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2 2 Set Builder Notation

Set-builder notation describes a set by defining properties that its members have. It uses curly brackets around an expression of the form {x | property of x}, where x is a variable that represents members of the set, the vertical bar means "such that", and the property defines criteria for inclusion in the set. Examples show how to define sets of real numbers above or below a threshold using this notation. It is useful for precisely defining mathematical domains when describing functions.

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3K views

2 2 Set Builder Notation

Set-builder notation describes a set by defining properties that its members have. It uses curly brackets around an expression of the form {x | property of x}, where x is a variable that represents members of the set, the vertical bar means "such that", and the property defines criteria for inclusion in the set. Examples show how to define sets of real numbers above or below a threshold using this notation. It is useful for precisely defining mathematical domains when describing functions.

Uploaded by

api-299265916
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Set-Builder Notation

How to describe a set by saying what properties its members have.

A Set is a collection of things (usually numbers).


Example: {5, 7, 11} is a set.
But we can also "build" a set by describing what is in it.

Here is a simple example of set-builder notation:

It says "the set of all x's, such that x is greater than 0".
In other words any value greater than 0
Notes:

The "x" is just a place-holder, it could be anything, such as { q | q > 0 }

Some people use ":" instead of "|", so they would write { x : x > 0 }

Type of Number
It is also normal to show what type of number x is, like this:

The

means "a member of" (or simply "in")

The

is the special symbol for Real Numbers.

So it says:

"the set of all x's that are a member of the Real Numbers,
such that x is greater than or equal to 3"
In other words "all Real Numbers from 3 upwards"
There are other ways we could have shown that:

On the Number Line it looks like:


In Interval notation it looks like:

[3, +)

Number Types
We saw

(the special symbol for Real Numbers). Here are the common number types:

Natural
Numbers

Example: { k

Integers

|k>5}

Rational
Numbers

Real
Numbers

Imaginary
Numbers

Complex
Numbers

"the set of all k's that are a member of the Integers, such that k is greater than 5"
In other words all integers greater than 5.
This could also be written {6, 7, 8, ... } , so:

{k

| k > 5 } = {6, 7, 8, ... }

Why Use It?


When we have a simple set like the integers from 2 to 6 we could just write:

{2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
But how would we list the Real Numbers in the same interval?

{2, 2.1, 2.01, 2.001, 2.0001, ... ???


So instead we say how to build the list:

{x

| x 2 and x 6 }

Start with all Real Numbers, then limit them between 2 and 6 inclusive.
We can also use set builder notation to do other things, like this:

{x

| x = x2 } = {0, 1}

All Real Numbers such that x = x2


0 and 1 are the only cases where x = x2

Another Example:
Example: x 2 or x > 3
Set-Builder Notation looks like this:

{x

| x 2 or x >3 }

On the Number Line it looks like:

Using Interval notation it looks like:

(-, 2] U (3, +)
We used a "U" to mean Union (the joining together of two sets).

Defining a Domain
Set Builder Notation is very useful for defining domains.

In its simplest form the domain is the set of all the values that go into a function.
The function must work for all values we give it, so it isup to us to make sure we get the
domain correct!

Example: The domain of 1/x


1/x is undefined at x=0 (because 1/0 would be dividing by zero).

So we must exclude x=0 from the Domain:

The Domain of 1/x is all the Real Numbers, except 0


We can write this as

Dom(1/x) = {x

| x 0}

Example: The domain of g(x)=1/(x-1)


1/(x-1) is undefined at x=1, so we must exclude x=1 from the Domain:

The Domain of 1/(x-1) is all the Real Numbers, except 1


Using set-builder notation it is written:

Dom( g(x) ) = { x

| x 1}

Example: The domain of x


Is all the Real Numbers from 0 onwards, because we can't take the square root of a
negative number (unless we use Imaginary Numbers, which we aren't).
We can write this as

Dom(x) = {x

| x 0}

Example The domain of f(x) = x/(x2 - 1)


To avoid dividing by zero we need: x2 - 1 0
Factor: x2 - 1 = (x-1)(x+1)
(x-1)(x+1) = 0 when x = 1 or x = -1, which we want to avoid!
So:

Dom( f(x) ) = {x

| x 1, x -1}

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