Set Theory

1.1.1 Definitions.
A set is a well-defined class or collection of objects. By a well defined collection we mean that there exists a rule with the help of
which it is possible to tell whether a given object belongs or does not belong to the given collection. The objects in sets may be
anything, numbers, people, mountains, rivers etc. The objects constituting the set are called elements or members of the set.
A set is often described in the following two ways.
(1) Roster method or Listing method : In this method a set is described by listing elements, separated by commas, within braces
{}. The set of vowels of English alphabet may be described as {a, e, i, o, u}.
The set of even natural numbers can be described as {2, 4, 6..........}. Here the dots stand for ‘and so on’.

Note :  The order in which the elements are written in a set makes no difference. Thus {a, e, i, o, u} and {e, a, i, o, u}
denote the same set. Also the repetition of an element has no effect. For example, {1, 2, 3, 2} is the same set as {1, 2,
3}
(2) Set-builder method or Rule method : In this method, a set is described by a characterizing property P(x) of its elements x. In
such a case the set is described by {x : P(x) holds} or {x | P(x) holds}, which is read as ‘the set of all x such that P(x) holds’. The
symbol ‘|’ or ‘:’ is read as ‘such that’.
The set E of all even natural numbers can be written as
E = {x | x is natural number and x = 2n for n  N}
or E = {x | x  N, x = 2n, n  N}
or E = {x  N | x = 2n, n  N}
The set A  {0, 1, 4 , 9, 16 ,....} can be written as A  {x 2 | x  Z }

Note :  Symbols
Symbol Meaning
 Implies
 Belongs to
AB A is a subset of B
 Implies and is implied by
 Does not belong to
s.t. Such that
 For every

 There exists

PRATAP BHAWAN, HAZRATGANJ LUCKNOW; PH.(0522)4026913,9838162263

 Set Theory

Symbol Meaning
iff If and only if
& And
a|b a is a divisor of b
N Set of natural numbers
I or Z Set of integers
R Set of real numbers
C Set of complex numbers
Q Set of rational numbers

Example: 1 The set of intelligent students in a class is [AMU 1998]

(a) A null set (b) A singleton set
(c) A finite set (d) Not a well defined collection
Solution: (d) Since, intelligency is not defined for students in a class i.e., Not a well defined collection.

1.1.2 Types of Sets.

(1) Null set or Empty set: The set which contains no element at all is called the null set. This set is sometimes also called the
‘empty set’ or the ‘void set’. It is denoted by the symbol  or {}.
A set which has at least one element is called a non-empty set.
Let A  {x : x 2  1  0 and x is real)
Since there is no real number which satisfies the equation x 2  1  0 , therefore the set A is empty set.

Note :  If A and B are any two empty sets, then x  A iff x  B is satisfied because there is no element x in either A or
B to which the condition may be applied. Thus A = B. Hence, there is only one empty set and we denote it by  .
Therefore, article 'the' is used before empty set.
(2) Singleton set: A set consisting of a single element is called a singleton set. The set {5} is a singleton set.
(3) Finite set: A set is called a finite set if it is either void set or its elements can be listed (counted, labelled) by natural number
1, 2, 3, … and the process of listing terminates at a certain natural number n (say).
Cardinal number of a finite set: The number n in the above definition is called the cardinal number or order of a finite set A
and is denoted by n(A) or O(A).
(4) Infinite set: A set whose elements cannot be listed by the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, …., n, for any natural number n is called an
infinite set.
(5) Equivalent set: Two finite sets A and B are equivalent if their cardinal numbers are same i.e. n(A) = n(B).
Example: A  {1, 3, 5, 7} ; B  {10 , 12, 14 , 16 } are equivalent sets [ O( A)  O(B)  4 ]
(6) Equal set: Two sets A and B are said to be equal iff every element of A is an element of B and also every element of B is an
element of A. We write “A = B” if the sets A and B are equal and “A  B” if the sets A and B are not equal. Symbolically, A = B if x 
A  x  B.
The statement given in the definition of the equality of two sets is also known as the axiom of extension.
Example: If A  {2, 3, 5, 6} and B  {6, 5, 3, 2} . Then A  B, because each element of A is an element of B and vice-versa.

Note :  Equal sets are always equivalent but equivalent sets may need not be equal set.
(7) Universal set : A set that contains all sets in a given context is called the universal set.
or
A set containing of all possible elements which occur in the discussion is called a universal set and is denoted by U.
Thus in any particular discussion, no element can exist out of universal set. It should be noted that universal set is not unique. It
may differ in problem to problem.
(8) Power set : If S is any set, then the family of all the subsets of S is called the power set of S.

PRATAP BHAWAN, HAZRATGANJ LUCKNOW; PH.(0522)4026913,9838162263

Set Theory

The power set of S is denoted by P(S). Symbolically, P(S) = {T : T  S}. Obviously  and S are both elements of P(S).
Example : Let S = {a, b, c}, then P(S) = {  , {a}, {b}, {c}, {a, b}, {a, c}, {b, c}, {a, b, c}}.

Note :  If A   , then P(A) has one element  ,  n[P( A)]  1

 Power set of a given set is always non-empty.

 If A has n elements, then P(A) has 2n elements.
 P( )  { }

P(P( ))  { , { }}  P[P(P( ))]  { , { }, {{ }}, { , { }}}

Hence n{P[ P(P( ))]}  4 .

(9) Subsets (Set inclusion) : Let A and B be two sets. If every element of A is an element of B, then A is called a subset of B.
If A is subset of B, we write A  B, which is read as “A is a subset of B” or “A is contained in B”.
Thus, A  B  a  A  a  B.

Note :  Every set is a subset of itself.

 The empty set is a subset of every set.
 The total number of subset of a finite set containing n elements is 2n.
Proper and improper subsets: If A is a subset of B and A  B, then A is a proper subset of B. We write this as A  B .

The null set  is subset of every set and every set is subset of itself, i.e.,   A and A A for every set A. They are called
improper subsets of A. Thus every non-empty set has two improper subsets. It should be noted that  has only one subset 
which is improper. Thus A has two improper subsets iff it is non-empty.

All other subsets of A are called its proper subsets. Thus, if A  B, A  B , A   , then A is said to be proper subset of B.

Example: Let A  {1, 2} . Then A has  ; {1}, {2}, {1, 2} as its subsets out of which  and {1, 2} are improper and {1} and {2}
are proper subsets.

Example: 2 Which of the following is the empty set [Karnataka CET 1990]

(a) {x : x is a real number and x 2  1  0} (b) {x : x is a real number and x 2  1  0}

(c) {x : x is a real number and x 2  9  0} (d) {x : x is a real number and x 2  x  2}

Solution: (b) Since x 2  1  0, gives x 2  1  x  i

 x is not real but x is real (given)
 No value of x is possible.

Example: 3 The set A  {x : x  R, x 2  16 and 2 x  6 } equals [Karnataka CET 1995]

(a)  (b) [14, 3, 4] (c) [3] (d) [4]

Solution: (a) x 2  16  x  4
2x  6  x  3
There is no value of x which satisfies both the above equations. Thus, A   .
Example: 4 If a set A has n elements, then the total number of subsets of A is [Roorkee 1991; Karnataka CET 1992, 2000]
2 n
(a) n (b) n (c) 2 (d) 2n
n n n n
Solution: (c) Number of subsets of A  C 0  C1  .........  C n  2 .

PRATAP BHAWAN, HAZRATGANJ LUCKNOW; PH.(0522)4026913,9838162263

 Set Theory
Example: 5 Two finite sets have m and n elements. The total number of subsets of the first set is 56 more than the total number of subsets of the
second set. The values of m and n are [MNR 1998, 91; UPSEAT 1999, 2000]
(a) 7, 6 (b) 6, 3 (c) 5, 1 (d) 8, 7

Solution: (b) Since 2 m  2 n  56  8  7  2 3  7  2 n (2 m n  1)  2 3  7

 n  3 and 2 m n  8  2 3
 m n  3  m  3  3  m  6
 m  6, n  3 .

Example: 6 The number of proper subsets of the set {1, 2, 3} is [JMIEE 2000]
(a) 8 (b) 7 (c) 6 (d) 5
3
Solution: (c) Number of proper subsets of the set {1, 2, 3) = 2  2  6.

Example: 7 If X  {8 n  7 n  1 : n  N } and Y  {49 (n  1) : n  N }, then

(a) X Y (b) Y X (c) X Y (d) None of these

Solution: (a) Since 8 n  7n  1  (7  1)n  7 n  1 = 7 n  n C1 7 n 1  n C 2 7 n  2  .....  n C n 1 7  n C n  7 n  1

= n C 2 7 2  n C 3 7 3  .....  n C n 7 n ( n C 0  n C n , n C 1  n C n 1 etc.)

= 49 [ n C 2  n C 3 (7 )  ......  n C n 7 n  2 ]

 8 n  7 n  1 is a multiple of 49 for n  2 .

For n  1 , 8 n  7 n  1  8  7  1  0 ; For n  2, 8 n  7 n  1  64  14  1  49

 8 n  7 n  1 is a multiple of 49 for all n  N .

 X contains elements which are multiples of 49 and clearly Y contains all multiplies of 49.
 X Y .

1.1.3 Venn-Euler Diagrams.

The combination of rectangles and circles are called Venn-Euler diagrams or simply Venn-diagrams.
In venn-diagrams the universal set U is represented by points within a rectangle and its
subsets are represented by points in closed curves (usually circles) within the rectangle. If a set
A is a subset of a set B, then the circle representing A is drawn inside the circle representing B. U

If A and B are not equal but they have some common elements, then to represent A and B we A
draw two intersecting circles. Two disjoints sets are represented by two non-intersecting
circles.
1.1.4 Operations on Sets.
(1) Union of sets : Let A and B be two sets. The union of A and B is the set of all elements which are in set A or in B. We
denote the union of A and B by A  B
U
which is usually read as “A union B”.
AB
symbolically, A  B  {x : x  A or x  B}.
It should be noted here that we take standard mathematical usage of “or”. When we say A B

that x  A or x B we do not exclude the possibility that x is a member of both A and B.

n
Note :  If A1 , A 2 ,......, A n is a finite family of sets, then their union is denoted by  Ai or A 1  A 2  A 3 ......  A n .
i1

PRATAP BHAWAN, HAZRATGANJ LUCKNOW; PH.(0522)4026913,9838162263

Set Theory
(2) Intersection of sets : Let A and B be two sets. The intersection of A and B is the set of all those elements that belong to both
A and B.
The intersection of A and B is denoted by A  B (read as “A intersection B”) U

Thus, A  B = {x : x  A and x  B}. AB

Clearly, x  A  B  x  A and x  B. A B

In fig. the shaded region represents A  B. Evidently A  B  A, A  B  B.

n
Note :  If A 1 , A 2 , A 3 ......., A n is a finite family of sets, then their intersection is denoted by  A
i
or
i1

A 1  A 2  A 3  ........  A n .

(3) Disjoint sets : Two sets A and B are said to be disjoint, if A  B = . If A  B  , then A and B are said to be non-
intersecting or non-overlapping sets.
In other words, if A and B have no element in common, then A and B are called disjoint sets.
Example : Sets {1, 2}; {3, 4} are disjoint sets.
(4) Difference of sets : Let A and B be two sets. The difference of A and B written as A – B, is the set of all those elements of A
which do not belong to B.
Thus, A – B = {x : x  A and x  B} U U

or A – B = {x  A : x  B} A–B B–A

Clearly, x  A – B  x  A and x  B. In fig. the shaded part

A B A B
represents A – B.
Similarly, the difference B  A is the set of all those elements of B
that do not belong to A i.e.
B  A  {x  B : x  A}
Example: Consider the sets A  {1, 2, 3} and B  {3, 4 , 5} , then A  B  {1, 2}; B  A  {4 , 5}
As another example, R  Q is the set of all irrational numbers.
(5) Symmetric difference of two sets: Let A and B be two sets. The symmetric difference of sets A and B is the set
( A  B)  (B  A) and is denoted by A  B . Thus, A  B = ( A  B)  (B  A)  { x : x  A  B}

(6) Complement of a set : Let U be the universal set and let A be a set such that A  U. Then, the complement of A with
respect to U is denoted by A or Ac or C(A) or U – A and is defined the set of all those elements
of U which are not in A. U
A
A
Thus, A = {x  U : x  A}.
Clearly, x  A  x  A
Example: Consider U  {1, 2,......, 10 } and A  {1, 3, 5, 7, 9} .
Then A   {2, 4 , 6, 8, 10 }

Example: 8 Given the sets A  {1, 2, 3}, B  {3,4 } , C = {4, 5, 6}, then A  (B  C ) is [MNR 1988; Kurukshetra CEE 1996]

(a) {3} (b) {1, 2, 3, 4} (c) {1, 2, 4, 5} (d) {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

Solution: (b) B  C  {4 } ,  A  (B  C ) = {1, 2, 3, 4}.
Example: 9 If A  B , then A  B is equal to
(a) A (b) BA (c) B (d) None of these
Solution: (c) Since A  B  A  B  B .

PRATAP BHAWAN, HAZRATGANJ LUCKNOW; PH.(0522)4026913,9838162263

 Set Theory

Example: 10 If A and B are any two sets, then A  ( A  B ) is equal to [Karnataka CET 1996]

(a) A (b) B (c) Ac (d) Bc

Solution: (a) A  B  A . Hence A  ( A  B)  A .

Example: 11 If A and B are two given sets, then A  ( A  B)c is equal to [AMU 1998; Kurukshetra CEE 1999]

(a) A (b) B (c)  (d) A  Bc

Solution: (d) A  ( A  B)c  A  ( A c  B c ) = ( A  A c )  ( A  B c ) =   ( A  B c )  A  B c .

Example: 12 If N a  {an : n  N }, then N 3  N 4 
(a) N7 (b) N 12 (c) N3 (d) N4

Solution: (b) N 3  N 4  {3, 6, 9 , 12 ,15 ......}  {4 , 8 , 12 , 16 , 20 ,.....}

= {12, 24, 36......} = N 12
Trick: N 3  N 4  N 12 [  3, 4 are relatively prime numbers]
Example: 13 If aN  {ax : x  N } and bN  cN  dN , where b, c  N are relatively prime, then [DCE 1999]

(a) d  bc (b) c  bd (c) b  cd (d) None of these

Solution: (a) bN  the set of positive integral multiples of b, cN = the set of positive integral multiplies of c.
 bN  cN = the set of positive integral multiples of bc = b  N [ b, c are prime]

 d  bc .
Example: 14 If the sets A and B are defined as
1
A  {( x , y ) : y  , 0  x  R}
x
B  {( x , y ) : y   x , x  R } , then

(a) A B  A (b) AB  B (c) AB  (d) None of these

1 1
Solution: (c) Since y  , y   x meet when  x   x 2  1 , which does not give any real value of x
x x

Hence A  B   .

Example: 15 Let A  [ x : x  R ,| x |  1]; B  [ x : x  R,| x  1 |  1] and A  B  R  D, then the set D is

(a) [ x : 1  x  2] (b) [ x : 1  x  2] (c) [ x : 1  x  2] (d) None of these

Solution: (b) A  [ x : x  R ,  1  x  1]

B  [ x : x  R : x  1  1 or x  1  1] = [ x : x  R : x  0 or x  2]

 AB  RD
Where D = [ x : x  R, 1  x  2]
Example: 16 If the sets A and B are defined as

A  {( x , y ) : y  e x , x  R}

B  {( x , y ) : y  x , x  R}, then [UPSEAT 1994, 2002]

(a) B A (b) AB (c) AB  (d) AB  A

Solution: (c) Since, y  e x and y  x do not meet for any x  R

 AB  .

Example: 17 If X  {4 n  3n  1 : n  N } and Y  {9 (n  1) : n  N }, then X  Y is equal to [Karnataka CET 1997]

(a) X (b) Y (c) N (d) None of these

n n n n n 1 n n2 n n
Solution: (b) Since, 4  3n  1  (3  1)  3n  1 = 3  C1 3  C2 3  .....  Cn 1 3  Cn  3 n  1

PRATAP BHAWAN, HAZRATGANJ LUCKNOW; PH.(0522)4026913,9838162263

Set Theory

= n C2 3 2  n C3 . 3 3  .....  n Cn 3 n ( n C0 n Cn , n C1  n Cn 1 etc.)

= 9[n C 2  n C3 (3)  .....  n Cn 3 n 1 ]

 4 n  3 n  1 is a multiple of 9 for n  2 .

For n  1, 4 n  3 n  1 = 4  3  1  0 , For n  2, 4 n  3 n  1 = 16  6  1  9

 4 n  3 n  1 is a multiple of 9 for all n  N

 X contains elements which are multiples of 9 and clearly Y contains all multiples of 9.
 X  Y ,  X Y  Y .

1.1.5 Some Important Results on Number of Elements in Sets.

If A, B and C are finite sets and U be the finite universal set, then
(1) n(A  B) = n(A) + n(B) – n(A  B)
(2) n(A  B) = n(A) + n(B)  A, B are disjoint non-void sets.
(3) n(A – B) = n(A) – n(A  B) i.e. n(A – B) + n(A  B) = n(A)
(4) n(A  B) = Number of elements which belong to exactly one of A or B
= n((A – B)  (B – A))
= n (A – B) + n(B – A) [ (A – B) and (B – A) are disjoint]

= n(A) – n(A  B) + n(B) – n(A  B) = n(A) + n(B) – 2n(A  B)

(5) n(A  B  C) = n(A) + n(B) + n(C) – n(A  B) – n(B  C) – n(A  C) + n(A  B  C)
(6) n (Number of elements in exactly two of the sets A, B, C) = n(A  B) + n(B  C) + n(C  A) – 3n(ABC)
(7) n(Number of elements in exactly one of the sets A, B, C) = n(A) + n(B) + n(C)
– 2n(A  B) – 2n(B  C) – 2n(A C) + 3n(A  B  C)
(8) n(A  B) = n(A  B) = n(U) – n(A  B)
(9) n(A  B) = n(A  B) = n(U) – n(A  B)

Example: 18 Sets A and B have 3 and 6 elements respectively. What can be the minimum number of elements in A  B
(a) 3 (b) 6 (c) 9 (d) 18
Solution: (b) n(A  B) = n(A) + n(B) – n(A  B) = 3  6  n( A  B )
Since maximum number of elements in A  B  3
 Minimum number of elements in A  B  9  3  6 .
Example: 19 If A and B are two sets such that n( A)  70 , n(B)  60 and n( A  B)  110 , then n( A  B) is equal to
(a) 240 (b) 50 (c) 40 (d) 20
Solution: (d) n( A  B)  n( A)  n(B )  n( A  B)
 110 = 70 + 60 – n(A  B)
 n( A  B)  130  110  20 .

Example: 20 Let n(U)  700 , n( A)  200 , n(B )  300 and n( A  B)  100 , then n( A c  B c )  [Kurukshetra CEE 1999]

(a) 400 (b) 600 (c) 300 (d) 200

c c
Solution: (c) n( A  B ) = n[(A  B) ] = n(U)  n( A  B) = n(U)  [n( A)  n(B)  n( A  B )] = 700 – [200 + 300 – 100] = 300.
c

Example: 21 If A  [( x , y ) : x 2  y 2  25 ] and B = [( x , y ) : x 2  9 y 2  144 ] , then A  B contains [AMU 1996; Pb. CET 2002]

(a) One point (b) Three points (c) Two points (d) Four points

PRATAP BHAWAN, HAZRATGANJ LUCKNOW; PH.(0522)4026913,9838162263

 Set Theory

Solution: (d) A = Set of all values (x, y) : x 2  y 2  25  5 2

2 2
x y
x2 y2 x2 y2  
B=   1 i.e., 2
+ 1. (12 )
2
(4 )
2

144 16 (12 ) (4 )2
Clearly, A  B consists of four points.
x2 + y2 = 52

Example: 22 In a town of 10,000 families it was found that 40% family buy newspaper A, 20% buy newspaper B and 10% families buy newspaper C, 5%
families buy A and B, 3% buy B and C and 4% buy A and C. If 2% families buy all the three newspapers, then number of families which buy
A only is [Roorkee 1997]
(a) 3100 (b) 3300 (c) 2900 (d) 1400
Solution: (b) n(A) = 40% of 10,000 = 4,000
n(B) = 20% of 10,000 = 2,000
n(C) = 10% of 10,000 = 1,000
n (A  B) = 5% of 10,000 = 500, n (B  C) = 3% of 10,000 = 300
n(C  A) = 4% of 10,000 = 400, n(A  B  C) = 2% of 10,000 = 200
We want to find n(A  B  C ) = n[A  (B  C) ]
c c c

= n(A) – n[A  (B  C)] = n(A) – n[(A  B)  (A  C)] = n(A) – [n(A  B) + n(A  C) – n(A  B  C)]
= 4000 – [500 + 400 – 200] = 4000 – 700 = 3300.
Example: 23 In a city 20 percent of the population travels by car, 50 percent travels by bus and 10 percent travels by both car and bus. Then persons
travelling by car or bus is [Kerala (Engg.) 2002]
(a) 80 percent (b) 40 percent (c) 60 percent (d) 70 percent
Solution: (c) n(C) = 20, n(B) = 50, n(C  B) = 10
Now, n(C  B) = n(C) + n(B) – n(C  B) = 20 + 50 – 10 = 60.
Hence, required number of persons = 60%.
Example: 24 Suppose A1 , A 2 , A3 ,........, A 30 are thirty sets each having 5 elements and B1 , B 2 , ......., Bn are n sets each with 3 elements. Let
30 n
 Ai   B j = S and each elements of S belongs to exactly 10 of the Ai' s and exactly 9 of the B 'j s . Then n is equal to
i 1 j 1

(a)15 (b) 3 (c) 45 (d) None of these

 30  1
Solution: (c) O(S) = O   Ai   (5  30 )  15 Since, element in the union S belongs to 10 of Ai' s
 i 1 10

 n  3n n n
Also, O(S) = O   B j    ,   15  n  45 .
 j 1  9 3 3

Example: 25 In a class of 55 students, the number of students studying different subjects are 23 in Mathematics, 24 in Physics, 19 in
Chemistry, 12 in Mathematics and Physics, 9 in Mathematics and Chemistry, 7 in Physics and Chemistry and 4 in all the three subjects. The
number of students who have taken exactly one subject is [UPSEAT 1990]
(a) 6 (b) 9 (c) 7 (d) All of these
Solution: (d) n(M) = 23, n(P) = 24, n(C)= 19 n(M  P) = 12, n(M  C)= 9, n(P  C)= 7
n(M  P  C) = 4
We have to find n(M  P  C), n(P  M   C ), n ( C  M   P )
Now n (M  P  C) = n[M  (P  C)] = n(M)– n(M  (P  C))  n(M )  n[(M  P )  (M  C)]
= n(M) – n(M  P)– n(M  C) + n(M  P  C) = 23 –12 – 9 + 4 = 27 –21 = 6
n(P  M  C) = n[P  (M  C)]
= n(P)– n[P  (M  C)] = n(P )  n[( P  M )  (P  C)] = n(P) – n(P  M) – n(P  C) + n(P  M  C)
= 24 – 12 – 7 + 4 = 9
n(C  M  P) = n(C) – n(C  P) – n(C  M)+ n(C  P  M) = 19 – 7 – 9 + 4 = 23 – 16 = 7
Hence (d) is the correct answer.

PRATAP BHAWAN, HAZRATGANJ LUCKNOW; PH.(0522)4026913,9838162263

Set Theory

1.1.6 Laws of Algebra of Sets.

(1) Idempotent laws : For any set A, we have
(i) A  A = A (ii) A  A = A
(2) Identity laws : For any set A, we have
(i) A   = A (ii) A  U = A
i.e.  and U are identity elements for union and intersection respectively.
(3) Commutative laws : For any two sets A and B, we have
(i) A  B = B  A (ii) A  B = B  A (iii) A B  B A
i.e. union, intersection and symmetric difference of two sets are commutative.
(iv) A  B  B  A (iv) A  B  B  A
i.e., difference and cartesian product of two sets are not commutative
(4) Associative laws : If A, B and C are any three sets, then
(i) (A  B)  C = A  (B  C) (ii) A  (B  C) = (A  B)  C (iii) ( A B)C  A (B C )
i.e., union, intersection and symmetric difference of two sets are associative.
(iv) ( A  B)  C  A  (B  C) (v) ( A  B)  C  A  (B  C)
i.e., difference and cartesian product of two sets are not associative.
(5) Distributive law : If A, B and C are any three sets, then
(i) A  (B  C) = (A  B)  (A  C) (ii) A  (B  C) = (A  B)  (A  C)
i.e. union and intersection are distributive over intersection and union respectively.
(iii) A  (B  C)  ( A  B)  ( A  C) (iv) A  (B  C)  ( A  B)  ( A  C) (v) A  (B  C)  ( A  B)  ( A  C)
(6) De-Morgan’s law : If A and B are any two sets, then
(i) (A  B) = A  B (ii) (A  B) = A  B
(iii) A  (B  C )  ( A  B)  ( A  C) (iv) A  (B  C )  ( A  B)  ( A  C)

Note :  Theorem 1: If A and B are any two sets, then

(i) A – B = A  B (ii) B – A = B  A
(iii) A – B = A  A  B =  (iv) (A – B)  B = A  B
(v) (A – B)  B =  (vi) A  B  B  A
(viii) (A – B)  (B – A) = (A  B) – (A  B)
 Theorem 2 : If A, B and C are any three sets, then
(i) A – (B  C) = (A – B)  (A – C) (ii) A – (B  C) = (A – B)  (A – C)
(iii) A  (B – C) = (A  B) – (A  C) (iv) A  (B  C) = (A  B)  (A  C)
Example: 26 If A, B and C are any three sets, then A × (B  C) is equal to
(a) (A × B)  (A × C) (b) (A × B)  (A × C) (c) (A  B) × (A  C) (d) (A  B) × (A  C)
Solution: (b) A × (B  C) = (A × B)  (A × C). It is distributive law.
Example: 27 If A, B and C are any three sets, then A × (B  C) is equal to [Pb. CET 2001]

(a) (A × B)  (A × C) (b) (A  B) × (A  C) (c) (A × B)  (A × C) (d) None of these

Solution: (a) It is distributive law.

PRATAP BHAWAN, HAZRATGANJ LUCKNOW; PH.(0522)4026913,9838162263

 Set Theory

Example: 28 If A, B and C are any three sets, then A – (B  C) is equal to

(a) (A – B)  (A – C) (b) (A – B)  (A – C) (c) (A – B)  C (d) (A – B)  C
Solution: (b) It is De' Morgan law.

Example: 29 If A  [ x : x is a multiple of 3] and B  [ x : x is a multiple of 5], then A – B is ( A means complement of A) [AMU 1998]

(a) AB (b) AB (c) AB (d) AB

Solution: (b) A–B=AB =A B . c

Example: 30 If A, B and C are non-empty sets, then (A – B)  (B – A) equals [AMU 1992, 1998; DCE 1998]

(a) (A  B) – B (b) A – (A  B) (c) (A  B) – (A  B) (d) (A  B)  (A  B)

Solution: (c) (A – B)  (B – A) = (A  B) – (A  B).

A B

A–B AB B–A

1.1.7 Cartesian Product of Sets.

Cartesian product of sets : Let A and B be any two non-empty sets. The set of all ordered pairs (a, b) such that a  A and b
 B is called the cartesian product of the sets A and B and is denoted by A  B.
Thus, A × B = [(a, b) : a  A and b  B]
If A =  or B = , then we define A × B = .
Example : Let A = {a, b, c} and B = {p, q}.
Then A × B = {(a, p), (a, q), (b, p), (b, q), (c, p), (c, q)}
Also B × A = {(p, a), (p, b), (p, c), (q, a), (q, b), (q, c)}
Important theorems on cartesian product of sets :
Theorem 1 : For any three sets A, B, C
(i) A × (B  C) =(A × B)  (A × C) (ii) A × (B  C) =(A × B)  (A × C)
Theorem 2 : For any three sets A, B, C A × (B – C) = (A × B) – (A × C)
Theorem 3 : If A and B are any two non-empty sets, then A × B = B × A  A = B
Theorem 4 : If A  B, then A × A  (A × B)  (B × A)
Theorem 5 : If A  B, then A × C  B × C for any set C.
Theorem 6 : If A  B and C  D, then A × C  B × D
Theorem 7 : For any sets A, B, C, D (A × B)  (C  D) = (A  C) × (B  D)
Theorem 8 : For any three sets A, B, C
(i) A × (B  C) = (A × B)  (A × C) (ii) A × (B  C) = (A × B)  (A × C)
Theorem 9 : Let A and B two non-empty sets having n elements in common, then A × B and B × A have n2 elements in
common.
Example: 31 If A = {0, 1), and B = {1, 0}, then A × B is equal to
(a) {0, 1, 1, 0} (b) {(0, 1), (1, 0)} (c) {0, 0} (d) {(0,1),(0,0),(1,1),(1,0)}
Solution: (d) By the definition of cartesian product of sets

PRATAP BHAWAN, HAZRATGANJ LUCKNOW; PH.(0522)4026913,9838162263

 Set Theory
Clearly, A × B = {(0, 1), (0, 0), (1, 1), (1, 0)}.
Example: 32 If A  {2, 4 , 5}, B  {7 , 8 , 9}, then n( A  B ) is equal to
(a) 6 (b) 9 (c) 3 (d) 0
Solution: (b) A × B = {(2, 7), (2, 8), (2, 9), (4, 7), (4, 8), (4, 9), (5, 7), (5, 8), (5, 9)}
n(A × B) = n(A) . n(B) = 3 × 3 = 9.
Example: 33 If the set A has p elements, B has q elements, then the number of elements in A × B is [Karnataka CET 1999]

(a) pq (b) p  q 1 (c) pq (d) p2

Solution: (c) n( A  B)  pq .

1. In rule method the null set is represented by [Karnataka CET 1998]

(a) {} (b)  (c) {x : x  x} (d) { x : x  x }
2. A  {x : x  x } represents [Kurukshetra CEE 1998]
(a) {0} (b) {} (c) {1} (d) {x}
3. If A  { , { }}, then the power set of A is
(a) A (b) { , { }, A} (c) { , { }, ({ }}, A} (d) None of these

 1 
4. If Q   x : x  , where y  N  , then
 y 
2
(a) 0Q (b) 1  Q (c) 2Q (d) Q
3
5. Which set is the subset of all given sets
(a) {1, 2, 3, 4,......} (b) {1} (c) {0} (d) {}
6. Let S  {0 , 1, 5 , 4 , 7 } . Then the total number of subsets of S is
(a) 64 (b) 32 (c) 40 (d) 20
7. The number of non-empty subsets of the set {1, 2, 3, 4} is [Karnataka CET 1997; AMU 1998]
(a) 15 (b) 14 (c) 16 (d) 17
8. If A  {1, 2, 3, 4 , 5 }, then the number of proper subsets of A is [Karnataka CET 1997]
(a) 120 (b) 30 (c) 31 (d) 32
9. Let A  {1, 2, 3, 4 }, B  {2, 3, 4 , 5, 6 } , then A  B is equal to
(a) {2, 3, 4} (b) {1, 2, 3} (c) {5, 6} (d) {1}
10. The smallest set A such that A  {1, 2} = {1, 2, 3, 5, 9} is
(a) {2, 3, 5} (b) {3, 5, 9} (c) {1, 2, 5, 9} (d) None of these
11. If A  B = B, then [JMIEE 2000]
(a) AB (b) B A (c) A  (d) B 
12. For two sets A  B  A iff
(a) B A (b) AB (c) AB (d) AB
13. If A and B are two sets, then A  B  A  B iff
(a) AB (b) B A (c) AB (d) None of these
14. Let A and B be two sets. Then
(a) A  B  A  B (b) A  B  A  B (c) A  B = A  B (d) None of these
x x
15. Let A  {( x , y ) : y  e , x  R} , B  {( x , y ) : y  e , x  R}. Then

(a) AB  (b) AB  (c) A  B  R2 (d) None of these

16. If A = {2, 3, 4, 8, 10}, B = {3, 4, 5, 10, 12}, C = {4, 5, 6, 12, 14} then (A  B)  (A  C) is equal to
(a) {3, 4, 10} (b) {2, 8, 10} (c) {4, 5, 6} (d) {3, 5, 14}
17. If A and B are any two sets, then A  (A  B) is equal to
(a) A (b) B (c) Ac (d) Bc
18. If A, B, C be three sets such that A  B = A  C and A  B = A  C, then [Roorkee 1991]
(a) A = B (b) B = C (c) A = C (d) A = B = C
19. Let A = {a, b, c}, B = {b, c, d}, C = {a, b, d, e}, then A  (B  C) is [Kurukshetra CEE 1997]

PRATAP BHAWAN, HAZRATGANJ LUCKNOW; PH.(0522)4026913,9838162263

 Set Theory
(a) {a, b, c} (b) {b, c, d} (c) {a, b, d, e} (d) {e}
20. If A = {2, 3, 4, 8, 10}, B = {3, 4, 5, 10, 12}, C = {4, 5, 6, 12, 14} then (A  B)  (A  C) is equal to
(a) {2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12} (b) {2, 4, 8, 10, 12} (c) {3, 8, 10, 12} (d) {2, 8, 10}
21. If A and B are sets, then A  (B – A) is
(a)  (b) A (c) B (d) None of these
22. Two sets A, B are disjoint iff
(a) AB  (b) AB  (c) AB  (d) AB  A
23. Let A and B be two non-empty subsets of a set X such that A is not a subset of B, then
(a) A is always a subset of the complement of B (b) B is always a subset of A
(c) A and B are always disjoint (d) A and the complement of B are always non-disjoint
24. If A  B , then A  B is equal to
(a) A (b) B (c) Ac (d) Bc
25. If A and B are two sets, then A  ( A  B ) is equal to
(a) A (b) B (c)  (d) None of these
26. Let   {1, 2, 3, 4 , 5 , 6, 7, 8 , 9, 10 } , A  {1, 2, 5}, B  {6, 7} , then A  B is
(a) B (b) A (c) A (d) B

27. If A is any set, then

(a) A  A   (b) A  A   (c) A  A   (d) None of these
28. If N a  [an : n  N }, then N 6  N 8 
(a) N6 (b) N8 (c) N 24 (d) N 44
29. If aN  {ax : x  N }, then the set 3 N  7 N is
(a) 21 N (b) 10 N (c) 4 N (d) None of these
30. The shaded region in the given figure is

C B

(a) A  (B  C) (b) A  (B  C) (c) A  (B – C) (d) A – (B  C)

31. If A  [ x : f ( x )  0 ] and B  [ x : g( x )  0 ] , then A  B will be
f (x ) g( x )
(a) [ f ( x )]2  [ g(x )]2  0 (b) (c) (d) None of these
g( x ) f (x )
32. If A and B are two sets then (A – B)  (B – A)  (A  B) is equal to
(a) A  B (b) A  B (c) A (d) B
33. Let A and B be two sets then ( A  B)  ( A   B) is equal to
(a) A (b) A (c) B (d) None of these
34. Let U be the universal set and A  B  C  U . Then {( A  B)  (B  C )  (C  A)} is equal to
(a) ABC (b) A  (B  C ) (c) ABC (d) A  (B  C )
35. If n( A)  3 , n(B)  6 and A  B . Then the number of elements in A  B is equal to
(a) 3 (b) 9 (c) 6 (d) None of these
36. If n( A)  3 and n(B)  6 and A  B . Then the number of elements in A  B is equal to
(a) 3 (b) 9 (c) 6 (d) None of these
37. Let A and B be two sets such that n( A)  0 . 16 , n(B)  0 . 14 , n( A  B)  0 . 25 . Then n( A  B ) is equal to [JMIEE 2001]
(a) 0.3 (b) 0.5 (c) 0.05 (d) None of these
38. If A and B are disjoint, then n( A  B ) is equal to
(a) n(A ) (b) n(B) (c) n( A)  n(B) (d) n( A). n(B)
39. If A and B are not disjoint sets, then n( A  B ) is equal to [Kerala (Engg.) 2001]

PRATAP BHAWAN, HAZRATGANJ LUCKNOW; PH.(0522)4026913,9838162263

Set Theory
(a) n( A)  n(B) (b) n( A)  n(B )  n( A  B ) (c) n( A)  n(B )  n( A  B) (d) n( A) n(B ) (e) n( A)  n(B)
40. In a battle 70% of the combatants lost one eye, 80% an ear, 75% an arm, 85% a leg, x% lost all the four limbs. The minimum value of x is
(a) 10 (b) 12 (c) 15 (d) None of these
41. In a certain town 25% families own a phone and 15% own a car, 65% families own neither a phone nor a car. 2000 families own both a car and a phone.
Consider the following statements in this regard:
1. 10% families own both a car and a phone
2. 35% families own either a car or a phone
3. 40,000 families live in the town
Which of the above statements are correct ?
(a) 1 and 2 (b) 1 and 3 (c) 2 and 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3
42. Out of 800 boys in a school, 224 played cricket, 240 played hockey and 336 played basketball. Of the total, 64 played both basketball and hockey; 80
played cricket and basketball and 40 played cricket and hockey; 24 played all the three games. The number of boys who did not play any game is
[DCE 1995; MP PET 1996]
(a) 128 (b) 216 (c) 240 (d) 160
43. A survey shows that 63% of the Americans like cheese whereas 76% like apples. If x% of the Americans like both cheese and apples, then
(a) x  39 (b) x  63 (c) 39  x  63 (d) None of these
44. 20 teachers of a school either teach mathematics or physics. 12 of them teach mathematics while 4 teach both the subjects. Then the number of teachers
teaching physics only is(a)12 (b) 8 (c) 16 (d) None of these
45. Of the members of three athletic teams in a school 21 are in the cricket team, 26 are in the hockey team and 29 are in the football team. Among them, 14
play hockey and cricket, 15 play hockey and football, and 12 play football and cricket. Eight play all the three games. The total number of members in the
three athletic teams is (a)43 (b) 76 (c) 49 (d) None of these
46. In a class of 100 students, 55 students have passed in Mathematics and 67 students have passed in Physics. Then the number of students who have passed
in Physics only is(a)22 (b) 33 (c) 10 (d) 45
47. In a college of 300 students, every student reads 5 newspaper and every newspaper is read by 60 students. The no. of newspaper is
(a) At least 30 (b) At most 20 (c) Exactly 25 (d) None of these
48. If A and B are two sets, then A × B = B × A iff
(a) AB (b) B A (c) AB (d) None of these
49. If A, B be any two sets, then ( A  B ) is equal to
(a) A  B  (b) A  B  (c) AB (d) AB
50. If A and B be any two sets, then ( A  B ) is equal to
(a) A  Β (b) A  B  (c) AB (d) AB
51. Let A and B be subsets of a set X. Then
(a) AB  AB (b) AB  AB (c) A  B  Ac  B (d) A  B  A  Bc
52. Let A and B be two sets in the universal set. Then A  B equals
(a) A  Bc (b) Ac  B (c) AB (d) None of these
53. If A, B and C are any three sets, then A  (B  C ) is equal to
(a) ( A  B)  ( A  C) (b) ( A  B)  ( A  C ) (c) ( A  B)  C (d) ( A  B)  C
54. If A, B, C are three sets, then A  (B  C) is equal to
(a) (A  B)  (A  C) (b) (A  B)  (A  C) (c) (A  B)  (A  C) (d) None of these
55. If A = {1, 2, 4}, B = {2, 4, 5}, C = {2, 5}, then (A – B)× (B – C) is
(a) {(1, 2), (1, 5), (2, 5)} (b) {(1, 4)} (c) (1, 4) (d) None of these
56. If (1, 3), (2, 5) and (3, 3) are three elements of A × B and the total number of elements in A  B is 6, then the remaining elements of A  B are
(a) (1, 5); (2, 3); (3, 5) (b) (5, 1); (3, 2); (5, 3) (c) (1, 5); (2, 3); (5, 3) (d) None of these
57. Let A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}; B = {2, 3, 6, 7}. Then the number of elements in (A × B)  (B × A) is
(a) 18 (b) 6 (c) 4 (d) 0
58. A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {3, 8}, then (A  B) × (A  B) is
(a) {(3, 1), (3, 2), (3, 3), (3, 8)} (b) {(1, 3), (2, 3), (3, 3), (8, 3)} (c) {(1, 2), (2, 2), (3, 3), (8, 8)} (d) {(8, 3), (8, 2), (8, 1), (8, 8)}
59. If A = {2, 3, 5}, B = {2, 5, 6}, then (A – B) × (A  B) is
(a) {(3, 2), (3, 3), (3, 5)} (b) {(3, 2), (3, 5), (3, 6)} (c) {(3, 2), (3, 5)} (d) None of these

PRATAP BHAWAN, HAZRATGANJ LUCKNOW; PH.(0522)4026913,9838162263

 Set Theory

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Assignment (Advance & Basic Level)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
d b c b d b a c a b b a c b b a a b a a
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
a c d a c b b c a d a a a c c a c c b a
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59
c d c b a d c c b b d a a b b a c b c

PRATAP BHAWAN, HAZRATGANJ LUCKNOW; PH.(0522)4026913,9838162263