SET THEORY

Set theory is one of the most rigorous study in mathematics. In fact, the desire to advance the modern set
theory had been the desire of mathematicians who wanted to pursue ultimate rigorousness in mathematics.
Although the results of securing our mathematical foundations turn out to be rather negative and we are
unfortunately in a losing battle, the concept of sets and the notations used in this battle are proven to be a
indispensable tool in the study of mathematics at any level.

Definition 3.2.1: A set S is a collection of distinct objects without regard to the order of the objects
given by any possible method of description. Usually, we use a pair of braces, {}, to enclose the
concerned collection.

In writing sets, we used the Capital letters of the English alphabet or sometimes the capital letters of the Greek
Alphabet

Example 1. Let A be the sets of natural numbers from 1 to 10.

2. Let B the sets of color found in the rainbow.
3. Let Z be the set of positive even numbers less than or equal to 20

There are 2 ways how to write sets.

1. The Rule Method
Assign Capital letters for the sets itself, inside it assigns small letters of the English alphabet and
describe what is the characteristics of your sets.
2. The Roster Method
Assign Capital letters of the English alphabet and list down all the elements in your set.

How to list down? Enclose in a brace, and elements are only listed once separated by a comma.
Example 2: Revisiting Example 1.
1. Let A be the sets of natural numbers from 1 to 10.
Rule Method: A = {x : x is a natural numbers from 1 to 10}
Roster Method: A = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10}
2. Let B the sets of color found in the rainbow.
Rule Method: B = {y : y is a color found in the rainbow}
Roster Method: B = {Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Violet, Indigo, Blue}
3. Let Z be the set of positive even numbers less than or equal to 20.
Rule Method: Z = {m : m is a positive even numbers less than or equal to 20}
Roster Method: Z = {2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20}

Definition 3.2.2: The empty set is a null collection, denoted as ∅ or {}.

Definition 3.2.3: The universal set is the set that contains everything concerned, usually denoted as U.
In general, the context of the problem determines U.

Definition 3.2.4: The objects in a set S are called the members of S. Some textbooks use elements
instead.

Definition 3.2.5: Suppose a is a member of a set S. We denote this property as a ∈ S. The property is
known as the membership relation.

Definition 3.2.6: Let A, B be sets. A is a subset of B if and only if all members of A are members of B.
We use A ⊆ B to denote that A is a subset of B. If A ≠ B, we say that A is a proper subset of B, denoted
as A ⊂ B.

Definition 3.2.7: Let S be any set, the cardinality of S, denoted as |S|, is the number of elements in S 1 .

Definition 3.2.8: Let A be any set. The power set of A, denoted as Pr(A), is the set of all possible subsets
of A. In symbols, Pr(A) = {S|S ⊆ A}. Computed by 2n, where n is cardinality of the sets.
Example 3: Suppose A ={1,2,3}, B = {1,2} and C={1}
1. |A| = 3, |B| =2 and |C| = 1
2. Pr(A) = 8, Pr(B) = 4 and P(C) =1
3. C ⊂ A, B ⊂ A, C ⊂ B and A ⊆ A, B ⊆ B, C ⊆ C

SETS OPERATION

Definition 3.2.9: Let A, B be sets. The intersection of A and B, denoted as A∩B, is the set C such that
every member of C is a member of both A and B. In logic this set is defined as A ∩ B = {x|x ∈ A & x ∈
B}.

Definition 3.2.10: Let A, B be sets. The union of A and B, denoted as A ∪ B, is the set C such that every
member of C is a member of either A or B. In logic this set is defined as A ∪ B = {x|x ∈ A or x ∈ B}.

Definition 3.2.11: Let A, B be sets. The set difference A, B demoted by A − B is defined as A − B = {x|x
∈ A & x 6∈ B}

Definition 3.2.12: Let A, B be sets. The Cartesian product of A and B, denoted as A × B, is defined as A
× B = {(a, b)|a ∈ A & b ∈ B}.

Definition 3.2.13: Let U be the universal set and A any set in the universe. Define Ac = U − A. Ac is
called the complement of A.

Definition 3.2.14: The Venn diagram consists of figures that show the relations between sets. Enclose
with a rectangular shape as the Universal sets and other shapes inside it that serves as the sets.

Example 4: Consider the following sets

U = { m,a,t,h,1, 2, 3, 4, , , }
A = {m,a,t,h}
B= {1, 2, 3}
C = {m, , , ,}

1. A ∩ B
Solution:
A ∩ B = {m,a,t,h}∩ {1, 2, 3} = ∅

2. B ∩ C
Solution:
B ∩ C = {1, 2, 3}∩ {m, , , ,} = ∅

3. A ∩ U
Solution:
A ∩ U = {m,a,t,h}∩ { m,a,t,h,1, 2, 3, 4, , , } ={m,a,t,h} =A

4. A ∪ B
Solution:
A∪ B = {m,a,t,h} ∪ {1, 2, 3} = {m,a,t,h,1, 2, 3}

5. A ∪ C
Solution:
A∪ C = {m,a,t,h} ∪ {m, , , ,} = { m,a,t,h, , , }

6. A ∪ B ∪ C
Solution:
A∪ B ∪ C = {m,a,t,h}∪ {1, 2, 3} ∪ {m, , , ,} = { m,a,t,h, 1,2,3, , , }

7. A x B
Solution
{m,a,t,h} x {1, 2, 3} ={(m,1),(m,2),(m,3),(a,1),(a,2),(a,3),(t,1),(t,2),(t,3),(h,1),(h,2),(h,3)}

8. C- A
Solution:
C- A = {m, , , ,}- {m,a,t,h} = { , , }

9. BC
Solution:
Bc = {1, 2, 3}c ={ m,a,t,h, 4, , , }

10 AC
Solution:
Ac = {m.a,t,h}c ={1,2,3, 4, , , }

11. (A ∩ B)c – (A ∪ B)
Solution
(A ∩ B)c – (A ∪ B) = ∅ -{m,a,t,h,1, 2, 3} =∅

12. (C- A) ∪ (B ∩ C)
Solution
(C- A) ∪ (B ∩ C) = ∅ = { , , }

13. U c ∩ (A ∪ B ∪ C)
Solution
U c ∩ (A ∪ B ∪ C) = ∅ ∩{ m,a,t,h, 1,2,3, , , }= ∅

14. B x C
Solution
{1, 2, 3} x{ m, , , }={(1,m),(1, ),(1, ,),(1 ,),(2,m),(2, ),(2, ,),(2, ),(3,m),(3, ),(3, )
(3, )}

15. (A ∪ B ∪ C)c
Solution
A∪ B ∪ C = { m,a,t,h, 1,2,3, , , }c = {m}

Definition 3.2.15 The Venn Diagram is used to show the relationship of the sets.

U
SETS APPLICATION
Example 5: At a school of 500 students, there are 125 students enrolled in Algebra, 257 students who play
sports and 52 students that are enrolled in Algebra and play sports. Create a Venn diagram to illustrate this
information.
Solution:
First, let’s say set represent the students enrolled in Algebra and set represent the students who play
sports. Generally speaking, it is easiest to start in the center or “intersection” of the Venn diagram. Once we place
52 in the intersection, then we can subtract it from the total number of students who play sports and the total
number of students who take Algebra to determine how many just do one or the other. Finally, we can subtract
this total from 500 to figure out how many are outside the circles altogether.

Example 5: In a survey of 150 high school students it was found that:

80 students have laptops
110 students have cell phones
125 students have iPods
62 students have both a laptop and a cell phone
58 students have both a laptop and iPod
98 students have both a cell phone and an iPod
50 students have all three items
a) How many students have just a cell phone?
b) How many students have none of the mentioned items?
c) How many students have an iPod and laptop but not a cellphone?
Solution:
We can start by putting in the center where students have all three items. Next, we can find the values in
blue by subtracting 50 from each of the “overlapping” values. For example, there are 62 students with both a
laptop and a cell phone and 50 of them also have an iPod. To find the number that have a laptop and cell phone
but no iPod, subtract . Once the blue values are found we can find the green values by subtracting the blue and
red values in each subset from the total in the subset. For example, the number of students with a cell phone but
no other technology item is . Finally, we can add up all the values in the circles and subtract this from 150, the
total number of students surveyed to determine that 3 students have none of the items.
Now that the Venn diagram is complete, we can use it to answer the questions.
a) There are 0 students that just have a cell phone.
b) There are 3 students with none of the mentioned technology.
c) There are 8 students with an iPod and laptop but no cell phone.