SET THEORY
A set is a well-defined collection of distinct objects.
Examples:
a collection of cars
a collection of fruits
a set of vowels of English alphabet
Set Membership
Any object belonging to a set is a called a member or an element of that set. E.g
a ∈ A means a is an element of A
a ∉ A means a is not an element of A
Terms in Set
Subset
A subset is a set whose elements are all elements of another set. A subset is denoted by ⊆. E.g
A={1,2} B={1,2,3}
A⊆B
Considering the set A and B above, We can say that A is a subset of B because all elements of A belongs to B.
If A={1,2,3,4} and B={1,2,3,4}, then we conclude that every set is a subset of itself i.e
A ⊆ B and B ⊆ A
Universal Set
A universal set is the set that contains all the elements under consideration for a particular discussion or problem. E.g
U={1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10)
A={1,2,3,5}
B={4,6,7,8,9}
Empty Set
This is a set with no element. It is denoted by ∅ or { } e.g
A={a month of the year starting with B}
A={∅}
Finite Set
A set with a countable number of elements e.g., {1,2,3}
Infinite Set
A set with an uncountable or infinite number of elements e.g{1,2,3,4,…..}
OPERATIONS ON SET
1. Union Operation (∪)
The union of two sets is the set of all elements that belong to both sets. Let us consider:
A={1,2,3,4,5,6}
B={2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11}
What is the union of A and B?
A ∪ B={1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11}
2. Intersection operation (∩)
The intersection of two sets is the set of elements that are common to both sets. Let us consider:
A={1,2,3,4} B={1,3,4,5,6,7}
What is the intersection of A and B
A ∩ B={1,3,4}
Note: Two sets are called Disjoint if their intersection is the empty set. E.g
Let A = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9} and B = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}.
A ∩ B = ∅, A and B are disjoint because they do not have any element in common.
3. Compliment
The complement of a set A (relative to the universal set U) is the set of all elements in U that are not in A
i.e U-A
Example
If U={1,2,3,4,5} and A={1,3,5}
Solution: A’=U-A
A’={2,4}
4.Difference
Let A and B be sets. The difference of A - B is the set A with all of the elements common to B removed
from it.
Example:
A={2,3,4,5,6,7} B={3,4,6,7,8,9}
Determine A-B and B-A
A-B={2,5}
B-A={8,9}
5. Power Set
The power set of A, denoted by P(A), is the set of all subsets of A, including A itself
and ∅.
Example
A={1,2,3}
P(A)= {{∅}, {1}, {2}, {3}, {1,2},{1,3}, {2,3}, {1,2,3}}
6. Symmetric Difference
The symmetric difference of two sets A and B, denoted by (A Δ B) is the set of
elements that are in A or B, but not in both.
Example
Consider A={1,2,3,4,5} and B={3,5,7,8,9}
A Δ B= {1,2,4,7,8,9}
7. Cartesian Product
The cartesian product of two sets A and B is the set of all ordered pairs(a,b) where a ∈ A and b
∈B
Mathematically, we have
A x B= {(a,b) | a ∈ A and b ∈ B}
Example 1
What is the Cartesian product of A={1,2} and B={a,b,c}
Solution:
The Cartesian product A x B is
A x B= {(1,a), (1,b), (1,c), (2,a), (2,b), (2,c)}
Example 2
What is the Cartesian product A × B × C, where A = {0, 1}, B = {1, 2}, and C = {0, 1, 2}
Solution:
The Cartesian product A x B x C is
A x B x C={(0, 1, 0), (0, 1, 1), (0, 1, 2), (0, 2, 0), (0, 2, 1), (0, 2, 2), (1, 1, 0), (1, 1, 1), (1, 1, 2),
Examples
1. Let U={1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10}
A= {2,4,6,8,10}
B= {3,4,5,6,7,8}
C= {5,6,9,8}
a. A ∪ (B ∩ C)= {2,4,6,8,10} ∪ ({3,4,5,6,7,8} ∩ {5,6,9,8})
= {2,4,6,8,10} ∪ {5,6,8}
= {2,4,5,6,8,10}
b. (B ∪ C) ∩ (A ∩ B )= ({3,4,5,6,7,8} ∪ {5,6,9,8}) ∩ ({2,4,6,8,10} ∩ {3,4,5,6,7,8})
= {3,4,5,6,7,8,9} ∩ {4,6,8,}
= {4,6,8}
c. A – B = {2,4,6,8,10} - {3,4,5,6,7,8}
= {2,10}
d. B – A= {3,4,5,6,7,8} - {2,4,6,8,10}
= {3,5,7}
e. A’ with respect to universal set= {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10} - {2,4,6,8,10}
= {1,3,5,7,9}
2. Find the sets A and B if A – B= {1,5,7,8}, B – A ={2,10}, and A ∩ B={3,6,9}.
Solution:
A= (A - B) ∪ (A ∩ B)
= {1,5,7,8} ∪ {3,6,9}
= {1,3,5,6,7,8,9}
B= (B – A) ∪ (A ∩ B)
= {2,10} ∪ {3,6,9}
= {2,3,6,9,10}
3. Given U={1,2,3,…,10} A={1,2,4,8} B={1,2,3,5,7} C={6,7,8,10}, determine the following:
a. (A ∪ B)’ = {1,2,4,8} ∪ {1,2,3,5,7}
= {1,2,3,4,5,7,8}’
= {6,9,10}
b. (A - B) ∩ C = ({1,2,4,8} - {1,2,3,5,7}) ∩ {6,7,8,10}
= {4,8} ∩ {6,7,8,10}
= {8}
c. A’ ∩ (B ∪ C’) = {3,5,6,7,9,10} ∩ ({1,2,3,5,7} ∪ {1,2,3,4,5,9})
= {3,5,6,7,9,10} ∩ {1,2,3,4,5,7,9}
= {3,5,7,9}
Venn Diagram
A Venn diagram is a visual representation of sets and their relationships,
using overlapping circles to illustrate the connections between different
groups or categories. Below is an example of a Venn diagram
Examples
Examples
(A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C)
Examples
Shade the area of the Venn diagram represented by:
i. A’ ∪ B ii. (A - B)’
Solution
i. A’ ∪ B
U= {1,2,3,4} A={1,2} B={2,3}
A’ ∪ B = {3,4} ∪ {2,3}
= {2,3,4}
ii. (A - B)’
U={1,2,3,4} A={1,2} B={2,3}
(A - B)’= {1}’
= {2,3,4}
Exercise
1. Let U= {1,2,3,…,10} A= {1,3,5,7} B={3,4,5,6,8,10} C={2,4,6,7,8}
Solve the following
i. A ∩ B ∩ C
ii. A - B
iii. B - C
IV. A’ - C
2. Shade the area of the Venn diagram represented by:
i. A ∩ B
ii. A’ ∩ B
iii. B - A
