Introduction Set Theory

MAT 115: DISCRETE MATHEMATICS I

SET THEORY LECTURE NOTES PPT

By Dr. Runji Flora,

Lecturer
Department of Mathematics,Statistics and Actuarial Science
School of Pure and Applied Sciences
Karatina University

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Introduction Set Theory

What is Discrete Mathematics?

Definition
Discrete mathematics is the branch of mathematics dealing with
objects that can assume only distinct, separated values.

It is the study of mathematical properties of sets and systems that

have a countable number of elements.

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Introduction Set Theory

Importance of studying Discrete Mathematics?

i) Sharpens your mathematical thinking skills

ii) Improves your problem solving abilities
iii) It is a foundation course to many other courses and disciplines.
iv) Discrete mathematics is fun
v) Wide applications especially in computer science and in big
data analytics

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Introduction Set Theory

Set Theory
What is a set?

Definition
A set is a well-defined collection of distinct objects .

Examples
i) The set of all first year students at Karatina University
ii) The set of all letters in the English Alphabet.
iii) The set of all positive whole numbers.

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Introduction Set Theory

Notations

I Each of the objects in the set is called a member or an

element of the set.
I Elements of a set are usually denoted by lower-case letters.
While sets are denoted by upper case letters of the English
alphabet.
I The symbol ∈ indicates the membership in a set.
I The symbol ∈ is read “is a member of ” or “is an element of ”.
I We write a ∈ A to denote that a is an element of the set A.
I The notation a ∈
/ A denotes that a is not an element of the
set A.

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Introduction Set Theory

Specifying Sets

There are two common ways of describing, or specifying the

members of, a set. These are:
i) A written description or Descriptive Form
ii) The Roster Method
iii) Set Builder Notation

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Introduction Set Theory

Descriptive Form

Involves stating in words the elements of the set.

Examples
i) A = Set of first five natural numbers.
ii) B = Set of positive even integers less than or equal to fifty.
iii) C = Set of positive odd integers.

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Introduction Set Theory

The Roster Method

Involves listing all the elements of a set, separated by commas and

enclosed within curly brackets {}.
Examples
i) A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
ii) B = {2, 4, 6, ..., 50}
iii) C = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, ...}

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Introduction Set Theory

Set Builder Notation

Involves writing in symbolic form the common characteristics

shared by all the elements of the set.
Examples
i) A = {x : x ∈ N and x ≤ 5} , N = Set of natural numbers
ii) B = {y : y ∈ E and 0 < y ≤ 50} , E = Set of even numbers
iii) C = {t : t ∈ O and t > 0} , O = Set of Odd numbers

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Introduction Set Theory

Some important sets used in Mathematics

i) N = {1, 2, 3, ...}: The set of Natural Numbers. They are the
positive whole numbers.
ii) Z = {..., −3. − 2, −1, 0, 1, 2, 3, ...}: the set of integers. They
are the positive whole numbers, negative whole numbers and
zero. NB: Zero is neither positive nor negative, it is
considered neutral.
iii) Z+ = {1, 2, 3, ...}. This is the set of positve integers.
p
 
iv) Q = : p, q ∈ Z, and q 6= 0 . The set of Rational
q
numbers.
v) R, the set of real numbers.The real numbers include all the
rational numbers, and all the irrational numbers.
vi) R+ , the set of positive real numbers.
vii) C, the set of complex numbers.
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Introduction Set Theory

Notation for intervals of real numbers.

When a and b are real numbers with a < b, we write:

[a, b] = {x : a ≤ x ≤ b}, called a closed interval.
[a, b) = {x : a ≤ x < b}, called half-closed or half-open interval.
(a, b] = {x : a < x ≤ b}, called half-closed or half-open interval.
(a, b) = {x : a < x < b}, called an open interval.

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Introduction Set Theory

Subsets
Definition
The set A is a subset of set B if and only if every element of A is
also an element of B.
We use the notation A ⊆ B to indicate that A is a subset of the
set B.
If A is contained in B, then we may also state that B contains A
and write B ⊇ A.

To show that A ⊆ B, show that if x belongs to A then x also

belongs to B.
To show that A is not a subset of B, denoted, A * B , find a
single x ∈ A such that x ∈
/ B.
Remark
Every set is a subset to itself, i.e. A ⊆ A. 12 / 29
Introduction Set Theory

Examples
Example
{2, 4, 6} ⊆ {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}

Example
{a} ⊆ {a, b, c}

Example
{a, d} 6⊆ {a, b, c}

Example
N⊆Z⊆R⊆C

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Introduction Set Theory

Definitions
Definition (Proper subset)
A is said to be a proper subset of B if every element of A belongs
to the set B, but there is at least one element of B, which is not in
A. If A is a proper subset of B, then we denote it by A ⊂ B.

Definition (Equal sets)

If A and B are sets such that every element of A is an element of
B and every element of B is an element of A, then A and B are
equal (Identical) sets, denoted A = B.
To show two sets A and B are equal , show that A ⊆ B and B ⊆ A.

Definition (Super set)

If A is subset of B, then B is called a superset of A.
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Introduction Set Theory

Definitions
Definition (The Null set or the Empty set)
The set with no elements is called an empty set or null set denoted
by the symbol ∅ or {}.

Definition (Singleton Set)

A set having only one element is called a singleton.e.g. A = {a}

Definition (Cardinality of a set)

The number of elements in a set is the cardinality of that set. The
cardinality of the set A is often notated as |A| or n(A).

If there are exactly n distinct elements in a set A where n is a

non-negative integer, we say that A is a finite set and that n is
the cardinality of A. 15 / 29
Introduction Set Theory

Examples
Example
Let A be the set of odd positive integers less than 10. Then |A|= 5.

Example
Let S be the set of letters in the English alphabet. Then |S|= 26.

Example
Because the null set has no elements, it follows that |∅|= 0.

Definition
A set is said to be infinite if it is not finite.

Example
The set of positive integers is infinite. 16 / 29
Introduction Set Theory

Number of subsets for a finite set

If a set contains n elements, then the number of subsets of the set
is 2n .
Example
List all the subsets of the set A = {1, 2, 3}.
Solution:
The subset of A containing no elements - ∅
The subset of A containing one element each - {1} , {2} , {3}
The subset of A containing two elements each
-{1, 2} , {1, 3} , {2, 3}
The subset of A containing three elements - {1, 2, 3}
Therefore, all possible subsets of A are
∅,{1} , {2} , {3},{1, 2} , {1, 3} , {2, 3} ,{1, 2, 3}. These are 8 = 23
in total.
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Introduction Set Theory

Listing Subsets
The table below gives a summary on the list of all possible number
of subsets for a given finite set.

Table: Listing Subsets

Set List of all subsets Number of subsets

∅ ∅ 20 = 1
{a} ∅,{x } 21 = 2
{a, b} ∅,{a}, {b},{a, b} 22 = 4
{a, b, c} ... 23 = 8
{a, b, c, d} ... 24 = 16
{a, b, c, d, e} ... 25 = 32
... ... ...
{a, b, c, ...} ... 2n
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Introduction Set Theory

The power set

Definition
Given a set S, the power set of S is the set of all subsets of the set
S. The power set of S is denoted by P (S).

Example
What is the power set of the set D = {a, b, c}
Solution:The power set
P (D) = {∅, {a} , {b} , {c} , {a, b} , {a, c} , {b, c} , {a, b, c}}

Remark
If a set has n elements, then its power set has 2n elements.

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Introduction Set Theory

Venn Diagrams

Definition (Universal Set)

A Universal Set is the set of all elements under consideration,
usually denoted by U. All other sets are subsets of the universal
set.
A Venn Diagram is a pictorial representation of the relationships
between sets.
In Venn diagrams the universal set U, is represented by a
rectangle. Inside this rectangle, circles or other geometrical figures
are used to represent sets.

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Introduction Set Theory

Venn Diagram for A ⊆ B

A⊆B

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Introduction Set Theory

Venn Diagram Example

Example
Draw a Venn diagram that represents the relationship between the
sets: U = {1, 2, 3, ..., 8}, A = {1, 4, 5, 7} and B = {2, 4, 6, 7}.

U
A B
1 4 2

5 7 6
3 8

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Introduction Set Theory

Set Operations
Union of Sets: Let A and B be sets. The union of the sets A and
B, denoted by A ∪ B, is the set that contains those elements that
are either in A or in B, or in both.
In symbols we write: A ∪ B = {x : x ∈ A or x ∈ B}
Venn Diagram for the union of two sets:

A B

A ∪ B shaded
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Introduction Set Theory

Set Union cont.

Venn Diagram for the union of three sets:

A B

A ∪ B ∪ C shaded

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Introduction Set Theory

Set Union, Example

Example
Given U = {1, 2, 3, ..., 8}, A = {1, 4, 5, 7} and B = {2, 4, 6, 7} find
A ∪ B.

U
A B
1 4 2

5 7 6
3 8

A ∪ B = {1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7}
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Introduction Set Theory

Intersection of sets
Let A and B be sets. The intersection of the sets A and B, denoted
by A ∩ B, is the set containing those elements in both A and B.
In symbols we write: A ∩ B = {x : x ∈ A and x ∈ B}
Venn Diagram for the intersection of two sets:

A B

A ∩ B shaded

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Introduction Set Theory

Intersection of sets cont.

Venn Diagram for the intersection of three sets:

A B

A ∩ B ∩ C shaded

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Introduction Set Theory

Intersection of sets, example

Example
Given U = {1, 2, 3, ..., 8}, A = {1, 4, 5, 7} and B = {2, 4, 6, 7} find
A ∩ B.

U
A B
1 4 2

5 7 6
3 8

A ∩ B = {4, 7}
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Introduction Set Theory

Disjoint Sets
Definition
Two sets are called disjoint if their intersection is the empty set.

Example
Let A = {1, 3, 5, 7} and B = {2, 4, 6, 8}.
Then A ∩ B = ∅ and A and B are disjoint sets

A B

1 3 2 4

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