SET THEORY REVIEWER (DISCRETE MATHEMATICS)

• Set - a well-defined collection of objects of any kind.

• Sets are denoted by capital letters A, B, C …, X, Y, Z.
• Elements of a set are represented by lower case letters.
o x∈A
▪ “x belongs to A”
▪ “x is in A”
▪ “x is an element of A”
o x∉A
▪ “x does not belong to A”
▪ “x is not in A”
▪ “x is not an element of A”
• METHODS OF DESCRIBING MEMBERS OF A SET:
o Roster Method (Listing) – enclosing the list by a pair of braces.
▪ A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
▪ B = {A, E, I, O, U}
o Rule Method - giving a property which distinguishes members of set from objects in the set.
▪ A = {𝑎 | 𝑎 is a counting number less than 6}
▪ B = {𝑏 | 𝑏 is the vowels in the English alphabet}
• Finite sets – contains a distinct number of elements.
• Infinite sets – contains an infinite number of elements.
• Subset (⊆) – a set that is part of another set (including a set of itself) (A ⊆ B IFF every element of A is in B)
o If: A = {1, 3, 5} B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} C = {1, 2, 3, 4} D = {3, 1, 5}
o Then: A ⊆ B, C ⊆ B, A ⊆ D
• Proper subset (⊂) – a set that is part of another set (not including a set of itself) (A ⊂ B IFF every element
of A is in B but there is at least one element of B that is not in A.)
o If: A = {1, 3, 5} B = {1, 2, 3, 5}
o Then: A ⊂ B
• Equal sets - two sets A and B are equal if and only if every element of A is in B and every element of B is in
A and is denoted A = B. (A = B IFF A ⊆ B and B ⊆ A)
o A = {1, 2, 3, 6} B = the set of positive divisors of 6
C = {3, 1, 6, 2} D = {1, 2, 2, 3, 6, 6, 6}
o Then A, B, C, and D are all equal sets.
• Empty sets - denoted by 𝝓, a set which contains nothing.
o A = {𝑥 | 𝑥 is a person taller than 10 feet} = ∅
o B = {𝑥 | 𝑥 2 = 4, x is odd} = ∅
• Universal set (U) - The set of all elements under consideration is called the Universal Set. The Universal Set
is usually denoted by U.
• Venn diagram - a graphical representation of sets by regions of plane.
• SET OPERATIONS
o Union ( ∪ ) - Let A and B be subsets of a universal set U. The union of sets A and B is the set of all
elements in U that belong to A or to B or to both, and is denoted A ∪ B. Symbolically: A ∪ B = {x ∈
U | x ∈ A or x ∈ B}
o Intersection ( ∩ ) - Let A and B subsets of a universal set U. The intersection of sets A and B is the
set of all elements in U that belong to both A and B and is denoted A ∩ B. Symbolically: A ∩ B = {x
∈ U | x ∈ A and x ∈ B}

o Set difference - Let A and B be subsets of a universal set U. The difference of “A and B” is the set
of all elements in U that belong to A but not to B, and is denoted A – B or A \ B. Symbolically: A –
B = {x ∈ U | x ∈ A and x ∉ B}

o Complement - Let A be a subset of universal set U. The complement of A is the set of all element
̅ , 𝐀′ or 𝑨𝑪 . Symbolically: 𝑨𝑪 = {x ∈ U | x ∉ A}
in U that do not belong to A, and is denoted 𝐀

o NOTABLE EXAMPLES:
▪ A ⊆ A ∪ B and B ⊆ A ∪ B
▪ A ∩ B ⊆ A and A ∩ B ⊆ B
▪ If A ∩ B = ∅, then A & B are called disjoint sets.
▪ A – B ≠ B – A that is Set difference is not commutative.
▪ A–B⊆A
▪ A – B, A ∩ B and B – A are mutually disjoint sets.
▪ 𝐴𝐶 = U – A
▪ A ∩ 𝐴𝐶 = ∅ AND A ∪ 𝐴𝐶 = U
• Truth table - mathematical table used in connection with Boolean algebra and Boolean functions. it defines
the possible truth values of the set equations.

• Cartesian Product of Two Sets - Let A and B be sets. The Cartesian product of A and B, denoted by A ×
B (read as “A cross B”) is the set of all ordered pairs (𝑎, 𝑏), where 𝑎 is in A and 𝑏 is in B. A × B = {(𝑎,
𝑏)| 𝑎 ∈ A and 𝑏 ∈ B} (A × B has m × n elements.)
o A = {1,2} and B = {2,3}
o 𝐴 𝑥 𝐵 = {(1,2), (1,3), (2,2), (2,3)}
o 𝐵 𝑥 𝐵 = {(2,2), (2,3), (3,2), (3,3)}
• Power set - The power set of set A is the set of all subsets of A, denoted P(a). If a has n elements, then
p(a) has 2n elements.
o A = {1,2} and B = {2,3}
o Then 𝑃(𝐴) = {∅, {1}, {2}, {1,2}}
o 𝑃(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵) = {∅, {1}, {2}, {3}, {1,2}, {1,3}, {2,3}, {1,2,3}}
o 𝐴 𝑥 𝐵 = {(1,2), (1,3), (2,2), (2,3)}
o 𝐵 𝑥 𝐵 = {(2,2), (2,3), (3,2), (3,3)}
• LAWS
o Idempotent Laws
▪ A∪𝐴 =𝐴
▪ A∩𝐴 =𝐴
o Commutative Laws
▪ A∪𝐵 =B∪𝐴
▪ A∩𝐵 =B∩𝐴
o Associative Laws
▪ 𝐴 ∪ (𝐵 ∪ 𝐶) = (𝐴 ∪ 𝐵) ∪ 𝐶
▪ 𝐴 ∩ (𝐵 ∩ 𝐶) = (𝐴 ∩ 𝐵) ∩ 𝐶
o Distributive Laws
▪ 𝐴 ∪ (𝐵 ∩ 𝐶) = (𝐴 ∪ 𝐵) ∩ (𝐴 ∪ 𝐶)
▪ 𝐴 ∩ (𝐵 ∪ 𝐶) = (𝐴 ∩ 𝐵) ∪ (𝐴 ∩ 𝐶)
o De morgan’s Laws
▪ (A ∪ 𝐵)𝐶 = 𝐴𝐶 ∩ 𝐵 𝐶
▪ (A ∩ 𝐵)𝐶 = 𝐴𝐶 ∪ 𝐵 𝐶