Examples: Boolean Algebras

Let S be the set of all statements. Let 0 be F and 1 be T. Let + be

and be . Let be negation. Let = be . Then S is a Boolean algebra.
Let S be the set of all statements. Let 0 be T and 1 be F. Let + be
and be . Let be negation. Let = be . Then S is a Boolean algebra.

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 Derived Properties

Theorem: Let S be a Boolean algebra and let a, b in S. Then

a a = a.
a + a = a.
a 0 = 0.
a + 1 = 1.
a b = a if and only if a + b = b.
a b = a + b if and only if a = b.

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 Derived Properties, continued

a b = 0 and a + b = 1 if and only if a = b.

0 = 1.
1 = 0.
(a) = a.
(a b) = a + b.
(a + b) = a b.

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 Example: Boolean Algebra

Let S = {1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 15, 30}.

Define
a + b = gcd(a, b).
a b = lcm(a, b).
a = 30/a.
1 is U, 30 is 0
Verify the 10 basic properties.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_common_divisor

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