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Definitions

• A set is a collection of objects.

• Objects in the collection are called

elements of the set.

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 Examples - set
The collection of persons living in INDIA is
a set.
– Each person living in INDIA is an element of
the set.

The collection of all countries in the state

of Texas is a set.
– Each county in Texas is an element of the set.

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 Examples - set
The collection of counting numbers is
a set.
– Each counting number is an element of
the set.

The collection of pencils in your

briefcase is a set.
– Each pencil in your briefcase is an
element of the set.
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 Notation
• Sets are usually designated with capital
letters.

• Elements of a set are usually designated

with lower case letters.

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 Notation
• The roster method of specifying a set
consists of surrounding the collection of
elements with braces.

For example the set of counting numbers

from 1 to 5 would be written as
{1, 2, 3, 4, 5}.

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 Notation
• Set builder notation has the general
form

{variable | descriptive statement }.

The vertical bar (in set builder notation) is always read
as “such that”.

Set builder notation is frequently used when the

roster method is either inappropriate or inadequate.

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 Example – set builder
notation
{x | x < 6 and x is a counting number} is
the set of all counting numbers less than
6. Note this is the same set as
{1,2,3,4,5}.
{x | x is a fraction whose numerator is 1
and whose denominator is a counting
number }.

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 Definition
• The set with no elements is called
the empty set or the null set and is
designated with the symbol ∅.

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 Examples – empty set
– The set of all pencils in your
briefcase might indeed be the
empty set.
– The set of even prime numbers
greater than 2 is the empty set.
– The set {x | x < 3 and x > 5} is the
empty set.

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 Definition - subset
• The set A is a subset of the set B if
every element of A is an element of
B.

• If A is a subset of B and B contains

elements which are not in A, then A
is a proper subset of B.

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 Notation - subset
If A is a subset of B we write
A ⊆ B to designate that relationship.

If A is a proper subset of B we write

A ⊂ B to designate that relationship.

If A is not a subset of B we write

A ⊄ B to designate that relationship.
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 Example - subset
The set A = {1, 2, 3} is a subset of the set
B ={1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} because each element
of A is an element of B.

We write A ⊆ B to designate this

relationship between A and B.

We could also write

{1, 2, 3} ⊆ {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
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 Example - subset
The set A = {3, 5, 7} is not a subset
of the set B = {1, 4, 5, 7, 9} because
3 is an element of A but is not an
element of B.

The empty set is a subset of every

set, because every element of the
empty set is an element of every
other set.
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 PROPER SUBSET:

• If A⊆B and A≠B then A is called a

proper subset of B, written as A⊂B.

• For e.g.A={1,3,5},B={1,2,3,4,5,6}

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 UNIVERSAL SET:
• A set U is called a universal set. If all the sets
under consideration are sub-sets of the set U.
• For e.g. If A {1,2,3,4},B {2,3,5,7} and
C={2,4,6,8}then the universal set
U={1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}.

POWER SET:
• The collection of all possible subsets of a given
set A is the power set of A. It is denoted by P(A).
• For e.g. If A={1,2,3} then
• P(A)={Ø,{1},{2},{3},{1,2},{2,3},{1,3},
{1,2,3}}.

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 EQUAL SETS
• Two sets A and B are equal if A ⊆ B
and B ⊆ A. If two sets A and B are
equal we write A = B to designate
that relationship.

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 Example

The sets
A = {3, 4, 6} and B = {6, 3, 4} are
equal because A ⊆ B and B ⊆ A.

The definition of equality of sets shows that the

order in which elements are written does not
affect the set.

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 Example
If A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and
B = {x | x < 6 and x is a counting number}
then A is a subset of B because every element
of A is an element of B and B is a subset of A
because every element of B is an element of A.

Therefore the two sets are equal and

we write A = B.

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August 2006 20
 Definition - union
• The union of two sets A and B is the set
containing those elements which are
elements of A or elements of B.
We write A ∪ B
If A = {3, 4, 6} and
B = { 1, 2, 3, 5, 6} then
A ∪ B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}.

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 Example - Union
If A is the set of prime numbers and
B is the set of even numbers then
A ∪ B = {x | x is even or x is prime }.

If A = {x | x > 5 } and
B = {x | x < 3 } then
A ∪ B = {x | x < 3 or x > 5 }.

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 Venn Diagram - union
A is represented by the red circle and B is
represented by the blue circle.
The purple colored region
illustrates the intersection. A∩B
The union consists of all
points which are colored
red or blue or purple.
A ∪ B

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Definition - intersection
• The intersection of two sets A and B
is the set containing those elements
which are
elements of A and elements of B.

We write A ∩ B

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 Example
If A = {3, 4, 6, 8} and
B = { 1, 2, 3, 5, 6} then
A ∩ B = {3, 6}
If A is the set of prime numbers and
B is the set of even numbers then
A∩B={2}

If A = {x | x > 5 } and
B = {x | x < 3 } then
A∩B=∅

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 Example
If A = {x | x < 4 } and
B = {x | x >1 } then
A ∩ B = {x | 1 < x < 4 }

If A = {x | x > 4 } and
B = {x | x >7 } then
A ∩ B = {x | x < 7 }

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These sets can be visualized with circles in what is called a
Venn Diagram.

A B

A∩B
Everything that is in
A AND B.

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• Disjoint sets:Two sets A and B are disjoint
sets, if A∩B=Ø.For e.g.
If A={2,4,6,8} and B={ 1,3,5,7} then A and B
are disjoint sets.
Note: If A∩B ≠Ø, then A and B are said to
be intersecting sets or overlapping sets.
• Difference of sets: If A and B are two sets,
then their difference A-B is the set
containing exactly those element in A that
are not in B.
Eg:- A={a,b,c} B={a,d}
A-B={b,c}

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• Symmetric difference:-Symmetric
difference of two sets P&Q is the
set containing exactly all the
elements that are not in P or in Q
but not in both.
P(+)Q=(PUQ)-(P ∩Q)

Eg:-P={a,b} Q={a,c}
Then symmetric difference is {b,c}

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• Union and intersection are commutative
operations.
A ∪ B = B ∪ A
A ∩ B = B ∩ A
• Union and intersection are associative
operations.
(A ∪ B) ∪ C = A ∪ (B ∪ C)
(A ∩ B) ∩ C = B ∩ (A ∩ C)

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• Idempotent law:-
AUA=A
A∩ A=A
• Identity law:-
AU∅=A
AUU=U
A∩ U=A
• Complement law:-
AUA’=U U’= ∅

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• Two distributive laws are true.

A ∩ ( B ∪ C )= (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C)

A ∪ ( B ∩ C )= (A ∪ B) ∩ (A ∪ C)

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