FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS

OF THE LANGUAGE
MATHEMATICS
LANGUAGE OF MATHEMATICS
 Body of words or symbols and the systems for their
common use to people who are of the same community
or nation, the same geographical area, or the same
cultural tradition
 Systematic means of communicating by the use of
sounds or conventional symbols
 Composed of vocabularies consisting of symbols and
words and grammar which comprise a set of rules on
how to use these symbols
A. NUMBERS
 A number is a symbol, either a figure or word, that
expresses a certain value or a specified quantity that is
determined by count.
THE SET OF REAL NUMBERS
 The set of real numbers consists of numbers that make up the
entire number system in college algebra. It includes the
rational and irrational numbers. Each number in the set can be
represented as a decimal number. The diagram below gives an
overview of the set.
PROPERTIES OF THE EQUALITY OF REAL NUMBERS

 Reflexive Property of Equality. If a ϵ R, then a = a Example: 3

=3
 Symmetric Property of Equality. Let a, b ϵ R. If a = b then b =
a
Example: 8 =x, then x = 8
 Transitive Property of Equality. Let a, b, c ϵ R. If a = b, b = c
then b = c
Example: 8 = x and x = y, then 8 = y
 Addition Property of Equality. Let a, b, c ϵ R. If a = b, then a +
c=b+c
Example: if x=23, then x+2= 23+2
 Multiplication Property of Equality. Let a, b, c ϵ R. If a = b,
then a . c = b = c
Example: 2x=18, 2(1/2) =18(1/2)
THE STRUCTURE OF THE SET OF REAL NUMBERS IS
CALLED FIELD, THAT IS, UNDER THE OPERATIONS
ADDITION (+) AND MULTIPLICATION (.), REAL NUMBERS
HAVE THE FOLLOWING PROPERTIES
 Closure Property
• Addition: if a and b are real numbers, then a + b is also a real
number.
• Multiplication: If a and b are real numbers, then a.b is also a real
number

 Associative property (Grouping Property)

• Addition: If a, b, c ϵ R, then (a + b) +c = a + (b + c)

Example: (1 + 2) + 3 = 1 + (2 + 3)
• Multiplication: If a, b, c ϵ R, then (a.b).c = a.(b.c)

Example: (2 . 3) . 5 = 2 .(3 . 5)
  Commutative Property (order property)
• Addition: If a, b ϵ R, then a + b = b + a
Example: 4 + 5 = 5 + 4
• Multiplication: If a, b ϵ R, then a . b = b . a
Example: 6 . 3 = 3 . 6
 Identity Property
• Addition: If a ϵ R, then a + 0 = 0 + a = a
Example: 8 + 0 = 8
Multiplication : If a ϵ R, then a . 1 = 1 . a = a
Example:5 . 1 = 5
Inverse Property
• Additive Inverse : a + (-a) = (-a) + a = 0
Example: 5 + (-5) = 0
• Multiplicative Inverse : a-1 =
Example: 9 -1=
B. SETS
 Set theory was developed by George Cantor toward the
end of the 19th century. Today, the idea of set is used
extensively in mathematics. One of its important
contributions is in the simplification of teaching modern
mathematics.
SET NOTATIONS AND DEFINITIONS
 A set is an unordered and well-defined collection of zero
or more distinct objects. The objects that make up a set
are called the elements or the members of the set. The
following are sets:
a. A vase of flowers(the elements are the flowers in the
vase)
b. Even counting numbers (the elements are 2, 4, 6, …)
c. State universities and colleges in region 1 (Mariano
Marcos State University, University of Northern
Philippines, Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College,
North Luzon Philippines State College, Don Mariano
Marcos Memorial State University, Pangasinan State
University)
SET NOTATIONS AND DEFINITIONS
  We use the following notations in dealing with sets:
• - braces, used with words or symbols to specify a set
• A, B, … Z – capital letters, used for naming sets
• - epsilon, means “is an element of”
• - epsilon with slash, means “is not an element of”

Example:
• For the set B = , we observe that a B and m B but u ∉ B and
3∉B
  
The number of elements in a set is called is cardinality.
Thus, the cardinality of set B. Since set B has 9 elements
in the previous example, n(B) = 9.

Example 1:
Determine the cardinalities of the following sets:
a) C =;
b) A = ;
c) L =

Answer:
a) n(C) =
b) n(C) =
c) n(C) =
DESCRIPTION OF SETS
 There
   are three methods to describe a set: roster, rule, and set
builder.
1. Roster Method or Tabulation method describes a set by listing
its elements, enclosing them by braces, and separating each of
them by a comma. Here, each element of the set should only be
written once and the order of the elements does not matter.
Examples: D =
O=
2. Rule Method describes a set by writing its elements’
property.
Examples: D =
O=
3. Set-Builder Method describes a set by introducing a variable to
represent arbitrary elements of the set and describing the variable
such that the description fits to all elements of the set.
Examples:D =
O=
KINDS OF SETS
1.  Finite Set is a set with limited number of elements. It has a fixed cardinality
which can be easily determined through counting.
Examples: S =
P=
2. Infinite Set is a set with an unlimited number of elements. However, there might
be a first or a last element though not necessarily.
Examples: Z =
R=
3. Unit Set is a finite set with only one element.
Examples: F =
M=
4. Null or Empty Set is asset that contains no elements and denoted by the symbol
{} or the Danish letter . If no element can satisfy a given condition, then the set is
null.
Examples: C =
G=
 5. Universal Set is a set that contains all the elements in the discussion or
investigation and denoted by U. when determining all the elements that can satisfy a
given condition, we are dealing with a universal set.
Examples: H =
T=
SET RELATIONS
 1.
  Subset: A B
Set A is a subset of A are in B, denoted by A ⊆ B or B
⊇ A, if and only if all the elements of A are in B. Set A is
not a subset of set B if there is one or more elements of A
not found in set B

Example:
Given set A = , which of the following sets is a subset of
A?
H= O=,
P = , or E =
SET RELATIONS
2. Proper Subset: A ⊂ B
Set A is a proper subset of b, denoted by A ⊂ B or B ⊃
A, if A does not contain all the elements in B and A ⊆ B. in
the previous example, H ⊂ A.

a. A null set is a subset of every set

b. A set is a subset of itself
c. A set is not a proper subset of itself
SET RELATIONS
  3. Equal Sets: A = B
Two sets A and B are equal if and only if A and B
have identical elements although the arrangement may not
be the same. Equivalently, two sets A and b are equal if and
only if A ⊆ B and B ⊆ A.

Example:
Which of these sets are equal?
L=,
O=,
V = , or
E=
Answer: They are all equal
SET RELATIONS
 4.
  Equivalent Sets: A ~ B
Two sets A and B are equivalent if they both have the same
number of elements and their elements can be put into one-to-
one correspondence.
Example:
Given: C = ,
L=,
U=,
E=.
 Which are the following are true:

 C ~ L; b) U ~ C; or c) E ~ U?

5. Disjoint Sets
Sets A and b are disjoint if they have no common elements.
For instance, if A is the set of positive integers and b is the
set of negative integers, then A and B are disjoint sets.
SET OPERATIONS
   Union of Sets: A ∪ B
1.
The union of sets A and B, denoted by A ∪ B, is the set
containing all elements that are either in A or in B or in
Both A and B; that is,
A∪B=
The cardinalities of union of sets may be computed as
follows:
a. n(A ∪ B) = n(A) + n(B), for disjoint sets A and b

b. n(A ∪ B) = n(A) + n(B) – (A B), for any sets A and B

c. n(A ∪ B ∪ C) = n(A) + n(B) + n(C) – n(A ∩ B) – n(A

∩ C) – n(B ∩ C) + n(A ∩ B ∩ C), for any sets A, B,
and C
SET OPERATIONS
 2.
  Intersection of Sets: A ∩ B
The intersection of sets A and B, denoted by A ∩ B, is the set
containing all elements that are in both A and B; that is A ∩ B =
Examples:
Let O = Q=
S= P=
R= T=
List the elements of the following union or intersection of sets
Answers:
a. O ∪ Q =

b. O ∪ P =

c. Q ∪ S =

d. R ∪ T =

e. P ∪ R ∪ T =

f. O∩Q=
g. P ∩ R ∩ T =
SET OPERATIONS
  3. Difference of Sets: A – B
The difference of two sets A and b, denoted by A – B or
A⟍B, is the set of elements which belong to A but which
do not belong to b; that is,
A–B=
4. Complement of a set: Ac or A’
The complement of a set A, denoted by Ac or A’, is
the set of elements which belong to the universal set U
but which do not belong to A; that is,
Ac =
U={0-9}
VENN-DIAGRAM

Venn-Euler diagram is a convenient way of

representing set relations and set operations. The sets are
represented by plane geometric figures such as ovals or
circles, the universal set by a rectangle. This diagram
was invented by john Venn and Leonhard Euler. It may
also be called Euler circles or simply, Venn Diagram.
Examples
1. Represent the following using a Venn diagram:
a) A ⊆ B, and b) M and N are disjoint sets

B
M
N
A

A⊆B M and N are disjoint

2. Sixty Filipino teenagers went on a summer vacation last
summer. Of this number, 23 went to Palawan, 20 went to
Tagaytay City, 16 went to Batanes, 9 went to Palawan and
Tagaytay City, 7 went to Tagaytay City and Batanes, 5
went to Palawan and Batanes, and 3 went to these three
places.
a. How many of them visited Palawan only?
b. How many of them visited Tagaytay City and Batanes
but not Palawan?
c. How many of them visited Batanes but not Tagaytay
City?
d. How many of them did not go to any of these places?
 12 6 7
Palawan Tagaytay City
3
2 4
7

Batanes

Answers:
a. 12

b. 4

c. 9

d. 19