Definition:

A Set is a well defined collection of objects.

The empty set is a set containing no objects.

∅={}

Definition:
The set membership symbol ∈ is used to say that
an object is a member of a set.
Definition:
We say two sets are equal if they have exactly the
same members.

Definition:
The cardinality |S| of a set S is its size.
Example If S = {1, 2, 3} then |S| = 3.

Definition:
The intersection (S ∩ T) of two sets S and T is the
collection of all objects that are in both sets.

S ∩ T = {x │ (x ∈ S) ∧ (x ∈ T)}
Example: Suppose S = {1, 2, 3, 5},
T = {1, 3, 4, 5}, and
U = {2, 3, 4, 5}.

S ∩ T = {1, 3, 5}
S ∩ U = {2, 3, 5}
T ∩ U = {3, 4, 5}
Definition: If A and B are sets and A ∩ B = ∅ then
we say that A and B are disjoint, or disjoint sets.

Definition: The union (S ∪ T) of two sets S and T is

the collection of all objects that are in either set.

S ∪ T = {x │ (x ∈ S) ∨ (x ∈ T )}
Example: Suppose S = {1, 2, 3}
T = {1, 3, 5}
U = {2, 3, 4, 5}

S ∪ T = {1, 2, 3, 5}
S ∪ U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
T ∪ U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
Definition: The universal set (U) is the set of all
possible objects.
Venn Diagrams
A Venn diagram is a way of depicting the
relationship between sets. Each set is shown as a
circle and circles overlap if the sets intersect.
Example
The following are Venn diagrams for the
intersection and union of two sets.
Definition: The compliment (S’) of a set S is the
collection of objects in the universal set that are
not in S.

S’ = {x │ x ∉ S}
Example:
1. Let the universal set be the integers.
Then the compliment of the even integers is
the odd integers.
2. Let the universal set be {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, then the
compliment of
S = {1, 2, 3} is S’ = {4, 5}
T = {1, 3, 5} is T’ = {2, 4}.
Definition: The difference (S − T) of two sets S and
T is the collection of objects in S that are not in T.
S − T = {x │(x ∈ S) ∧ (x ∉ T )}
Problem: Suppose U = {n │ 0 ≤ n < 100}.
Let P be the prime numbers in U,
let E be the even numbers in U, and
let F = {1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89}.
Describe the following sets either by listing them or with a careful
English sentence.
1. E’
2. P ∩ F
3. P ∩ E
4. F ∩ E ∪ F ∩ E’
5. F ∪ F’.
Problem: Suppose U to be the SET of integers.
Let S be the even integers,
let T be the integers that can be obtained by tripling any one
integer and adding one to it,
let V be the set of numbers that are whole multiples of both
two and three.
1. Write S, T , and V using symbolic notation.
2. Compute S ∩ T , S ∩ V and T ∩ V and give symbolic representations
that do not use the symbols S, T , or V on the right hand side of the
equals sign.
Problem:

Create Venn diagrams to illustrate the following:

A ⋃ B, A ⋂ B, and A’ ⋂ B
(H ⋂ F)’ ⋂ W
Problem:
Create an expression to represent the outlined
part of the Venn diagram shown:
Problem:
Create an expression to represent the outlined
portion of the Venn diagram shown:
Problem:
A survey asks 200 people “What beverage do you
drink in the morning”, and offers choices:
Tea only
Coffee only
Both coffee and tea
Suppose 20 report tea only, 80 report coffee only,
40 report both. How many people drink tea in
the morning? How many people drink neither tea
or coffee?
Problem:
A survey asks: “Which online services have you used in
the last month?”
Twitter
Facebook
Have used both
The results show 40% of those surveyed have used
Twitter, 70% have used Facebook, and 20% have used
both.
How many people have used neither Twitter or
Facebook?
Problem:
Fifty students were surveyed, and asked if they were
taking a social science (SS), humanities (HM), or a
natural science (NS) course the next quarter. How
many students are only taking a SS course?

21 were taking a SS course 26 were taking a HM course

19 were taking a NS course 9 were taking SS and HM

7 were taking SS and NS 10 were taking HM and NS

3 were taking all three 7 were taking none

Problem:
One hundred fifty people were surveyed and asked if
they believed in UFOs, ghosts, and Bigfoot. How
many people surveyed believed in at
least one of these things?
43 believed in UFOs 44 believed in ghosts

25 believed in Bigfoot 10 believed in UFOs and ghosts

8 believed in ghosts and Bigfoot 5 believed in UFOs and Bigfoot

2 believed in all three

• In a survey of 500 students of a college, it was found that 49% liked
watching football, 53% liked watching hockey and 62% liked watching
basketball. Also, 27% liked watching football and hockey both, 29%
liked watching basketball and hockey both and 28% liked watching
football and basket ball both. 5% liked watching none of these games.
• How many students like watching all the three games?
• Find the ratio of number of students who like watching only football
to those who like watching only hockey.
• Find the number of students who like watching only one of the three
given games.
• Find the number of students who like watching at least two of the
given games.
A group of 62 students were surveyed, and it was found that each of
the students surveyed liked at least one of the following three fruits:
apricots, bananas, and cantaloupes.
34 liked apricots.
30 liked bananas.
33 liked cantaloupes.
11 liked apricots and bananas.
15 liked bananas and cantaloupes.
17 liked apricots and cantaloupes.
19 liked exactly two of the following fruits: apricots, bananas, and
cantaloupes
a. How many students liked apricots, but not bananas or cantaloupes?
b. How many students liked cantaloupes, but not bananas or apricots?
c. How many students liked all of the following three fruits: apricots,
bananas, and cantaloupes?
d. How many students liked apricots and cantaloupes, but not
bananas?
A set of students were asked to tell which sports they played
in school. The options are: Football, Hockey, Basketball, and
Netball.
Here is the list of the results:
Sport Name

Football Robert, James, John, Mary, Jennifer, William

Hockey Robert, William, Linda, Elizabeth, James
Basketball William, Jayne, Linda, Daniel, Mary
Jessica, William, Linda, Elizabeth, Anthony, M
Netball
ary
None Dorothy
There are 100 students surveyed and asked which of the
following subjects they take this semester: Mathematics,
English, or Biology. Below is the result of the survey.
35 responded English, 50 responded Mathematics, 29
responded Biology, 12 responded Mathematics and English, 8
responded English and Biology, 11 responded Biology and
Math, 5 responded all.

• How many students are not taking any of the three subjects?
• How many students take Math, but not Biology or English?
• How many students take Math and English, but not Biology?
DRAW THE FOLLOWING:
1. (𝐴 ∩ 𝐵) ′
2. (𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 ′ ) ′
3. (𝐴′ ∪ 𝐵)
4. (𝐵 ∩ 𝐶) ′ ∪ 𝐴
5. (𝐴 ∩ 𝐵) ′ ∪ 𝐶
6. 𝐵 ∪ (𝐴 ∩ 𝐶)