Mathematics in the Modern World: Four Basic Concepts of Mathematics

Four Basic Concepts of Mathematics

1. SET
A set is a collection of well-defined objects that contains no duplicates. The objects in the set
are called the elements of the set. To describe a set, we use braces { }, and use capital letters
to represent it.

Examples: The following are examples of sets.

a The set of holidays in a year
b The set of subjects in the first semester
c The set of natural numbers * +
d The set of integers * +
e The set of rational numbers { }

Basic Concepts

 The three dots used in enumerating the elements of the set are called ellipsis and
indicate a continuing pattern.
 A finite set contains elements that can be counted and terminates at certain natural
number, otherwise, it is infinite set.
 An empty set {}, or null set is the only set with no members at all.
 A set with only one member is called a singleton set.

Equal Sets

 Two sets are equal if they contain exactly the same elements.

Examples

a * + * +
b * + * +

Set Representation

a List Notation/Roster Method

In this method, the set is represented by listing all its elements and enclosing them in
braces/curly brackets.
Examples
* +
* +

b Rule Method and Set-Builder Form

Rule Method (General Form): S = {descriptive phrase of the elements}

Set Builder Form: S = {x : conditions that apply to each element x in S}

Examples:

1. A={x: x is an even number from 1 to 10}

Note: The symbols “:” and “” are read as “such that”.
Thus, we read set A as:
“A is the set of all x such that x is an even number from 1 to 10.”
2. Rule Method: M = {prime numbers less than 10}
Set-Builder Form: M={pp is a prime number less than 10}
3. H= {n: n is a natural number and 1≤n≤20}
4. V={y: y is a subject of a First year IT student of SKSU}

Daniel, T. V. Page 1
Mathematics in the Modern World: Four Basic Concepts of Mathematics

Equivalent Sets

 Two sets are equivalent if they contain the same number of elements.
Example
* +, * +, * +, * +

The given sets are all equivalent since they have the same number of elements. Note
that equivalents sets need not be equal.

Universal Set

 A set that contains all the elements considered in a particular situation and denoted by U

Subset

 A set is called a subset of if every element of is also an element of . “ is a subset

of is written as ”.
Examples
a * + is a subset of * +
b * + is a subset of * +

 A proper subset is a subset that is not equal to the original set, otherwise improper
subset.
Example Given the set * + the proper subsets are * + * + * + * + * + * + * +
The improper subset is * +

Cardinality of the Set

 It is the number of distinct elements belonging to a finite set. The cardinality of the set
is denoted by ( ) card ( ) or | |.

Power Set

 The power set of is the family of all the subsets of denoted by ( )

Example. Given the set * +, the power set of is given by

( ) * * +* +* +* +* +* + +

Note that the cardinality of the power set, that is the number of all possible subsets of a
set is given by , where is the number of elements of a set.

Set Operations

1. Intersection: The common elements of two sets:

A B = {x | x belongs to A and B}
If A B = , the sets are said to be disjoint.

2. Union: The set of elements that belong to either of two sets:

A B = {x | x belongs to A or x belongs to B}

3. Complement: The set of elements (in the universal set) that do not belong to a given
set:
A’ = {x U | x A}

4. Difference or Relative Complement: The set of elements that belong to a set but not to
another:
A − B = {x | (x A) ˄ (x B)} = A B’

Daniel, T. V. Page 2
Mathematics in the Modern World: Four Basic Concepts of Mathematics

Example Let U= {1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}, A = {1,2,4,6,10} and B = {3,5,6,7,10}.

A B = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,10}
A B = {6,10}
A’ = {3, 5, 7, 8, 9}
A – B = {1,2,4,6,10} – {3,5,6,7,10} = {1,2,4}
B – A = {3,5,6,7,10} – {1,2,4,6,10} = {3,5,7}

Venn diagrams are graphic representations of sets as enclosed areas in the plane. A rectangle is
used to represent the universal set and circle/ellipse is used to represent the ordinary sets.

Figure 1. Venn Diagram Figure 2. Intersection A B Figure 3. Union A B

Figure 4. Complement A’ Figure 5. Difference A - B Figure 6. Symmetric

Difference A B

Daniel, T. V. Page 3
Mathematics in the Modern World: Four Basic Concepts of Mathematics

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _____________________

Yr. & Sec: __________________________________________ Score: _____________________

1. Use both the roster method and set-builder form to describe the following sets.
a A = the set of whole numbers less than 10 ___________________________________
b B = the set of counting numbers less than 8 __________________________________
c C = the set of even counting numbers ______________________________________
d D = the set of counting numbers between 5 and 12 ___________________________
e E = the set of positive divisors of 32 ________________________________________
f F = the set of all odd numbers ____________________________________________

2. Use the set-builder notation to describe the following sets.

a A = {4, 8, 12, 16, 20} ___________________________________________
b B = {3, 5, 7, 9, 11, …} ___________________________________________
c C = {1, 8, 27, 64, 125} ___________________________________________
d D = {1, ⁄ , ⁄ , ⁄ , ⁄ , …} ___________________________________________
e E = {1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, …} ___________________________________________

3. Check which is finite and which is infinite.

a The set of all counting numbers less than one million _________________________
b The set of all composite numbers greater than 20 ____________________________
c The set of points on a line ____________________________
d The set of all even prime numbers ___________________________
e The set of counting numbers between 10 and 11 ____________________

4. For the listed sets below, tell which are equal and which are equivalent.
A = the set of counting numbers less than 6
B = the set of all positive divisors of 6
C = {x| x is a counting number from 1 to 5}
D = the set of all counting numbers less than 7 and can divide 6
E = the set of all factors of 6

Equal Sets Equivalent Sets

5. Tell which of the following are true and which are false given that A= {0, 1, 2, 3, 4};
B = {0, 1, 2}; C = {3, 4} and D = {3, 4, 5}. Write the word TRUE or FALSE.
_______ a. _______ f. * +
_______ b. _______ g. * +
_______ c. _______ h. { }
_______ d.3 _______ i. 0
_______ e. _______ j. {0,1}

6. Consider the subset P = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}. Construct a subset P in which every element
is
a. even ______________________________
b. divisble by 3 ______________________________
c. a multiple of 4 ______________________________
d. a divisor of 10 ______________________________

Daniel, T. V. Page 4
Mathematics in the Modern World: Four Basic Concepts of Mathematics

e. a prime number ______________________________

f. a composite number ______________________________

7. True or False.
a. If two sets are equal, then they are equivalent. _________________
b. If two sets are equivalent, then they are equal. _________________

8. How many subsets are there for a set with

a. one element ________________
b. two elements ________________
c. three elements ________________
d. in general k elements ________________

9. Given U = {x| x is a counting number less than 10}

A = {x| x is a composite number less than 10}
B = {x| x is a positive divisor of 8}

Find the following sets:

a = ________________________________
b = ________________________________
c = ______________________________
d = ______________________________
e = ______________________________
f = ______________________________
g ( ) = ______________________________
h ( ) = ______________________________

10. Find the following.

a What is n( )? ___________________________
b What is the ( )? ____________________________________________________

11.

Daniel, T. V. Page 5