The Four Basic Concepts of Mathematics

1. Set
- A collection of well-defined objects that contains no duplicates.
- The objects in the set are called the elements of the set.
- To describe a set, we use braces { }, capital letters as A, B, C to represent the
set, and lower case letters as a, b, c to denote elements of the set.
Examples of a set: The set of students in University of La Salette.
The set of natural numbers N = {1, 2, 3, 4, …}
- The three dots in enumerating the elements of the set are called ellipsis and
indicate a continuing pattern or there are elements in the set that have not been
written down.
- To indicate that an object is an element of a set, we use the symbol ∈.
Example: Given the set of natural numbers N = {1, 2, 3, 4, …}
1 ∈ 𝑁 (Read as 1is an element of N)

There are three ways in which we can describe or specify a set:

a. The Verbal Description Method – a method of describing set in words.

Example: Set A is the set of counting numbers less than 5

Set B is the set of letters in the word “Philippines”

b. List Notation/Roster Method – by listing each element of the set inside the
braces {}

Example: A = {1, 2, 3, 4}
B = {p, h, i, l, n, e, s}

c. Set Builder Notation – a method that lists the rules that determine whether
an object is an element of the set rather than the actual elements

Example: A = {x‫ ׀‬x is a counting number less than 5}

(read as “the set of all x’s such that x is a counting number
less than 5.
Or A = { x‫ ׀‬0 < x < 5}

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 B = { x‫ ׀‬x is a letter in the word “Philippines”}

Types of Set
a. A finite set contains elements that can be counted and terminates at certain
natural number, otherwise it is infinite set.
b. A set with only one element is called a singleton or a singleton set.
c. A set with no elements or has no members is called empty set, or null set ∅
or { }.
d. Equal sets are sets that contain exactly the same elements.

Example: {3, 8, 9} = {9, 8, 3}

{1, 3, 5, 7} ≠ {3, 5}

e. Equivalent sets are sets that contain the same number of elements.

Example: A = {1, 4, 3}, B = {a, b, c,}, C = {𝛼, 𝛽, 𝛾}

Sets A, B, and C are equivalent sets because they all have three
elements.

2. Relation
- A rule that pairs each element in one set, called the domain, with one or more
elements from a second set called the range.
- It creates a set of ordered pairs (x, y)

Example: In X = {1, 2, 3} and Y = {4, 5, 6}, when each element of set X is

paired to one or more elements in set Y, they will form a relation. It will create
the set of ordered pairs {(1, 4), (3, 6), (2, 5), (1, 5), (1, 6),} where 1, 2, 3 is the
domain and 4, 5, 6 is the range.

3. Function
- A rule that pairs each element in one set, called the domain, with exactly one
element from a second set called the range. For every first element of x, there
corresponds a unique second element y.
Example: In X = {1, 2, 3} and Y = {4, 5, 6}, when each element of set X is
paired to exactly one in set Y, they will form a function. It will create a set of
ordered pairs
{(1, 4), (2, 5), (3, 6)} or {(1, 4), (2, 4), (3, 4)}
Functions can be represented using the following:

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 a. Table

X 1 2 3
Y 4 5 6

The set {1, 2, 3} is the domain and the set {4, 5, 6} is the range

b. Ordered Pairs

(1, 4), (2, 5), (3, 6)

c. Graph
Figure 1 Figure 2

(3, 6)
(2, 5) (2, 4)
(3, 4)
(1, 4) (1, 4)

Function Function

Figure 3 (1, 6)

(1, 5)

(1, 4)

Not a function

Remember: All function is a relation, but not all relation is a function.

Using vertical line test, that is a set of points in the plane is the graph of a
function if and only if no vertical line intersects the graph in more than one
point. Thus, the graph in figure 3 in not a graph of a function because the
vertical line passed through more than one point.
4. Binary Operation

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 - A binary operation on a set is a combination of two elements of the set to
produce another element of the set
- Common notation for binary operations on set is the infix notation S1 * S2 ∈ S
- * can be any of the following common operations: + −×÷

Example: S = {1, 2, 3, 4, …} or S is a set of natural numbers

* is defined as S1 * S2 = S1 + S2
What is 1*2?

1*2 = 1 + 2 3 ∈ S, therefore, we can say that addition is a binary

1*2 = 3 operation on S.

In subtraction with * defined as S1 * S2 = S1 – S2. Take 1 – 2, it will result

to – 1 which is NOT an element of the set. This means that there are some pairs
of ∈ S that may yield a difference that is NOT an ∈ S, therefore subtraction is
not a binary operation on S.

Example: S = {…-3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3…} or set S is a set of integers

* is defined as S1 * S2 = S1 – S2
What is 1*2?

1*2 = 1 – 2 – 1 ∈ S, therefore, we can say that subtraction is a

binary operation on S.
1*2 = – 1

- Aside from the common operations+ −×÷, we can define other binary
operations such as a*b = 3a+ b or a*b = ab.

Example: If * is defined as a*b = 3a + b where a and b are real numbers, what is

2*5?

2*5 = 3(2) + 5 Substitute the given then simplify.

2*5 = 11

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UPLOADING, OR POSTING ONLINE IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY IS
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