SET THEORY

Prepared by
Lec. Kashfia Maisha
 WHAT IS SET THEORY

A set is a collection of well-defined and well-distinguished objects. Set

Theory is a branch of mathematical logic where we learn sets and their
properties. A set is a collection of objects or groups of objects. These
objects are often called elements or members of a set.
For example, a group of players in a cricket team is a set. Since the
number of players in a cricket team could be only 11 at a time, thus we
can say, this set is a finite set. Another example of a finite set is a set of
English vowels. But there are many sets that have infinite members such
as a set of natural numbers, a set of whole numbers, set of real numbers,
set of imaginary numbers, etc.
 APPLICATION OF SET IN BUSINESS

1. Saving cost: in business operations there are a lot of interactions

between people and objects. By identifying the products that
businesses require, and the persons to supply these requirements,
they can be able to make the best bargain thus saving money.
2. Increasing profits: By classifying the inputs as one set and the
suppliers as another set, businesses can use the set theory
(intersection) to get the smallest set of suppliers for all of their
required inputs.
 APPLICATION OF SET IN BUSINESS

3. Prediction accuracy: Predicting business failure before it happens

is very important in order to be able to take the necessary
preventive measures. Such predictions are mostly important in
banking sectors since they are the ones that support the economy
of most countries. With the knowledge in set theory, one can use
the Rough Set Theory to predict the possibility of bank or business
failure. Rough sets are sets with indistinct boundaries and the basic
concept here is the whim of approximation space.
 APPLICATION OF SET IN BUSINESS

4. Production management: Fuzzy set theory has also helped in business

production management. Its ability to quantitatively and qualitatively
model problems which involve vagueness and imprecision has led to the
researchers in production management use it. The theory has been used
in areas of production management such as in new product development,
production scheduling and control, inventory management etc.
5. Decision making: Applied to business operations, set theory can assist
in planning and operations. Every element of business can be grouped into
at least one set such as accounting, management, operations, production
and sales. Within those sets are other sets.
 TYPES OF SET

a) Finite Set: When the elements of a set can be counted by

a finite number it is called a finite set.
Example: A= {1,2,3,4}
B= {1,2,3,4,….., 100}
b) Infinite Set: If the elements of a set cannot be counted in a
finite number, the set is called an infinite set.
Example: N= {1,2,3,4,….. }
 TYPES OF SET

c) Singleton: The set which contains only one element is called a

singleton or a unit set.
Example: A= {2}
B= {0}
d) Equal Set: Two sets A and B are said to be equal if every
element of A is also an element of B and every element of B is
also an element of A.
Example: A= {1,2,3,4}
B= {1,2,3,4}
 TYPES OF SET

e) Equivalent Set: If the element of a set can be put into one-to-one

correspondence with the elements of another set, then the two sets
are called equivalent set. If two sets are infinite sets or contain same
number of elements, then they are equivalent sets.
Example: A= {1,2,3,4}
B= {a,b,c,d}
Here set A ≡ B because it is possible to make one to one
correspondence among the elements of both sets.
 TYPES OF SET

f) Disjoint sets: Two or more sets having no common elements are called disjoint sets.
Example: A= {1,2,3,4}
B= {a,b,c,d,p,q}
Here A & B sets are disjoint sets as they have no common elements.
g) Subsets: If every element of a set B is also an element of a set A at least and elements of B is
less than set A elements, then set B is called subset of A and is written as, B ⊆ A.
Example: A= {1,2,3,4, 5,}
B= {1,2,3,4}
Then B ⊆ A as every element of B is an element of A.
 TYPES OF SET

h) Proper Subset: Set B is called proper subset of super A if each and every element of
set B are the elements of the set A and at least one element of super set A is not an
element of B.
Example: A= {1,2,3,4, 5,6,9}
B= {1,2,3,4}
So, B ⊂ A.
i) Improper Subset: A subset which contains all the elements of the original set is called
an improper subset.
For example: Set P ={2,4,6} Then, the subsets of P are; {}, {2}, {4}, {6}, {2,4}, {4,6}, {2,6}
and {2,4,6}. Where {2}, {4}, {6}, {2,4}, {4,6}, {2,6} are the proper subsets and {2,4,6} &
{}, are the improper subsets.
 TYPES OF SET

j) Power Set: If a family of sets contains all subset of a set, then this family of sets is
called power set of that set. The power set is said to be the collection of all the
subsets. It is represented by P(A).
Example: If A is set having elements {a, b}. Then the power set of A will be;
P(A) = {∅, {a}, {b}, {a, b}}
k) Universal Set: Our discussing sets are subsets of a big set; this big set is known as
universal set of that sets. It is generally denoted by the symbol U. is a set which has
elements of all the related sets, without any repetition of elements.
Example: Say if A and B are two sets, such as A = {1,2,3} and B = {1,a,b,c}, then the
universal set associated with these two sets is given by U = {1,2,3,a,b,c}.
 OPERATIONS ON SETS

1. Intersection of sets: The intersection of two sets A and B is the set

consisting of all elements, which belongs to both set A and B. The
intersection of sets A and B is denoted by A∩B.
Example: A= {1,2,3,4, 5,6,9}
B= {1,2,3,4}
A∩B= {1,2,3,4}
2. Union of Sets: The union of two sets A and B is the set consisting of all
elements, which belong to either A or B or both. The union of sets A and B
is denoted by A U B (which can be read as "A or B" (or) "A union B")
 OPERATIONS ON SETS

Example: A= {1,2,3,4, 5,6,9}

B= {1,2,3,4,8}
A U B = {1,2,3,4, 5,6,8,9}
3. Difference of two sets: The difference of two sets A and B is the set of all
those elements, which belong to A and not to B. The difference of sets A
and B is denoted by A-B or A~B.
Example: A= {1,2,3,8}
B= {1,2,3,4}
A-B= {8} and B-A= {4}
 OPERATIONS ON SETS

4. Complement of a set: The complement of a set is the set

of all elements, which do not belong to that set. The
complement of set A is defined as a set that contains the
elements present in the universal set but not in set A.
For example, Set U = {2,4,6,8,10,12} and set A = {4,6,8},
then the complement of set A, A′ = U-A = {2,10,12}.
 PROBLEM EXAMPLES

1. In a class of 100 students, 35 like science and 45 like math. 10 like both. How many like
either of them and how many like neither?
Total number of students, n(µ) = 100
Number of science students, n(S) = 35
Number of math students, n(M) = 45
Number of students who like both, n(M∩S) = 10
Number of students who like either of them,
n(MᴜS) = n(M) + n(S) – n(M∩S)
→ 45+35-10 = 70
Number of students who like neither = n(µ) – n(MᴜS) = 100 – 70 = 30
PROBLEM EXAMPLES
 PROBLEM EXAMPLES

2. In a group, there were 115 people whose proofs of identity

were being verified. Some had passport, some had voter id and
some had both. If 65 had passport and 30 had both, how many
had voter id only and not passport?
3. Among a group of people, 40% liked red, 30% liked blue and
30% liked green. 7% liked both red and green, 5% liked both red
and blue, 10% liked both green and blue. If 86% of them liked at
least one color, what percentage of people liked all three?
 SOLUTION

2. n(PᴜV) = n(P) + n(V) – n(P∩V)

115 = 65+n(V) – 30
n(V) = 80
People with only voter id = 80-30
= 50
 SOLUTION

3. n(RᴜBᴜG) = n(R) + n(B) + n(G) – n(R∩B) – n(B∩G) –

n(R∩G) + n(R∩G∩B)
86 = 40+30+30-5-10-7+ n(R∩G∩B)
Solving this gives 8.
 PROBLEM EXAMPLES

4. There are 30 students in a class. Among them, 8 students are

learning both English and French. A total of 18 students are learning
English. If every student is learning at least one language, how many
students are learning French in total?
5. Among a group of students, 50 played cricket, 50 played hockey
and 40 played volleyball. 15 played both cricket and hockey, 20
played both hockey and volleyball, 15 played cricket and volleyball
and 10 played all three. If every student played at least one game,
find the number of students and how many played only cricket, only
hockey and only volleyball?
 SOLUTION

4. Every student is learning at least one language. Hence there is no one who fall in the category
‘neither’.
So, in this case, n(EᴜF) = n(µ).
It is mentioned in the problem that a total of 18 are learning English. This DOES NOT mean that 18 are
learning ONLY English. Only when the word ‘only’ is mentioned in the problem should we consider it
so.
Now, 18 are learning English and 8 are learning both. This means that 18 – 8 = 10 are learning ONLY
English.
n(µ) = 30, n(E) = 10
n(EᴜF) = n(E) + n(F) – n(E∩F)
30 = 18+ n(F) – 8. So, n(F) = 20
Therefore, total number of students learning French = 20.
Note: The question was only about the total number of students learning French and not about those
 SOLUTION

5. n(C) = 50, n(H) = 50, n(V) = 40

n(C∩H) = 15
n(H∩V) = 20
n(C∩V) = 15
n(C∩H∩V) = 10
No. of students who played at least one game
n(CᴜHᴜV) = n(C) + n(H) + n(V) – n(C∩H) – n(H∩V) – n(C∩V) + n(C∩H∩V)
= 50 + 50 + 40 – 15 – 20 – 15 + 10
Total number of students = 100.
SOLUTION
 SOLUTION

So, students who only played cricket = 30

students who only played hockey = 25
students who only played volleyball = 15
Total students who played any sport = 100
 PROBLEM

6. a) If P has three element, Q four and R two, how many

elements does the Cartesian product PxQxR will have
Solution: P has three elements
Q has four elements
R has two elements
Number of elements of (PxQxR)= (3x4x2) = 24 elements
 PROBLEM

b) Identify the elements of B, if set Q = {1,2,3} and BxQ=

{(4,1), (4,2), (4,3), (5,1), (5,2), (5,3), (6,1), (6,2), (6,3)}
Solution:
As BxQ= {4,5,6} x {Q}
B= {4,5,6}
 PROBLEM

7. A= {2,3}, B= {4,5} and C= {5,6}

Determine i)Ax(BᴜC)
ii) Ax(B∩C)
iii) A`ᴜ(B-C) Where A= {1,2,3,4}, B= {2,4,6}, C= {1,2,5}
iv) A`ᴜ(B`-C`) Where A= {1,2,3,4}, B= {1,2,3,4}, C= {1,2,5}
v) A`- (B∩C`) Where A= {1,2,3,4}, B= {2,4,6}, C= {1,2,5}
vi) (A`- B`)∩(B`∩C`) A= {1,2,3,4}, B= {2,4,6}, C= {1,2,5}
 PROBLEM

8. If A has 32 elements, B has 42 elements and AᴜB has 62 elements, indicate

the number of elements in A∩B?
9. A town has a total population of 50,000. Out of it, 28000 read Ratriot and
23,000 read Times of India while 4,000 read both the Papers. Indicate how
many read neither Patriot nor Times of India?
10. Out of the total 150 students who appeared for ICMAB examination, 45
failed in Accounts, 50 failed in Maths and 30 in costing. Those who failed
both in Accounts and Math were 30, failed in Math and costing are 32, and
failed in Accounts and costing are 35. Students who failed in all subjects are
25. Find the number of students who failed at least in any one of the
subjects.
THANK YOU