Mathematics, Cul-

ture and Society

MODULE 3
SETS

2018
SETS

MATH 10 Module 3

SETS
Contents
Learning Outcomes
Introduction
1.0 Sets as Mathematical Objects
1.1 Definitions and Notations
1.2 Operations on Sets and their Properties
1.3 Relations on Sets and their Properties
1.4 Using Sets in Survey Problems
2.0 Cardinality of Infinite Sets
2.1 One-to-One Correspondence
2.2 The Cardinality of the Set of Natural Numbers
2.3 The Cardinality of the Set of Real Numbers
Conclusion
References
Photo credits
Acknowledgment
Copyright

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Introduction
We deal with various objects and processes in mathematics. These objects, such as
numbers, geometric figures, equations and functions are often grouped together or
form collections whose members share certain features. In this module a formal study
of sets as mathematical objects is presented. We will see that understanding proper-
ties of sets and operations will enable us to more efficiently use them and the mathe-
matical elements they contain. During this period of big data, where we need to ana-
lyze massive amounts of information, a good knowledge of sets and their properties
will be useful.

Learning Outcomes
After studying this module, students should be able to:
1. Identify whether a collection is a set;
2. Apply the operations on sets on survey problems;
3. Determine whether two sets are equivalent by using 1-1 correspondence; and
4. Explain that there are various degrees of infinities.

These desired learning outcomes are aligned with the following learning outcomes for
the Math 10 course:
CO 1. Explain the nature of mathematics as an intellectual and creative discipline.
CO 2. Recognize the importance of mathematics in various human activities.
CO 3. Relate the concepts of mathematics to their field/s of interest.

1.0 Sets as Mathematical Objects

1.1 Sets

Definition 1.1: A set is a well-defined collection of objects, that is, a collection having
the property that we can tell whether any given object is or is not in the set. An object
is an element of a set if it belongs to the given set.

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We shall use uppercase letters to denote sets, e.g., A, B, C. Given a set A, if an

object x belongs to A, we write . If x does not belong to A, we write .

To describe a set, we use either the enumeration (or roster) method, where the ele-
ments are simply listed, or the rule method, where the elements are described.

Example 1.1 The following are examples of a set (defined using the enumeration
method):
1. V = {a, e, i, o, ,u }
2. E = {2, 4 ,6, 8,...}

By the rule method, we may also describe the above sets as V = {x | x is a vowel in
the English alphabet} and E = {x | x is a positive even number}, respectively. Clearly,
a ∈ V and 2 ∈ E while b ∉ V and 3 ∉ E.

Also, note that the order of the elements does not matter so the sets
{a, e, I, o, u} is the same set as (or equal to) {e, a, o, u, i} or {u, o, I, e, a}. •

Remark: We say that two sets A and B are equal, denoted A = B, if they have exactly
the same elements. That is x ∈ A if and only if x ∉ B. Equality is a relation on sets.
We will give more relations on sets in Section 1.3.

Example 1.2 The following are not sets

{x | x is a large number}
{x | x is beautiful}
since membership in these are not clear. For some, 100 may be a large number while
for some, 100 is not large.

We also use the following terminologies and notations:

• A set is either finite or infinite. It is finite if it is possible to list down all its ele-
ments, otherwise, it is infinite. Set V is a finite set and set E is an example of
an infinite set.
• The cardinality of a set refers to the number of elements contained in the set.

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In the above example the cardinality of the finite set V is 5, which we write as
n(V) = 5. The cardinality of set E is not a finite number and will be discussed in
Section 2.2.
• The set with no elements is called the empty or null set, which we denote by
{} or ∅ .
• The universal set, usually denoted by U, is the set consisting of all elements
in a particular discussion.
Recall that a set may be represented by a Venn diagram.

Example 1.3 Consider sets A and B contained in a universal set U given by

U = {1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}
A = {2, 4, 6, 8}, B = {3, 6, 9}.

We represent U by a rectangle and sets A and B by circles (but other shapes may
be used). Elements of the set are placed inside the region representing the set. We
have the following Venn diagram representing the given sets:

U
2 3 1

4 6 9 5

8 7
A B

1.2 Operations on Sets and Their Properties

Let A and B be sets in a given universal set U. We define the following operations
and their notations:
1. (Union of A and B)
A ∪ B = { x | x ∈ A and x ∈ B}
2. (Intersection of A and B)

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A ∩ B = { x | x ∈ A or x ∈ B}
3. (Set Difference)
A \ B = { x | x ∈ A and x ∉ B}
4. (Complement of A)
AC = { x | x ∈ U and x ∉ A}.
5. (Cartesian Product of A and B)
A x B = {(a, b) | a ∈ A and b ∈ B}

The first three operations and the Cartesian product are binary operations (like the
operations conjunction, disjunction, conditional and biconditional) while complemen-
tation is a unary operation (just like negation).

Example 1.4: Let us consider the sets given in Example 1.3 with their Venn dia-
gram:

U = {1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}

A = {2, 4, 6, 8}

B = {3, 6, 9}

Find : A ∪ B, A ∩ B, A \ B, B \ A, AC, (A ∪ B)C, A x B, B x A

Answers:

A ∪ B = { 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 } B \ A = { 3, 9 }

A∩B={6} AC = { 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 }

A \ B = { 2, 4, 8 } (A ∪ B)C = {1, 5, 7}

Note that A \ B and B \ A are not equal.

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The Cartesian products A x B and B x A (which are not equal!) are given by
A x B = {(2, 3), (2, 6), (2, 9), (4, 3), (4, 6), (4, 9), (6, 3), (6, 6), (6, 9),
(8, 3), (8, 6), (8, 9)}
B x A = {(3,2), (3, 4), (3, 6), (3, 8), (6,2), (6, 4), (6, 6), (6, 8),
(9,2), (9, 4), (9, 6), (9, 8)}. •

The union and intersection of sets A and B belonging to a universal set U satisfy the
following properties:
1. Commutative Property : A∪B=B∪A
A∩B=B∩A
2. Associative Property : (A ∪ B) ∪ C = A ∪ (B ∪ C)
(A ∩ B) ∩ C = A ∩ (B ∩ C)

However, set difference does not satisfy commutativity and associativity.

We also have the following formulas for cardinality :

1. n(A ∪ B) = n(A) + n(B) − n(A ∩ B)
c
2. n(A ) = n(U) − n(A)
3. n(A \ B) = n(A) − n(A ∩ B)
4. n(A x B) = n(A) · n(B)

Example 1.5. Let us again consider the sets given in Example 1.3 :
U = {1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}, A = {2, 4, 6, 8}, B = {3, 6, 9}.

Note that n(A) = 4, n(B) = 3, and n(A ∩ B) = 1. Using the formulas, we have
1. n(A ∪ B) = n(A) + n(B) − n(A ∩ B) = 4 + 3 – 1 = 6
c
2. n(A ) = n(U) − n(A) = 9 – 4 = 5
3. n(A \ B) = n(A) − n(A ∩ B) = 4 – 1 = 3
4. n(A x B) = n(A) · n(B) = 4 · 3 = 12

Of course, you may also get the above cardinalities by simply counting the number
of elements in the given sets. •

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1.3 Relations on Sets and their Properties

We define the following relations on sets:

Definition 1.2. Let A and B be sets contained in a universal set U.

1. (Equality) A and B are equal, or A = B, if and only if they have precisely the
same elements. This means x ∈ A if and only if x ∈ B. If A and B are not
equal, we write A ≠ B.
2. (Subset) A is a subset of B or A is contained in B, denoted by A ⊆ B, if and
only if every element of A is an element of B. That is,if x ∈ A then x ∈ B. If
A is not a subset of B, we write A B.

If A ⊆ B and there exists at least one element of B not in A, then we say

that A is a proper subset of B (or A is properly contained in B), denoted by
A ⊂ B.
3. (Equivalence) A is equivalent to B, denoted A ∼ B, if A and B have the same
number of elements, that is, n(A) = n(B).

Note that if A = B, it follows that A ∼ B. the relations on sets “=” and “∼” satisfy the
following properties:
1. (Reflexivity) For any given set A, A = A and A ∼ A.
2. (Symmetry) Given sets A, B
• If A = B then B = A.
• If A ∼ B then B ∼ A.
3. (Transitivity) Given sets A, B, C
• If A = B and B = C, then A = C.
• If A ∼ B and B∼ C, then A ∼C.

Which properties are satisfied by ⊆ and ⊂ ?

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Example 1.6 Consider the sets V = {a, e, i o, u} and E = { 2, 4, 6, ….}.

1. Let L = {x | x is a vowel in the word “abstemious”}. Then L = V and L ∼ V.
Obviously, L ≠ E. In fact, L and E are disjoint sets since they have no common
elements.
2. Let M = {x | x is a letter in the word “abstemious”}. Then V ⊆ M. Moreover, V is
properly contained in M, or V ⊂ M, since V contains only the vowels. •

1.4 Using Sets in Survey Problems

Sets may be used in survey problems. Let us illustrate this.

Example 1.7. In a community of 200 residents, 135 persons have been exposed to
chemical X, 85 to chemical Y, and 40 to both chemicals X and Y, find the number of
persons exposed to
a) chemical X only (that is, chemical X but not chemical Y);
b) chemical Y only;
c) chemical X or chemical Y;
d) neither chemical.

Solution: We have to determine which set is being referred to in the given problems
then apply the cardinality formulas. Let U be the universal set containing the 200
residents, X the set of residents exposed to chemical X, and Y the set of residents
exposed to chemical Y. From the given, we have
n(U) = 200, n(X) = 135, n(Y) = 85, n(X ∩ Y) = 40.

a) Chemical X only means chemical X but not chemical Y, so this is the set X\Y.
Using the formula for n(X\Y) gives
n(X \ Y) = n(X) – n(X ∩ Y) = 135 – 40 = 95.
b) Chemical Y only refers to the set Y\X and
n(Y\X) = n(Y) – n(Y ∩ X) = 85 – 40 = 45.
c) Chemical X or chemical Y refers to the set X ∪ Y (recall the definition for ∪)
so

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n(X ∪ Y) = n(X) + n(Y) – n(X ∩ Y) = 135 + 85 – 40 = 180.

Note that n(X ∪ Y) is not equal to n(X) + n(Y) since if this were true, we
would have n(X ∪ Y) = 220, which is not possible since there are only
200 residents considered.
d) The number of residents exposed to neither chemical refers to the cardinality
of the complement of the set X ∪ Y, hence,
n((X ∪ Y)C) = n(U) – n(X ∪ Y) = 200 – 180 = 20. •

We can also use a Venn Diagram to answer the questions in the given problem. Note
that the cardinality rules also have to be used to determine the number of respondents
in a given region. In the given example, there are two sets X and Y belonging to the
universal set which consists of all the persons surveyed. Using the given that there
were 200 surveyed and 135 persons were exposed to chemical X, 85 to chemical Y,
and 40 to both chemicals X and Y. We start with the intersection X ∩ Y which has 40
elements and determine the values for x, y, z.

x 40 y z

X Y

Note that x + 40 = n(X) = 135, y + 40 = n(Y) = 85, and x + y + z = 200. Hence, we

have x = 95 , y = 45 and z = 20 .

95 40 45 20

X Y

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From the Venn Diagram, we have

a) n(X \ Y) = n(X) – n(X ∩ Y) = 135 – 40 = 95.
b) n(Y\X) = n(Y) – n(Y ∩ X) = 85 – 40 = 45.
c) n(X ∪ Y) = 95 + 40 + 45 = 180, which agrees with our solution above
n(X ∪ Y) n(X) + n(Y) – n(X ∩ Y) = 135 + 85 – 40 = 180.
d) The number of residents exposed to neither chemical is simply the number of
elements outside sets X and Y which is precisely n((X ∪ Y)C) = 20. •

2.0 Cardinality of Infinite Sets

2.1 One-to-One Correspondence

Recall that two sets A and B are equivalent if they have the same number of elements,
that is n(A) = n(B). Equivalence can be established using the notion of one-to-one
(1-1) correspondence.

Definition 2.1. Two sets A and B are in 1-1 correspondence if and only if every ele-
ment of A corresponds to exactly one element of B and every element of B corre-
sponds to exactly one element of B.

Remark. Recall that a function f: A → B from set A onto set B is a correspondence

such that every element a ∈ A is associated with exactly one element b ∈ B written
f(a) = b. The function f: A → B is a bijection (or f is a bijective function) if every
element of B also corresponds to exactly one element of A, that is, if a, c ∈ A and
f(a) = f(c) = b, then a = c. Hence, sets A and B are in 1-1 correspondence if there
exists a bijection from set A onto B. actually a bijective function.

Example 2.1. Let V= {a, e, i, o u} and let A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}. These two sets are
equivalent since N(V) = n(A) =5. We can take the 1-1 correspondence

A V

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1 ↔ a

2 ↔ e

3 ↔ i

4 ↔ o

5 ↔ u

Note that the 1-1 correspondence or the bijection is not unique since we may also
take the correspondence

A V

1 ↔ i

2 ↔ u

3 ↔ a

4 ↔ e

5 ↔ o

Remarks:
1. We can define finite sets and their cardinality more formally. A set A is finite with
cardinality n(A) = k if it can be placed in a 1-1 correspondence with the proper
subset K= {1, 2, 3, …, k} of the set of natural numbers N. This was illustrated
in the above example.
2. For finite sets, we have the property that if two sets A and B are finite and A is
a proper subset of B, A ⊂ B, n(A) < n(B). This will not be true for infinite sets.

2.2 The Cardinality of the Set of Natural Numbers

Let us consider the set of natural numbers
N = {1, 2, 3, 4, …..}.

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This is an example of an infinite set and we cannot possibly enumerate all its ele-
ments (we shall give a more formal definition later). However, we can still define an
infinite cardinality for N. We define the cardinality of N to be ℵ 0 (aleph-null, a
Hebrew alphabet), and in symbols,
n(N) = ℵ 0.
Some natural questions might be : Are there other sets with this cardinality?
Is ℵ 0 the only infinite cardinal number? What is ℵ 0 + 1? ℵ 0 + 2? ℵ 0 + ℵ 0 ? ℵ 02?
Let us consider the following proper subsets of N
E = {x | x is an even natural number = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10,…}
O = {x | x is an odd natural number = {1, 3, 5, 7, 11, ….}

and the set of counting numbers, integers, and rational numbers which properly con-
tain N given by
Counting numbers C = {0, 1, 2, 3 , ….} = N ∪ {0}
Integers Z = {…-k, … -2, -1, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, …k,…}
Rational Numbers Q = {a/b | a, b ∈ Z and b ≠ 0}.

What are the cardinalities of these infinite sets? As mentioned, for finite sets A and
B, if A ⊂ B then it follows that n(A) < n(B). As we shall see, this is not the case for
infinite sets.

E is an infinite set and a proper subset of N since there are elements in N, the odd
natural numbers, which are not in E. However, we can establish a 1-1 correspond-
ence between N and E as follows :

N 1 2 3 4 5 … k …

E 2 4 6 8 10 … 2k …

With this correspondence, every element k ∈ N corresponds to exactly one element

2k ∈ E and every element of E which is of the form 2k (k ∈ N) corresponds to a

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unique k ∈ N. Hence, the two sets are equivalent and n(N) = n(E) = ℵ 0. Similarly,
the set O of odd natural numbers is equivalent to N with 1-1 correspondence given
by

N 1 2 3 4 5 … k …

O 1 3 5 7 9 … 2k - 1 …

So, n(N) = n(O) = ℵ 0.

Here, we have seen something “unusual” or counterintuitive, that a set can be

equivalent to its proper subset. This is not true for finite sets and we can use this to
define infinite sets.

Definition 2.2. A set is infinite if it is equivalent to a proper subset of itself.

Let us now investigate the cardinality of the sets C, Z, and Q, which properly contain
N. Intuitively, one may guess tha C and Z are both equivalent to N since C = N ∪ {0}
and Z is N together with 0 and -N = {-k | k ∈ N} which is equivalent to N (Why?). It
is left as an exercise to find a 1-1 correspondence to show n(C) = n(Z) = ℵ 0 .

For the set of rational numbers Q, it is probably less obvious that it is also equiva-
lent to N since it seems to have “a lot more” elements than N. To establish the 1-1
correspondence between N and Q, let us consider the set of positive rational num-
bers Q+. We consider the following table whose entries are of the form k/m where k
and m are natural numbers:

N 1 2 3 4 5 … k …

1 1/1 2/1 3/1 4/1 5/1 … k/1 …

2 1/2 2/2 3/2 4/2 5/2 … k/2 …

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3 1/3 2/3 3/3 4/3 5/3 … k/3 …

4 1/4 4/2 3/4 4/4 5/4 … k/4 …

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

m 1/m 2/m 3/m 4/m 5/m … k/m …

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

Note that the positive rational numbers are all in this table so it suffices to show that
this set is equivalent to N. Making N correspond with the first (or any) row

N 1 2 3 4 5 … k …

Row 1 1/1 2/1 3/1 4/1 5/1 … k/1 …

or with the first column

N 1 2 3 4 5 … m …

Col 1 1/1 1/2 1/3 1/4 1/5 … 1/m …

is not a 1-1 correspondence since the each row and column has ℵ 0 elements so
there would be no other elements of N that could be paired with the other rational

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numbers. The 1-1 correspondence is done by pairing N with the elements of the
table, moving diagonally in this manner:

N 1 2 3 4 5 … k …

1 1/1 2/1 3/1 4/1 5/1 … k/1 …

2 1/2 2/2 3/2 4/2 5/2 … k/2 …

3 1/3 2/3 3/3 4/3 5/3 … k/3 …

4 1/4 4/2 3/4 4/4 5/4 … k/4 …

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

m 1/m 2/m 3/m 4/m 5/m … k/m …

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

The correspondence

N 1 2 3 4 5 6 …

Q+ 1/1 2/1 1/2 1/3 2/2 3/1 …

Is 1-1 and it can be shown (but we won’t do it here!) that every k ∈ N corresponds
to a unique rational number and every positive rational number k/m corresponds to
a unique natural number. Hence we have that n(Q) = n(N) = ℵ 0 .

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Remark: We have also seen from the above illustrations some additive properties
of ℵ 0 . In particular,
1. Since C = N ∪ {0} and n(C) = n(N), we can say that ℵ0 + 1 = ℵ0 .
2. In general, ℵ0 + k = ℵ0 for any natural number k.
3. Note that N = E ∪ O and E and O are disjoint sets so n(N) = n(E ∪ O) = n(E)
+ n(O). Hence, we can see that ℵ 0 + ℵ 0 = ℵ 0 .
4. The set of rational numbers given by the above table has ℵ0 x ℵ0 = ℵ02 ele-
ments but this set has cardinality ℵ0 so ℵ0 x ℵ0 = ℵ0 .

All the sets discussed so far, namely, N, C, Z, Q all have cardinality ℵ 0 and are
equivalent to one another. We call these sets infinitely countable and we consider
ℵ 0 to be the smallest infinite cardinality (which means there are other infinite cardial-
ities!).

Definition 2.3. A set is said to be countable if it is either finite or has cardinality ℵ 0 .

2.3 The Cardinality of the Set of Real Numbers

Let us now investigate the cardinality of the set of real numbers R which is the union
of Q and Q’, the set of irrational numbers. Recall that if x ∈ Q, it may be expressed
as a terminating decimal or nonterminating but repeating decimal. The irrational num-
bers are the nonterminating, nonrepeating decimals, like π, and the golden ratio φ.
The set of real numbers can be represented by the inifinite number line or the infinite
interval (-∞, ∞ ) and each real number corresponds to exactly one point on the line
and each point on the line corresponds to exactly one real number. Are N and R
equivalent?

Georg Cantor (1854 - 1918), a German mathematician whose work served as the
foundation of set theory , gave a simple proof by contradiction to show that there are
more real numbers than natural numbers. In fact, the cardinality of the interval (0, 1)
is greater than ℵ 0 . Let us first show that the set R* = {x | x ∈ (0, 1)} is not countable,
that is, n(R*) > ℵ 0 . The set R* consists of decimals of the form 0.x1 x2 x3…. xk… , where
xk ∈ N (for example, 0.1, 0.125, 0.11111… are all elements of (0, 1)). We use the
diagonalization argument used by Cantor. Before we begin with the proof, let us first

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illustrate the diagonal argument. Consider the 5 distinct decimals :

r1 = 0.12345
r2 = 0.23456
r3 = 0.34567
r4 = 0.45678
r5 = 0.56789

We can obtain a sixth decimal r distinct from the given by forming a number
r = 0.x1 x2 x3 x4 x5
where x1 ≠ 1 (the first decimal digit in r1 ), x2 ≠ 3 (the second digit in r2 ), x3 ≠ 5 (the
first digit in r1 ), x4 ≠ 7 (the fourth digit in r4 ), x5 ≠ 9 (the fifth digit in r5 ). So we can
take
r = 0.25784 or r = 45689
etc., and these are not equal to any of the given 5 decimals. Note that the numbers
1, 3, 5, 7, 9 are the diagonal elements of the table, that is,

r1 = 0.12345
r2 = 0.23456
r3 = 0.34567
r4 = 0.45678
r5 = 0.56789

This “diagonal argument” will be used in proving:

THEOREM 1. The set R* = { x | x ∈ (0, 1) } is uncountable.

Proof: We prove by contradiction. Suppose R* is countable. Then it can be placed in
a 1-1 correspondence with N = m1 , m2 , m3, …mn, … In this case, we can “enumerate”
all the elements of R* using the correspondence :

n1 = 0.a11a12a13…a1k…

n2 = 0. a21a22a23…a2k…

n3 = 0. a31a32a33…a3k…

: :

nm = 0. am1am2am3…amk…

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: :

Our assumption is these are all elements of R* and there is no r ∈ R* which is not in
this correspondence. However, we can show that there is at least one element x ∈
R* which is not included, thus contradicting our assumption.

We define r as we have done to illustrate the diagonal argument. That is, we let r be
r = 0. x1 x2 x3…xn …
such that x1 ≠ a11 , x2 ≠ a22 , x3 ≠ a33 … and in general xn≠ ann . With this choice of
r, which is in we can see that r ≠ n1 since they differ in the first digit of the decimal
part, r ≠ n2 since they differ in the second digit, and so on, and in general, r ≠ nm for
any m ∈ N since they differ in the mth digit. Hence, there exists r ∈ R* which is not
among those associated with N. This contradicts our assumption, which means that
R* is not countable. Ž

As we have seen, R* is uncountable so it has cardinality > ℵ 0 . Clearly, (0, 1) ⊂ (-∞,

∞ ) or R* ⊂ R but is n(R) > n(R*) ? They are actually equivalent. To establish this 1-
1 correspondence, we first illustrate that the interval R* = (0, 1) is equivalent to the
open interval I = (-1, 1). We consider the functions f: R* → I and g: I → R* given
by
f(x) = 2x – 1, for x ∈ R*
g(x) = (x + 1)/2, for x ∈ I,
respectively. Verify that these are indeed bijections. It can also be shown similarly
that R* is equivalent to any interval I = { x | x ∈ (a, b)}.

In general, any two line segments are equivalent, or equivalently, any two intervals
in R (whether open or closed) have the same number of elements. So, specifically,
we consider the interval I = (-π, π), which is equivalent to R*, and the correspond-
ences f: I → R and g : R → I given by
f(x) = tan x, for x ∈ (-π, π)
g(x) = Arctan x, for x ∈ R
are bijections so I and R are equivalent which implies R* and R are also equivalent.

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R is an uncountable infinite set and it is equivalent to its proper subset R* which is

also uncountable.
Informally, the above equivalencies can also be exhibited by a diagram. For the
equivalence R* = (0, 1) ≈ I = ( -1, 1) , we consider the two segments (0,1) and (-1, 1).
We have the correspondence :

oP

( ) R*= (0, 1)
x
( ) I = (- 1, 1)
y
To set-up this correspondence, we connect the points 0 on R* and -1 on I, then
connect the points 1 on R* and 1 on I. P is the intersection of these two lines. To
determine which point on I corresponds to x (which is on R*), connect point x to P
and extend this line until it intersects I. The point of intersection is y. Hence, x and y
are the corresponding points. Note that this can also be done starting with y. Connect
y (which is on I) to point P and the point of intersection with R* is the point correspond-
ing to y. This correspondence is 1-1.

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