Chapter 1: Sets

1.1 Introduction to Set Notations

1.2 Venn diagrams, Universal Set and Complement of a Set

Objectives: Be able to:

✔ understand the meaning of a universal set.
✔ understand the basic ideas of a Venn diagram.
✔ find the complement of a set
✔ find the intersection of two sets.
✔ find the union of two sets.
✔ use Venn diagrams to visualize relationships
between two sets.

Cambridge IGCSE™
Mathematics 0580
Introduction to Sets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRk0d6P4oUI

A set is a collection of objects.

Objects in the collection are called elements of the set.

Examples:
The collection of persons living in Surabaya is a set.
✔ Each person living in Surabaya is an element of the set.
The collection of counting numbers is a set.
✔ Each counting number is an element of the set.
The collection of pencils in your backpack is a set.
✔ Each pencil in your backpack is an element of the set.
Notation

Sets are usually designated with capital letters.

✔ A = {a, e, i, o, u}

Elements of a set are usually designated with

lower case letters.
✔ In the set A above, the individual elements of
the set are designate as, a, e, i, etc.
Roster Method

For example:

✔ The set of counting numbers from 1 to 5 would be

written as {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}.

✔ The set of animals found on a farm would be

written as {chickens, cows, horses, goats, pigs}.
Set Builder

Set builder notation has the general form

{variable | descriptive statement}.
✔ The vertical bar (in set builder notation) is always read
as “such that”.
✔ Set builder notation is frequently used when the roster
method is either inappropriate or inadequate.

{x | x < 6 and x is a counting number} is the set of all

counting numbers less than 6.
Note: This is the same set as {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}.
.
Notation – is an element of

If x is an element of the set A, we write this as x ∈ A.

x ∈ A means x is not an element of A.

✔ If A = {3, 17, 2} then 3 ∈ A, 17 ∈ A, 2 ∈ A and 5 ∉ A.

✔ If A = {x | x is a prime number} then 5 ∈ A and 6 ∉ A.
.
Notation – is a subset of

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOgNoYw9qYE

The set A is a subset of the set B if every element of

A is an element of B.

✔ If A is a subset of B we write
A ⊆ B to designate that relationship.
✔ If A is not a subset of B we write
A ⊆ B to designate that relationship.
Notation – is a subset of
Empty set

✔ The empty set is a special set. It contains no

elements. It is usually denoted as { } or.
✔ The empty set is always considered a subset of
any set.
✔ Do not be confused by this question:
✔ Is this set {0} empty?
✔ It is not empty! It contains the element zero.
Universal set
Venn diagram
Universal set illustration
Intersection of sets
Intersection of sets
Union of sets
Union of sets
Complement of sets

c
The Cardinal number

The Cardinal Number of a set is the number of

elements in the set and is denoted by n(A).
✔ Let A = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}, then n(A) = 5.

✔ The Cardinal Number formula for the union of

two sets is
n(AUB) = n(A) + n(B) – n(A∩B).
✔ The Cardinal number formula for the
complement of a set is n(A) + n(A’) = n(U).
Practice drill: