SETS and Venn

Diagram
 What is a Set?

¡ A set is a well-defined collection of

distinct objects.
¡ The objects in a set are called the
elements or members of the set.
¡ Capital letters A,B,C,… usually
denote sets.
¡ Lowercase letters a,b,c,… denote
the elements of a set.
 Examples

¡ The collection of the

vowels in the word
“probability”.
¡ The collection of two-
digit positive integers
divisible by 5.
 The Empty Set

¡ The set with no elements.

¡ Also called the null set.
¡ Denoted by the symbol f.
¡ Example: The set of real numbers x
that satisfy the equation
x2 +1 = 0
 Finite and Infinite Sets

¡ A finite set is one which can be

counted.
¡ Example: The set of two-digit
positive integers has 9 and 0
elements.
¡ An infinite set is one which cannot
be counted.
¡ Example: The set of integrs
multiples of the number 5.
 FINITE SETS
¡ All the sets we have seen so far have been finite
sets, meaning that we can list all their elements.
Here are two more examples:
{ whole numbers between 2000 and 2005 } = { 2001,
2002, 2003, 2004 }
{ whole numbers between 2000 and 3000 } = { 2001,
2002, 2003,..., 2999 }
INFINITE SET

¡ A set can also be infinite – all that

matters is that it is well defined. Here
are two examples of infinite sets:
{ even whole numbers } = { 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10,
...}
{ whole numbers greater than 2000 } = {
2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, ...}
 The Cardinality of a Set

¡ Notation: n(A)

¡ For finite sets A, n(A) is the number

of elements of A.

¡ For infinite sets A, write n(A)=∞.

 Specifying a Set

¡ List the elements explicitly, e.g.,

C = { a , o, i }

¡ List the elements implicitly, e.g.,

K = { 10, 15, 20, 25,...., 95 }

¡ Use set builder notation, e.g.,

Q = { x x = p / q where p and q are integers and q ¹ 0 }
THE NUMBERS OF ELEMENTS
OF A SET
¡ If S is a finite set, the symbol | S | stands for the
number of elements of S.
For example: If S = { 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 }, then | S | = 5.

If A = { 1001, 1002, 1003, ..., 3000 }, then | A | = 2000.

If T = { leEers in the English alphabet }, then | T | = 26.

The set S = { 5 } is a one-element set because | S | = 1.

It is important to disLnguish between the number 5 and
the set S = { 5 }:
5∈S but 5 ≠ S .
 The Universal Set

¡ A set U that includes all of the

elements under consideration in a
particular discussion.
¡ Depends on the context.
¡ Examples: The set of Latin letters,
the set of natural numbers, the set
of points on a line.
 The Membership Relation

¡ Let A be a set and let x be some

object.
¡ Notation: x Î A
¡ Meaning: x is a member of A, or x
is an element of A, or x belongs to
A.
¡ Negated by writing x Ï A
¡ Example: V = { a, e, i, o, u } . e Î V , b Ï V .
 Equality of Sets
¡ Two sets A and B are equal, denoted
A=B, if they have the same elements.
¡ Otherwise, A≠B.
¡ Example: The set A of odd positive
integers is not equal to the set B of prime
numbers.
¡ Example: The set of odd integers between
4 and 8 is equal to the set of prime
numbers between 4 and 8.
¡ Two sets are called equal if they have exactly the same elements
¡ On the other hand, the sets { 1, 3, 5 } and { 1, 2, 3 } are not equal,
because they have different elements. This is wriBen as
{ 1, 3, 5 } ≠ { 1, 2, 3 }.
¡ The order in which the elements are wriBen between the curly
brackets does not maBer at all. For example,
{ 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 } = { 3, 9, 7, 5, 1 } = { 5, 9, 1, 3, 7 }.

If an element is listed more than once, it is only counted once. For

example,
{ a, a, b } = { a, b }.
¡ The set { a, a, b } has only the two elements a and b. The second
menKon of a is an unnecessary repeKKon and can be ignored. It
is normally considered poor notaKon to list an element more
than once.
 Subsets
¡ A is a subset of B if every element of A is
an element of B.
¡ Notation: A Í B

• if A = { 2, 4, 6 } and B = { 0, 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6 }, then A ⊆ B, because every
element of A is an element of B.
 SUBSETS
¡ The sentence ‘A is not a subset of B’ is wriBen as A ⊄ B.

if A = { 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 } and B = { 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 }, then A⊄B, because 0 ∈ A, but 0 ∉ B.

Any set S is a subset of itself, because every element of S is an element of S.

{1,2,3,4,5,6}={1,2,3,4,5,6}.
Furthermore, the empty set ∅is a subset of every set S, because every element of
the empty set is an element of S, there being no elements in ∅ at all.
For example:
∅ ⊆{birds} and ∅ ⊆{1,2,3,4,5,6}.
Every element of the empty set is a bird, and every element of the empty set is
one of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6.
 Unions

¡ The union of two sets A and B is

A È B = { x x Î A or x Î B}

¡ The word “or” is inclusive.

The union of two sets A and B consists of all elements
belonging to A or to B. This is wriEen as A ∪ B. Elements
belonging to both set belong to the union.
UNIONS
¡ The word ‘or’ in mathemaLcs always means ‘and/or’,
so there is no need to add ‘or both’ to these
descripLons of the unions.

For example:
If A={0,2,4,6,8,10,12,14} and B={0,3,6,9,12},
then A ∪ B = { 0, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14 }.

¡ Here the elements 6 and 12 are in both sets A and B.

 Intersections

The intersection of two sets A and B consists of all elements

belonging to A and to B.
¡ Here is an example using letters.
If V={vowels} and F={lettersin‘dingo’},
¡ then

V ∩F = { i, o }

The word ‘and’ tells us that there is an intersection of two sets.

 Represen'ng the intersec'on and union on a
Venn diagram :
The Venn diagram below shows the two sets
A = { 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 } and B = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }.

Thus the overlapping region represents the intersection:

A ∩B = { 1, 3, 5 }
circles together represent the union:
A ∪B = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9 }.
 COMPLEMENTS
Suppose that a suitable universal set E has been chosen. The
complement of a set S is the set of all elements of E that are not in S.

The complement of S is wriBen as Sc. For example,

If E={leBers} and V={vowels}, thenVc ={consonants}

The word ‘not’ corresponds to the complement of a set.

 DISJOINT SETS
Two sets are called disjoint if they have no elements in common.
For example: The sets S = { 2, 4, 6, 8 } and T = { 1, 3, 5, 7 } are
disjoint.

Another way to define disjoint sets is to say that their intersection is the empty
set, Two sets A and B are disjoint if A ∪ B = ∅.
In the example above,
S ∩T = ∅ because no number lies in both sets.
 Venn Diagrams

Set A represented as a disk inside a

rectangular region representing U.
 Possible Venn Diagrams
for Two Sets

U U
A B
A B

A B
The Complement of a Set

Ac
A

The shaded region represents the

complement of the set A
The Union of Two Sets

A B
The Intersection of Two Sets

A B
Venn Diagram (Review)

40 students were interviewed about their

preference between fruits and vegetables. Make
a Venn Diagram using the data below.

25 students like fruits

20 students like vegetables
10 students like both fruits and vegetables
5 students do not like fruit and vegetables
Principle of Inclusion and Exclusion
(PIE)
 Example: Two Sets
How many integers from 1 to 100 are multiples of 2 or 3?

Let A be the set of integers from 1 to 100 that are multiples

of 2, then ∣A∣= ∣ 50∣.

Let BB be the set of integers from 1 to 100 that are

multiples of 3, then ∣B∣=33∣.

Now, A∩B is the set of integers from 1 to 100 that are

multiples of both 2 and 3, and hence are multiples of 6,
implying ∣A∩B∣=16.
Three Sets (PEI)
PIE: Three Sets
¡ *There are 150 students
¡ * 3 beer brands A, B, and C

• 58 students drink A
• 49 students drink B

• 57 students drink C

• 14 students drink A and C

• 13 students drink A and B

• 17 students drink B and C

• 4 students drink A, B, and C

How many drink none?

 Example: Three Sets

¡ There are exactly three types of students in a school: the geeks, the wannabees,
and the athletes. Each student is classified into at least one of these categories. And
the total number of students in the school is 1000. Suppose that the following is
given:
• The total number of students who are geeks is 310.
• The total number of students who are wannabees is 650.
• The total number of students who are athletes is 440.
• The total number of students who are both geeks and wannabees is 170.
• The total number of students who are both geeks and athletes is 150.
• The total number of students who are both wannabees and athletes is 180.

What is the total number of students who fit into all 3 categories?