Set Builder Notation & Interval

Notation
Elements of a set
 a ∊ A means that element a is in the
set A
 Example: A = the set of all odd
integers bigger than 2 but less than or
equal to 11
 3∊A
 4∉A
 15 ∉ A
Set builder notation
 Example: A = the set of all odd
integers bigger than 2 but less than or
equal to 11
 A = {3, 5, 7, 9, 11}
 Example: A = the set of all irrational
numbers between 1 and 2
 A = {x| x is irrational and 1<x<2}
 Reads as A is the set of all x such that x is
irrational and 1<x<2
Interval notations
 Closed interval: [a,b] is the set of
all numbers not smaller than a and
not bigger than b
[a,b] = {x | a≤x≤b}
 Example:
[-1,3]
-1 3 x
Interval notations
 Open intervals: (a,b) is the set of all
numbers bigger than a and smaller
than b
(a,b) = {x | a<x<b}
 Example:
(-1,3)
-1 3 x
Interval notations
 Half-Open (half-closed) intervals:
(a,b] is the set of all numbers bigger
than a and smaller than or equal to b
(a,b] = {x | a<x≤b}
 Example:
(-1,3]
-1 3 x

 The interval [a,b) is defined similarly

 Infinite intervals
 [a,∞) = {x | a≤x} a
a
 (a, ∞) = {x | a<x}

 (-∞,a] = {x | x≤a} a

 (-∞,a) = {x | x<a} a

 The whole real line R = (-∞, ∞)

Note: ∞ is not a number!

Subsets

 Set B is called a subset of the set A

if any element of B is also an
element of A A
 B⊂ A B
 Example
 If A = [0,10] and B={1,3,5} then B⊂A
 If A = [0,10] and C = [-1,3), C is not a subset of A
 Union
 The union of two sets
A and B A B
is the set of all
elements x such that
x is in A OR x is in B
A∪B
 Notation:
A ∪ B = { x | x ∊ A or x ∊ B}
 Union
 Examples
 If A = (-1,1) and B=[0,2]
then A ∪ B = (-1,2]
-1
-1 0 1 2
2

 If A = (- ∞,1] and B= (1, ∞)

then A ∪ B = (- ∞, ∞) = R

1
 Intersection
 The intersection
of two sets A B
A and B
is the set of all
elements x such that
x is in A AND x is in B
A∩B

 Notation:
A ∩ B = { x | x ∊ A and x ∊ B}
 Intersection
 Examples
 If A = (-1,1) ∪ [2, 4] and B=(0,3]
then A ∩ B = (0,1) ∪ [2, 3]
-1 0 1 2 3 4

 If A = (- ∞,1] and B= (1, ∞)

then A ∩ B = empty set = ∅
1. Write each given set in the Set-
Builder Form:
 (i) {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}
 (ii) {2, 3, 5, 7, 11}
 (iii) {January, June, July}
 (iv) {a, e, i, o, u}
 (v) {Tuesday, Thursday}
 (vi) {1, 4, 9, 16, 25}
 (vii) {5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30}
 Solution
 1. (i) A={x : x is an even natural numbers less than 12}
 (ii) B= {x : x is a prime numbers less than 12}
 (iii) {x : x is a month whose name starts with letter J}
 (iv) { x : x is a vowel in English alphabets}
 (v) {x : x is a day of the week whose name starts with letter
T}
 (vi) {x : x is a perfect square natural number up to 25}
 (vii) {x : x is a natural number up to 30 and divisible by 5}
2. Write the following sets in
Set-Builder Form or Rule form:
 (i) A = {1, 3 5, 7, 9}
 (ii) B = {16, 25, 36, 49, 64}
 (iii) C = {a, e, i, o, u}
 (iv) D = {violet, indigo, blue, green,
yellow, orange, red}
 (v) E = {January, March, May, July,
August, October, December}
 Solution
 2. (i) A = {x | x is an odd number less than
10}.
 (ii) B = {x | x is a perfect square natural
number between 15 and 65}
 (iii) C = {x | x is a vowel in English small
alphabet}.
 (iv) D = {x | x is a color in rainbow}.
 (v) E = {x | x is a month having 31 days}.