Four Basic Concepts

Mathematics in the Modern World

Batangas State University
The National Engineering University
College of Engineering, Architecture and Fine Arts
BS Industrial/Petroleum Engineering

Original Presentation by : Professor Nerissa E. Blanco, B.Sc.

First Semester, A.Y. 2022-2023

Objectives
➢ Define what a set and its basic terminologies.
➢ Differentiate two ways in describing sets.
➢ Perform basic operations on set.
➢ Define what a relation and a function is.
➢ Translate relation and function into a diagram.
➢ Name and apply the different properties of a relation and
function.
➢ Identify the domain and range in a relation and function.
➢ Evaluate a function.
➢ Define and perform a binary operation.
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 In this module, it will be discussed the four basic concepts in mathematics such as sets and
its basic operation, the functions, relations and the binary operations.

Sets
Relations
Binary
operations
Functions

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Language of Sets
What is a Set?

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

❑The objects in a set are called the elements or members of the set.
❑Capital letters A,B,C,… usually denote sets.
❑Lowercase letters a,b,c,… denote the elements of a set.
Examples : A set of counting numbers from 1 to 5.
A = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }
1. A set of vowels of English alphabet. 3. A set of an integers.

2. A set of all odd number. 4. A set of Cloyd’s name.

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Terminologies of Sets
1. Unit Set is a set that contains only one element.

2. Empty or null set is a set that has no element.

3. Finite set is a set that the elements in a given set is countable.

4. Infinite set is a set that elements in a given set has no end or not countable.

5. Cardinal Number “n” are numbers that used to measure the number of
elements in a given set. It is just similar in counting the total number of element in a set.

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Terminologies of Sets
6. Equal set - two sets, say A and B, are said to be equal if and only if they have equal number
of cardinality and the element/s are identical. There is a 1 – 1 correspondence.

7. Equivalent set - two sets, say A and B, are said to be equivalent if and only if they
have the exact number of element. There is a 1 – 1 correspondence.

8. Universal set “U” is the set of all elements under discussion.

9. Joint Sets - two sets, say A and B, are said to be joint sets if and only if they
have common element/s.

10. Disjoint Sets - two sets, say A and B, are said to be disjoint if and
only if they are mutually exclusive or if they don’t have common element/s.

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Methods
1. Roster or Tabular Method . It is done by listing or tabulating the elements of the set.

2. Rule or Set-builder Method. It is done by stating or describing the common

characteristics of the elements of the set. We use the notation A = { x / x … }

Example : “Set of first five natural numbers”

Solution

1. A = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }

2. A = {x | x is a counting number from 1 to 5}

A = { x | x ∈ N, x < 6}

Question : Give the two ways of Describing a Set. Consider the set of months in a year.

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Kinds of Sets
What is a Subset?
❑ A is a subset of B if every element of A is an element of B.
❑ Notation:
❑ For each set A, Symbolically: A ⊆ B ⇔ ∀x, x ∈ A → x ∈ B.
❑ For each set B,

Example: Suppose
A = {c, d, e}
B = {a, b, c, d, e}
U = {a, b, c, d, e, f, g}
Then A ⊆ B, since all elements of A is in B.

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Kinds of Sets
What is a Proper Subset?
❑ Let A and B be sets. A is a proper subset of B, if and only if, every element of A is
in B but there is at least one element of B that is not in A.
❑ The symbol ⊄ denotes that it is not a proper subset.

Symbolically: A ⊂ B ⇔ ∀x, x ∈ A → x ∈ B.

Example: Suppose
A = {c, d, e}
B = {a, b, c, d, e}
C = {e, a, c, b, d}
U = {a, b, c, d, e, f, g}
Then A ⊂ B, since all elements of A is in B.

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Kinds of Sets
What is a Equal set?
❑ Given set A and B, A equals B, written, if and only if, every element of A is in B and
every element of B is in A.

Symbolically: A = B ⇔ A ⊆ B ∧ B ⊆ A.

Example: Suppose
A = {a, b, c, d, e},
B = {a, b, d, e, c}
U = {a, b, c, d, e, f, g}
Then then A ⊆ B and B ⊆ A, thus A = B.

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Kinds of Sets
What is a Power set?

❑ Given a set S from universe U, the power set of S denoted by ℘(S), is the collection
(or sets) of all subsets of S.

Example: Determine the power set of (a) A = {e, f}, (b) = B = {1, 2, 3}.

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Operation on Sets
➢ Union
➢ Intersection
➢ Complement
➢ Difference
➢ Symmetric Difference
➢ Disjoint Sets
➢ Ordered Pairs
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Union
The union of A and B, denoted A∪B, is the set of all elements x in U such that x is in A
or x is in B.

Symbolically: A∪B = {x|x ∈ A ∨ x ∈ B}.

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Intersection
The intersection of A and B, denoted A∩B, is the set of all elements x in U
such that x is in A and x is in B.
Symbolically: A∩B = {x|x ∈ A ∧ x ∈ B}.

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Complement
The complement of A (or absolute complement of A), denoted A`, is the
set of all elements x in U such that x is not in A.
Symbolically: A` = {x ∈ U | x ∉ A}.

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Difference
The difference of A and B (or relative complement of B with respect to A), denoted
A ~ B, is the set of all elements x in U such that x is in A and x is not in B.
Symbolically: A ~ B = {x|x ∈ A ∧ x ∉ B} = A∩B`.

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Symmetric Difference
If set A and B are two sets, their symmetric difference as the set consisting of all elements
that belong to A or to B, but not to both A and B.
Symbolically : A ⊕ B = {x|x ∈ (A∪B) ∧ x∉(A∩B)}
= (A∪B)∩(A∩B)’ or (A∪B) ~ (A∩B).

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Example
Suppose
A = {a, b, c} B = {c, d, e} U = {a, b, c, d, e, f, g}

Find the following

a. A∪B
b. A∩B
c. A`
d. A ~ B
e. A ⊕

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Disjoint Sets
Two set are called disjoint (or non-intersecting) if and only if,
they have no elements in common.
Symbolically: A and B are disjoint ⇔ A∩B = ∅.

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Order Pair
In the ordered pair (a, b), a is called the first component and b is called the second
component. In general, (a, b) ≠ (b, a).
Example : Determine whether each statement is true or false.

a. (2, 5) = (9 – 7, 2 + 3) Since 2 = 9 – 7 and 2 + 3 = 5, the ordered pair is equal.

b. {2, 5} ≠ {5, 2} Since these are sets and not ordered pairs, the order in which
the elements are listed is not important.

c. (2, 5) ≠ (5, 2) These ordered pairs are not equal since they do not satisfy the
requirements for equality of ordered pairs.

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Cartesian Product
The Cartesian product of sets A and B, written A x B, is
A x B = {(a, b) | a ∈ A and b ∈ B}.

Example : Let A = {2, 3, 5} and B = {7, 8}. Find each set.

a. A x B = {(2, 7), (2, 8), (3, 7), (3, 8), (5, 7), (5, 8)}
b. B x A =
c. A x A =
d. B x B =

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Language of Functions and Relations
❑ A relation is a set of ordered pairs.
❑ If x and y are elements of these sets and if a relation exists between x and y, then we say that x corresponds to
y or that y depends on x and is represented as the ordered pair of (x, y).
❑ A relation from set A to set B is defined to be any subset of A×B.
If R is a relation from A to B and (a, b) ∈ R, then we say that “a is related to b” and it is denoted as a R b.
❑ If the set of ordered pairs have different x-coordinates, it is a function.
❑ If the set of ordered pairs have same x-coordinates, it is NOT a function but it could be said a
relation.

Example : Determine if the following is a function or not a function.

1. {(0, -5), (1, -4), (2, -3), (3, -2), (4, -1), (5, 0)}

2. {(-1, -7), (1, 0), (2, -3), (0, -8), (0, 5), (-2, -1)}

3. 2x + 3y – 1 = 0

4. x2 + y2 = 1

5. y2 = x + 1
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Examples :
6. A = {(1, 3), (2, 4), (3, 5), (4, 6)}
7. B = {(–2, 7), (–1, 3), (0, 1), (1, 5), (2, 5)}
8. C = {(3, 0), (3, 2), (7, 4), (9, 1)}

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Examples :
9. 10. 11. 12.

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Operations on Functions
The following are definitions on the operations on functions.

a. The sum or difference of f and g, denoted by f ± g is the function defined by,

(f ± g)(x) = f(x) ± g(x).

b. The product of f and g, denoted by f · g is the function defined by,

(f·g)(x) = f(x)·g(x).

𝒇(𝒙)
c. The quotient of f and g denoted by f/g is the function defined by , where g(x) is not equal to zero.
𝒈(𝒙)

d. The composite function of f and g denoted by f ο g is the function defined by (f ο g)(x) = f(g(x)). Similarly,
the composite function of g by f, denoted by g ο f, is the function defined by ( g ο f)(x) = g(f(x)).

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Examples :
1. If f(x) = 2x + 1 and g(x) = 3x + 2, what is (f ± g)(x) ?

2. What is (f • g)(x) if f(x) = 2x + 1 and g(x) = 3x + 2?

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Examples :
𝑓
3. What is (𝑔) (x) if f(x) = 2a + 6b and g(x) = a + 3b?

4. If f(x) = 2x + 1 and g(x) = 3x + 2, what is (g ο f)(x) and (f ο g)(x)?

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Binary Operations :

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Examples :
Tell whether the following is a binary operation or not.
2. G ∈ Z, defined * by a * b = a – b for all set a, b ∈ Z.

3. G ∈ Z+, defined * by a * b = a – b for all set a, b ∈ Z+.

4. G ∈ Z-, defined * by a * b = a – b for all set a, b ∈ Z-.

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Commutative

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Associative

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Identity

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Inverse

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Group

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