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Sets and Set Notation

1. A set is a collection of distinct objects called elements or members. Sets can be defined using roster, description, or set-builder notation. 2. Operations on sets include union, intersection, complements, and subsets. The union of sets A and B is the set of elements that belong to A or B or both. The intersection of sets A and B is the set of elements common to both A and B. 3. Venn diagrams can be used to represent relationships between sets such as subsets, intersections, unions, and complements.

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2K views

Sets and Set Notation

1. A set is a collection of distinct objects called elements or members. Sets can be defined using roster, description, or set-builder notation. 2. Operations on sets include union, intersection, complements, and subsets. The union of sets A and B is the set of elements that belong to A or B or both. The intersection of sets A and B is the set of elements common to both A and B. 3. Venn diagrams can be used to represent relationships between sets such as subsets, intersections, unions, and complements.

Uploaded by

micolle0811
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SET

Sets and set notation


Defining Sets
1. Set refers to any collection or group of objects.
2. Sets are usually specified in three ways.
(a) The description method
Example
{ prime numbers}
(b) The roster method
In this method, the set is defined by listing the numbers.
Example
{2,3,5,7,…}
(c) Using set-builder notation
This combines both the roster and description method
Example
(i) { x: x is an even positive integer}
(ii) {p/q: p is an integer and q is a non-zero integer}
3. The objects in a set are called elements or members of the set. They are
said to belong to the set.
4. Sets are usually denoted by capital letters and the notation used for the sets
in braces, { }.
Example
A= {3,6,9,12}
5. The definition of sets has to be clear and precise so that the elements can
be identified.
6. The same elements in a set need not be repeated.
Example
B= {letters in the word’ MERRY’}
= {M, E, R, Y}
7. In set notation, the symbol E means ‘is an element of’ or ‘belongs to’ and E
means ‘is not an element of’ or ‘does not belong to’.
Example
A= {a,b,c}
-- a E A but e E A

8. Sets can also be represented using Venn diagrams. Geometrical shapes


such as circle and rectangles are commonly used to enclose elements of a
set.
9. A dot to the left of an object in a Venn diagram indicates that the object is an
element of the set.
Number of Element, Empty Sets and Equal Sets
1. The notation n(A) denotes the number of elements in set A.
2. When a Venn diagram represents the number of elements in a set, no
dot is placed to the left of the number.
3. A set with no elements is called an empty set or null set. The symbol Ø
(phi) or empty braces, { }, denotes an empty set. Therefore, if set Q is
an empty set, then Q= { } or Q= Ø and n(Q)=0.
4. Two sets are equal if they have the same elements in them. If set A is
equal to set B, then every element in set A belongs to set B and vice
versa. We denote this by writing A B
A=B ●1
●2

5. If either set A or set B has at least one element that is not common to
both, then the sets are said to be unequal and we write A = B.
Subsets, Universal Sets and Complement of Set

Subsets

1. If every element of a set A is also an element of a set B, then set A is called a


subset of set B.
Example
A= { 2,3 } and B= { 2,3,4,5 }
Every element of set A is an element of set B.
2. The Venn diagram below shows the relationship between set A and set B.

A ●4
●2 ●5 ACB
●3

3. An empty set is a subset of any set.


4. Every set is a subset of itself.
5. The subsets of set P= {a, b} are { }, {a}, {b} and {a,b}
Itself
Empty set

The number of subsets for a set with n elements is 2n


Example
n (P)=2
.. Number of subsets = 2^
= 2x2
=4
Universal Sets

1. The set that contain all the elements under consideration in a given
discussion is called the universal set.
2. In set notation, the symbol ξ denotes a universal set.
3. If ξ = { 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 } and G= { 3,6,9 }, then GC ξ. The Venn
diagram shows the relationship between set G and the universal set ξ.
ξ
G
●1
●5 ●3 ●2
●7 ●6 ●9 ●4
●8 ●10

4. All sets are subsets of their respective universal sets.

Complement of a Set
1. The complements of set G are all elements in the universal set ξ that are
not elements of set G.
2. In set notation, G’ denotes the complement of set G.
If ξ = { 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 } and
G= { 3,6,9 }, then
G’= { 1,2,4,5,7,8,10 }
3. The Venn diagram below shows the relationship between G, G’ and the
universal set, ξ.
ξ

G’
G The shaded portion
outside G is G’, the
complement of G.

G C ξ and
G’ C ξ
4. In the above example, let
n (ξ) =10, n(G) = 3 and n(G’) = 7
.. n (ξ) = n(G) + n(G’)
= 3+7
= 10
Therefore, the sum of the number of elements in a set and its complement
is equal to the total number of elements in the universal set.
Operation on Sets
Intersection of Sets

1. The intersection of set A and set B, denoted by A∩B, is the set consisting of
all elements common to set A and set B.
In the Venn diagram below, the shaded region represents A∩B.

2. When A C B, then A∩B =A. the following Venn diagram illustrates this
relationship.

3. When set A and set B are disjoint, then A∩B= Ø. The Venn diagram below
illustrates this relationship.
When A∩B = Ø, there is no intersection between set A and set B. This
means that there are no elements common to sets A and B.

4. The following Venn diagrams represent cases where A∩B = Ø

5. The intersection of set A, set B and set C, denoted by A∩B∩C, is the set
consisting of all elements common to set A, set B and set C. in the Venn
diagram below, the shaded portion represents A∩B∩C.

6. The complement of the intersection of sets are all the elements that are not
elements of the intersection of the sets.
Example
A = { 1,3,5,7 }
B = { 2,5,7,8 }
ξ = { 1,2,3,4,5,67,8 }
A∩B= { 5,7 }
(A∩B)’= { 1,2,3,4,6,8 }
Union of Sets
1. The union of sets A and B, denoted by AUB is the set of elements that
belong to A or B or both.
In the Venn diagram below, the shaded region represent AUB.

2. When A C B, then AUB =B. The following Venn diagram illustrates this
relationship.

3. The Venn diagram below illustrates AUB when set A and set B are
disjoint. The shaded regions are AUB.
4. The following are true about the union of two sets, A and B.
(a) A C (AUB)
(b) B C (AUB)
(c) (A∩B) C (AUB)

5. The union of set A, set B and set C, denoted by AUBUC is the set of
elements that belong to A or B or C, or A and B, or A and C, or B and C or
A, B and C, as shown by the shaded region in the diagram below.

6. The complement of the union of sets are all the elements that are not
elements of the sets.
Example
ξ = { 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 }
A= { 1,2,3 }
B= { 2,3,4,5 }
AUB= { 1,2,3,4,5 }
(AUB)’= { 6,7,8 }
The shaded region represents (AUB)’, that is the complement of the union
of sets A and B.
Combined Operation on Sets
1. Combined operations involve both the intersection and union of sets
and the complement of sets.
2. When considering combined or mixed operations, the following guidelines
are important.
(a) Perform operations from left to right.
(b) If there are brackets, perform operations within them first, then
perform operations from left to right.

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