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Chapter Contents: Sets and Their Representation
Chapter Contents: Sets and Their Representation
Sets
Chapter Contents
Sets and their Representation
SETS AND THEIR REPRESENTATION
Types of Sets
Analysis of Two Sets A well defined collection of objects is called a set. By “well defined collection”,
we mean that when given a set and an object, we should clearly be able to
Operations on Sets
say whether a particular object is a member of the set or is not a member
Union of Sets
of the set. Consider the following examples :
Intersection of Sets
The collection of all good students in a class is not a well defined
Disjoint Sets
collection as there is no particular criteria for a student to be good. It
Difference of Two Sets
can vary from student to student. So, it is not a set.
Symmetric Difference
The collection of all students scoring 90 marks or more than 90 marks
Complement of a Set
would be a well defined collection. It forms a set.
The objects that belong to a set are called members or elements of the set.
The elements of a set are generally denoted by small letters a, b, c, ……,
x, y, z. Sets are usually denoted by capital letters A, B, C, …… X, Y, Z. If
x is an element of set A, then we say that “x belongs to A” and write as
x A. (The Greek symbol, epsilonis used to denote the phrase ‘belongs
to’). If y is not an element of set A, then we say ‘y does not belong to A’ and
write as y A. If x and y both belongs to set A, then we write x, y A.
Consider the following examples :
1 N but – 1 N
3 P but 15 P
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2 Sets Pre-Regional Mathematical Olympiad
SOLVED EXAMPLES
Example 1 : Which of the following collections are sets?
(i) The collection of honest persons in India.
(ii) The collection of all prime numbers between 14 and 50.
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Pre-Regional Mathematical Olympiad Sets 3
Solution :
(i) The concept of honest person is not well defined as there is no such rule for deciding whether
a particular person is honest or not.
(ii) A natural number ‘p’ is called a prime number if it has exactly two factors 1 and p (itself). Prime
numbers between 14 and 50 are 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43 and 47.
Given collection is a set and contains elements 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43 and 47.
Example 2 : If A = {1, 2, 4, 3, 6} is a set then which of the following is true? If not, then explain why?
(i) 3 A (ii) 3, 6 A
(iii) 9 A (iv) 2 A
A set can be represented either by defining all its elements or by defining properties which are satisfied only
by the elements of the given set, not by any other element. Based on these considerations, we have two
methods of representing a given set, namely
(i) ROSTER OR TABULAR FORM : In roster form, all the elements of a set are listed; the elements are
being separated by commas and are enclosed within braces { } (curly brackets).
SOLVED EXAMPLES
(ii) The integers which are multiple of 6 are…, – 12, – 6, 0, 6, 12, 18, …
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4 Sets Pre-Regional Mathematical Olympiad
(ii) SET - BUILDER FORM : In set builder form, all the elements of a set possess a single common property
which is not possessed by any other element outside the set.
Generally, the element of the set is represented using a symbol x (any other symbols like the letters
y, z, k … can be used) which is followed by a colon “ : ”.The colon “ : ” stands for words “such that”
Illustration 1 :
(i) If A is set of all positive factors of 36, then
A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, 36} (in roster form)
and A = {x : x is factor of 36, x N} (in set-builder form)
(ii) If A is set of vowels in English alphabet then
A = {a, e, i, o, u} (in roster form)
and A = {x : x is a vowel in English alphabet} (in set-builder form).
SOLVED EXAMPLES
Example 4 : Write the following sets in set builder form
(i) A = {1, 4, 9, 16, 25, …}
(ii) A = {T, E, A, C, H, E, R}
(iii) A = {1, –2}
Solution : (i) A = {x : x is the square of natural numbers}
or A = {x : x = n2, where n N}
(ii) A = {x : x is a letter of the word TEACHER}
(iii) The values of elements are 1, –2. Let the element be x i.e., x = 1 and x = – 2.
(x – 1) (x + 2) = 0
x2 + x – 2 = 0
So, A = {x : x is root of the equation x2 + x – 2 = 0}
TYPES OF SETS
1. Empty set : A set which does not contain any element is called the empty set or null set or void set. It is
denoted by or { }. e.g.,
The collection of natural numbers less than 1.
{x : x is a four footed man}
{x : 2x + 11 = 3 and x N}
2. Singleton set : A set that contains only one element is called a singleton set or unit set. e.g.,
{0}
{x : x – 1 = 2}
{x : x is capital of India}
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Pre-Regional Mathematical Olympiad Sets 5
3. Finite set : A set that contains a finite number of different elements is called a finite set i.e., in a set if the
elements can be counted. e.g.,
S = {a, e, i, o, u}
M = {x : x is a month in a year}
A = {x : x = n2, where 1 < n < 20, n N}
4. Infinite set : A set which is not finite is called an infinite set. e.g.,
The set of even natural numbers i.e., {2, 4, 6,…}
The set of all points on a line.
{x : x N and x is prime} i.e., {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13,…}
5. Cardinal number or order of a finite set : The number of different elements in a finite set A or non-empty
finite set A is called the cardinal number or order of set A. It is denoted by n(A) or O(A) or C(A) or |A| where
n(A) is a whole number. e.g.,
A be the set of letters of the word SCHOOL
i.e., A = {S, C, H, O, L}
n(A) = 5
Equivalent sets :
Two finite sets are said to be equivalent if they have same number of elements. If A and B are equivalent
i.e., A ~ B or A B then n(A) = n(B).
Illustration 2 : (i) Let A = {x : x N, 2 x 6} and B = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, then A = B.
(ii) Let A = {1, 3, 5} and B = {3, 5, 1} then A = B.
(iii) Let A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {1, 1, 3, 2, 3} then A = B
Proper subset :
Let A be any set and B be a non-empty set, A is called a proper subset of B if every member of A is also
a member of B and there exists at least one element in B which is not a member of A.
Mathematically,
If A is proper subset of B, we write as A B, A B and B is called superset of A.
Remark :
A and B are two sets such that A B and B A if and only if A = B.
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6 Sets Pre-Regional Mathematical Olympiad
Every set is a subset of itself, i.e., A A but not a proper subset.
The empty set has no elements, A i.e., the empty set is subset of every set.
⎧ p ⎫
3. The set of rational numbers, Q ⎨ x : x , p, q Z and q 0 ⎬
⎩ q ⎭
Some relation among these subsets are N Z Q, Q R, N T, T R.
OPERATIONS ON SETS
Some of the significant operations are :
Union of sets
Intersection of sets
Difference of sets
Complement of sets
UNION OF SETS
The union of two sets A and B is a set which consists of all those elements which are either in A or in B.
The symbol ‘’ is used to denote the union.
Mathematically, A B = {x : x A or x B}
The union of sets can be represented by a Venn diagram as shown below.
U
The shaded area A B
represents A B
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Pre-Regional Mathematical Olympiad Sets 7
SOLVED EXAMPLES
Example 5 : Let X = the set of all letters in the word “DELHI” and Y = the set of all letters in the word “INDIA”.
Find X Y.
X Y = {D, E, L, H, I, N, A}.
INTERSECTION OF SETS
The intersection of two sets A and B is a set of all those elements which belong to both A and B.
Mathematically, we write
U
The shaded area indicates the A B
intersection of set A and set B
DISJOINT SETS
If A and B are two sets such that A B = then A and B are called disjoint sets.
e.g., A = {1, 2, 3, 4} and B = {5, 6, 7, 8}, then A and B are disjoint sets because there are no common
elements. The disjoint sets can be represented by means of Venn diagram.
U
A
Here, A and B
are disjoint sets B
The difference of the sets A and B in this order is the set of elements which belong to A but not B.
Mathematically,
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8 Sets Pre-Regional Mathematical Olympiad
U
The shaded area A B
represents A – B
SYMMETRIC DIFFERENCE
U
A B
Example :
If A = {a, b, c, d, e}, B = (b, c, d, f, g}
AB = {a, e} {f, g} = {a, e, f, g}
COMPLEMENT OF A SET
Let U be the universal set and A be a subset of U. Then, the complement of A is the set of all elements of
U which are not the elements of A. Mathematically, we write A, to denote the complement of A with respect
to U thus,
A = {x : x U and x A}
= U– A
Complement of set A w.r.t. U can be represented by Venn diagram as shown below.
U
The shaded portion
is A, complement A
of A.
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Pre-Regional Mathematical Olympiad Sets 9
ASSIGNMENT
2
8. In a beauty contest, half the number of judges voted for Miss A, of them voted for Miss B, 20 voted for
3
both and 5 did not vote for either miss A or Miss B. How many judges were present there?
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10 Sets Pre-Regional Mathematical Olympiad
9. In an examination, 55% of the candidates failed in English and 48% failed in Science. If 15% failed in both
English and Science. Find the percentage of candidates who passed in both the subjects.
11. How many sets of two or more consecutive positive integers have a sum of 15?
12. To each element of the set S = {1, 2, ........., 1000} a colour is assigned. Suppose that for any two elements
a, b of S, if 15 divides (a + b) then they are both assigned the same colour. What is the maximum possible
number of distinct colours used? [Pre-RMO 2013]
13. What is the number of ordered pair (A, B) where A and B are subsets of {1, 2, 3, ........ 5} such that neither
A B nor B A? [Pre-RMO 2014]
14. Let S be a set of real numbers with mean M. If the means of the sets S {15} and S {15, 1} are M + 2,
M + 1 respectively, then how many elements does S have? [Pre-RMO 2014]
15. A subset B of the set of first 100 positive integers has the property that no two elements of B sum to 125.
What is the maximum possible number of elements in B? [Pre-RMO 2015]
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