CSD101 - Discrete Structures

(Discrete Mathematics)
Fall 2016

Lecture - 8
Sets
Application of Sets
• Databases
• Data-type or type in computer programming
• Constructing discrete structures
• Finite state machine
• Modeling computing machine
• Representing computational complexity of algorithms
Set
• A set is an unordered collection of objects.
• The objects in a set are called the elements, or members, of
the set.
• A set is said to contain its elements.
Example:
• Z is the set of integers.
• Cities in the Pakistan: {Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, … }
• Sets can contain non-related elements: {3, a, red, Gilgit }
Properties:
• Order does not matter
• {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} is equivalent to {3, 5, 2, 4, 1}
• Sets do not have duplicate elements
• Consider the list of students in this class
• It does not make sense to list somebody twice
Set Membership

• a is an element of the set A, denoted by a ∈ A.

• a is not an element of the set A, denoted by a ∉

A.
Sets (example)
• Example:
• Set D: Students taking Discrete Mathematics
course.
• Assume Ali is taking Discrete Mathematics course
and Saad is not taking Discrete Mathematics
course.

• Ali ∈ D
• Saad ∉ D
Sets (example)
• Example:
V: {a,e,i,o,u}
a∈V
b∉V

I: {0,1,2,…,99}
50 ∈ I
100 ∉ I

S: {a,2,class}
2∈S
room ∉ S
Specifying a Set
• Capital letters (A, B, S…) for sets
• Italic lower-case letter for elements (a, x, y…)
• Easiest way: list all the elements
• A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, Not always feasible!

• May use ellipsis (…): B = {0, 1, 2, 3, …}

• May cause confusion. C = {3, 5, 7, …}. What’s next?
• If the set is all odd integers greater than 2, it is 9
• If the set is all prime numbers greater than 2, it is 11
Set Builder
• Set builder:
Characterize all elements in the set by stating properties they
must have.

• Example:
O= {x | x is an odd positive integer less than 10}
O= {x ∈ 𝒁+ | x is odd and x<10}
O= {1,3,5,7,9}
The vertical bar means “such that”
Important Sets
• Set of natural numbers
• 𝐍 = {1,2,3,…}
• Set of integers
• 𝐙 = {…,-2,-1,0,1,2,…}
• Set of positive integers
• 𝐙 + = {1,2,3,…}
• Set of rational numbers
• 𝐐 = {p/q | p ∈ 𝐙, q ∈ 𝐙, and q ≠ 0}

• Set of real numbers

• 𝐑
Examples

• S1 = { N, Z, Q, R }
• S1 has 4 elements, each of which is a set.

• S2 = {x | x ∈ N and ∃k k ∈ N, x = k 2 }
• Set of squares of natural numbers
Equality of Sets

• Let A and B be two sets.

• A and B are equal if and only if they have the same
elements, denoted by A = B.

• A and B are equal if and only if ∀x (x ∈ A ↔ x ∈ B).

Equality of Sets (examples)

• {1,2,3} and {3,2,1}

{1,2,3} = {3,2,1}

• 𝐙 + and {0,1,2,…}
𝐙 + ≠ {0,1,2,…}
The Universal Set

• U is the universal set – the set of all of elements (or the

“universe”) from which given any set is drawn
• For the set {-2, 0.4, 2}, U would be the real numbers
• For the set {0, 1, 2}, U could be the N, Z, Q, R depending
on the context
• For the set of the vowels of the alphabet, U would be all
the letters of the alphabet
Venn Diagrams
• Sets can be represented graphically using Venn diagram.

• The box represents the universal set

• Circles represent the set(s)
• Consider set S, which is the set of all vowels in the alphabet
• The individual elements are usually not written in a Venn
diagram
Empty Set (example)
• Example:

• S = {x | x ∈ 𝑍 + and x < 0 }
S={}=Ø

• A set that has no elements called empty set, or null set.

• Ø and {Ø}
Ø ≠ {Ø}
Sets Of Sets

• Sets can contain other sets

• S = { {1}, {2}, {3} }
• T = { {1}, {{2}}, {{{3}}} }
• V = { { {1}, {{2}} }, { {{3}} }, { {1}, {{2}}, {{{3}}} } }
V has only 3 elements!
• Note that 1 ≠ {1} ≠ {{1}} ≠ {{{1}}}
• They are all different
Subset
• Let A and B be sets.

• A is a subset of B if and only if every element of A is also

an element of B, denoted by A ⊆ B.

• A ⊆ B if and only if ∀x (x ∈ A → x ∈ B).

• ∀ set S,
Ø⊆S
S⊆S
Subset and Equality

• A ⊆ B, ∀ x (x ∈ A → x ∈ B)
and
• B ⊆ A, ∀ x (x ∈ B → x ∈ A)
then
• A = B, ∀ x (x ∈ A ↔ x ∈ B)
Subset (example)

• Q and R
Q⊆R

• N and Z
N⊆Z

• A = {x | x ∈ 𝐙 + and x<10}
B = {x | x ∈ 𝐙 + , x is even and x<10}
B⊆A
Subset
• Show ∀ set S, Ø ⊆ S.

• Proof:
We want to show ∀x (x ∈ Ø  x ∈ S).

• Ø contains no element, so x ∈ Ø is false.

• Hypothesis of conditional statement is false, so
x ∈ Ø  x ∈ S is true.
• Thus, ∀x (x ∈ Ø  x ∈ S) is true.
Subset
• Show ∀ set S, S ⊆ S.
• Proof:
We want to show ∀x (x ∈ S  x ∈ S).
• If x ∈ S is true, then hypothesis and conclusion of
conditional statement are both true and (x ∈ S  x ∈ S)
is true.
• If x ∈ S is false, then hypothesis and conclusion of
conditional statement are both false and (x ∈ S  x ∈ S) is
true.
• Thus, ∀x (x ∈ S  x ∈ S) is true.
Proper Subset
Let A and B be sets.

• A is a proper subset of B if and only if A ⊆ B but A ≠B,

denoted A ⊂ B.

• A ⊂ B if and only if ∀x (x ∈ A  x ∈ B) ˄ x (x ∈ B ˄ x ∉ A).

Example
• If S is a subset of T, and S is not equal to T, then S is a
proper subset of T
Let T = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and S = {1, 2, 3}
• S is not equal to T, and S is a subset of T

• Let Q = {4, 5, 6}. Q is neither a subset of T nor a proper

subset of T

• The difference between “subset” and “proper subset” is

like the difference between “less than or equal to” and
“less than” for numbers
• Is ∅ ⊆ {1,2,3}?
• Is ∅ ∈ {1,2,3}?
• Is ∅ ⊆ {∅,1,2,3}?
• Is ∅ ∈ {∅,1,2,3}?

• Is x ∈ {x}
• Is {x} ⊆ {x}
• Is {x} ∈ {x,{x}}
• Is {x} ⊆ {x,{x}}
• Is {x} ∈ {x}
• Is ∅ ⊆ {1,2,3}? Yes!
• Is ∅ ∈ {1,2,3}? No!
• Is ∅ ⊆ {∅,1,2,3}? Yes!
• Is ∅ ∈ {∅,1,2,3}? Yes!

• Is x ∈ {x}
• Is {x} ⊆ {x}
• Is {x} ∈ {x,{x}}
• Is {x} ⊆ {x,{x}}
• Is {x} ∈ {x}
Size of Sets
• Let S be a set.

• The cardinality of a set is the number of elements in a set

S
• cardinality of S, denoted by |S|.
Example
• Find cardinality of following sets.

• A = {x | x ∈ 𝐙 + , x is odd and x<10}

A = {1,3,5,7,9}
|A| = 5

• B=Ø
|B| = 0

• C = {Ø}
|C| = 1

• R
R is infinite.
The Power Set
• Let S be a set.

• The power set of S is the set of all subsets of S, denoted

by P(S).

• Example:
P({ a ,b }) = {Ø ,{a} ,{b} ,{ a ,b }}
The Power Set (example)
• What is P({1,2,3})?
• Solution:
P({1,2,3}) = { Ø, {1}, {2}, {3}, {1,2}, {2,3}, {1,3}, {1,2,3} }

• P(Ø) = ?

• P({Ø}) = ?
The Cardinality of the Power Set
• Assume A is finite.
• |P(A)| = ?

Solution:
• A = {a} P(A) = {Ø, {a}} |P(A)| = 2
• A = {a,b} P(A) = {Ø, {a}, {b}, {a,b}} |P(A)| = 4
• A = {a,b,c}
P(A)={Ø,{a},{b},{c},{a,b},{a,c},{b,c},{a,b,c}} |P(A)| = 8

• |P(A)| = 2
|A|
Cartesian Product
Let A and B be sets.

• The Cartesian product of A and B, denoted by A x B, is

the set of all ordered pairs (a,b), where a ∈ A and b ∈ B.

• AxB = {(a,b) | a ∈ A ˄ b ∈ B}
Cartesian Product (example)

A = {0,1,2}
B = {a,b}
Are A x B and B x A equal?

Solution:
A x B = {(0,a),(0,b),(1,a),(1,b),(2,a),(2,b)}
B x A = {(a,0),(a,1),(a,2),(b,0),(b,1),(b,2)}
So, A x B ≠ B x A.
The Cardinality of Cartesian Product
Assume A and B are finite.
|AxB| = ?
Solution:
• A = {a} B={0}
AxB = {(a,0)} |AxB| = 1
• A = {a,b} B={0}
AxB = {(a,0),(b,0)} |AxB| = 2
• A = {a,b} B={0,1} AxB={(a,0),(a,1),(b,0),(b,1)}
|AxB| = 4

• |AxB| = |A|.|B|
Cartesian Product
• Let A1, A2, …, An be sets.

• The Cartesian product of A1, A2, …, An , denoted by

A1 x A2 x …x An, is the set of all ordered n-tuples
(a1, a2, …, an), where ai ∈ Ai for i = 1,2,…,n.

• A1 x A2 x …x An = {(a1, a2, …, an) | ai ∈ Ai , ∀i ∈ {1,2,…,n}}

Cartesian Product
A = {a, b}
B = {1}
C = {x, y, z}
AxBxC=?

Solution:

A x B x C = {(a,1,x), (a,1,y), (a,1,z), (b,1,x), (b,1,y),

(b,1,z)}
The Cardinality of Cartesian product
Assume A, B and C are finite.
|AxBxC| = ?
Solution:
• A = {a} B={0} C={x} AxBxC = {(a,0,x)}
|AxBxC| = 1
• A = {a,b} B={0} C={x} AxBxC = {(a,0,x),(b,0,x)}
|AxB| = 2
• A = {a,b} B={0,1} C={x}
AxB={(a,0,x),(a,1,x),(b,0,x),(b,1,x)} |AxBxC| = 4

• |AxBxC| = |A|.|B|.|C|
Ordered n-tuple

• The ordered n-tuple (𝑎1 , 𝑎2 , … , 𝑎𝑛 ) is the ordered

collection that has 𝑎1 as its first element, 𝑎2 as its second
element, …, and 𝑎𝑛 as its nth element.

• Example:

(a,b) is an ordered 2-tuple (ordered pair).

Ordered n-tuple (example)
• Assume c ≠ b.
• Are ordered 3-tuples (a,b,c) and (a,c,b) equal?

Solution:

• a = a but b ≠ c and c ≠ b.
• So, (a,b,c) and (a,c,b) are not equal.
Using Set Notation with Quantifiers

• x P(x) domain: S

• x ∈ S (P(x))

• x (x ∈ S → P(x))
Using Set Notation with Quantifiers

• x P(x) domain: S

• x ∈ S (P(x))

• x (x ∈ S ˄ P(x))
Example
• What does the following statement mean?
x ∈ R (x 2 ≥ 0)
Example
• What does the following statement mean?
x ∈ R (x 2 ≥ 0)

Solution:
• For every real number x, (x 2 ≥ 0).
• The square of every real number is nonnegative.
Example
• What does the following statement mean?
∃x ∈ Z (x 2 = 1)
Example
• What does the following statement mean?
∃x ∈ Z (x 2 = 1)

Solution:
• There is an integer x such that x 2 = 1.
• There is an integer whose square is 1.
Truth Sets of Predicates

• Let P be a predicate and D is a domain.

• The truth set of P is the set of elements x in D for which

P(x) is true.

• The truth set of P(x) is {x ∈ D | P(x)}.

Example

• Let P(x) be |x| = 1 where the domain is the set of integers.

What is the truth set of P(x)?
Example

• Let P(x) be |x| = 1 where the domain is the set of integers.

What is the truth set of P(x)?

Solution:

The truth set of P(x) is {-1,1}.

Example

• Let R(x) be |x| = x where the domain is the set of integers.

What is the truth set of R(x)?
Example

• Let R(x) be |x| = x where the domain is the set of integers.

What is the truth set of R(x)?

Solution:

The truth set of R(x) is 𝑥 ≥ 0.

Example

• Let Q(x) be x 2 = 2 where the domain is the set of integers.

What is the truth set of Q(x)?
Example

• Let Q(x) be x 2 = 2 where the domain is the set of integers.

What is the truth set of Q(x)?

Solution:

The truth set of Q(x) is Ø.

Truth Set of Quantifiers

• ∀x P(x) is true over the domain D if and only if the truth

set of P is the set D.

• ∃x P(x) is true over the domain D if and only if the truth

set of P is nonempty.
Exercise Questions

Chapter # 2
Topic # 2.1
Question # 1,3,5,6,7,9,12,19,20,23,32,43,44