SETS

GRADE 6

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 Introduction
We often speak some words in our daily life which represents a collection of things, for example, a team of
players, a bunch of flowers, a cluster of trees, a group of friends, a swarm of birds and so on. But in
mathematics, we can use a single word to denote all such type of words “set” that show the collection of
things such as, a set of players, a set of flowers, a set of trees, a set of friends and a set of birds, etc. Thus,
we can
define a set as:
“A collection of distinct and well-defined objects is called a set.”
The objects of a set are called its members or elements.
• Well-defined
Well-defined means a specific property of an object that enables it to be an element of a set or not. To
make it clear consider the
following examples of collections.
(i) The collection of good stories.
(ii) The collection of tasty foods.
(iii) The collection of favorite poems.
In the above examples, we can examine that the words good, tasty and favorite are not well-defined
because a food may be favorite of one person but may not be for another. Similarly, a story may be good in
view of one person but may not be for another. So, these are not suitable examples of sets as these are not
well defined.
Distinct means the same objects should not appear more than once. For example, the set of letters of the
word “small” is {s,m,a,l} . In this example, we can see that the letter ‘l’ has been written only once. If it is
written twice then it is not a set.
1. Set Notations
A set is represented by a capital letter A, B, C, ..., Z of English alphabets and its members or elements are
written within brackets { } separated by commas, e.g.
Set of pets: A= {cow, horse, goat...}
Symbolically, we can write the members of the set A as,
cow ∈ A is read as cow is an element of the set A
goat ∈ A is read as goat is an element of the set A and so on.
Now tell whether a tree is the element of the set. No! a tree is not an element of the set A. So, we can
write this statement symbolically as:
tree ∉ A is read as tree is not the element of the set A.
The symbol ∈ is a Greek letter which is used to tell that an object “is an element of” or “belongs to” or “is a
member of” a set and the symbol ∉ mean “does not belong to” or “is not the element of” the set.
Some important sets are given below:
• N = Set of natural numbers
• E = Set of even numbers
• O = Set of odd numbers
• W = Set of whole numbers
• P = Set of prime numbers
Example 1: Write the elements of the following sets.
A = {1,2,3,4,5}
B = {r, x ,O}
C = {Lahore, Karachi, Sialkot, Islamabad, Faisalabad}
Solution:
• The elements of the set A are 1,2,3,4 and 5. We can write them 2 ∈ A, 3 ∈ A, 1 ∈ A, 4 ∈ A and 5 ∈ A
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• The elements of the set B are r, x and O. We can write them as, r ∈ B, x ∈ B and O ∈ B
• The elements of the set C are Lahore, Karachi, Sialkot, Islamabad and Faisalabad. We can write them as,
Lahore ∈ C, Karachi ∈ C, Sialkot ∈ C, Islamabad ∈ C and Faisalabad ∈ C
Example 2: Whether the following are sets or not.
A = {1,2,3,4}, B = {1,2,2,3}, C = {k, i, n, g}, D = {b, a,1, 1}
E = The set of brave boys, F = The set of Pakistani singers
Solution:
(i) A, C and F are sets because all their objects are distinct and well-defined.
(ii) B and D are not sets because their objects are not distinct.
(iii) E is not a set because its objects are not well-defined.

EXERCISE 1.1
1. Which of the following statement is a set or not?
(i) The five provinces of Pakistan. ……………………………….
(ii) The difficult questions of a test. ……………………………….
(iii) The geometrical instruments. ……………………………….
(iv) The naughty boys of the street. ……………………………….
(v) The capital letters of the English alphabet. ……………………………….
(vi) The players of Pakistan cricket team. ……………………………….
(vii) The whole numbers less than 9. ……………………………….
2. If A = {a,e,i,o,u} and B = {a,b,c,...,z} then, which of the following statements are true or
false.
(i) a ∈ A ………………… (ii) b ∈ A ……………… (iii) d ∉ A ………………………..
(iv) e ∉ B ………………… (v) I ∈ B ……………… (vi) i ∈ A ……………………….
(vii) f ∈ A ………………… (viii) v ∈ A ……………… (ix) x '∉ A ……………………….
(x) z ∈ B ………………… (xi) m ∉ B ……………… (xii) a ∈ B ……………………….
3. Fill in the blanks by using either of the symbols ∈ and ∉.
(i) 1 _____{2, 3}
(ii) b _____ {a, b, c}
(iii) i _____ The set of vowels
(iv) Snake _____ The set of pets
(v) 15_____ The set of counting numbers
(vi) 0 _____ The set of whole numbers
(vii) Goal keeper _____ The set of cricket team
(viii) B _____ The set of small letters of the English alphabet
(xi) Lion _____ The set of jungle animals
4. Write the following statements into the symbolic form.
(i) 0 is an element of the set W.
(ii) Lahore is a member of the set P.
(iii) 1 is not an element of the set E.
(iv) Sindh does not belong to the set B.
(v) Potato is an element of the set V.
(vi) o belongs to the set A.
(vii) c is not an element of the set C.

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(viii) Mango is not the member of the set F.
(ix) 5 is an element of the set N.
(x) 4 is not an element of the set O.
5. Which of the following collections are not sets and why?
A = {b,a,n,k} B = {2,4,6,8}
C= {0,1,2,0} D = {k,i,l,l,e,r}
E = {l,e,g,a,l} F = {9,3,5,1}
G = The set of storybooks.
H = The set of beautiful birds.
I = The set of rich people.
J = The set of students in the 7th class.
K = The set of fish in the river Ravi.
L = The set of bad students in a school.
6. List the elements of the following sets
(i) The set of five countries. ………………………………………………………………
(ii) The set of three games. ………………………………………………………………
(iii) The set of first ten natural numbers. ………………………………………………………………
(iv) The set of first eight even numbers. ………………………………………………………………
(v) The set of vowels. ………………………………………………………………
(vi) The set of seven days of the week. ………………………………………………………………
(vii) The set of the five rivers of the Punjab. ……………………………………………………………….
(viii) The set of three Islamic months. ………………………………………………………………

Describing a Set
• Descriptive form
In descriptive form, we describe the property of a set by a statement as given in the following examples.
A = The set of English books in the library.
B = The set of counting or natural numbers.
C = The set of animals in the zoo.

• Tabular form
In tabular form, we list all elements within the brackets { } and separate each element by using a comma “ ,
” . The elements of a set can be listed as:
(i) For a less number of elements: A = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}
(ii) For a more but limited number of elements: B = {1,2,3, ..., 500}
(iii) For an un-limited number of elements. C = {1,2,3, ...}

Note: Tabular form of a set is also known as roster form.

Example 1: Write the following sets into tabular form.
(i) A =The set of vowels of the English alphabet (ii) B = The set of all games
(iii) C =The set of years of the 21st century
Solution: (i) A = {a, e, I, o, u} (ii) B = {hockey, football, cricket, ...}
(iii) C = {2001, 2002, 2003, ...,2100}

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EXERCISE 1.2
1. Write the following sets into the descriptive form.
A = {1,2,3,4,5,6} ……………………………………………………………..
B = {0,1,2, ...,99} ……………………………………………………………..
C = {cricket, football, hockey, tennis} ………………………………………………………………
E = {2,4,6, ...} ………………………………………………………………
F = {potato, ladyfinger, carrot, brinjal} ………………………………………………………………
N = {1,2,3, ...} ………………………………………………………………
O = {1,3,5, ...} ………………………………………………………………
W = { 0, 1,2,3, ...} ………………………………………………………………
2. Write the following sets into the tabular form.
A = The set of names of 3 boys whose names start with letter “B”.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
B = The set of names of 3 girls whose names start with letter “I”.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
C = The set of 4 domestic animals.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
D = The set of 5 birds
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
F = The set of 5 famous cities of Pakistan.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
G = The set of letters of the word banana.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
I = The set of vowels of the word naughty.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
J = The set of years greater than 2006 and less than 2009.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
K = The set of 3 bakery items.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

2. Types of Sets
There are three types of sets
(i) Finite sets (ii) Infinite sets (iii) Empty sets

Finite and Infinite Sets

• Finite Set
“A set having a limited number of elements is called a finite set.”

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Consider the following examples of sets.
A = The set of natural numbers less than 10
B = The set of vowels in the English alphabet
We can examine that it is very easy to count the elements of above two sets A and B. So,
the set A and the set B are finite sets. Now we consider some more examples of sets which
are given below,
C = The set of population of Pakistan
D = The set of the hair of your head
Can we count the elements of the set C and D? Certainly, it is not an
easy task, but sooner or later we can count the elements of these
sets too. So, these are also finite sets.

• Infinite Set
A set having unlimited number of elements is called an infinite set. For example,
(i) The set of counting numbers: N = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ...}
(ii) The set of odd numbers: O = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, ...}
(i) and (ii) are examples of infinite sets because these sets have unlimited number of
elements.
It is possible to find the last element or member of a finite set. But it is impossible to find
the last element or member of an infinite set.
Example 2: Separate the finite and infinite sets.
(i) The set of departmental store items (ii) The set of the English alphabet.
(iii) {2,4,6,8, ...} (iv) {0,1,2,3, ...}
Solution:
(i) and (ii) have limited number of elements. So, these are the examples of finite sets.
(iii) and (iv) have an unlimited number of elements. So, these are the examples of infinite
sets.

Empty Set / Null Set

Everyone understands very well the meaning of the word empty. It means containing
nothing, in the same sense we use it for set. We make it clear with examples. When there is
nothing in my pocket, it means my pocket is empty and if there is no any water in a glass,
we say that the glass is empty. Similarly, when there is no element in a set, it means the set
is empty. We can define it as,
“A set having no element is known as an empty set or null set”.
An empty set is denoted by the Greek letter ∅, which is called phi or simply can be denoted
as { }. Following are some examples of empty set.
(i) The set of 100 feet tall boys. (ii) The set of days of 25 hours.
(iii) The set of horns of an ass. (iv) The set of counting numbers between 1
and 2.
We can observe that while writing the elements of above examples of set, we are not able
to write a single element of any set, so these are empty sets.

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 Singleton Set
A set having a single element is called a singleton set. For example:
{a}, {b}, {1/2}, etc. are singleton sets.

Equal and Equivalent Sets

From the previous classes, we are familiar with the concept of one-to-one correspondence. Here we use
the same concept to define the equivalent and nonequivalent sets. Suppose, A= {1 ,2 ,3 ,4} and B = {a, b, c,
d} are any two sets, now we can check, whether the two sets A and B are establishing one-to-one
correspondence or not by the following way.

We can examine that corresponding to each element of set A, there is an element of set B. It means two
sets are establishing one-to-one correspondence, which can be written as A n B. Such types of sets are
called equivalent sets.
“Two sets are called equivalent if and only if one-to-one correspondence can be established between
them”.
Again consider two sets C = {1,3,5,7 }, D = { a,e,i,o,u }. We try to establish one- to-one correspondence
between them as given below.

From above, we can notice that corresponding to the element u of set D, there is no element of set C. It
means two sets are not establishing the one-to-one correspondence which can be represented as Such
types of sets are called non-equivalent sets.
Subset and Superset of a Set
If each element of a set A is also an element of a set B then the set A is called the subset of the set B which
is denoted by the symbol ⊆, e.g.
A ={2, 4, 6, 8, 10}
B = (1,2, 3,4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}
In above example, we can observe that each element of the set A is also an element of set B. So, A ⊆ B that
can be read as “set A is a subset of set B”.
Every set is also a subset of itself, e.g. A ⊆ A and B ⊆ B.
• Super Set
If A f B, then the set B is called the super set of set A. i.e.B ⊃ A that can be read as “the set B is the super
set of set A”.
Proper and Improper Subset of a Set
A = The set of natural numbers less than ten
B = The set of first nine natural numbers
From above it can be seen that the set A consisting of all the elements of set B, i.e, A = B. Hence, set A is
called the improper
“Two sets are called nonequivalent if one-to-one correspondence cannot be established
between them”.
subset of set B, we write it as A ⊆ B. Now we examine another example which is given as
A= {a, o, u} B = {a,e,i,o,u}

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In this example, we can see that all elements of the set A are also the elements of the set B but two
elements of set B are not the elements of the set A. Here set A is called the proper subset of set B, we
write it as A ⊂ B.

EXERCISE 1.3
1. Which of the following set is the empty set?
(i) The set of whole numbers less than 1 …………………………
(ii) The set of the English alphabet between u and v …………………………
(iii) The set of vowels other than a and o …………………………
(iv) The set of natural numbers less than 1 …………………………
2. Separate the finite and infinite set from the following.
A = {letters of the word “halla gulla”} ………………………..
B = The set of natural numbers ………………………..
C = {number of days in a year} ………………………..
D = {Islamic months} ………………………..
E = {3,6,9, ...} ………………………..
F = {f, i, m, o, r, u} ………………………..
G = {1/2, 2/4, 3/6, ...} ………………………..

3. Find that the following pairs of sets are equivalent or nonequivalent.

I. A = {1,2}, B = {1,3,7} ………………………..
II. A = {a, b), B = {x, y} …………………………
III. A = {-2,-1,0,1}, B = {3,5,7,8} …………………………
IV. A = {0,1,2,3,4}, B = {1,2,3,4,5} …………………………
V. A = {a, e, i, o, u}, B = {I, m, n, o} …………………………
VI. A = The set of 4 natural numbers, B =The set of 3 wild animals …………………………
4. Which of the following pairs of sets are equal sets?
(i) A = {a, b, c, d, e}, B = {b, a, e, d, c}

………………………………………………….
(ii) A = {1,2,3,4,5}, B = {1+0, 1+1, 1+2, 1+3, 1+4}

…………………………………………………
(iii) A = {0, 1, 2, 3,4}, B = {6-2, 5-1, 4-2, 3-1, 2-2}

…………………………………………………
(iv) A = The set of even numbers less than 9, B= {0,2,4, 6,8}

………………………………………………….