Mathematics in the Modern World

Topic 2.4 – Sets, Functions and Relations

THE LANGUAGE OF SETS

Use of the word set as a formal mathematical term was introduced in 1879 by Georg
Cantor (1845–1918). Set is a collection of elements. For example, if C is a set of all
countries in Southeast Asia Region, then Philippines is an element of C.

Notation
If S is a set, the notation ‘x ∈ S’ means that ‘x is an element of S’.
‘x ∉ S’ means that ‘x is not an element of S’.

A variation of notation is sometimes used to describe a very large set, as when we write
{1, 2, 3, …, 100} to refer to the set of all integers from 1 to 100. A similar notation can
describe an infinite set, as when we write {1, 2, 3, …} to refer to the set of all positive
integers. The symbol ... is called an ellipsis and is read “and so forth.”

Roster Method
Method of listing elements of a set inside a pair of braces, { }. Commas are used to
separate elements.

For instance, use S to represent the set consisting of four seasons. Using the roster
method,
S = {spring, summer, fall, winter}

Basic Number Sets

Natural Numbers or Counting Numbers N = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, …}
Whole Numbers W = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, …}
Integers I = {…, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, …}
Rational Numbers Q = the set of all terminating or repeating
decimals
Irrational Numbers ℐ = the set of all nonterminating,
nonrepeating decimals
Real Numbers ℝ = the set of all rational and irrational
numbers

Exercises:
Use the roster method to write each of the given sets.
1. The set of the days in a week.
2. The set of months of a year starting with the letter “M”
3. The set of natural numbers less than 5.
4. The solution set of x + 5 = -1.
5. The set of negative integers greater than -4.

Answers:
1. {Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday}
2. {March, May}
3. The set of natural numbers is given by N = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, …}. The set of natural
numbers less than 5 is {1, 2, 3, 4}
4. {-6}
5. The set of negative integer greater than -4 is {-3, -2, -1}. The integer zero is neither a
positive nor a negative integer.
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Test Yourself:
Use the roster method to write each of the given sets.
1. The set of municipalities in Marinduque.
2. The set of the provinces in MIMAROPA Region.
3. The set of the first four prime numbers
4. The set of counting numbers larger than 11 and less than or equal to 19.
5. The set of negative integers between -5 and 7.

The Empty Set

The empty set or null set, is a set that contains no elements. The symbol Ø or { } is used
to represent the empty set.

Set-Builder Notation
Set-builder notation is especially useful when describing infinite sets.

For instance, in set-builder notation, the set of natural numbers greater than 7 is written
as follows:

{ x |x ∈ N and x > 7 }

the set of all elements x such that x is an element and x is greater

of the set of than 7
natural
numbers

It is impossible to list all the elements of the set, but set-builder notation defines the set
by describing its elements.

Exercises:
Use set-builder notation to write the following sets.
1. The set of integers greater than -3
2. The set of whole numbers less than 1000

Answers:
1. { x |x ∈ I and x > -3 }
2. { x |x ∈ W and x < 1000 }

Test Yourself:
Use set-builder notation to write the following sets.
1. The set of integers less than 9.
2. The set of natural numbers greater than 4.

Subset of a Set
Set A is a subset of set B, denoted by “A ⊆ B”, if and only if every element of A is also an
element of B.

For example:
1. Consider the set of letters in the alphabet and the set of vowels {a, e, i, o, u}.
2. Every element of the set of vowels is an element of the set of letters in the alphabet.
3. Therefore, the set of vowels is said to be a subset of the set of letters in the alphabet.
 Mathematics in the Modern World

Subset Relationship
A ⊆ A, for any set A. Every set is a subset of itself.
Ø ⊆ A, for any set A. The empty set is a subset of every set.

The notation “A B” is used to denote that A is not a subset of B. To show that A is not
a subset of B, it is necessary to find at least one element of A that is not an element of B.

Exercises:
Determine whether each statement is true or false.
1. {5, 10, 15, 20} ⊆ {0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30}
2. Whole numbers ⊆ Natural Numbers
3. Natural numbers ⊆ Whole Numbers
4. {2, 4, 6} ⊆ {2, 4, 6}
5. Ø ⊆ {0, 5, 10, 15}

Answers:
1. True; every element of the first set is an element of the second set.
2. False; 0 is a whole number, but 0 is not a natural number.
3. True; every element of a natural number is in the set of a whole number.
4. True; every set is a subset of itself.
5. True; the empty set is a subset of every set.

Test Yourself:
Determine whether each statement is true or false.
1. {1, 3, 5} ⊆ {1, 5, 9}
2. The set of counting numbers is a subset of the set of natural numbers.
3. Ø ⊆ U
4. {-6, 0, 11} ⊆ Integers

Ordered Pairs
Given elements a and b, the symbol (a, b) denotes the ordered pair consisting of a and b
together with the specification that a is the first element and b is the second element.

Two ordered pairs (a, b) and (c, d) are equal if, and only if, a = c and b = d. Symbolically,
(a, b) = (c, d) means that a = c and b = d

Exercises:
1. Is (2,1) = (1,2) ?
5 1
2. Is (3, 10) = (√9, 2) ?
3. What is the first element of (3,1)?

Answers:
1. No. Even though the pairs contain the same elements, the arrangement of the elements
matters. For two ordered pairs to be equal, the elements and its arrangement must be
similar to each other.
2. Yes. By simplifying the elements of the two ordered pairs, both pairs turned to be (3,
½). Because the simplified elements have the same arrangement, then the ordered pairs
are equal.
3. In the ordered pair (3,1), the first element is 3.

Test Yourself:
1. Is (0, 10) = (10, 0)?
2. Is (4, 33) = (22, 27)?
3. What is the first element of (5,2)?
 Mathematics in the Modern World

Cartesian Products
Given sets A and B, the Cartesian product of A and B, denoted by A×B and read as “A
cross B,” is the set of ordered pairs (a, b), where a is in A, and b is in B.

Exercises:
Let A = {1, 2, 3,} and B = {u, v}
1. Find A×B.
2. Find B×A.
3. Find B×B.
4. How many elements are in A×B, B×A and B×B?

Answers:
1. A×B = {(1, u), (1, v), (2, u), (2, v), (3, u), (3, v)}
2. B×A = {(u, 1), (u, 2), (u, 3), (v, 1), (v, 2), (v, 3)}
Observe the answers in #1 and #2. It shows that A×B ≠ B×A.
3. B×B = {(u, u), (u, v), (v, u), (v, v)}
4. A×B has six elements. This is the number of elements in A multiplied by the number
of elements in B. 3 x 2 = 6.
B×A has six elements. This is the number of elements in B multiplied by the number of
elements in A. 2 x 3 = 6.
B×B has four elements. This is the number of elements in B multiplied by the number of
elements in B. 2 x 2 = 4.

Test Yourself:
Let Y = {a, b, c} and Z = {1, 2}.
1. Find Y×Z.
2. Find Z×Y.
3. Find Y×Y.
4. How many elements are in Y×Z, Z×Y and Y×Y?
 Mathematics in the Modern World

LANGUAGE OF RELATIONS AND FUNCTIONS

There are many kinds of relationship in the world. For instance, we say that two people
are related by blood if they share a common ancestor with the spouse of the other.
Similarly, the objects in mathematics may be related in various ways. A set A
maybe related to a set B if A is a subset of B, or if A is not a subset of B, or if A and B
have at least one element in common. For another example, the number x may be said
to be related to a number y if x<y, or if it is a factor of y, or if x2 + y2 = 1.

RELATION
Let A and B be sets. A relation R from A to B is a subset of A×B (cross product). Given
an ordered pair (x, y) in A×B, x is related to y by R if, and only if, (x, y) is in R. The set
A is called the domain of R and the set B is called the co-domain.

The notation for a relation R may be written symbolically as follows:

x R y means that (x, y) ∈ R

Exercises:
Let A = {0, 1, 2} and B = {1, 2, 3}.
An element x in A is related to an element y in B if, and only if, x is less than y.

1. Find A×B.
2. Determine the set of all ordered pairs in A×B whose elements are related.
3. Is 0 R 2?
4. Is 1 R 1?
5. What are the domain and co-domain of R?

Answers:
1. A×B = { (0,1), (0,2), (0,3), (1,1), (1,2), (1,3), (2,1), (2,2), (2,3) }

2. An element x in A is related to an element y in B if, and only if, x is less than y.

0 R 1 since 0 < 1 1 R 2 since 1 < 2
0 R 2 since 0 < 2 1 R 3 since 1 < 3
0 R 3 since 0 < 3 2 R 3 since 2 < 3
Therefore, the set of all ordered pairs whose elements are related is as follows
R = {(0,1), (0,2), (0,3), (1,2), (1,3), (2,3)}

3. Yes. 0 R 2, because (0,2) is an element of R.

4. No. 1 in A is not related to 1 in B, because (1,1) ∉ R.
5. The domain of R is {0, 1, 2} and the co-domain of R is {1, 2, 3}.

Exercises:
Let A = {1, 2} and B = {1, 2, 3} and define a relation from A to B as follows:
Given any (x, y) ∈ A×B
𝑥−𝑦
(x, y) ∈ R means that is an integer.
2

1. State all the ordered pairs in A×B which are in R.

2. Is 1 R 3? Is 2 R 3? Is 2 R 2?
3. What are the domain and co-domain of R?
 Mathematics in the Modern World

Answers:
1. A×B = { (1,1), (1,2), (1,3), (2,1), (2,2), (2,3) }. To determine which ordered pairs are
related, examine each ordered pair in A×B to see whether its elements satisfy the defining
condition for R.
𝑥−𝑦
x and y are related if is an integer
2
1−1
For (1,1) = 0 , which is an integer. ∴ (1, 1) ∈ R
2
1−2 −1
For (1,2) = , which is not an integer. ∴ (1, 2) ∉ R
2 2
1−3
For (1,3) = -1 , which is an integer. ∴ (1, 3) ∈ R
2
2−1 1
For (2,1) = , which is not an integer. ∴ (2, 1) ∉ R
2 2
2−2
For (2,2) = 0 , which is an integer. ∴ (2, 2) ∈ R
2
2−3 −1
For (2,3) = , which is not an integer. ∴ (2, 3) ∉ R
2 2

Thus R = { (1,1), (1,3), (2,2) }

2. Yes, 1 R 3 because (1,3) is an element of R.

No, 2 is not related to 3 because (2,3) is not an element of R.
Yes, 2 R 2 because (2,2) is an element of R.

3. The domain of R is {1, 2} and the co-domain is {1,2,3}.

Test Yourself:
Let Y = {0,1,2} and Z = {0,1} and define a relation R from A to B as follows: Given any
(x,y) ∈ Y×Z,
𝑥+𝑦
(x, y) ∈ R means that is an integer.
2

1. Determine the set of all ordered pairs in Y×Z that is in R.

2. Is 1 R 0? Is 2 R 0? Is 2 R 1?
3. What are the domain and co-domain of R?

Arrow Diagram of a Relation

Suppose R is a relation from set A to set B. The arrow diagram for R is obtained as
follows:
1. Represent the element of A as points in one region and elements of B as points in
another region.
2. For each x in A and y in B, draw an arrow from x to y if, and only if, x is related to y by
R.

Exercise:
Let A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {1, 3, 5} and define relations S and T from A to B as follows: For
all (x, y) ∈ A×B,
(x, y) ∈ S means that x < y
T = {(2,1), (2,5)}

1. Draw arrow diagram for S.

2. Draw arrow diagram for T.
 Mathematics in the Modern World

Answers:
1. S

1 1

2 3

3 5

A B

2. T

1 1

2 3

3 5

A B

Test Yourself:
Let A = {2, 6, 8} and B = {2, 3, 4} and let R be a relation from A to B as follows:
For all (x,y) ∈ A×B,
𝑥
(x, y) ∈ R means that is an integer.
𝑦

Draw an arrow diagram for R.

Functions
A function F from a set A to a set B is a relation with domain A and co-domain B that
satisfies the following two properties:
1. Every element of A is the first element of an ordered pair of F.
2. No two distinct ordered pairs in F have the same first element.

We think of a functions as sending elements from one set (domain), to another set (co-
domain). Each element in the domain corresponds to one and only one element of the
co-domain.

Notation
If A and B are sets and F is a function from A to B, then given elements x in A, the unique
element in B that is related to x by F is denoted by F(x), which is read as ”F of x.”

Exercise:
Let A = {2, 4, 6} and B = {1, 3, 5}.
Which of the relations R, S, and T defined below are functions from A to B?
a. R = { (2,5), (4,1), (4,3), (6,5) }
b. For all (x, y) ∈ A×B, (x, y) ∈ S means that y = x + 1.
c. T is defined by the arrow diagram.
 Mathematics in the Modern World

Answer:
a. R is not a function because it does not satisfy property 2. The ordered pairs (4, 1)
and (4, 3) have the same first element.

b. S is not a function because it does not satisfy property 1. It is not true that every
element of A is the first element of an ordered pair in S. For example, 6 ∈ A but there is
no y in B such that y = 6 +1 = 7.

c. T is a function. Each element in {2, 4, 6} is related to

some elements in {1, 3, 5} and no element in {2, 4, 6} is
related to more than one element in (1, 3, 5}.

The function T contains {(2,5), (4,1), (6,1)}. The ordered

pairs of function T have every elements in A as the first element and no two distinct pairs
in T have the same first element.

Test Yourself:
Let X = {a, b, c} and Y = {1, 2, 3, 4}. Which of the relations A, B and C defined below are
functions from X to Y?

a. A = { (a, 1), (b, 2), (c, 3) }

b. For all (x, y) ∈ X×Y, (x, y) ∈ B means that x is a vowel
and y is even.
c. C is defined by the arrow diagram.

Function Machines
Another way to think of a function is as a machine. Suppose f is a function from X to Y
and an input x of X is given. Imagine f to be a machine that processes x in a certain way
to produce the output f(x).

A function is an entity in its own right. It can be thought of as a certain relationship between
sets or as an input/output machine that operates according to a certain rule.

Exercise:
1. Given the following functions:
f(x) = | x | for all x ∈ ℝ
g(x) =(√𝑥) 2 for all x ∈ ℝ

Does f = g?

Answer:
1. No. Functions are equal only for the positive values of x, but if you try to put negative
values for x, f(x) will yield to positive real numbers while g(x) will give negative real
numbers.
 Mathematics in the Modern World

Test Yourself:
Given the following functions:
a(x) = x2 for all x ∈ ℝ
b(x) = (-x)2 for all x ∈ ℝ

Does a = b?

Reference:
Mathematical Excursions, 14th Edition by Richard Aufmann, Joanne Lockwood, Richard D. Nation and
Daniel Clegg. ©2018, 2013 Cencage Learning
Mathematics in the Modern World © 2018 Rex Bookstore