BASIC CONCEPTS

ON SETS
 The Concept of a Set
A set is a well defined collection of distinct
objects called elements or members.

Example
The following are examples of sets.
1.set of the vowels in the English alphabet
2.set of real numbers
3.set of the months of the year
4.set of Filipino animators
 Set Notations
Sets are usually denoted by upper-case
letters while elements are denoted by lower-case
letters. If an element a belongs to set A, we write
aA
, which reads "a is an element of A". To
b  A that “b is not an element of A”, we write
denote

Example 3B 10  B
If B = set of odd integers then
and .
 Ways of Describing a Set
Roster or Tabulation Form
-done by listing the elements
format: {element 1, element 2, element 3,
…, element n}.

Example
A = set of vowels in the English alphabet
A = {a, e, i, o, u}
 Ways of Describing a Set
Rule or Set Builder Form
-also called defining property method
format: {x| x is P},
read as "x such that x is P" and
P is the property of the elements

Example
A = set of vowels in the English alphabet
A = {xlx is a vowel in the English alphabet}
 Finite and Infinite Sets
A set is said to be finite if it contains a
limited or countable number of elements.
Otherwise, we say that it is infinite.

Example
A = set of IT students in Manila is finite.
B = {xl x is a counting number greater than 11}

is infinite.
 Cardinality
The cardinality of a finite set A, denoted by
or lAl or n(A), is the number of elements of A.

Example
1. If A = set of vowels in the English alphabet
then lAl = 5.
2. If B = set of prime numbers less than 10
then n(B) = 4.
3. If C = {x| x is a Filipino astronaut } then |C| = 0.
 Empty Set
A set without any element in it is called an
empty set or null set, and is denoted by Ø or
{ }. The cardinality of an empty set is 0.

Example
If A = set of counting numbers between 12 and

13 then A is an empty set.

 Relations on Sets
1. Two sets A and B are said to be equivalent,
denoted by A ~ B , if and only if they have
the same cardinality.

Example
Let A = {c, a, r, e, s}, B = {s, c, a, r, e}, and

C = set of letters in the word logic.

Then A ~ B, A ~ C, and B ~ C since
lAl = lBl = lCl = 5.
 Relations on Sets
2. Two sets A and B are said to be equal,
denoted by A = B , if and only if they have
the same elements.

Example
Let A = {c, a, r, e, s}, B = {s, c, a, r, e}, and

 
C = set of letters in the word logic.
Then A = B, but A C, and B C .
 Relations on Sets
3. Two sets A and B are said to be joint if they
have at least one common element.
Otherwise, they are disjoint.

Example
Let A = {m,a,t,h}, B = {s,e,t}, and
C = {l,o,g,i,c}.
Then A and B are joint while A and C are
disjoint, and B and C are also disjoint.
 Subset
Set A is a subset of set B, denoted by A  B , if
every element of A is also an element of B.
Furthermore, if A  B and A  B , then A is a
proper subset of B, denoted byA  B .

Example
B A
Let A = {m,a,t,h}, B = {h,a,t}. Then
. B A
More precisely, .
 Subset
Any subset that is not a proper subset of a
set is called an improper subset.

This means that a set is always an improper

subset of itself. In fact, it is the only possible
improper subset.
 Subset
Remarks:
1. The empty set is a subset of any set.
2. Any set is a subset of itself.
k
3. If A  k , then A has 2 subsets.

Example
Let A = {s, e, t}.
Then the following are the subsets of A:
{ }, {s}, {e}, {t}, {s,e}, {s,t}, {e,t}, and {s,e,t}.
 Power Set
The power set of A, denoted by P (A), is the set
of all subsets of A.

Example
Let A = {s, e, t}.
Then
P (A)= { Ø,{s},{e},{t},{s,e},{s,t},{e,t},{s,e,t}}.

Note that | P(A)|=2|A|.

 Operations on Sets
1. The union of two sets A and B, denoted by
A B
, is the set of all elements found in A or
B or in both.
B
2. TheAintersection of two sets A and B, denoted
by is the set of all the common elements
of A and B.

Example
Let AA = B{m, a, t, h} and B= {e, a, As,t}.B
Then = {a, e, h, m, s, t} and = {a, t}.
 Operations on Sets
Every set under investigation or discussion is a
subset of a fixed set called universal set denoted
by U. It is usually defined or given in discussions.
C
A
3. The complement of a set A, denoted by or A
is the set containing all elements in the
universal set but not in A. In other words,
. A  {x | x  U and x  A }
Example
Let U = {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9} and A =
A
{0,2,4,7}.
Then = {1,3,5,6,8,9} .
 Operations on Sets
4. The difference between sets A and B or the
relative complement of set B with respect to
set A, denoted by A  B , (also read as A minus
B), is the set containing all the elements in A
but not in B. In other words,
A  B  A  B  {x | x.  A and x  B }

Example
Let A = {0,2,4,6,8} and B ={1,3,5,8,9}.
Then A - B = {0,2,4,6} and B - A= {1,3,5,9}
 Operations on Sets
5. The symmetric difference of the sets A and B,
denoted by A  B , is the set of all elements in
either A or B, but not in both A and B.
In symbols, A  B  A  B   A  B 
.
Example
Let A = {0,2,4,5} and B ={1,2,5,8}.
Then A  B  {0,4,1,8}.
 Operations on Sets
6. The Cartesian product of sets A and B,
denoted by A  B , is the set of ordered pairs
(a , b ) aA bB
where and .AFurthermore,
1 , A 2 ,..., A nthe
Cartesian productA 1  Aof2 the  ...sets
An ,
denoted a1by, a 2 ,..., a n  ai  A ithe set of n-
, is
tuples where .
Example
Let A = {0,2,4} B ={1,2} and C ={0,5}.
Then AxB = {(0,1),(0,2),(2,1),(2,2),(4,1),(4,2)}

AxBxC={(0,1,0),(0,1,5),(0,2,0),(0,2,5),(2,1,0),(2,1,5),
 Practice Exercise 1
I. Describe each set using
a. roster form; and b. set builder form.
1. consonants in the English alphabet
2. stars in the universe
3. letters in the word intersection
3 2
4. solutions to the equation x  5 x  6  0
5. integers less than 11.
II. Determine which sets in I are infinite.
III.For each finite set in I, determine its cardinality.
 Practice Exercise 1
IV. Consider the following sets.
U = {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}
A = {2,4,6,8} B = {1,4,5,8,9}
C = {x| x is even} D = {x|x is an odd multiple of 3}

Determine whether the statement is true or false.

1. A and B are joint 2. B and C are disjoint
3. |C| = 5 4. B  D
5. B ~ C A C
6.
7. C  A DA
8.
 Practice Exercise 1
V. Consider the following sets.
U = {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}
A = {2,4,6,8} B = {1,4,5,8,9}
C = {x| x is even} D = {x|x is an odd multiple of 3}

List the elements of each set.

1. A  B 2. C D
3. B B D
4.
5. A  C A D
6.
7. D  A 8. CD
 References

Rosen, Kenneth H. (2008). Discrete Mathematics

and its Applications. 6th edition . Boston: Mc-Graw
Hill.

Dacanay, Elvena, Lupague (2011). Lecture Guide in

to Mathematical Logic. Manila.