The following summarizes essential concepts in this chapter.

The references given in the right-

hand column list Examples and Exercises that can be used to test your understanding of a
concept.

2.1 Variables

Universal Conditional Statement

- universal statements contain some variation of the world “for all” and conditional statements
contain versions of the word “if-the.” A universal conditional statement is a statement that is
both universal and conditional.

example:

For all animals a, if a is a dog, then a is a mammal.

A universal conditional statement is simply a universal statement with a condition, and is

symbolically represented as:

x, if P(x), then Q(x)

or
x, P(x) Q(x)

Understanding universal conditional statements will further your understanding of if-

then (conditional) statements, in particular, why the truth table of an if-then statement is
constructed as it is. Recall that a conditional statement is false only if its hypothesis is true and
the result is false, and apply this to an earlier example of a conditional statement:

If someone kicks me, then I will yell "ouch!"

Obviously, if someone kicks you and you yell "ouch!", the above conditional statement is true.
But suppose you drop a hammer on your foot and yell ouch? Or nothing happens to you and you
therefore say nothing? Neither of these situations makes the above statement false, so it becomes
true by default. The only thing that makes this statement false is if someone kicks you and you
do not yell "ouch!".

Putting this statement into the form of a universal conditional statement yields the following:

For all things that can happen to me, if someone kicks me, then I will yell "ouch!"

If you consider that the only instance which makes this false is a true hypothesis (someone kicks
you) and a false conclusion (you don't yell ouch), it should become apparent that this statement is
therefore true for everything else. Particularly, it is always true when the hypothesis is false.

Negating Universal Conditional Statements

To understand the negation of a universal conditional statement, first review if-then (conditional)
negations and negations of universal ("for all") statements:

The negation of a conditional (if-then) statement is logically equivalent to an and statement.

~(p q) p ~q

The negation of a universal statement is logically equivalent to an existential statement.

~( x, P(x) Q(x)) x | ~( P(x) Q(x))

Substituting the conditional statement into the universal statement yields the following result:

~( x, P(x) Q(x)) x | P(x) ~Q(x)

Universal Existential Statement

– A universal existential statement is a statement that is universal because its first part says that a
certain property is true for all objects of a given type, and it is existential because its second part
asserts the existence of something.

Existential Universal Statements This statement asserts the existence and the property for all. For
example: There is a positive integer that is less than or equal to every positive integer. And we can
rewrite this statement in several ways: Some positive integer is less than or equal to every positive
integer. Or: There is a positive integer m that is less than or equal to every positive integer. Or:
There is a positive integer m such that every positive integer is greater than or Page 3of 12

Existential Universal Statement

– An existential universal statement is a statement that is existential because its first part asserts
that a certain object exist and universal because its second part says that the object satisfies a
certain property for all things of a kind.
Here are examples of existential and universal statements. First write the statement using qualifiers.
Second, in each case, figure out if the statement is true or false, and then prove or disprove the
statement.

1. For every non-zero rational number q, there is a unique rational number r such that qr=1.
2. There are two integers a and b, such that radical(a+b)=radical(a) +radical (b).

2.2 The Language of sets

Set-Roster Notation

– A sets may be specified using the set-roster notation by writing all of its elements between
braces,

The Set of Natural Numbers: {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, . . .} The Set of Whole Numbers: {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, . .
.} The Set of Integers: {. . . , −5,

Set-Builder Notation: Elements of a set are not listed but described. The Set of Rational
Numbers: n a b a and b are integers and b 6= 0o ∈ - is an element of ∈/ - is not an element of 3
∈ {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} 1 3 ∈ { / 1, 2, 3, 4, 5} 50 ∈ {x|x is an integer} −5 ∈ {x|x is a rational number}

Set-Builder Notation

– Let S denote a set and let P(x) be a property that elements of S may or may not satisfy. We may
define a new set to be the set of all elements x in S such that P(x) is true. We may denote this set
as follows:

{x∈S \ P(x)}

A Set is a collection of things (usually numbers).

Example: {5, 7, 11} is a set.

But we can also "build" a set by describing what is in it.

Here is a simple example of set-builder notation:

 It says "the set of all x's, such that x is greater than 0".

In other words any value greater than 0

Notes:

 The "x" is just a place-holder, it could be anything, such as { q | q > 0 }

 Some people use ":" instead of "|", so they write { x : x > 0 }

Subset

– If A and B are sets, then A is called subset of B, written A ⊆ B, if, and only if, every element of
A is also an element of B.

Subsets and Proper Subsets

If every member of set A is also a member of set B, then A is a subset of B, we

write A ⊆ B. We can say A is contained in B.
We can also say B ⊇ A, B is a superset of A, B includes A, or B contains A.

If A is not a subset of B, we write A ⊈ B.

If A is a subset of B (A ⊆ B), but A is not equal to B, then we say A is a proper

subset of B, written as A ⊂ B or A ⊊ B.

Example:
A = {1, 3, 5}, B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, C = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
A is a subset of B, A ⊆ B. because every element in A is also in B
A is also proper subset of B, A ⊂ B. because every element in A is also in B and
A≠B
C is subset of B, C ⊆ B. but is not a proper subset of B because C = B

Example:

X = {1, 3, 5}, Y = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6}.

X is not a subset of Y, X ⊈ Y, because the element 1 is in X but not in Y.
Note:
 The empty set denoted by ∅ or {} is a subset of any set.
∅⊆S
 The empty set is a proper set of all sets except ∅
∅⊂S≠∅

Example:
List all the subsets and proper subsets of the set Q = {x, y, z}
Solution:
The subsets of Q are { }, {x}, {y}, {z}, {x, y}, {x, z}, {y, z} and {x, y, z}
The proper subsets of Q are { }, {x}, {y}, {z}, {x, y}, {x, z}, {y, z}

Order Pair

– Given elements a and b, the symbol (a, b) denotes the order pair consisting of a and b together
with the specification that is the first element of the pair and b is the second element. Two
ordered pairs (a, b)and (c, d) are equal if, and only if, a=c and b=d.

Ordered Pairs
An ordered pair is a pair of numbers in a specific order. For example, (1, 2) and (- 4,
12) are ordered pairs. The order of the two numbers is important: (1,
2) is Not equivalent to (2, 1) -- (1, 2)≠(2, 1).
Using Ordered Pairs to Represent Variables
Ordered pairs are often used to represent two variables. When we write (x, y) = (7, - 2),
we mean x = 7 and y = - 2. The number which corresponds to the value of x is called the
x-coordinate and the number which corresponds to the value of y is called the y-
coordinate.
Example 1. If (x, y) = (- 1, 4), what is the value of 3x + 2y - 4 ?
3x + 2y - 4 = 3(- 1) + 2(4) - 4 = - 3 + 8 - 4 = 1
Example 2. Which of the following ordered pairs (x, y) are solutions to the equation -
6 = 1 ? {(4, 1),(5, 2),(- 3, 1),(- 3, -1),(1, 4)}
(x, y) = (4, 1): -6 = - 6 = 7 - 6 = 1. Solution.
(x, y) = (5, 2): -6 = -6 = -6 = - ≠1. Not a solution.
(x, y) = (- 3, 1): -6 = -6 = - 7 - 6 = - 13≠1. Not a solution.
(x, y) = (- 3, - 1): -6 = - 6 = 7 - 6 = 1. Solution.
(x, y) = (1, 4): -6 = -6 = -6 = - ≠1. Not a solution.
Thus, {(4, 1),(- 3, -1)} are solutions to - 6 = 1.

Cartesian Product

– Given set A and B, denote A x B and read “ A cross B,” is the set off all ordered pairs (a, b),
where a is in A and b is in B.

Cartesian Product Definition for Multiplication of Whole Numbers. Let A and B be two finite sets
with a = n(A) and b = n(B). Then ab = n(A ´ B). The numbers a and b are called factors and ab is the
product.

Two common methods for illustrating a Cartesian product are an array and a tree diagram.

Example: A small village has four streets and five avenues laid out in a rectangular grid. How many
intersections are there?

We have two sets, streets (S) and avenues (A). The elements from the two sets form a list of ordered
pairs such as the intersection of 1st Street and 2nd Avenue, (1, 2). We have

4(5) = n(S) ∙ n(A) = n(S × A) = 20.

There are twenty intersections in the small town.

Example: In algebra the rectangular or Cartesian coordinate plane is an example of the Cartesian
product. We consider the set of all the ordered pairs describing locations in the plane.
Example: A couple is planning their wedding. They have four nieces (Ann, Betty, Cathy, and Deanne)
and three nephews (Ed, Fred, and Gill). How many different pairings are possible to have one boy and
one girl as a ring bearer and flower girl?

Note that this problem may be considered as either a repeated addition problem or a Cartesian product
problem.

Repeated addition: Each niece may be considered to be a set that contains three nephews, so 4(3) = 3 +
3 + 3 + 3 = 12.

Cartesian product: {(A, E), (A, F), (A, G), (B, E), (B, F), (B, G), (C, E), (C, F), (C, G), (D, E), (D, F), (D, G)}

4(3) = n(nieces) ∙ n(nephews) = n(nieces × nephews) = 12

The couple has twelve choices for one ring bearer and one flower girl.

https://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/examples-existential-universal-
statements-first-write-statement-using-qualifiers-second-ca-q26873385

https://www.csm.ornl.gov/~sheldon/ds/sec1.6.html

https://www.mathsisfun.com/sets/set-builder-notation.html

https://www.onlinemathlearning.com/subsets.html

http://web.mnstate.edu/peil/MDEV102/U1/S7/Cartesian4.h