SETS

A set is a collection of objects, such as a set of letters, a set of numbers, etc. Lets take a closer look at sets, subsets, and how they are used. Understanding Sets and Subsets A probability is a number between 0 and 1 that measures how likely an event is to occur. In order to easily calculate a probability, one should first understand the concept of sets and subsets. As stated above, a set (usually denoted by a capital letter) is a collection of objects or elements. A set has no duplicate elements, where an element is either a member of a set or not. Also, an element cannot be in the set twice. Usually, a set lists all its elements in parentheses. _______________________________________________________________________ Example: Let S be the set of odd numbers from 1 to 10. List all elements in the set S. Solution: S = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}
_____________________________________________________________________________

A is a subset of B if every element in set A is also a member of set B. For example, if A was the set of all numbers from 1 to 10 (A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}) and B was the set of all odd numbers from 1 to 10 (B = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}), then B would be a subset of A since B has every element that A has. An empty set is a set with no elements. This is called the null set and is often denoted as Note that the null set is a subset of every set. Also, every set is a subset of itself. Collection of Sets The union of two sets A and B is the collection of elements that are in either set A or in set B (or in both). The union of two sets A and B is denoted by ( A B ) . The intersection of two sets A and B is the set of elements that are in both set A and in set B. The intersection of two sets A and B is denoted by ( A B ) . The complement of a set A consists of all elements that are not contained in A. The complement of a set A is denoted by ( A) or ( A) . _______________________________________________________________________ Example: Let S be the set of all numbers from 1 to 10. If A and B are subsets of S, and A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and B = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}, find the union of A and B. .

Solution:

( A B ) = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10}
_____________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________ Example: Let S be the set of all numbers from 1 to 10. If A and B are subsets of S, and A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and B = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}, find the intersection of A and B.

Solution:
( A B ) = {2, 4}
_____________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________ Example: Let S be the set of all numbers from 1 to 10. If A and B are subsets of S, and A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and B = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}, find the complement of A.

Solution:
( A) = {6, 7, 8, 9, 10}
_____________________________________________________________________________

Visual Display

A Venn diagram will help visualize the relations between a finite collection of sets. The Venn diagram below represents the relation between two sets A and B.

For example, if A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and B = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}, the above diagram would represent these 2 sets. The shaded pink region would represent the set A, whereas the shaded blue region would represent the set B. Notice that the intersection of the two circles are shaded both pink and blue. This is due to the fact that both set A and set B have something in common; that is, ( A B ) = {2, 4}.