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CHAPTER 1: SETS

SETS: well defined list, collection, or class of distinct objects (can be anything)
Elements(ϵ ): objects of a given set
eg.: 1. The numbers 2,4,6,8,10,…
2. Distinct letter in the word Ifugao.
3. Female presidents of the Philippines.
4. Colors of the rainbow.
5. Rational numbers with numerator 3 and denominator of positive integer less than 9.

SET NOTATION
SET is denoted by CAPITAL LETTERS
ELEMENTS is denoted by SMALL LETTERS
1. ROSTER METHOD: Listing
eg. 𝐴 = { 𝑟𝑒𝑑, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑒, 𝑏𝑙𝑢𝑒, 𝑦𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤}
𝐵 = { 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}

2. RULE/SET BUILDER NOTATION: describe by stating the common property of a given set.
eg. 𝐴 = {𝑥/𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑 “𝑀𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑖”}
ROSTER METHOD RULE METHOD
A1={1,3,5,7,9} A2={x/x is an odd number b/w 1 and 9)
B1={𝑚, 𝑖, 𝑠, 𝑝} B2={x/x is a letter from the word Mississippi)
C1={Corazon Aquino, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo} C2={x/x is the woman president of the
Philippines)
D1={red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, D2={x/x is the color of the rainbow)
violet}

KINDS OF SET
NULL SET { } or Ø: set containing no element
eg. 1. Set of months in a year having 32 days.
2. 𝐴 = {𝑥/𝑥 2 = 4 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑑𝑑}

UNIVERSAL SET ( U ): one that consists of all the elements being considered
eg. 1. 𝑈 = {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}

FINITE SET and INFINITE SETS: represented by cardinal number denoted by 𝑛(𝐴).
Finite: specific number of elements
Infinite: countless
eg. Let B be the set of days in a week.
𝑛(𝐵) = 7
𝐶 = {2,4,6,8, … }

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SETS:

1. EQUAL AND EQUIVALENT SETS:

EQUAL SETS: (A=B) If every element which belongs to B and vice versa
eg. 1. 𝐴 = {𝑥/𝑥 2 − 9 = 0} and 𝐵 = {−3,3}
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𝐴 = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑, 𝑒}, and 𝐵 = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑, 𝑒}

EQUIVALENT SETS: (A ~B) if both sets have the same cardinal numbers.
eg. 1. 𝐶 = {𝑎, 𝑒, 𝐼, 𝑜, 𝑢} and 𝐵 = {1,2,3,4,5}

2. JOINT AND DISJOINT SETS:

JOINT SETS: If set A and B have common element.
eg. 𝐴 = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑, 𝑒} 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐵 = {𝑑, 𝑓, 𝑔}

DISJOINT SETS: If A and B have no common element

eg. 𝐴 = {𝑞, 𝑟, 𝑠, 𝑡} 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐵 = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑}

3. SUBSETS ( Ϲ ): If every element in a set A is also a member of set B.

: A Ϲ B if x ϵ A implies x ϵ B.
: A Ϲ B means “A is contained in B”.
eg. 1. 𝐴 = {1,3,5} 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐵 = {5,4,3,2,1}
2. 𝐶 = {𝑥/𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟} and D={2x/x is a natural number}

Remarks: 1. Null Set is considered to be a subset of every set.

2. If A is NOT a subset of B, that is A Ϲ B, then there is at least one element in A
that is NOT a member of B.
eg. List all the subsets of {a, b, c}

BASIC SET OPERATIONS

In set, operations like union, intersection, difference, complement, and cross product are
used to assign new sets to pair of sets A and B.

UNION (U): set of all elements that belong to A or to B or to both. It is denoted by 𝐴ᴗ𝐵 𝑜𝑟 𝐴ᴗ𝐵 =
{𝑥/𝑥 𝜖𝐴 𝑜𝑟 𝑥𝜖𝐵}
eg. 𝐴 = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑} 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐵 = {𝑓, 𝑏, 𝑑, 𝑔}
𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑, 𝑓, 𝑔}

INTERSECTION (∩): the set of elements which are common to A and B or defined as 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 =
{𝑥/𝑥 𝜖 𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥 𝜖’ 𝐵}
eg. 𝐴 = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑} 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐵 = {𝑓, 𝑏, 𝑑, 𝑔}
𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 = {𝑏, 𝑑}

DIFFERENCE (-): the set of elements which belong to A but which DO NOT belong to B or
defined as 𝐴 − 𝐵 = {𝑥/𝑥 𝜖 𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥 𝜖 𝐵}
eg. 𝐴 = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑} 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐵 = {𝑓, 𝑏, 𝑑, 𝑔}
𝐴 − 𝐵 = {𝑎, 𝑐}

COMPLEMENT (‘): the set of elements that DO NOT belong to A, that is, difference of the
universal set U and A or defined as
𝐴’ = {𝑥/𝑥 𝜖 𝑈 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑥 ∉ 𝐴} 𝑜𝑟 𝐴’ = {𝑥/𝑥 ∉ 𝐴}
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eg. 𝑈 = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}
𝐴 = {1,2,3,8,9}𝐴’ = {

VENN DIAGRAMS: simple and constructive way of illustrating the relationships between sets.

1. Union of sets A and B (A U B) 3. Difference of sets A and B (A-B)

2. Intersection of sets A and B ( A ∩ B) 4.Complement of set A (A’)

APPLICATION: In a survey involving 100 different stores, it was found out that

50 stores purchased item X;

60 stores purchased item Y;
70 stores purchased item Z;
25 stores purchased items X and Y;
30 stores purchased items X and Z;
35 stores purchased items Y and Z; and
10 stores purchased items X, Y, and Z.

Solution:

X 15 Y
5 10
10
20 25
Z
15
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How many stores purchase the following items?

1. X items only? 5
2. Y items only? 10
3. Z items only? 15
4. Y items and X items? 25
5. Y and Z items? 35
6. Y or Z items? 95
7. Y or X items? 85