SETS

What is a set?
* It is a collection of objects that have something in
common or follow a rule.

* The objects in the set are called its elements.

* It is usually denoted by a capital letters and elements are denoted by a small letters

* Set notation uses curly braces, with elements

separated by commas

EXAMPLE
W H AT I S T H E S E T O F A L L F I N G E R S ?
A = { T H U M B , I N D E X , M I D D L E , R I N G , L I T T L E } , W H E R E A I S T H E N A M E O F T H E S E T, A N D
B R A C E S I N D I C AT E T H AT T H E O B J E C T S W R I T T E N B E T W E E N T H E N B E L O N G TO T H E S E T.
Example
1. Let X be the set of odd numbers less than 12.

2. Let Y be the set of all even numbers.

3. Let Z be the set of all vowels in the English alphabet.

Answer:

1. X={1,3,5,7,9,11}

2. Y={2,4,6,8,10…} three dots means goes on forever (infinite)

3. Z= (a, e, i, o, u}
SUBSET
 subset  a set A is another set that contains only elements from the set A, but may not contain all the
elements of A.

If B is a subset of A, we write B ⊆ A

proper subset is a subset that is not identical to the original set—it contains fewer elements.

If B is a proper subset of A, we write B ⊂ A

EXAMPLE
Example
Consider these three sets:

A = the set of all odd numbers

B = 3, 5, 7}
C = {3, 4, 5, 7}

Here B ⊂ A since every element of B is also an odd number, so is an element of A.

More formally, we could say B ⊂ A since if x ∈ B, then x ∈ A.

It is also true that B ⊂ C.

C is not a subset of A, since C contains an element, 4, that is not contained in A
 UNION, INTERSECTION AND
COMPLIMENT
 union of two sets contains all the elements contained in either set (or both sets). The
union is notated A ⋃ B. More formally, x ∊ A ⋃ B if x ∈ A or x ∈ B (or both)
 intersection of two sets contains only the elements that are in both sets. The
intersection is notated A ⋂ B. More formally, x ∈ A ⋂ B if x ∈ A and x ∈ B.
 complement of a set A contains everything that is not in the set A. The complement is
notated A’, or Ac, or sometimes ~A.
Example
Let us consider the following

A = {a, b, c}
B = {a, d, e}
C = {a, b, c, d, e, f}

Find the following:

1.Find A ⋃ B

2.Find A ⋂ B

3.Find Ac⋂ C
Answers

1. The union contains all the elements in either set: A ⋃ B = {a, b ,c, d, e} Notice we only list a
once.

2. The intersection contains all the elements in both sets: A ⋂ B = { a }

3. Here we’re looking for all the elements that are not in set A and are also in C. Ac ⋂ C =

{d, e, f}
 Universal Set
is the set which contains all other elements of the other sets

Let us try this example:

A= { 1,2,3,4}

B= { 3, 4,5, 6}

C= { 6,7,8}

Answer

So, the universal set will have all the elements of set A, B, C

U = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}
Have a wonderful and fruitful day!