FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS

OF THE LANGUAGE
MATHEMATICS
LANGUAGE OF MATHEMATICS
 Body of words or symbols and the systems for
their common use to people who are of the same
community or nation, the same geographical
area, or the same cultural tradition
 Systematic means of communicating by the use of

sounds or conventional symbols

 Composed of vocabularies consisting of symbols

and words and grammar which comprise a set of

rules on how to use these symbols
A. NUMBERS
 A number is a symbol, either a figure or word,
that expresses a certain value or a specified
quantity that is determined by count.
THE SET OF REAL NUMBERS
 The set of real numbers consists of numbers that
make up the entire number system in college algebra.
It includes the rational and irrational numbers. Each
number in the set can be represented as a decimal
number. The diagram below gives an overview of the
set.
PROPERTIES OF THE EQUALITY OF REAL
NUMBERS

 Reflexive Property of Equality. If a ϵ R, then a = a

Example: 3 = 3
 Symmetric Property of Equality. Let a, b ϵ R. If a =

b then b = a
Example: 8 =x, then x = 8
 Transitive Property of Equality. Let a, b, c ϵ R. If a

= b, b = c then b = c
Example: 8 = x and x = y, then 8 = y
 Addition Property of Equality. Let a, b, c ϵ R. If a =

b, then a + c = b + c
Example: if x=23, then x+2= 23+2
 Multiplication Property of Equality. Let a, b, c ϵ R.

If a = b, then a . c = b = c
Example: 2x=18, 2(1/2) =18(1/2)
THE STRUCTURE OF THE SET OF REAL NUMBERS IS
CALLED FIELD, THAT IS, UNDER THE OPERATIONS
ADDITION (+) AND MULTIPLICATION (.), REAL
NUMBERS HAVE THE FOLLOWING PROPERTIES
 Closure Property
• Addition: if a and b are real numbers, then a + b is also
a real number.
• Multiplication: If a and b are real numbers, then a.b is
also a real number

 Associative property (Grouping Property)

• Addition: If a, b, c ϵ R, then (a + b) +c = a + (b + c)

Example: (1 + 2) + 3 = 1 + (2 + 3)
• Multiplication: If a, b, c ϵ R, then (a.b).c = a.(b.c)

Example: (2 . 3) . 5 = 2 .(3 . 5)
 Commutative Property (order property)
• Addition: If a, b ϵ R, then a + b = b + a
Example: 4 + 5 = 5 + 4
• Multiplication: If a, b ϵ R, then a . b = b . a
Example: 6 . 3 = 3 . 6
 Identity Property
• Addition: If a ϵ R, then a + 0 = 0 + a = a
Example: 8 + 0 = 8
Multiplication : If a ϵ R, then a . 1 = 1 . a = a
Example:5 . 1 = 5
Inverse Property
• Additive Inverse : a + (-a) = (-a) + a = 0
Example: 5 + (-5) = 0
• Multiplicative Inverse : a-1 =
Example: 9 -1=
B. SETS
 Set theory was developed by George Cantor
toward the end of the 19th century. Today, the
idea of set is used extensively in mathematics.
One of its important contributions is in the
simplification of teaching modern mathematics.
SET NOTATIONS AND DEFINITIONS
 A set is an unordered and well-defined collection
of zero or more distinct objects. The objects that
make up a set are called the elements or the
members of the set. The following are sets:
a. A vase of flowers(the elements are the flowers in
the vase)
b. Even counting numbers (the elements are 2, 4,
6, …)
c. State universities and colleges in region 1
(Mariano Marcos State University, University of
Northern Philippines, Ilocos Sur Polytechnic
State College, North Luzon Philippines State
College, Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State
University, Pangasinan State University)
SET NOTATIONS AND DEFINITIONS
 We use the following notations in dealing with
sets:
• - braces, used with words or symbols to specify a set
• A, B, … Z – capital letters, used for naming sets
• - epsilon, means “is an element of”
• - epsilon with slash, means “is not an element of”

Example:
• For the set B = , we observe that a B and m B but u
∉ B and 3 ∉ B
 The number of elements in a set is called is
cardinality. Thus, the cardinality of set B. Since
set B has 9 elements in the previous example, n(B)
= 9.

Example 1:
Determine the cardinalities of the following sets:
a) C =;
b) A = ;
c) L =

Answer:
a) n(C) =
b) n(C) =
c) n(C) =
DESCRIPTION OF SETS
 There are three methods to describe a set: roster, rule, and set
builder.
1. Roster Method or Tabulation method describes a set by
listing its elements, enclosing them by braces, and separating
each of them by a comma. Here, each element of the set should
only be written once and the order of the elements does not
matter.
Examples: D =
O=
2. Rule Method describes a set by writing its elements’
property.
Examples: D =
O=
3. Set-Builder Method describes a set by introducing a
variable to represent arbitrary elements of the set and
describing the variable such that the description fits to all
elements of the set.
Examples:D =
O=
KINDS OF SETS
1. Finite Set is a set with limited number of elements. It has a fixed
cardinality which can be easily determined through counting.
Examples: S =
P=
2. Infinite Set is a set with an unlimited number of elements. However,
there might be a first or a last element though not necessarily.
Examples: Z =
R=
3. Unit Set is a finite set with only one element.
Examples: F =
M=
4. Null or Empty Set is asset that contains no elements and denoted by
the symbol {} or the Danish letter . If no element can satisfy a given
condition, then the set is null.
Examples: C =
G=
 5. Universal Set is a set that contains all the elements in the discussion

or investigation and denoted by U. when determining all the elements

that can satisfy a given condition, we are dealing with a universal set.
Examples: H =
T=
SET RELATIONS
1. Subset: A B
Set A is a subset of A are in B, denoted by A ⊆
B or B ⊇ A, if and only if all the elements of A are
in B. Set A is not a subset of set B if there is one or
more elements of A not found in set B

Example:
Given set A = , which of the following sets is a
subset of A?
H= O=,
P = , or E =
SET RELATIONS
2. Proper Subset: A ⊂ B
Set A is a proper subset of b, denoted by A ⊂ B
or B ⊃ A, if A does not contain all the elements in
B and A ⊆ B. in the previous example, H ⊂ A.

a. A null set is a subset of every set

b. A set is a subset of itself
c. A set is not a proper subset of itself
SET RELATIONS
3. Equal Sets: A = B
Two sets A and B are equal if and only if A
and B have identical elements although the
arrangement may not be the same. Equivalently,
two sets A and b are equal if and only if A ⊆ B and
B ⊆ A.

Example:
Which of these sets are equal?
L=,
O=,
V = , or
E=
Answer: They are all equal
SET RELATIONS
4. Equivalent Sets: A ~ B
Two sets A and B are equivalent if they both have the
same number of elements and their elements can be put
into one-to-one correspondence.
Example:
Given: C = ,
L=,
U=,
E=.
 Which are the following are true:

 C ~ L; b) U ~ C; or c) E ~ U?

5. Disjoint Sets
Sets A and b are disjoint if they have no common
elements. For instance, if A is the set of positive
integers and b is the set of negative integers, then A
and B are disjoint sets.
SET OPERATIONS
1. Union of Sets: A ∪ B
The union of sets A and B, denoted by A ∪ B, is the
set containing all elements that are either in A or
in B or in Both A and B; that is,
A∪B=
The cardinalities of union of sets may be
computed as follows:
a. n(A ∪ B) = n(A) + n(B), for disjoint sets A and b

b. n(A ∪ B) = n(A) + n(B) – (A B), for any sets A

and B
c. n(A ∪ B ∪ C) = n(A) + n(B) + n(C) – n(A ∩ B) –
n(A ∩ C) – n(B ∩ C) + n(A ∩ B ∩ C), for any
sets A, B, and C
SET OPERATIONS
2. Intersection of Sets: A ∩ B
The intersection of sets A and B, denoted by A ∩ B, is the
set containing all elements that are in both A and B; that is A
∩B=
Examples:
Let O = Q=
S= P=
R= T=
List the elements of the following union or intersection of sets
Answers:
a. O ∪ Q =

b. O ∪ P =

c. Q ∪ S =

d. R ∪ T =

e. P ∪ R ∪ T =

f. O∩Q=
g. P ∩ R ∩ T =
SET OPERATIONS
3. Difference of Sets: A – B
The difference of two sets A and b, denoted by A
– B or A⟍B, is the set of elements which belong to A
but which do not belong to b; that is,
A–B=
4. Complement of a set: Ac or A’
The complement of a set A, denoted by Ac or
A’, is the set of elements which belong to the
universal set U but which do not belong to A; that
is,
Ac =
U={0-9}
VENN-DIAGRAM

Venn-Euler diagram is a convenient way of

representing set relations and set operations. The
sets are represented by plane geometric figures
such as ovals or circles, the universal set by a
rectangle. This diagram was invented by john
Venn and Leonhard Euler. It may also be called
Euler circles or simply, Venn Diagram.
Examples
1. Represent the following using a Venn diagram:
a) A ⊆ B, and b) M and N are disjoint sets

B
M
N
A

A⊆B M and N are disjoint

2. Sixty Filipino teenagers went on a summer
vacation last summer. Of this number, 23 went to
Palawan, 20 went to Tagaytay City, 16 went to
Batanes, 9 went to Palawan and Tagaytay City, 7
went to Tagaytay City and Batanes, 5 went to
Palawan and Batanes, and 3 went to these three
places.
a. How many of them visited Palawan only?
b. How many of them visited Tagaytay City and
Batanes but not Palawan?
c. How many of them visited Batanes but not
Tagaytay City?
d. How many of them did not go to any of these
places?
 12 6 7
Palawan Tagaytay City
3
2 4
7

Batanes

Answers:
a. 12

b. 4

c. 9

d. 19