Lesson 2-1 The Nature of Sets

Objectives:
Define set
Write sets in 3 different ways
Classify sets as finite or infinite
Define the empty set
Find the cardinality of a set
Decide if two sets are equal or equivalent

A. Basic Concepts

A set is a well-defined collection of objects

o The letters of the English alphabet is well-defined
o The set tall people in your class is not well-defined
o There are 3 ways to designate sets:
1. List or Roster method
2. Descriptive method
3. Set-builder notation
Each object in a set is called an element or member of the set
Sets are often named with a capital letter
Natural numbers: The set of counting numbers.
o N = {1, 2, 3, 4, }
The symbol is used to show that an object is a member or element of a set.
If an object is not a member of a set, the symbol is used.
A set with no elements is called an empty set or null set. The symbols use to
represent the null set are { } or .
o Dont write the empty set as { }. This is the set containing the empty
set.

Write each set, using roster notation. Do not include repeats. Video
1. A is the set of letters in the word Alabama.

2. P is the set of even natural numbers between 10 and 40.

3. Z = x | x N and 500 x 6,000

4. F is the set of face cards in a deck of cards.

5. Write the set of natural numbers greater than 4.

Lesson 2-1 The Nature of Sets

Write each set, using the descriptive method. Video
6. {1, 3, 5, 7, }

7. {5, 10, 15, 20}

8. {t, h, o, m, a, s}
9. {21, 22, 23, , 29, 30}

Write each set, using set-builder notation. Video

10. {55, 65, 75, 85}

11. Z is the set of even natural numbers less than 12.

12. {18, 21, 24 27, 30}

List the elements in each set. Video

13. { x | x

N and 70 < x < 80}

14. {5, 12, 19 , 40}

Lesson 2-1 The Nature of Sets

Insert the symbol or in each blank to make the sentence true.
Video
Let B = {e, a, d, c}
15. e _________ B

16. {d} ____________ B

17. __________ B

B. Classifying sets as finite or infinite

If a set has no elements or has a specific number of elements, then the set is a
finite set.
A set that is not finite is infinite.

Classify each set as finite or infinite. Video

1. Set P is the set of numbers that are multiples of 6.
2. { x | x is a member of the U.S. Senate}
3. {3, 6, 9, , 24}

Which of the following sets are empty sets? Video

4. { x | x is a natural number divisible by 7}
5. { x | x is a human being living on Mars}
6. { ,,, }
7. The set Z consists of the living people on earth who are over 200 years old.

C. Cardinal Number of a Set

The number of elements in a set is called the cardinal number of a set.

For a set A, the symbol for cardinality is n (A), which is read as n of A.

Find the cardinality of the set. Video

1. A = {5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30}
2. B = { 10, 12, 14, , 28, 30}
3. C = { 16 }
4.

Lesson 2-1 The Nature of Sets

D. Equal and Equivalent Sets

Two sets A and B are equal (written A = B) if they have exactly the same
members or elements.
Two finite sets A and B are said to be equivalent (written as A B) if they have
the same number of elements. That is, n(A) = n(B).
Two sets have a one-to-one correspondence of elements if each element in the
first set can be paired with exactly one element of the second set and each
element of the second set can be paired with exactly one element of the first set.

Determine whether each pair of sets is equal, equivalent, both or

neither. Video
1.
2.
3.
4.

{ 6, 12, 18, 20} and { 20, 12, 6, 18}.

{p, q, r, s, t} and { 5, 3, 4, 2, 1}
{ 2, 3, 7, 8} and { 1, 4, 5}
{ s, t, o, p} and { p, o, t, s}

Show that the pair of sets is equivalent using one-to-one

correspondence. Video
5.

{ w, x, y, z} and { 1, 2, 3, 4}

Lesson 2-1 The Nature of Sets

Real World Applications Video
There is a relatively young workforce in the U.S. information technology
industry. The percentage of people by age group working at Internet service
providers (ISPs),Web search portals, and data processing companies in 2006 is
shown in the table below:
Age Group

16-19
20-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65 and older

Percentage working at ISPs, Web

Search Portals, and Data Processing
Companies
1.1
10.1
26.8
31.8
19.6
7.8
2.2

a)
b)
c)
d)

List the set of age groups of those whose percentages are over 18%.
List the set of age groups of those whose percentages are less than 10%.
List the set of percentages of those who are between 20 and 44 years old.
Find {x | x is the percentage in the industry for those between ages 45 and
64}
e) Find {x | x is the percentage in the industry for those under age 16}.