SETS

FEW IMPORTANT SYMBOLS

Symbol Name example
N Natural no. {1,2,3,…}
W Whole no. {0,1,2,3,…}
Z Integers {…,-3,-2,-1,0,1,2,3,…}
Q Rational no. {2/3, 1/5, 5/2}
< Less than 2<4
> Greater than 5>4
≤ Less than and is equal to 5≤N≤10
≥ Greater than and is equal to 11≥N≥20
≠ Do not equal to 5≠6
∩ Intersection A∩B
⋃ Union A⋃B

| Such that {x|x is a natural no., x<10}

: Such that {x:x is an odd no., 7<x<20}

⊆ Subset of
⊂ Proper subset of
⊄ not proper subset of
⊇ Super set
A' , Ac complement
∈ Belongs to
∉ Doesn’t belongs to
Ø, { } Empty set , null set
U Universal set
~ Equivalent

… continues
Set
A well defined collection of objects is called a set.

Well defined collection means?

It means if there is no confusion as to whether or not an object belongs to it.

Members or elements of a set

The members or elements of a set are the objects contained by a set.

1 2 3 4 5

We can observe that 1,2,3,4,5 are the members or elements.

 Set Notation
A = { a, b, c, d, e} or we can write it as A = { b, c, d, a, e}

The members(elements) of set is separated by comma and

braces {} are used outside.
The set is usually represented by a capital letter.
All the elements in a set should be distinct.
The number of elements in a set can be either finite or
infinite.
Elements of set are usually represented by small letters.
Order of elements doesn’t matter for being a valid set. Order
of sets is just for better ways of representation.
 Examples of valid sets
• Collection of odd numbers less than 10.
This is collection of well defined objects since we can say that an
object can be included in this set or not. So this is a set.

1 3 5 7 9

•Collection of set of vowels.

This is collection of well defined objects since we can say that an
object can be included in this set or not. So this is a set.

a e i o u
Examples of Invalid sets
•Collection of tall boys in class
•This is not collection of well defined objects since
there are no parameters defined . So conflict arises
whom to consider tall or not, hence it is not a valid
set.

•Collection of smart boys

•This is not collection of well defined objects
since there are no parameters defined . So
this is not a set.
Methods of describing a set
A set can be described by the following four methods :

1. Description method
2.Listing method or Roster method
3.Set-builder method
4.Venn diagram method
 1.Description method
In this method, we describe the common properties of the members of set inside
the braces.

A= {Whole numbers less than 10}

B= {International cricket players of

Nepal}
Braces Description of set
 2.Listing method or Roster method
In this method, we list the actual members of a set inside the braces.

A= {Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, saturday}

elements

comma
Curly
brackets

B={1,2,3,…,100}
 3. Set builder method
In this method, we describe a set by indicating the properties that its
members must satisfy.

A= {x: x∈ whole number, x<10}

or
A= {x| x∈ whole number, x ≤ 9}

Set A Properties of elements of set

Such that
Elements of set
 4. Venn diagram method

A={0,2,4,6,8} & B={2,3,5,7}

A∩B = {2}

0
4 2
6 3
8 5
7
 Cardinal number of sets
The number of distinct elements in a finite set is called
its cardinal number.
It is denoted as n(A) and read as 'the number of elements of
the set A’.

A={a, e, i, o, u} B
Total no. of elements is 5.
The cardinal number of this set A=5.
Represented as n{A}=5

n{B}=6
 •Finite sets
•Infinite sets
•Singleton sets
•Empty sets
•Equal sets
•Equivalent sets
Types •Overlapping or joint sets
of Sets •Disjoint sets
•Subsets
•Proper subsets
•Universal sets
 Finite set
A={x:x ∈ whole numbers, x< 505546}

B={0,1,2,…,5850}

Here you could

count the
parrots and
write its
cardinal
number.
Finite set is a set that contains a finite
number of elements.
The process of counting of elements of the
set surely comes to an end.
 Infinite set
A={x:x ∈ whole numbers, x>10}
B={…,0,1,2,…}

Here you have

been asked to
count his body
hair and write
its cardinal
number but
you couldn’t do
that.
Infinite set is a set that contains infinite number of
elements.
The process of counting of elements doesn’t comes to
an end.
 Unit or Singleton set
A={x:x ∈ Prime number, x<3}

B={x:x ∈ Planet, it has life on it}

Singleton set is a set that contains a single element in

it.
 Empty set or Null set
A={x:x ∈ Prime number, 7<x<11}
Here you are looking for the highest
peak of the world where as you
couldn’t.

China

Empty set is a set that doesn’t contains even a

single element in it.
Here the cardinal number is 0.
It is denoted by Ø, { }.
 Equal set
Two or more sets are equal if their elements are same.
Their cardinal number is same.
Order of sets doesn’t matter for being equal.
It is denoted by =.
A={2,3,5,7} & B={5,2,3,7}
Here A=B & n(A)=n(B)
B={Highest peak of the World}

A=B={Mount Everest}
A={Highest peak of the Nepal}
 Equivalent set
Two or more sets are equivalent if their elements may
or may not be same.
Their cardinal number is same.
It is denoted by ~.

A={a, e, I, o, u} & B={5,2,3,7,9}

Here, n(A)=n(B)=5 ∴ A~B
B
A

~
 Overlapping or Joint set
Two or more sets are said to be overlapping if they
have at least one common element. B
A
A={2,3,5,7} & B={2,4,6,8}
3 4
∴ A ∩ B= {2} 2 6
5
Water animals 7 8
Land animals

n(A ∩B)=1
 Disjoint set
Two or more sets are said to be Disjoint if they don’t
have any common element.
A={1,3,5,7,9} & B={0,2,4,6,8}
∴ A ∩ B= {} n(A ∩B)=0
Animals
Birds
 Subset
A set is A said to be the subset of another set B, if B
has at least every element of set A.
We use the symbol of ⊆ to denote ‘is a subset of”.
A={a, e, i, o, u} & B={a, b, c, …, x, y, z}
A ⊆B
B
A

Equal sets are also examples of subsets.

A={a, e, i, o, u} & B={e, i, o, a, u}

Here both A and B are subset of each other. So, we can write
A ⊆B as well as B ⊆A .
 Proper subset
A set is A said to be the proper subset of another set B,
if B has at least one element in addition to the every
element of set A.
We use the symbol of ⊂ to denote ‘is a proper subset
of”.
A={a, e, i, o, u} & B={a, e, i, o, u, f}
A⊂B
Equal sets are not example of proper subsets
A={a, e, i, o, u} & B={e, i, o, a, u}

Here neither of the set A or set B contains even one

element more than each other . They have same
elements. So, we can’t call it proper subsets.
 Universal set
A universal set is a set which contains all the elements or objects
of other sets, including its own elements.
 It is usually denoted by the symbol ‘U’.

U={ 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, … }
A={0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, …}
B={1, 3, 5, 7, 9, … }
C={2, 3, 5, 7, …}

Here, A ⊂U, B ⊂U, C

⊂U
 Set operations
There are four fundamental set operations.

1. Union of two sets:

The union of two sets is a set containing all the elements that
are in A or in B (possibly both).
A={0,2,4,6,8} & B={2,3,5,7} A B
∴ A⋃B =B⋃A= {0,2,3,4,5,6,7,8} 0
3
4
6
2 5
7
A={a, b, c, d} & B ={m, n, o, p} 8
∴ A⋃B =B⋃ A={a, b, c, d, m, n, o, p}

Here you needn’t rewrite the

common elements in both the sets A and B.
 2. Intersection of sets
 The intersection of two sets is a set containing only the
common elements in between sets A and B.
A={0,2,4,6,8} & B={2,3,5,7} A B
A∩B=B ∩A={2} 0
3
4
6
2 5
7
8

A={a, b, c, d} & B ={m, n, o, p}

∴ A∩B= Ø
Here you needn’t shade any region as there is not any
common element in between the sets A and B.
 3. Difference between sets

The difference between two sets A and B written as A-B is

defined as the set of elements only in set A.
Example 1:-
A={ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and B={1, 2, 3}
Then A-B= { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5} - {1, 2, 3} ={4,5}
A
B
4 1 2 5
3
 4. Complement of a given set
The complement of a set A, denoted A', is the set of all elements in
the given universal set U that are not in A. 
Example:-
U={ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 , 7, 8}
A={ 3, 4, 7, 8}
A’ = U – A = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 , 7, 8} - { 3, 4, 7, 8}
= { 1, 2, 5, 6}

A
U 2
3 4 7 8

1 5 6
Example:-
U= family
A= children
Then A’ = U – A = Family – Children

- =