Definition of set:

A set is a collection of well-defined objects. Well-defined means, it must be absolutely clear

that which object belongs to the set and which does not.

▪ Now, to get basic concepts of sets about the meaning of well-defined the following
examples are given below.

1. The collection of vowels in English alphabets. This set contains five elements, namely, a,
e, i, o, u.
2. A group of “Singers with ages between 18 years and 25 years” is a set, because the range
of ages of the singer is given and so it can easily be decided that which singer is to be
included and which is to be excluded. Hence, the objects are well-defined.
3. A collection of “Red flowers” is a set, because every red flowers will be included in this
set i.e., the objects of the set are well-defined.
4. The collection of past presidents of the United States is a set.
5. A group of “Young dancers” is not a set, as the range of the ages of young dancers is not
given and so it can’t be decided that which dancer is to be considered young i.e., the
objects are not well-defined.
6. The collection of cricketers in the world who were out for 99 runs in a test mach is a set.

What are the different notations in sets?

To learn about sets we shall use some accepted notations for the familiar sets of numbers.
Some of the different notations used in sets are:

∈ Belongs to
∉ Does not belongs to
: or | Such that
∅ Null set or empty set
n(A) Cardinal number of the set A
∪ Union of two sets
∩ Intersection of two sets
N Set of natural numbers N= {1, 2, 3, ……}
W Set of whole numbers W= {0, 1, 2, 3, ………}
I or Z Set of integers I= {………, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, ………}

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Z+ Set of all positive integers
Q Set of all rational numbers
Q+ Set of all positive rational numbers
R Set of all real numbers
R+ Set of all positive real numbers
C Set of all complex numbers

Definition of operations on sets:

When two or more sets combine together to form one set under the given conditions, then
operations on sets are carried out.

What are the four basic operations on sets?

The four basic operations are:
1. Union of sets
2. Intersection of sets
3. Complement of the set
4. Cartesian product of sets

Definition of union of sets:

Union of two given sets is the set which contains all the elements of both the sets.
To find the union of two given sets A and B is a set which consists of all the elements of A
and all the elements of B such that no element is repeated.
The symbol for denoting union of sets is ‘∪’.
For example;
Let set A = {2, 4, 5, 6}
and set B = {4, 6, 7, 8}
Taking every element of both the sets A and B, without repeating any element, we get a new
set = {2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}
This new set contains all the elements of set A and all the elements of set B with no repetition
of elements and is named as union of set A and B.
The symbol used for the union of two sets is ‘∪’. Therefore, symbolically, we write union of
the two sets A and B is A ∪ B which means A union B.

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Therefore, A ∪ B = {x : x ∈ A or x ∈ B}

Solved examples to find union of two given sets:

1. If A = {1, 3, 7, 5} and B = {3, 7, 8, 9}. Find union of two set A and B.
Solution:
A ∪ B = {1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9}
No element is repeated in the union of two sets. The common elements 3, 7 are taken only
once.
2. If set P = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}, set Q = {0, 3, 6, 9, 12} and set R = {2, 4, 6, 8}.
(i) Find the union of sets P and Q
(ii) Find the union of two set P and R
(iii) Find the union of the given sets Q and R
Solution:
(i) Union of sets P and Q is P ∪ Q
The set which contains all the elements of set P and all the elements of set Q is {0, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 9, 12}.
(ii) Union of two set P and R is P ∪ R
The set which contains all the elements of set P and all the elements of set R is {2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8}.
(iii) Union of the given sets Q and R is Q ∪ R
The set which contains all the elements of set Q and all the elements of set R is {0, 2, 3, 4, 6,
8, 9, 12}.

Some properties of the operation of union:

(i) A∪B = B∪A (Commutative law)
(ii) A∪(B∪C) = (A∪B)∪C (Associative law)
(iii) A ∪ ϕ = A (Law of identity element, is the identity of ∪)
(iv) A∪A = A (Idempotent law)
(v) U∪A = U (Law of ∪) ∪ is the universal set.

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Definition of intersection of sets:
Intersection of two given sets is the set which contains all the elements that are common to
both the sets.
To find the intersection of two given sets A and B is a set which consists of all the elements
which are common to both A and B.
The symbol for denoting intersection of sets is ‘∩‘.
For example:
Let set A = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
and set B = {3, 5, 7, 9}
In this two sets, the elements 3 and 5 are common. The set containing these common
elements i.e., {3, 5} is the intersection of set A and B.
The symbol used for the intersection of two sets is ‘∩‘.
Therefore, symbolically, we write intersection of the two sets A and B is A ∩ B which means
A intersection B.
The intersection of two sets A and B is represented as A ∩ B = {x : x ∈ A and x ∈ B}

Solved examples to find intersection of two given sets:

1. If A = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10} and B = {1, 3, 8, 4, 6}. Find intersection of two set A and B.
Solution:
A ∩ B = {4, 6, 8}
Therefore, 4, 6 and 8 are the common elements in both the sets.
2. If set A = {4, 6, 8, 10, 12}, set B = {3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18} and set C = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
10}.
(i) Find the intersection of sets A and B.
(ii) Find the intersection of two set B and C.
(iii) Find the intersection of the given sets A and C.
Solution:
(i) Intersection of sets A and B is A ∩ B
Set of all the elements which are common to both set A and set B is {6, 12}.
(ii) Intersection of two set B and C is B ∩ C
Set of all the elements which are common to both set B and set C is {3, 6, 9}.
(iii) Intersection of the given sets A and C is A ∩ C

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Set of all the elements which are common to both set A and set C is {4, 6, 8, 10}.

Some properties of the operation of intersection

(i) A∩B = B∩A (Commutative law)
(ii) (A∩B)∩C = A∩ (B∩C) (Associative law)
(iii) ϕ ∩ A = ϕ (Law of ϕ)
(iv) U∩A = A (Law of ∪)
(v) A∩A = A (Idempotent law)
(vi) A∩(B∪C) = (A∩B) ∪ (A∩C) (Distributive law) Here ∩ distributes over ∪
Also, A∪(B∩C) = (AUB) ∩ (AUC) (Distributive law) Here ∪ distributes over ∩

Difference of Two Sets

How to find the difference of two sets?
If A and B are two sets, then their difference is given by A - B or B - A.

• If A = {2, 3, 4} and B = {4, 5, 6}

A - B means elements of A which are not the elements of B.
i.e., in the above example A - B = {2, 3}
In general, B - A = {x : x ∈ B, and x ∉ A}
• If A and B are disjoint sets, then A – B = A and B – A = B

Solved examples to find the difference of two sets:

1. A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {4, 5, 6}.
Find the difference between the two sets:
(i) A and B
(ii) B and A
Solution:
The two sets are disjoint as they do not have any elements in common.
(i) A - B = {1, 2, 3} = A
(ii) B - A = {4, 5, 6} = B
2. Given three sets P, Q and R such that:
P = {x : x is a natural number between 10 and 16},

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Q = {y : y is a even number between 8 and 20} and
R = {7, 9, 11, 14, 18, 20}
(i) Find the difference of two sets P and Q
(ii) Find Q - R
(iii) Find R - P
(iv) Find Q – P
Solution:
According to the given statements:
P = {11, 12, 13, 14, 15}
Q = {10, 12, 14, 16, 18}
R = {7, 9, 11, 14, 18, 20}
(i) P – Q = {Those elements of set P which are not in set Q}
= {11, 13, 15}
(ii) Q – R = {Those elements of set Q not belonging to set R}
= {10, 12, 16}
(iii) R – P = {Those elements of set R which are not in set P}
= {7, 9, 18, 20}
(iv) Q – P = {Those elements of set Q not belonging to set P}
= {10, 16, 18}

Complement of a Set
In complement of a set, if 'U' be the universal set and A is a subset of 'U', then the
complement of A is the set of all elements of U which are not the elements of A.
Symbolically, we denote the complement of A with respect to U as A'.
For Example; If U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}
A = {1, 3, 7} find A'.

Solution:
We observe that 2, 4, 5, 6 are the only elements of U which do not belong to A.
Therefore, A' = {2, 4, 5, 6}

Some properties of complement sets

(i) A ∪ A' = A' ∪ A = ∪ (Complement law)
(ii) (A ∩ B') = ϕ (Complement law)
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(iii) (A ∪ B) = A' ∩ B' (De Morgan’s law)
(iv) (A ∩ B)' = A' ∪ B' (De Morgan’s law)
(v) (A')' = A (Law of complementation)
(vi) ϕ' = ∪ (Law of empty set
(vii) ∪' = ϕ and universal set)

What are Venn Diagrams?

Pictorial representations of sets represented by closed figures are called set diagrams or Venn
diagrams.
Venn diagrams are used to illustrate various operations like union, intersection and
difference. We can express the relationship among sets through this in a more significant
way. In this,
• A rectangle is used to represent a universal set.
• Circles or ovals are used to represent other subsets of the universal set.

Venn diagrams in different situations

• If a set A is a subset of set B, then the circle representing set A is drawn inside the circle
representing set B.

• If set A and set B have some elements in common, then to represent them, we draw two
circles which are overlapping.

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• If set A and set B are disjoint, then they are represented by two non-intersecting circles.

In this diagrams, the universal set is represented by a rectangular region and its subsets by
circles inside the rectangle. We represented disjoint set by disjoint circles and intersecting
sets by intersecting circles.