Mathematics in the Modern World

by Engr. Daniel Gracias V. Esquejo

LESSON 2:

1. Relations and its Type

Relations and its types concepts are one of the important topics of set theory. Sets,
relations and functions all three are interlinked topics. Sets denote the collection of ordered
elements whereas relations and functions define the operations performed on sets.

The relations define the connection between the two given sets. Also, there are types of
relations stating the connections between the sets.

Types:

• Empty Relation
• Universal Relation
• Identity Relation
• Inverse Relation
• Reflexive Relation
• Symmetric Relation
• Transitive Relation
• Equivalence Relation

Relations Definition

A relation in mathematics defines the relationship between two different sets of information.
If two sets are considered, the relation between them will be established if there is a connection
between the elements of two or more non-empty sets.

In the morning assembly at schools, students are supposed to stand in a queue in ascending
order of the heights of all the students. This defines an ordered relation between the students and
their heights.

Therefore, we can say, ‘A set of ordered pairs is defined as a relation.’

Mathematics in the Modern World
by Engr. Daniel Gracias V. Esquejo

This mapping depicts a relation from set A into set B. A relation from A to B is a subset of A x
B. The ordered pairs are (1,c), (2,n), (5,a), (7,n). For defining a relation, we use the notation where, set
{1, 2, 5, 7} represents the domain. set {a, c, n} represents the range.

Sets and Relations

Sets and relation are interconnected with each other. The relation defines the relation
between two given sets. If there are two sets available, then to check if there is any connection
between the two sets, we use relations. For example, an empty relation denotes none of the elements
in the two sets is same.

Relations in Mathematics

In Maths, the relation is the relationship between two or more set of values.
Suppose, x and y are two sets of ordered pairs. And set x has relation with set y, then the values of
set x are called domain whereas the values of set y are called range.

Example: For ordered pairs= {(1,2),(-3,4),(5,6),(-7,8),(9,2)}

The domain is = {-7,-3,1,5,9}
And range is = {2,4,6,8}

Types of Relations

There are 8 main types of relations which include:

1. Empty Relation
2. Universal Relation
3. Identity Relation
4. Inverse Relation
5. Reflexive Relation
6. Symmetric Relation
7. Transitive Relation
8. Equivalence Relation

Empty Relation
An empty relation (or void relation) is one in which there is no relation between any
elements of a set. For example, if set A = {1, 2, 3} then, one of the void relations can be R =
{x, y} where, |x – y| = 8. For empty relation,
R=φ⊂A×A

Universal Relation
A universal (or full relation) is a type of relation in which every element of a set is
related to each other. Consider set A = {a, b, c}. Now one of the universal relations will be R =
{x, y} where, |x – y| ≥ 0. For universal relation,
R=A×A

Identity Relation
In an identity relation, every element of a set is related to itself only. For example, in
a set A = {a, b, c}, the identity relation will be I = {a, a}, {b, b}, {c, c}. For identity relation,
Mathematics in the Modern World
by Engr. Daniel Gracias V. Esquejo

I = {(a, a), a ∈ A}

Inverse Relation
Inverse relation is seen when a set has elements which are inverse pairs of another set. For
example if set A = {(a, b), (c, d)}, then inverse relation will be R-1 = {(b, a), (d, c)}. So, for an
inverse relation,
R-1 = {(b, a): (a, b) ∈ R}

Reflexive Relation
In a reflexive relation, every element maps to itself. For example, consider a set A =
{1, 2,}. Now an example of reflexive relation will be R = {(1, 1), (2, 2), (1, 2), (2, 1)}. The
reflexive relation is given by-
(a, a) ∈ R

Symmetric Relation
In a symmetric relation, if a=b is true then b=a is also true. In other words, a relation
R is symmetric only if (b, a) ∈ R is true when (a,b) ∈ R. An example of symmetric relation will
be R = {(1, 2), (2, 1)} for a set A = {1, 2}. So, for a symmetric relation,
aRb ⇒ bRa, ∀ a, b ∈ A

Transitive Relation
For transitive relation, if (x, y) ∈ R, (y, z) ∈ R, then (x, z) ∈ R. For a transitive relation,
aRb and bRc ⇒ aRc ∀ a, b, c ∈ A

Equivalence Relation
If a relation is reflexive, symmetric and transitive at the same time, it is known as an
equivalence relation.

Representation of Types of Relations

Relation Type Condition
Empty Relation R=φ⊂A×A
Universal Relation R=A×A
Identity Relation I = {(a, a), a ∈ A}
Inverse Relation R-1 = {(b, a): (a, b) ∈ R}
Reflexive Relation (a, a) ∈ R
Symmetric Relation aRb ⇒ bRa, ∀ a, b ∈ A
Transitive Relation aRb and bRc ⇒ aRc ∀ a, b, c ∈ A

2. Set Theory
Set Theory is a branch of mathematical logic where we learn sets and their properties. A set
is a collection of objects or groups of objects. These objects are often called elements or members
of a set. For example, a group of players in a cricket team is a set.

Since the number of players in a cricket team could be only 11 at a time, thus we can say, this
set is a finite set. Another example of a finite set is a set of English vowels. But there are many sets
Mathematics in the Modern World
by Engr. Daniel Gracias V. Esquejo

that have infinite members such as a set of natural numbers, a set of whole numbers, set of real
numbers, set of imaginary numbers, etc.

Set Theory Origin

Georg Cantor (1845-1918), a German mathematician, initiated the concept ‘Theory of sets’ or ‘Set
Theory’. While working on “Problems on Trigonometric Series”, he encountered sets, that have
become one of the most fundamental concepts in mathematics. Without understanding sets, it will
be difficult to explain the other concepts such as relations, functions, sequences, probability,
geometry, etc.

Definition of Sets

Set is a well-defined collection of objects or people. Sets can be related to many real-life examples,
such as the number of rivers in India, number of colors in a rainbow, etc.

Example

To understand sets, consider a practical scenario. While going to school from home, Nivy
decided to note down the names of restaurants which come in between. The list of the
restaurants, in the order they came, was:

The above-mentioned list is a collection of objects. Also, it is well-defined. By well-defined,

it is meant that anyone should be able to tell whether the object belongs to the particular
collection or not. E. g. a stationary shop can’t come in the category of the restaurants. If the
collection of objects is well-defined, it is known as a set.

The objects in a set are referred to as elements of the set. A set can have finite or infinite
elements. While coming back from the school, Nivy wanted to confirm the list what she had
made earlier. This time again, she wrote the list in the order in which restaurants came. The
new list was:

Now, this is a different list. But is a different set? The answer is no. The order of elements has
no significance in sets, so it is still the same set.

Representation of Sets
Sets can be represented in two ways:

1. Roster Form or Tabular form

2. Set Builder Form

Mathematics in the Modern World
by Engr. Daniel Gracias V. Esquejo

Roster Form

In roster form, all the elements of the set are listed, separated by commas and enclosed between
curly braces { }.

Example: If set represents all the leap years between the year 1995 and 2015, then it would
be described using Roster form as:

A ={1996,2000,2004,2008,2012}

Now, the elements inside the braces are written in ascending order. This could be descending order
or any random order. As discussed before, the order doesn’t matter for a set represented in the Roster
Form.

Also, multiplicity is ignored while representing the sets. E.g. If L represents a set that contains all the
letters in the word ADDRESS, the proper Roster form representation would be

L ={A,D,R,E,S }= {S,E,D,A,R}

L≠ {A,D,D,R,E,S,S}

Set Builder Form

In set builder form, all the elements have a common property. This property is not applicable to the
objects that do not belong to the set.

Example: If set S has all the elements which are even prime numbers, it is represented as:

S={ x: x is an even prime number}

where ‘x’ is a symbolic representation that is used to describe the element.

‘:’ means ‘such that’

‘{}’ means ‘the set of all’

So, S = { x:x is an even prime number } is read as ‘the set of all x such that x is an even prime number’.
The roster form for this set S would be S = 2. This set contains only one element. Such sets are called
singleton/unit sets.

Another Example:

F = {p: p is a set of two-digit perfect square numbers}

How?

F = {16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81}

We can see, in the above example, 16 is a square of 4, 25 is square of 5, 36 is square of 6, 49 is square

of 7, 64 is square of 8 and 81 is a square of 9}.

Even though, 4, 9, 121, etc., are also perfect squares, but they are not elements of the set F, because
it is limited to only two-digit perfect square.
Mathematics in the Modern World
by Engr. Daniel Gracias V. Esquejo

Types of Sets

The sets are further categorized into different types, based on elements or types of elements. These
different types of sets in basic set theory are:

• Finite set: The number of elements is finite

• Infinite set: The number of elements are infinite
• Empty set: It has no elements
• Singleton set: It has one only element
• Equal set: Two sets are equal if they have same elements
• Equivalent set: Two sets are equivalent if they have same number of elements
• Power set: A set of every possible subset.
• Universal set: Any set that contains all the sets under consideration.
• Subset: When all the elements of set A belong to set B, then A is subset of B

Set Theory Symbols

There are several symbols that are adopted for common sets. They are given in the table below:

Table 1: Symbols denoting common sets

Symbol Corresponding Set

N Represents the set of all Natural numbers i.e. all the positive integers.
This can also be represented by Z+.
Examples: 9, 13, 906, 607, etc.
Z Represents the set of all integers
The symbol is derived from the German word Zahl, which means number.
Positive and negative integers are denoted by Z+ and Z– respectively.
Examples: -12, 0, 23045, etc.
Q Represents the set of Rational numbers
The symbol is derived from the word Quotient. It is defined as the quotient of two integers
(with non-zero denominator)
Positive and negative rational numbers are denoted by Q+ and Q– respectively.
Examples: 13/9. -6/7, 14/3, etc.
R Represents the Real numbers i.e. all the numbers located on the number line.
Positive and negative real numbers are denoted by R+ and R– respectively.
Examples: 4.3, π, 4√ 3, etc.
C Represents the set of Complex numbers.
Examples: 4 + 3i, i, etc.
Mathematics in the Modern World
by Engr. Daniel Gracias V. Esquejo

Other Notations

Symbol Symbol Name

{} set
A∪B A union B
A∩B A intersection B
A⊆B A is subset of B
A⊄B A is not subset B
A⊂B proper subset / strict subset
A⊃B proper superset / strict superset
A⊇B superset
A⊅B not superset
Ø empty set
P (C) power set
A=B Equal set
Ac Complement of A
a∈B a element of B
x∉A x not element of A

Set Theory Formulas

1. n( A ∪ B ) = n(A) +n(B) – n (A ∩ B)
2. n(A∪B)=n(A)+n(B) {when A and B are disjoint sets}
3. n(U)=n(A)+n(B)–n(A∩B)+n((A∪B)c)
4. n(A∪B)=n(A−B)+n(B−A)+n(A∩B)
5. n(A−B)=n(A∩B)−n(B)
6. n(A−B)=n(A)−n(A∩B)
7. n(Ac)=n(U)−n(A)
8. n(PUQUR)=n(P)+n(Q)+n(R)–n(P⋂Q)–n(Q⋂R)–n(R⋂P)+n(P⋂Q⋂R)

Set Operations

The four important set operations that are widely used are:

1. Union of sets
2. Intersection of sets
3. Complement of sets
4. Difference of sets

Union of Sets
Union of two or more sets is the set containing all the elements of the given sets. Union of sets
can be written using the symbol “⋃”. Suppose the union of two sets X and Y can be represented as X
⋃ Y. As we know, sets can undergo different operations and the basic operations that can be
performed on sets are as follows:
Mathematics in the Modern World
by Engr. Daniel Gracias V. Esquejo

1. Union of sets
2. Intersection of sets
3. Difference of sets

In mathematics, we perform certain operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc. These
operators generally take two or more operands and give a result based on the operation performed.
Similarly, in set theory usually, certain operations are performed on two or more sets to get a new set
of elements based on the operation performed. The union and intersection of sets represent the
number of elements carried by the operation and executing the result of a collective set. In the case
of union, all the elements are included in the result but in the case of the intersection, only the
common elements are considered.

Sometimes, students also get confused with the union and universal set. Union of two or more sets
is an operation performed on them, which results in a collection of elements present in both the sets,
whereas a universal set is itself a set, which contains all the elements of other sets, including its own
elements.

Union of Sets Definition

The union of two sets X and Y is equal to the set of elements that are present in set X, in set Y, or in
both the sets X and Y. This operation can be represented as;

X ∪ Y = {a: a ∈ X or a ∈ Y}

Let us consider an example, say; set A = {1, 3, 5} and set B = {1, 2, 4} then;

A ∪ B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

Venn Diagram of Union of Sets

Let us consider a universal set U such that A and B are the subsets of this universal set. The
union of two sets A and B is defined as the set of all the elements which lie in set A and set B or both
the elements in A and B altogether. The union of the set is denoted by the symbol ‘∪’.
Mathematics in the Modern World
by Engr. Daniel Gracias V. Esquejo

In the given Venn diagram, the red-coloured portion represents the union of both sets A and B.

Thus, the union of two sets A and B is given by a set C, which is also a subset of the universal set U
such that C consists of all those elements or members which are either in set A or set B or in both A
and B i.e.,

C = A ∪ B = {x : x ∈ A or x ∈ B}

A Union B Formula
The union of set A and set B is equal to the set containing all the elements in A and B. This is
represented as A U B and can be read as “A union B” or “A or B”.

A union B formula is generally used to calculate the unions of set A and set B. The formula for A union
B indicates that each element present in A or B (leaving duplicates) is present in A U B. From the
definition of the union of sets, the formula for A union B formula can be written as:

A U B = {x : x ∈ A or x ∈ B}

Formula for Number of Elements in A union B

Consider two sets, A and B, such that the number of elements in the union of A and B can be
calculated as follows.

n(A U B) = n(A) + n(B) – n(A ∩ B)

Here,

n(A U B) = Total number of elements in A U B; is called the cardinality of a set A U B

n(A) = Number of elements in A; is called the cardinality of set A

n(B) = Number of elements in B; is called the cardinality of set B

n(A ∩ B) = The number of elements that are common to both A and B; is called the cardinality of set A
∩ B, i.e. A intersection B
Mathematics in the Modern World
by Engr. Daniel Gracias V. Esquejo

Properties of Union of Sets

i) Commutative Law: The union of two or more sets follows the commutative law i.e., if we have two
sets A and B then,

A∪B=B∪A

Example: A = {a, b} and B = {b, c, d}

So, A∪B = {a, b, c, d}

B∪A = {b, c, d, a}

Since, in both the union, the group of elements is same. Therefore, it satisfies commutative law.

A∪B=B∪A

ii) Associative Law: The union operation follows the associative law i.e., if we have three sets A, B
and C then

(A ∪ B) ∪ C = A ∪ (B ∪ C)

Example: A = {a, b} and B = {b, c, d} and C = {a, c, e}

(A ∪ B) ∪ C = {a, b, c, d} ∪ {a, c, e} = {a, b, c, d, e}

A ∪ (B ∪ C) = {a, b} ∪ {b, c, d, e} = {a, b, c, d, e}

Hence, associative law proved.

iii) Identity Law: The union of an empty set with any set A gives the set itself i.e.,

A∪∅=A

Suppose, A = {a, b, c} and ∅ = {}

then, A ∪ ∅ = {a, b, c} ∪ {} = {a, b, c}

iv) Idempotent Law: The union of any set A with itself gives the set A i.e.,

A∪A=A

Suppose, A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

then A ∪ A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} ∪ {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} = A

v) Domination Law: The union of a universal set U with its subset A gives the universal set itself.

A∪U=U

Suppose, A = {1, 2, 4, 7} and U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}

then A ∪ U = {1, 2, 4, 7} ∪ {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7} = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7} = U

Hence, proved.
Mathematics in the Modern World
by Engr. Daniel Gracias V. Esquejo

Example 1:

Let U be a universal set consisting of all the natural numbers until 20 and set A and B be a subset
of U defined as A = {2, 5, 9, 15, 19} and B = {8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 17}. Find A ∪ B.

Solution:
Given,
U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20}
A = {2, 5, 9, 15, 19}
B = {8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 17}
A ∪ B = {2, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 17, 19}
This can be represented using the following Venn diagram:

Example 2:

If set A contains 13 elements, set B contains 8 elements and the intersection of these two sets
contains 5 elements, then find the number of elements in A union B.

Solution:
Given,
Number of elements in set A = n(A) = 13
Number of elements in set B = n(B) = 8
Number of elements in A intersection B = n(A ∩ B) = 5
We know that,
n(A U B) = n(A) + n(B) – n(A ∩ B)
= 13 + 8 – 5
= 21 – 5
= 16
Therefore, the number of elements in A union B = n(A U B) = 16.
Mathematics in the Modern World
by Engr. Daniel Gracias V. Esquejo

References:

Relations and its type. https://byjus.com/maths/relations-and-its-types/

Set Theory. https://byjus.com/maths/basics-set-theory/

Union of Sets. https://byjus.com/maths/union-of-sets/