ACTIVITY 1

OBJECTIVE: To find the number of subsets of a given set and verify that if a set has n number of
elements, then the total number of subsets is 2n.
MATERIAL REQUIRED: Paper, different coloured pencils.
METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION
1. Take the empty set (say) A0 which has no element.
2. Take a set (say) A1 which has one element (say) a1.
3. Take a set (say) A2 which has two elements (say) a1 and a2.
4. Take a set (say) A3 which has three elements (say) a1, a2 and a3.
DEMONSTRATION:
1. Represent A0 as in Following Figure 1

Figure-1

Here the possible subsets of A0 is A0 itself only, represented symbolically by . The number of
subsets of A0 is 1 = 20 .
2. Represent A1 as in Figure 2. . a1

Figure-2
Here the subsets of A1 are , {a1}. The number of subsets of A1 is 2 = 21
3. Represent A2 as in Figure 3
. a1

. a2
Figure-3
Here the subsets of A2 are , {a1}, {a2}, {a1, a2}. The number of subsets of A2 is 4 = 22.

4. Represent A3 as in Figure 4
Here the subsets of A3 are , {a1},{a2}, {a3),{a1, a2}, {a2, a3) ,{a3, a1} and {a1, a2, a3}. The number of
subsets of A3 is 8 = 23.
5. Continuing this way, the number of subsets of set A containing n elements a1, a2, ..., an is 2n.
OBSERVATION
1. The number of subsets of A0 is = 21
2. The number of subsets of A1 is = 22
3. The number of subsets of A2 is = 23
4. The number of subsets of A3 is = 23
5. The number of subsets of A10 is = 210
6. The number of subsets of An is = 2n
APPLICATION
The activity can be used for calculating the number of subsets of a given set.