LESSON 1

SETS: AN
INTRODUCTION
 Objectives:
In this lesson, you are expected to:
1. DESCRIBE AND 2. USE VENN
ILLUSTRATE DIAGRAMS TO
a. well-defined sets; REPRESENT SETS
b. subsets; AND SUBSETS.
c. universal set, and;
d. the null set.
ACTIVITY 1:
Below are some objects. Group them as you see fit and label each group.
Answer the following questions:
a. How many groups are there?
b. Does each object belong to a group?
c. Is there an object that belongs to more than one
group? Which one?
 The groups are called sets for as long as
the objects in the group share a
characteristic and are thus, well
defined.

A set is a well-defined group of objects,

called elements that share a common
characteristic.
EXAMPLES
• People in a class: { Alice, Bob, Chris }
• Classes offered by a department: { CS 101, CS 202, … }
• Colors of a rainbow: { red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, purple }
• States of matter { solid, liquid, gas, plasma }
• States in the US: { Alabama, Alaska, Virginia, … }
• All positive numbers less than or equal to 5: {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
• A few selected real numbers: { 2.1, π, 0, -6.32, e }
 Understanding the set
• Order does not matter
- We often write them in order because it is easier for humans to
understand it that way {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} is equivalent to {3, 5, 2, 4, 1}
• Sets are notated with curly brackets
- {}
• Sets do not have duplicate elements
- Consider the set of vowels in the alphabet.
It makes no sense to list them as {a, a, a, e, i, o, o, o, o, o, u}
What we really want is just {a, e, i, o, u}
 Specifying a set
● Sets are usually represented by a capital letter (A, B, S, etc.)
● Elements are usually represented by an lower-case letter (a, x,
y, etc.)
● Easiest way to specify a set is to list all the elements: A = {1,
2, 3, 4, 5}
● Can use an ellipsis (…): B = {0, 1, 2, 3, …}
○ Can cause confusion. Consider the set C = {3, 5, 7, …}.
What comes next?
○ If the set is all odd integers greater than 2, it is 9
○ If the set is all prime numbers greater than 2, it is 11
 Specifying a set
● Can use set-builder notation
○ D = {x | x is prime and x > 2}
○ E = {x | x is odd and x > 2}
○ The vertical bar means “such that”
○ Thus, set D is read (in English) as: “all elements x such that x is prime and x
is greater than 2”
● A set is said to “contain” the various “members” or “elements” that make up the
set
○ If an element a is a member of (or an element of) a set S, we use then
notation a  S
■ 4  {1, 2, 3, 4}
○ If an element is not a member of (or an element of) a set S, we use the
notation a  S
■ 7  {1, 2, 3, 4}
■ Virginia  {1, 2, 3, 4}
 Specifying a set
● Sets are usually represented by a
capital letter (A, B, S, etc.)

● Elements are usually

represented by an lower-case
letter (a, x, y, etc.)

● Easiest way to specify a set is to

list all the elements: A = {1, 2,
3, 4, 5}
 Specifying a set
Can use an ellipsis (…): B = {0, 1, 2, 3, …}
Can cause confusion. Consider the set C = {3, 5, 7, …}. What
comes next?
If the set is all odd integers greater than 2, it is 9
If the set is all prime numbers greater than 2, it is 11
Can use set-builder notation
D = {x | x is prime and x > 2}
E = {x | x is odd and x > 2}
The vertical bar means “such that”
Thus, set D is read (in English) as: “all elements x such that x is
prime and x is greater than 2”
 Specifying a set
• A set is said to “contain” the various “members” or
“elements” that make up the set
o If an element a is a member of (or an element of) a set S,
we use then notation a  S
4  {1, 2, 3, 4}
o If an element is not a member of (or an element of) a set
S, we use the notation a  S
7  {1, 2, 3, 4}
Virginia  {1, 2, 3, 4}
N = {0, 1, 2, 3, …} is the set of natural numbers
Z = {…, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, …} is the set of integers
Z+ = {1, 2, 3, …} is the set of positive integers (a.k.a whole
numbers)
Note that people disagree on the exact definitions of whole
numbers and natural numbers
Q = {p/q | p  Z, q  Z, q ≠ 0} is the set of rational numbers
Any number that can be expressed as a fraction of two integers
(where the bottom one is not zero)
R is the set of real numbers]

Often used sets

 The universal set
● U is the universal set – the set of all of elements (or the
“universe”) from which given any set is drawn
○ For the set {-2, 0.4, 2}, U would be the real numbers

○ For the set {0, 1, 2}, U could be the natural numbers

(zero and up), the integers, the rational numbers, or
the real numbers, depending on the context
 The universal set
For the set of the students in this class, U would be all the
students in the University (or perhaps all the people in
the world)
For the set of the vowels of the alphabet, U would be all the
letters of the alphabet
To differentiate U from U (which is a set operation), the
universal set is written in a different font (and in bold
and italics)
 Venn diagrams
b c d f
● Represents sets graphically U
g h j
S
○ The box represents the universal set k l m

n p q e i
○ Circles represent the set(s) a

● Consider set S, which is r s t

o u
v w x
the set of all vowels in the
y z
alphabet
● The individual elements
are usually not written
in a Venn diagram
 Sets of sets
● Sets can contain other sets

○ S = { {1}, {2}, {3} }

○ T = { {1}, {{2}}, {{{3}}} }

○ V = { {{1}, {{2}}}, {{{3}}}, { {1}, {{2}},

{{{3}}} } }
■ V has only 3 elements!
● Note that 1 ≠ {1} ≠ {{1}} ≠ {{{1}}}

○ They are all different

 The empty set
● If a set has zero elements, it is called the empty (or
null) set
○ Written using the symbol 
○ Thus,  = { }  VERY IMPORTANT
○ If you get confused about the empty set in a
problem, try replacing  by { }
● As the empty set is a set, it can be a element of other
sets
○ { , 1, 2, 3, x } is a valid set
 The empty set
● Note that  ≠ {  }

○ The first is a set of zero elements

○ The second is a set of 1 element (that

one element being the empty set)

● Replace  by { }, and you get: { } ≠

{{}}
■ It’s easier to see that they are not
equal that way
 Specifying a set
● Sets are usually represented by a
capital letter (A, B, S, etc.)

● Elements are usually

represented by an lower-case
letter (a, x, y, etc.)

● Easiest way to specify a set is to

list all the elements: A = {1, 2,
3, 4, 5}
 PROBLEM VS. SOLUTION

PROBLEM SOLUTION
Venus has a beautiful name Despite being red, Mars is a
and is the second planet cold place, not hot. It’s full
from the Sun of iron oxide dust
 PROCESS

Stepred,
Despite being 1 Mars is Venus Step 2
has a beautiful NeptuneStep
is the3fourth-
a cold place, not hot. It’s name and is the second largest planet in our Solar
full of iron oxide dust planet from the Sun System
 OVERVIEW DIAGRAM

Mercury is the closest Saturn is the ringed one. Neptune is the farthest
planet to the Sun and the It’s a gas giant, composed planet from the Sun and
smallest one in our Solar mostly of hydrogen and the fourth-largest in our
System helium Solar System
 EXERCISE

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, but does its name have
anything to do with the liquid metal?

Contrary to popular belief, no. The truth is that this planet was
named after the Roman messenger god, Mercury
ASSIGNMENT

Mercury is the closest planet to

the Sun, and Neptune is the
farthest one. Calculate the
distance between these two
planets
 THANKS!
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