Scribd
Upload
42 views5 pages

Sets

The document provides an overview of sets, including definitions, types (finite and infinite), and representations (roster and set builder forms). It explains key concepts such as subsets, supersets, power sets, and operations on sets like union, intersection, and difference. Additionally, it covers laws of set algebra and practical formulae for solving problems related to sets.

Uploaded by

saleemafahida
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
42 views5 pages

Sets

The document provides an overview of sets, including definitions, types (finite and infinite), and representations (roster and set builder forms). It explains key concepts such as subsets, supersets, power sets, and operations on sets like union, intersection, and difference. Additionally, it covers laws of set algebra and practical formulae for solving problems related to sets.

Uploaded by

saleemafahida
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

SETS

Key Concepts
 A set is a well-defined collection of objects.
 Sets can be represented in two ways—Roster or tabular form and Set builder form.
Roster form:
 All the elements of a set are listed and separated by commas and are enclosed
within braces { }.
 Elements are not repeated generally.
Set builder form:

 In set builder form, a set is denoted by stating the properties that its members satisfy.
 A set does not change if one or more elements of the set are repeated.

An empty set is the set having no elements in it. It is denoted by φ or { }.


A set having a single element is called a singleton set.

On the basis of number of elements, sets are of two types—Finite and Infinite sets.
Finite sets
A finite set is a set in which there are a definite number of elements. Now, φ or { } or null
set is a finite set as it has 0 number of elements, which is a definite number.
Infinite set
A set that is not finite is called an infinite set.
All infinite sets cannot be described in the roster form.

Two sets are equal if they have the exactly same elements.
Two sets are said to be equivalent if they have the same number of elements.

Subset
Set A is a subset of set B if every element of A is in B, i.e. there is no element in A which
is not in B and is denoted by A ⊂ B.
Proper subset
A is a proper subset of B if and only if every element in A is also in B and there exists at
least one element in B that is not in A.
Number of proper subsets in the power set = 2n− 1.
Superset
If A is a proper subset of B, then B is a superset of A and is denoted by B ⊃ A.
Power set

Let A be a set. Then, the collection of all subsets of A is called the power set of A and is
denoted by P(A).

Common set notations


N: The set of all natural numbers
Z: The set of all integers
Q: The set of all rational numbers
R: The set of real numbers
Z+: The set of positive integers
Q+: The set of positive rational numbers
R+: The set of positive real numbers

N ⊂ R , Q ⊂ R , Q ⊄ Z, R ⊄ Z and N ⊂ R+

 Every set is a subset of itself.


 The empty set is a subset of every set.
 The total number of subsets of a finite set containing n elements is 2n.
Open interval:
The interval which contains all the elements between a and b excluding a and b. In set
notations:
(a, b) ={ x : a < x < b}
Closed interval:
The interval which contains all the elements between a and b and also the end points a
and b is called the closed interval.
[a, b] = {x : a ≤ x ≤ b}

Semi-open intervals
[a, b) = {x : a ≤ x < b} includes all the elements from a to b including a and excluding b
Universal set
A set that contains all sets in a given context is called the universal set.
It is the basic set that is relevant to that context. The universal set is usually denoted by U.
Venn-Diagrams
Venn diagrams are the diagrams, which represent the relationship between sets. In Venn-
diagrams the universal set U is represented by point within a rectangle and its subsets are
represented by points in closed curves (usually circles) within the rectangle.

Operations of Sets
Union of sets:

The union of two sets A and B, denoted by A ∪ B is the set of all those elements which are
either in A or in B or in both A and B. Thus, A ∪ B = {x : x ∈ A or x ∈ B}.

Intersection of sets:

The intersection of two sets A and B, denoted by A ∩ B, is the set of all elements which are
common to both A and B.
Thus, A ∩ B = {x : x ∈ A and x ∈ B}

Disjoint sets:

Two sets Aand Bare said to be disjoint, if A ∩ B = Φ.

Intersecting or Overlapping sets:

Two sets A and B are said to be intersecting or overlapping if A ∩ B ≠ Φ

Difference of sets:
For any sets A and B, their difference (A – B) is defined as a set of elements, which belong
to A but not to B.
Thus, A – B = {x : x ∈ A and x ∉ B}
also, B – A = {x : x ∈ B and x ∉ A}

Complement of a set:

Let U be the universal set and A is a subset of U. Then, the complement of A is the set of all
elements of U which are not the element of A.
Thus, A’ = U – A = {x : x ∈ U and x ∉ A}

Some Properties of Complement of Sets


 A ∪ A’ = ∪
 A ∩ A’ = Φ
 ∪’ = Φ
 Φ’ = ∪
 (A’)’ = A

Laws of Algebra of Sets


1.Idempotent Laws:
For any set A, we have
 A∪ A= A
 A∩ A= A
2.Identity Laws:
For any set A, we have
 A∪ Φ=A
 A∩ U=A
3.Commutative Laws:
For any two sets A and B, we have
 A∪ B = B∪A
 A∩ B = B ∩ A
4.Associative Laws:
For any three sets A, B and C, we have
 A ∪ (B ∪ C) = (A ∪ B) ∪ C
 A ∩ (B ∩ C) = (A ∩ B) ∩ C

5.Distributive Laws:
If A, B and Care three sets, then
 A ∪ (B ∩ C) = (A ∪ B) ∩ (A ∪ C)
 A ∩ (B ∪ C) = (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C)
6.De-Morgan’s Laws:
If A and B are two sets, then
 (A ∪ B)’ = A’ ∩ B’
 (A ∩ B)’ = A’ ∪ B’

Formulae to Solve Practical Problems on Union and Intersection of Two Sets


Let A, B and C be any three finite sets, then
 n(A ∪ B) = n(A) + n (B) – n(A ∩ B)
 If (A ∩ B) = Φ, then n (A ∪ B) = n(A) + n(B)
 n(A – B) = n(A) – n(A ∩ B)
 n(A ∪ B ∪ C) = n(A) + n(B) + n(C) – n(A ∩ B) – n(B ∩ C) – n(A ∩ C) + n(A ∩ B ∩ C)

You might also like