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PART I –SETS
CHAPTER OUTLINE: PART 1

2.1 SETS

2.1.1 DEFINITION OF SET

2.1.2 METHODS FOR SPECIFYING SET

2.1.3 SUBSETS

2.1.4 VENN DIAGRAM

2.1.5 SETS OPERATIONS

2.1.6 SET IDENTITIES

2.1.7 THE INCLUSION – EXCLUSION PRINCIPLE

 2.1 SETS
2.1.1 DEFINITION OF SET:
Any well-defined collection of objects called
elements or members of the set .
Eg: the collection of real numbers between zero
and one
Notations:
Usually uses uppercase/capital letters, A, B, X,Y
to denote sets.
Lowercase letters, a, b, x, y to denote elements of
sets.
 x  A - denote x is an element of set A.
 x  A - denote x is not an element of set A.
  or   - empty set
 EXAMPLE 1
If G is the set of all even numbers, then :

4G 3G

Special Symbols:
N = the set of natural numbers or positive integers:
1, 2,3,..
Z = the set of all integers: ..., -2, -1, 0, 1, 2,...
Q = the set of rational numbers
R = the set of real numbers
C = the set of complex numbers
2.1.2 METHODS FOR SPECIFYING SETS:
1) Listing: by listing its elements between curly
brackets { } and separating them by commas.
E.g.: A = {0}, B = {2, 67, 9}, C = {x, y, z}.

2) Set’s Construction / Implicit Description: by

giving a rule which determines if a given object
is in the set or not.
E.g: A = { x : x is a natural number}
B = { x : x is an even integer, x > 0}
C = { x : 2x = 4}
 We describe a set by listing its element only if the set
contains a few elements; otherwise we describe a set by
the property which characterizes its element.
 List all the elements of each set when
N = {1, 2, 3, ...}.

i) A   x   3  x  9

ii) B   x   x is even, x  11

iii) C   x   4  x  7
2.1.3 SUBSETS:
If every element of A is also an element of B.
 That is a  A, a  B
Written as A B

Two sets are equal if they both have the same

elements, or equivalently if each is contained in
the other. That is:

A  B if and only if A  B and B  A

 If A is not a subset of B, or at least one element

of A does not belong to B, we write A  B .
Subsets:
Property 1: It is common practice in
mathematics to put a vertical line “|” or slanted
line”/” through a symbol to indicate the
opposite or negative meaning of a symbol.
Property 2: The statement A  B does not
mean the possibility that A  B . In fact, for
every set A we have A  A since every
element in A belongs to A. However, if A  B
and A  B , then we say A is a proper subset of
B (sometimes written A  B ).
Property 3: Suppose every element of a set A
belongs to a set B and every element of B
belongs to a set C. Then clearly every element
of A also belongs to C. In other words, if A  B
and B  C , then A  C .
Let A = {2, 3, 4, 5},
 a) Show that A is not a subset of B   x   x is even
 b) Show that A is a proper subset of C  1, 2,3,...,8,9
2.1.4 VENN DIAGRAMS:
Pictorial representation of set in which sets are
represented by enclosed areas in the plane.
A large square is used to represent the
universe set U.
The element of the universe in a set S fall
inside the circle for S, while elements not in the
set S fall outside of that circle.
U

S
 2.1.5 SETS OPERATIONS :
Symmetric
Union Difference
Intersection Complement
Disjoint Difference
1) Union
 Let A and B be sets. The union of sets A and B
contain those elements that are either in A or B, or
in both ( A  B   x x  A or x  B ).
 Denoted: U
A B A B

A  1,3,5 and B  1, 2,3  A  B  ?

2) Intersection
 Let A and B be sets. The intersection of sets A
and B contain those elements in both A and B
( A  B  x x  A and x  B ).
 Denoted: A B
U

A B

A  1,3,5 and B  1, 2,3  A  B  ?

Properties of Union and Intersection

Property 1: Every element x in belongs to both A

and B; hence x belongs to A and x belongs to B.
Thus A  B is a subset of A and B; namely
A  B  A and A  B  B

Property 2: An element x belongs to the union A  B

if x belongs to A or x belongs to B; hence every
element in A belongs to A  B , and every element
in B belongs to A  B . That is,
A  A  B and B  A  B
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3) Disjoint
 Two sets are called disjoint if their intersection is
the empty set ( A  B   ).
4) Difference
 Let A and B be sets. The difference of A and B is
the set containing those elements in A but not in B
A  B   x x  A and x  B
 Denoted by A  B

A B

 Also called the complement of B with respect to A

.
5) Complement
 Let U be the universal set. The complement
of the set A is the complement of A with
respect to U .
A   x x U and x  A

 Denoted by A / Ac / A'

 Similarly can be define as U  A .

Suppose U = 1, 2,3,... is the universal set. Let A  1, 2,3, 4 , B  3, 4,5,6,7
C  2,3,8,9 , E  2, 4,6,... E is the set of even integers  .

Find:
a) A, B, and E
b) A  B, B  C, and E  A
6) Symmetric Difference
 The symmetric difference of sets A and B
consists of those elements which belong to A
or B but not to both
A  B  x x  A and x  B or x  B and x  A

 Denoted by A  B .

A B
Suppose U = 1, 2,3,... is the universal set. Let A  1, 2,3, 4 , B  3, 4,5,6,7
C  2,3,8,9 , E  2, 4,6,... E is the set of even integers  .

Find:
a) A  B
b) B  C
c) A  C
2.1.6
SET IDENTITIES:
Sets under
operations of
union, intersection,
and complement
satisfy various laws
/ identities which
are listed in Table
1.
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 In a survey of 260 college students, the following data were obtained:
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64 had taken a mathematics course,
94 had taken a computer science course,
58 had taken a business course,
28 had taken both mathematics and business course,
26 had taken both mathematics and computer science course,
22 had taken both a computer science and a business course, and
14 had taken all three types of courses.
(a) How many students were surveyed who had taken none of the three types of
courses?
106
(b) Of the students surveyed, how many had taken only a computer science
course? 60
2.1.7 THE INCLUSION – EXCLUSION PRINCIPLE :
EXAMPLE 3
In a class of 31 students, some study physics and some study
chemistry. If 22 study physics, 20 study chemistry and 5 study
neither, calculate the number of students who take both subjects.
SOLUTION;
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End of Part 1
(Chapter 2)