SET THEORY

FRANCISCO CHAMERA

LUANAR-BUNDA

August 4, 2015

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Definition

I A set is a well-defined collection of

objects
I That is, given any object x we can
determine whether it belongs to the set or
not.
I The objects that belong to a set are
called its elements or members.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Notation

I We denote sets by upper case letters

A, B, C , ... and its elements by lower case
letters a, b, c, ....
I If x is an element of the set A, we write
x ∈ A, otherwise we write x ∈ / A.
I A set A may be described by listing all of
its elements in a pair of curly brackets {}.
I Examples of sets include
V = {a, e, i, o, u} and C = {Blantyre,
Zomba, Lilongwe, Mzuzu}.
FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY
SETS - Set Builder Notation

I A set A may also be described by defining

properties that its elements must satisfy.
I This is called set builder notation.
I For example, A = {2n|n ∈ N} which is
read as ‘A is the set of elements 2n such
that n is a natural number.’

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Exercise 1

Write the following sets in words;

1. B = {x|x ∈ Z, −1 < x < 4}.
2. S = {a : a ∈ R, a ≥ π}.
1
3. C = { |r ∈ Z, r 6= 0}
r

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Finite and infinite Sets

I A set A is finite if all elements of A can

be listed, otherwise it is infinite.
I For example, the set V = {a, e, i, o, u} is
finite while the set X = {2, 4, 6, 8, ....} is
infinite.
I Each of the sets N, Z, Q, R and C is
infinite.
I For a finite set A, the number of elements
in A is denoted by n(A) and is called the
cardinality of A.
FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY
SETS - Example 1

Find n(B) given that B = {1, 2, 3, ....., 20}.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Solution to Example 1

Since the set B has 20 elements, n(B) = 20.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Empty Set

I An empty or null set is a set without

elements
I It is denoted by φ or {}.
I For example the set
R = {x|x ∈ N, x < 0} is empty.
I So R = φ.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Subsets

I A set A is a subset of another set B,

written A ⊂ B or B ⊃ A, if every element
of A is also an element of B.
I If A is a subset of B then B is a superset
of A.
I For example,
1. {3, 4} ⊂ {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}.
2. N ⊂ Z ⊂ Q ⊂ R ⊂ C.
FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY
SETS - Important Note

1. An empty set is a subset of any set, i.e,

φ ⊂ A for any set A.
2. Every set is a subset of itself, i.e, A ⊂ A
for any set A.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Exercise 2

List all the subsets of the set

A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Equality of Sets

I Two sets A and B are equal, written

A = B, if and only if A ⊂ B and A ⊃ B.
I That is every element of A is also an
element of B and vice versa.
I Therefore A = B means A and B have
exactly the same elements.
I If A is not equal to B, we write A 6= B.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Equality of Sets cont...

I For example, let

A = {x, y , z}
B = {y , x, z}
C = {w , x, y }
D = {w , x, x, y , y , y }.
I Then A = B, C = D, A 6= C and B 6= D.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Equality of Sets cont...

I Note that the order in which elements are

listed is not important.
I Furthermore, repetition of elements is
irrelevant
I A set A is a proper subset of another
set B if A ⊂ B but A 6= B.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - The Universal Set

I The universal set is the set of all

elements under consideration.
I We denote the universal set by ξ.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Complement

I Let A be any set such that A ⊂ ξ.

I Then the complement of a set A,
denoted by A0, is the set of all elements in
the universal set which are not in A, i.e,
A0 = {x|x ∈ ξ, x ∈
/ A}.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Example 2

Let ξ = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10} and

A = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}. Find A0.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Solution to Example 2

A0 = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Union of sets

I The union of two sets, A and B, written

A ∪ B, is the set of elements that belong
to A or B or both.
I That is
A ∪ B = {x|x ∈ A or x ∈ B}.
I For example, if A = {1, 3, 5} and
B = {1, 2, 3, 9} then
A ∪ B = {1, 2, 3, 5, 9}.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Exercise 3

Find A ∪ B for the following pairs of sets;

1. A = {a, e, i, o, u} and
B = {a, b, c, d , e, f , g , h, i, j, k, l , m}.
2. A = {11, 13, 15, 17, 19} and
B = {10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20}.
3. A = {100, 103, 106} and
B = {99, 100, 102, 103, 104, 106, 107}.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Properties of Union

Let ξ be the universal set and A, B and C

any subsets of ξ. Then
1. A ∪ A = A
2. A ∪ B = B ∪ A
3. A ∪ φ = A
4. A ∪ ξ = ξ
5. A ∪ (B ∪ C ) = (A ∪ B) ∪ C
6. A ⊂ (A ∪ B)

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Intersection of sets

I The intersection of sets A and B,

denoted A ∩ B, is the set of elements
which are in both A and B.
I That is
A ∩ B = {x|x ∈ A and x ∈ B}.
I For example, if A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} and
B = {4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}, then
A ∩ B = {4, 5, 6}.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Properties of Intersection

Let ξ be the universal set and A, B and C

any subsets of ξ. Then
1. A ∩ A = A
2. A ∩ B = B ∩ A
3. A ∩ φ = φ
4. A ∩ ξ = A
5. (A ∩ B) ⊂ A
6. A ∩ (B ∩ C ) = (A ∩ B) ∩ C

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Disjoint Sets

I Two sets A and B are disjoint if and

only if their intersection is empty, i.e., if
and only if A ∩ B = φ.
I For example, the sets A = {1, 3, 5} and
B = {2, 4, 6} are disjoint.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Difference of Sets

I The difference of two sets, A and B,

denoted A \ B or A − B, is the set of
elements of A which are not in B.
I That is
A \ B = {x|x ∈ A, x ∈
/ B}.
I Note that the definition of difference of
two sets A and B, does not in any way
involve the universal set.
FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY
SETS - Example 3

Let A = {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23} and

B = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, 23}. Find

1. A \ B
2. B \ A

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Solution to Example 3

1. A \ B = {2, 19}
2. B \ A = {1, 9, 15, 21}

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Symmetric Difference

I Let A and B be any sets.

I The symmetric difference between A and
B, denoted by A4B, is the union of
A \ B and B \ A.
I That is
A4B = (A\B)∪(B\A) = (A∪B)\(A∩B).

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Example 4

Find A4B for the following pairs of sets;

1. A = {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23} and
B = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, 23}.
2. A = {a, e, i, o, u} and
B = {a, b, c, d , e, f , g , h, i, j, k, l , m}.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Solution to Example 4

1. A \ B = {2, 19} and

B \ A = {1, 9, 15, 21}.
A4B = (A \ B) ∪ (B \ A) =
{1, 2, 9, 15, 19, 21}.
2. A \ B = {o, u} and
B \ A = {b, c, d , f , g , h, j, k, l , m}.
Hnce
A4B = {o, u, b, c, d , f , g , h, j, k, l , m}.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Exercise 4

Find A4B for the following pairs of sets;

1. A = {11, 13, 15, 17, 19} and
B = {10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20}.
2. A = {100, 103, 106} and
B = {99, 100, 102, 103, 104, 106, 107}.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Demorgan’s Laws

I We state one of the popular results in set

theory without proof.
I The proof is available in many elementary
algebra books.
Theorem (Demorgan’s Laws)
Let A and B be any sets. Then
i. (A ∪ B)0 = A0 ∩ B 0
ii. (A ∩ B)0 = A0 ∪ B 0

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Example 5

Let ξ = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, A = {2, 4, 6} and

B = {3, 4, 5}. Find A0 ∩ B 0

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Solution to Example 5

By Demorgan’s Laws, A0 ∩ B 0 = (A ∪ B)0.

Now A ∪ B = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6} and, therefore,
(A ∪ B)0 = {1}.
Hence A0 ∩ B 0 = {1}.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Venn Diagrams

I Let ξ be the universal set and A, B, C ....

be any subsets of ξ.
I We can draw a diagram to show sets ξ
and A, B, C .... called a venn diagram.
I Circles, each representing a different set
(A, B, C ...), are drawn inside a square
which represents ξ.
I Set operations are shown as in the
following diagrams.
FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY
SETS - Venn Diagrams cont....

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Example 6

In a class of 60 students, all students play

either Football or Cricket. If 20 students play
both Football and Cricket, determine the
number of students who play cricket only, if
the number of students who play Football is
14 more than the number of students who
play Cricket.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Solution to Example 6

Let F = {students who play football} and

C = {students who play cricket}.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Solution to Example 6 cont...

Since all students play either football or

cricket, d = 0.
Clearly a = 20.
Also from the information given c = b + 14.
Therefore
b+(b+14)+20 = 60 ⇒ 2b+34 = 60 ⇒ b = 13.
Hence 13 students play cricket only.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Example 7

In a college of 100 students, 35 study

Economics, 36 study Sociology and 24 study
Psychology. 13 study Economics and
Sociology, 2 study Economics and
Psychology only, 12 study Sociology and
Psychology, while 4 study all the three
courses. How many students do not study
any of the three courses?

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Solution to Example 7

Let E = {students studying economics},

S = {students studying sociology} and
P = {students studying psychology}.

FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY

SETS - Solution to Example 7 cont...

From the given information, h = 4.

Also c + h = 13 ⇒ c = 9.
b = 2 (students studying economics and
psychology only).
d + h = 12 ⇒ d = 8.
Now f + b + h + c = 35 (students studying
economics) giving
f = 35 − (b + h + c) = 35 − (2 + 4 + 9)
= 35 − 15 = 20.
FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY
SETS - Solution to Example 7 cont...

Also g + b + d + h = 24 (students studying

psychology) giving g = 10.
Similarly e = 15.
Therefore
a = 100 − (b + c + d + e + f + g + h)
= 100 − (2 + 9 + 8 + 15 + 20 + 10 + 4)
= 100 − 68
= 32.
Hence 32 students do not study any of the 3.
FRANCISCO CHAMERA LUANAR-BUNDA SET THEORY