UNIVERSIDAD DE MONTERREY

VICERRECTORIA DE EDUCACIÓN MEDIA SUPERIOR

ACADEMIA DE MATEMÁTICAS
PROGRAMA MULTICULTURAL
CÁLCULO I
Guide 1 – Basic Set Theory
Basic Set Theory
A set is simply a collection of objects. The objects are called the elements of a set. We
usually consider sets that have numbers as their elements; however, a set can be a
collection of any type of object.
Some sets are so commonly used that they have their own symbols:
𝑍 the set of integers {…, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3,…}
𝑍+ the set of positive integers {1, 2, 3, …}
𝑁 the set of natural numbers {0, 1, 2, 3, …}
𝑝
𝑄 the set of rational numbers (the numbers that can be written like )
𝑞

𝑅 the set of real numbers.

Capital letters are usually used for sets, and lower case letters for their elements.
There are several ways to describe which objects belong to a set:
● Set list: Is an explicit list of the elements of a set, that describes the properties of
the set’s elements.
Description Set list
𝐴 = {2, 3, 4, 5} 𝐴 = {2, 3, 4, 5}
𝐵 = {4, 5, 6} 𝐵 = {4, 5, 6}
𝐶 = { 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐶 = {𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎, 𝐽𝑢𝑎𝑛}
𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦}
 ● Set builder notation: describes the properties of the elements of a set, using
mathematical notation. The “ | ” symbol means ‘such that’.

Description Set builder notation

D is the set of all 𝑥 such that 𝑥 is a
number between 0 and 5, inclusive. 𝐷 = {𝑥|0 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 5}
E is the set of pairs of numbers such
that these numbers add up 5. 𝐸 = {(𝑥, 𝑦)| 𝑥 + 𝑦 = 5}
F is the set of all 𝑝 such that 𝑝 is both, 𝑝 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟
prime number and multiple of 10. 𝐹 = {𝑝 | }
𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 10
G is the set of all 𝑥 such that 𝑥 is a 𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟
square number less than 50. 𝐺 = {𝑥 | }
𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 50
H is the set of all 𝑥 such that 𝑥 is all
numbers less than or equal to 200. 𝐻 = {𝑥 | 𝑥 ≤ 200}

Sets 𝐴 and 𝐵 are examples of finite sets; they each contain a finite number of
elements.
The expression used for set 𝐷 and 𝐻 are not precise enough, because they do not
specify what sort of numbers the set elements should be.
For example, if 𝑥 in the definition for set 𝐷 is an integer then 𝐷 has six elements. If
𝑥 is real, how many elements are there in 𝐷?
Therefore, as the way set 𝐷 it is written above, is not precise enough, it is
considered as an infinite set, same as 𝑛(𝑍 + ) = ∞.
The number of elements in a set 𝐴 is denoted as 𝒏(𝑨).
● Is denoted as 𝑛(𝐴) = 4, which is read as “the number of elements in 𝐴 is four”.
● An empty set is written as ∅ (or sometimes as { }).
Note that the set {0} is not an empty set, since it contains one element, the number
zero.
Note: some sets notations may include words like:
● 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒 {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, …}
● 𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒 of 3: {3, 6, 9, 12, …}
● 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 of 10: {1, 2, 5 and 10}
● 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 {1, 4, 9, 16, 25, …}

We can use mathematical notation to replace statements such as ‘𝑥 is an element of the

set of positive integers’.
∈ means ‘is an element of’
∉ means ‘is not an element of’
So 𝑥 ∈ 𝑍 + means ‘𝑥 is a positive integer’.
Let’s analyze sets 𝐸, 𝐹, and 𝐻 to determine if they are well defined.
𝐸 = {(𝑥, 𝑦)| 𝑥 + 𝑦 = 5}
𝐹 = {𝑝 | 𝑝 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 10}
𝐻 = {𝑥 | 𝑥 ≤ 200}

o 𝐸 is not well defined since we don’t know which sets 𝑥 and 𝑦 belong to. 𝐸
becomes well defined if it is specified, for example, that 𝑥 ∈ 𝑍 + , 𝑦 ∈ 𝑍 + , so
that 𝐸 = {(𝑥, 𝑦)| 𝑥 + 𝑦 = 5, 𝑥 ∈ 𝑍 + , 𝑦 ∈ 𝑍 + }.
o 𝐹 is well defined since all multiples of 10 are integers and all prime numbers
are positive integers.
o 𝐻 is not well defined, since the set to which 𝑥 belongs has not been
specified. For example, 𝐻 = {𝑥 | 𝑥 ≤ 200, 𝑥 ∈ 𝑁} is now well defined, and
𝑛(𝐻) = 201.
Example 1
For the following set notation: 𝐷 = {𝑥|𝑥 < 10, 𝑥 ∈ 𝑁}:
a) Write the list of elements, if it is possible. 𝐷 = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}
b) State the number of elements in the set. 𝑛(𝐷) = 10

Example 2
For the following set notation: 𝐸 = {𝑥|𝑥 < 8, 𝑥 ∈ 𝑍 + }:
a) Write the list of elements, if it is possible. 𝐸 = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}
b) State the number of elements in the set. 𝑛(𝐸) = 7

Example 3
Write the set 𝐹 = {5, 6, 7, 8, 9} using set builder notation.
There are many different correct answers, including:
𝐹 = {𝑥|5 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 9, 𝑥 ∈ 𝑍 + } or 𝐹 = {𝑥|5 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 9, 𝑥 ∈ 𝑍}
𝐹 = {𝑥|5 ≤ 𝑥 < 10, 𝑥 ∈ 𝑍 + } or 𝐹 = {𝑥|5 ≤ 𝑥 < 10, 𝑥 ∈ 𝑍}
𝐹 = {𝑥|4 < 𝑥 ≤ 9, 𝑥 ∈ 𝑍 + } or 𝐹 = {𝑥|4 < 𝑥 ≤ 9, 𝑥 ∈ 𝑍}
𝐹 = {𝑥|4 < 𝑥 < 10, 𝑥 ∈ 𝑍 + } or 𝐹 = {𝑥|4 < 𝑥 < 10, 𝑥 ∈ 𝑍}
Example 4
For the following set notation: 𝐺 = {𝑥|𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 10}:
a) Write the list of elements, if it is possible. 𝐺 = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50, … }
b) State the number of elements in the set. 𝑛(𝐺) = ∞
Example 5
For the following set notation: 𝐻 = {𝑥|𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 3}:
a) Write the list of elements, if it is possible. 𝐻 = {3}
b) State the number of elements in the set. 𝑛(𝐻) = 1
 We can also perform operations on sets.
Operation Symbol
It consists of listing all the elements that are in the
Compliment ′
universe, but not in the set in question.
It consists of listing all the elements in two sets, in
Union ∪
ascending order and without repeating them.
It consists of listing only the elements that two sets
Intersection ∩
have in common.

Example 6

Consider the following sets and list what is indicated.

𝑈 = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10}
𝐴 = {1,3,4,6,7,8}
𝐵 = {2,3,5,6,7,9}
This operation asks us for the complement of the set
a) 𝐴′ 𝐴, therefore, we list all the elements that are in the 𝐴′ = {2,5,9,10}
universe, but not in 𝐴.
This operation asks us for the union of 𝐴 and 𝐵,
b) 𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 therefore, we list all the elements of both sets. Note 𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}
that although there are some elements that are
repeated in both sets, they are listed only one time.
This operation asks us for the union of 𝐴 and 𝐵,
c) 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 therefore, we list the elements that they have in 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 = {3,6,7}
common or that are repeated in both.
Set operations can also be more complex, using parentheses. In this case we must
respect the order of operations and solve the parentheses first.

For this operation, we first solve the operation of the

parentheses: the intersection of 𝐴 and 𝐵. The result
d) (𝐴 ∩ 𝐵)′ of this would be 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 = {3,6,7}. Subsequently, we (𝐴 ∩ 𝐵)′ = {1,2,4,5,8,9,10}
obtain the complement of the operation, that is, the
elements of the universe that do not belong to 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵.
For this operation, we first solve the parenthesis
operation, the union of 𝐴 and 𝐵. The result of this
e) (𝐴 ∪ 𝐵)′ would be 𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9} and then we (𝐴 ∪ 𝐵)′ = {10}
obtain the complement of the operation, that is, the
elements of the universe that do not belong to 𝐴 ∪ 𝐵.
 UNIVERSIDAD DE MONTERREY
VICERRECTORIA DE EDUCACIÓN MEDIA SUPERIOR
ACADEMIA DE MATEMÁTICAS
PROGRAMA MULTICULTURAL
CÁLCULO I
Lab 1 – Basic Set Theory
Name: ___________________________________ ID: ___________
I. Consider the following sets to solve the exercises shown below.
𝑼 = {𝟎, 𝟏, 𝟐, 𝟑, 𝟒, 𝟓, 𝟔, 𝟕, 𝟖, 𝟗, 𝟏𝟎}
𝑨 = {𝟏, 𝟒, 𝟔, 𝟕, 𝟗}
𝑩 = {𝟎, 𝟐, 𝟓, 𝟖, 𝟏𝟎}
𝑪 = {𝟏, 𝟑, 𝟔, 𝟕, 𝟖, 𝟏𝟎}
𝑫 = {𝟐, 𝟒, 𝟓, 𝟗}

Use set notation for each of the following exercises,

a) Write the list of elements, if it is possible.
b) State the number of elements in the set.
1. 𝑨′ 2. 𝑩′

3. 𝑪′ 4. 𝑫′

5. 𝑨 ∪ 𝑩 6. 𝑨 ∪ 𝑩′

7. 𝑪 ∪ 𝑫 8. 𝑪′ ∪ 𝑫

9. 𝑩 ∩ 𝑪 10. 𝑩 ∩ 𝑪′

11. 𝑨 ∩ 𝑫 12. 𝑨′ ∩ 𝑫

13. (𝑨 ∪ 𝑩)′ 14. (𝑨 ∩ 𝑩)′

15. (𝑩′ ∪ 𝑫)′ 16. (𝑩 ∩ 𝑫′ )′

 II. Consider the following sets to solve the exercises shown below.
𝑼 = {−𝟓, −𝟒, −𝟑, −𝟐, −𝟏, 𝟎, 𝟏, 𝟐, 𝟑, 𝟒, 𝟓}
𝑨 = {−𝟑, −𝟏, 𝟐, 𝟒}
𝑩 = {−𝟓, −𝟐, 𝟎, 𝟑}
𝑪 = {−𝟒, 𝟏, 𝟑, 𝟓}
𝑫 = {−𝟑, 𝟎, 𝟐, 𝟒, 𝟓}

Use set notation for each of the following exercises,

a) Write the list of elements, if it is possible.
b) State the number of elements in the set.

17. 𝑨’ 18. 𝑩′

19. 𝑪′ 20. 𝑫′

21. 𝑨 ∪ 𝑩 22. 𝑨 ∪ 𝑩′

23. 𝑪 ∪ 𝑫 24. 𝑪′ ∪ 𝑫

25. 𝑩 ∩ 𝑪 26. 𝑩 ∩ 𝑪′

27. 𝑨 ∩ 𝑫 28. 𝑨′ ∩ 𝑫

29. (𝑨 ∪ 𝑩)′ 30. (𝑨 ∩ 𝑩)′

31. (𝑩′ ∪ 𝑫)′ 32. (𝑩 ∩ 𝑫′)′

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