Sets, Functions, and Relations

SETS

- in mathematics, any group or collection of objects is called a set. A simple application of sets occurs when
you use a search engine (such as Google or Bing) to find a topic on the Internet. You enter a few words
describing what you are searching for and click the Search button. The search engine then creates a list (set)
of websites that contain a match for the words you submitted.

- The objects that belong in a set are the elements, or members, of the set. For example, the set consisting of
the four seasons has spring, summer, fall, and winter as its elements.

The following two methods are often used to designate a set.

• Describe the set using words.

• List the elements of the set inside a pair of braces, { }. This method is called the roster method.
Commas are used to separate the elements.
For instance, let’s use S to represent the set consisting of the four seasons. Using the roster method, we
would write.

S = { spring , summer ,fall , winter }

The following sets of numbers are used extensively in many areas of mathematics

The set of natural numbers is also called the set of counting numbers.

Rational numbers can also be written in the form where p and q are integers and for example,

Note : integers Z = { …., -4, -3, -2, -1 ,0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ….} ( Z is for Zahl, german word
for number)
Example:

a. the set of natural numbers less than 5 ; { 1, 2, 3, 4 }

A set is well defined. if it is possible to determine whether any given item is an element of the set. For
instance, the set of letters of the English alphabet is well defined. The set of great songs is not a well-defined
set. It is not possible to determine whether any given song is an element of the set or is not an element of the
set because there is no standard method for making such a judgment.

Example : determine whether each statement is true or false.

a. 4 ∈ { 2, 3, 4, 7} ; since 4 is an element of the given set, the statement is true

b. the set of nice cars is a well-defined set. ; the word nice is not precise , so the statement is false
Example: use set builder notation

1. the set of integers greater than -3 ; { x | x ∈ I and x > -3 }

Example : find the cardinality of each of the following sets

a. J = { 2, 5 } ; J contains exactly two elements so it has cardinality of 2 , we state that n(J) = 2

b. T = { 3, 3, 5, 7} ; elements are listed more than once are counted only once. Thus n(T) = 3

for instance { d ,e, f } = { e, f, d}

State whether each of the following pairs of sets are equal, equivalent, both, or neither.

a. { a, e, i, o, u} , {3,7, 11, 15, 19} ; the sets are not equal but has exactly five elements, so the sets are
equivalent

b. { 4, -2, 7} , { 3, 4, 7, 9 }

SUBSETS

- Set A is a subset of set B if and only if every element of A is an element of B.

-If A {x,y} and B {x,y,z}, then we can say that A is a subset of B, for the element of A are also elements of B
For example, if B = { 1,2,3,….,10} and A = {3,4,5} then A B.

RELATIONS AND FUNCTION

A relation is a rule that relates values from a set of values (called the domain) to a second set of values (called
the range)

The elements of the domain can be imagined as input to a machine that applies a rule to these inputs to
generate one or more outputs.

A relation is also a set of ordered pairs (x,y).

Function

A function is a relation where each element in the domain is related to only one value in the range by some
rule.

The elements of the domain can be imagined as input to a machine that applies a rule so that each input
corresponds to only one output.

A function is a set of ordered pairs (x, y) such that no two ordered pairs have the same x-value but different y-
values.
Determine if the given set ordered pairs are function or relation.

1. f = {(1,2), (2,2), (3,5), (4,5)}

2. g = {(1,3), (1,4), (2,5), (2,6), (3,7)}