What is a Set?
A set is a well-defined collection of distinct objects.
Example:
What is an element of a Set?
The objects in a set are called its elements.
o So in case of the above Set , the elements would be and . We can
say,
Usually we denote Sets by CAPITAL LETTERs like etc. while their
elements are denoted in small letters like
If is an element of , then we say belongs to and we represent it as
If is not an element of , then we say that does not belong to and we represent it
as
How to describe a Set?
Roaster Method or Tabular Form
o In this form, we just list the elements
o Example or
Set- Builder Form or Rule Method or Description Method
o In this method, we list the properties satisfied by all elements of the set
Example
Some examples of Roster Form vs Set-builder Form
Roster Form Set-builder Form
Sets of Numbers
1. Natural Numbers
2. Integers
3. Whole Numbers
4. Rational Numbers
Finite Sets & Infinite Sets
Finite Set: A set where the process of counting the elements of the set would surely come to
an end is called finite set
Example: All natural numbers less than
All factors of the number
Infinite Set: A set that consists of uncountable number of distinct elements is called infinite
set.
Example: Set containing all natural numbers
Cardinal number of Finite Set
The number of distinct elements contained in a finite set is called the cardinal number of
and is denoted by
Example then
. Therefore and
, Therefore and
Empty Set
A set containing no elements at all is called an empty set or a null set or a void set.
It is denoted by (phai)
In roster form you write
Also
o Examples:
o
Non Empty Set
A set which has at least one element is called a non-empty set
o Example: or
Singleton Set
A set containing exactly one element is called a singleton set
o Example: or
Equal Sets
Two set and are said to be equal sets and written as if every element of is
in and every element of is in
o Example and
It is not about the number of elements. It is the elements themselves.
If the sets are not equal, then we write as
Equivalent Sets
Two finite sets and are said to be equivalent, written as , if
, that is they have the same number of elements.
o Example: and , Therefore and
therefore
Note: Two equal sets are always equivalent but two equivalent sets need not be equal.
Subsets
If and are two sets given in such a way that every element of is in , then we
say is a subset of and we write it as
Therefore is and then
If is a subset of , we say is a super set of and is written as
Every set is a subset of itself.
o i.e. , etc.
Empty set is a subset of every set
o i.e.
If and , then
Similarly, if , then and
If set contains elements, then there are subsets of
Power Set
The set of all possible subsets of a set is called the power set of , denoted by
. If A contains elements, then
o i.e. if , then
o Empty set is a subset of every set
o So in this case the subsets are
Proper Subset
Let be any set and let be any non-empty subset. Then is called a proper subset of ,
and is written as , if and only if every element of is in , and there exists at least
one element in which is not there in .
i.e. if and then
Please note that has no proper subset
A set containing elements has proper subsets.
i.e. if , then the number of proper subsets is
Universal Set
If there are some sets in consideration, then there happens to be a set which is a super set of
each one of the given sets. Such a set is known as universal set, to be denoted by or .
i.e. if , and , then or
Operations on Sets
Union of Sets
The union of sets and , denoted by , is the set of all those elements, each one of
which is either in or in or in both and
If there is a set and , then
So if then which means or
And if which means or
Interaction of Sets
The intersection of sets and is denoted by , and is a set of all elements that are
common in sets and .
1. if and , then as is the only common
element.
Thus then i.e. and
And if i.e. and
Disjointed Sets
Two sets and are called disjointed, if they have no element in common. Therefore:
i.e. and
Intersecting sets
Two sets are said to be intersecting or overlapping or joint sets, if they have at least one
element in common.
Therefore two sets and are overlapping if and only if
Intersection of sets is Commutative
i.e. for any sets and
Intersection of sets is Associative i.e. for any sets,
, then
Since , so
For any sets and we have
and
for every set
Difference of Sets
For any two sets and , the difference is a set of all those elements of which are
not in .
i.e. if and , Then and
Therefore , then then but
If then
Complement of a Set
Let be the universal set and let . The the complement of , denoted by is the set if
all those elements of which are not in .
i.e. let and , then
Thus clearly and
Please note
and
and
Disruptive laws for Union and Intersection of Sets
For any three sets , , we have the following
Say and
Therefore and and hence equal
Say and
Then and and hence equal
Disruptive laws for Union and Intersection of Sets
De-Morgan’s Laws
Let and be two subsets of a universal set , then
Let and and
Then , therefore
and
Therefore . Hence proven.
