AKSHARA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

ECONOmICS PROJECT (2024-25)

APPLIED MATHS*
(i made a typo)

The Cardinality of a
Set and Orders of
Infinity

Name: Harshita Sharma

Class: XII-D
Roll no.:
 INDEX

Topic Page
number
Introduction

Symbols of Sets

Types of Sets

Cardinality of a Set

Cardinality of Infinite sets

Equinumerosity

Cantor’s Theorem

Proof of Canter’s Theorem

Only one “size” of Infinity?

Cantor’s Diabolical Diagonalization Argument

Orders of Infinity

Conclusion

Bibliography
 INTRODUCTION

In Maths, Sets are a collection of well-defined objects or

elements. A set is represented by a capital letter symbol and the
number of elements in the finite set is represented as the
cardinal number of a set in a curly bracket {…}.
For example, set A is a collection of all the natural numbers,
such as A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, …∞}.

Sets can be represented in three forms:

1. Roster Form: It defines a set by listing all its elements.

Example— Set of even numbers less than 8= {2, 4, 6}

2. Statement Form: It defines a set by listing the

characteristics of its elements in a statement form.

Example— A = {Set of Odd numbers less than 9}

3. Set Builder Form: It defines a set by listing the

characteristics of its elements in mathematical statement
form.

Example— A = {x: x=2n, n ∈ N and 1 ≤ n ≤ 4}

In this project, we will study about Sets, its types and its
Cardinality along with the orders of the Infinity.
 SYMBOLS OF SETS

In order to understand sets and cardinality, it is necessary that

we are familiar with all the mathematical symbols used in this
project. They include:
{} SET A COLLECTION OF ELEMENTS

A∪B union Elements that belong to set A or set B

Elements that belong to both the sets, A and

A∩B intersection
B

subset has few or all elements equal to the

A⊆B subset
set

A⊄B not subset left set is not a subset of right set

A⊂B proper subset / strict subset subset has fewer elements than the set

A⊃B proper superset / strict superset set A has more elements than set B

set A has more elements or equal to the set

A⊇B superset
B

Ø empty set / null set Ø={}

P (C) power set all subsets of C

A⊅B not superset set X is not a superset of set Y

A=B equality both sets have the same members

A \ B OR A-B relative complement objects that belong to A and not to B

AC complement all the objects that do not belong to set A

A∈B element of set membership

(A, B) ordered pair collection of 2 elements

X∉A not element of no set membership

|B| cardinality the number of elements of set B

A×B cartesian product set of all ordered pairs from A and B

natural numbers / whole

N1 N1 = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, …}
numbers set (without zero)

natural numbers / whole

N0 N0 = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, …}
numbers set (with zero)

Q rational numbers set Q= {x | x=a/b, a, b ∈ Z}

Z integer numbers set Z= {…-3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, …}

R real numbers set R= {x | -∞ < x <∞}

 TYPES OF SETS

Sets has many types, such as:

1. Empty Set or Null set: It has no element present in it.

Example: A = {} is a null set.
2. Finite Set: It has a limited number of elements.
Example: A = {1, 2, 3, 4}
3. Infinite Set: It has an infinite number of elements.
Example: A = {x: x is the set of all whole numbers}
4. Equal Set: Two sets which have the same members.
Example: A = {1, 2, 5} and B = {2, 5, 1}
∴, Set A = Set B
5. Subsets: A set ‘A’ is said to be a subset of B if each element
of A is also an element of B.
Example: A = {1, 2}, B = {1, 2, 3, 4}, then A ⊆ B
6. Universal Set: A set which consists of all elements of other
sets present in a Venn diagram.
Example: A = {1, 2}, B = {2, 3}
∴, The universal set here will be, U = {1, 2, 3}
7. Power Set: set which includes all the subsets including
the empty set and the original set itself. It is usually
denoted by a capital “P”.
Example: A = {1, 2}
∴, P(A) = {Ø, A, 1, 2}
note: cardinality of set P(A) is always greater than set A.
 CARDINALITY OF A SET

The cardinality of a set is the total number of unique elements

in a set.
Example:
𝐴 =1, 6, 7, 8, 9
The cardinality of a set 𝐴 is: 𝑛(𝐴)=5
Hence, cardinality represents the number of elements in set.
 CARDINALITY OF INFINITE SETS

Some sets are countably infinite, and their cardinality is

denoted by the symbol ℵ0 or namely the “aleph”-zero (the first
letter of the Hebrew alphabet).
 Even numbers
 Perfect squares, cubes or perfect nth powers
 Prime numbers
 Fibonacci numbers
 Any infinite subset of the counting numbers
 EQUINUMEROSITY

In order to explain this concept easily, let’s take an example. I

can tell at a glance that the number of people in a room is the
same as the number of noses, while counting neither people nor
noses.

I can do this simply by placing the people into a one-to-one

correspondence with the noses, associating every person with
their own nose. If indeed everyone has a nose and there are no
dreadful extra noses in someone’s pocket, then this is a one-to-
one correspondence, which shows that the two numbers are the
same, whatever they are, with no need to count them.
Similarly, we say that sets A and B are equinumerous if there is
a one-to-one correspondence between their elements.
Every individual element “a” of the first set A is matched with a
corresponding individual element “b” in the second set B in
such a way that all individuals have exactly one partner in the
other set.
The main idea here is that equinumerosity seems to provide us
with a criterion for saying that two sets have the same number
of elements, in a manner that is conceptually prior to our
having a suitable concept of number or a method of counting.
For example, we can speak coherently of equinumerosity with
infinite sets, even if we may not yet have figured out an
appropriate notion of counting or numbering them.
 CANTOR’S THEOREM

For any set A, the power set of A;

P(A) has a strictly greater cardinality than A itself.
Clearly, we can inject A → P(A), by taking each element x → {x}
to the singleton set containing it. So,
n(A) ≤ n(P(A)),
but now we need to show this equality cannot happen and thus
a strict inequality exists in the given function. No one-to-one
correspondence exists between the given sets, as proved below.
Complete proof of Cantor’s power set theorem:
Consider f: A → P(A).
Then, {x ∈ A | x ∉ f(x)} ∉ f(A)
Hence, proved.

Let’s break it down to understand it better.

 PROOF OF CANTOR’S THEOREM

No set can be placed in one-to-one correspondence with its

power set.
Proof by contradiction.
Suppose the cardinalities of both set “A” and its power set are
equal.
Therefore, they are expected to have one-to-one
correspondence given by:

Let, B be the set of each and every element of the original set A
that is not a member of the subset with which it is matched.
For the matching above, B = {a, b, d, f, g, …}
Now B is just a subset of A so it must appear somewhere in the
right-hand column and is matched with some element of A, say
“z”.
Now the question is, Is z an element of B?
Since z is an element of A, it must be in B or not in B.
Case 1:
Suppose z is an element of B.
Then by definition of set B, which consists of elements which do
not belong to their matching subset, z must not belong to B.
This is a contradiction.
Case 2:
Suppose z is not an element of B.
Then z satisfies the defining property of B which is that it
consists of elements which do not belong to their matching
subset, so z does belong to B. Again, a contradiction.
These contradictions bring us back to our earlier assumption,
which is now proven wrong.
Thus, for any set A, the power set of A, P(A) has a strictly
greater cardinality than A itself.
 Infinity Of Infinites!

The set of Real numbers has smaller cardinality than its power
set.
Which is smaller than the power set of the power set of the real
numbers.
Which is smaller than the power set of the power set of the
power set of the real numbers.
Which, is then smaller than the power set of the power set of
the power set of the real numbers, etc!
𝑛 (ℝ) < 𝑛 (𝑃(ℝ) < 𝑛 (𝑃(𝑃(ℝ))) < 𝑛 (𝑃(𝑃(𝑃(ℝ)))) < ⋯

This brings us to our next topic: Is there really only one size of
infinity? Or do there exist different and comparable infinities??
 ONLY ONE “SIZE” OF INFINITY?

So far, all of the sets we have encountered are countable

infinity. Is there only one “size” of infinity?
In order to prove that other sizes of infinity exist, we must show
that there is a set of numbers that is not countable. That is
bigger than “first size” of infinity.
Suppose that the set of all Rational numbers or “R” were
countable. In particular, any subset of R, being smaller, would
be countable as well. Hence, the interval (0,1) should be
countable.
If we can show that all the decimal numbers between 0 and 1
are not countable we have discovered that they are of a
different size of infinity.

Following proof:
Suppose that all real numbers between 0 and 1 are countable.
So there exist a pairing with the countable numbers.
That means we can we have a list, were we can see the first
number, second, etc. r1 ,r2 ,r3 ,r4 ,r5 ,r6 ,r7, …
Suppose the above list contains every real number between 0
and 1.
Cantor’s diabolical diagonalization argument will take this
supposed list, and create a number between 0 and 1 which is
not on the list.
This will contradict the countability assumption hence proving
that R is not countable.
 CANTOR’S DIABOLICAL DIAGONALIZATION
ARGUMENT

Let the new decimal number be revil.

This how the table for Cantor’s diabolical diagonalization

argument looks like.
To solve it, follow these steps:
1. Fill up the rows r1, r2, r3, r4, r5, r6 and r7 with decimal
expansions of any 7 real numbers respectively.
2. Now, highlight or note down the diagonal digits from the
decimal expansions as shown below.
3. Add 1 to each digit singularly, and note down the new real
number hence formed as revil.
Note that the real number hence formed (revil) is always
different from all the real numbers taken into consideration
earlier (r1, r2, r3, r4, r5, r6 and r7).
 r1 0. 1 2 3 4 5 6 …
r2 0. 1 1 1 1 1 1 …
r3 0. 2 5 4 2 0 9 …
r4 0. 7 8 6 0 6 3 …
r5 0. 0 9 1 0 1 0 …
r6 0. 5 1 5 5 1 5 …
r7 0. 8 6 4 9 5 4 …
⁝
revil 0. 2 2 5 1 2 6 …

revil is constructed by changing the digits of the main diagonal

number.
Is New decimal number in our original list?
Is this the same as the first number in our list?
No, we changed the first digit.
It cannot be the second number since we changed the second
digit. It cannot be the nth number in the list since we changed
the nth digit.
Conclusion: This new decimal number is not in our list. But it is
still a decimal number between 0 and 1.
Therefore, all the real numbers between 0 and 1 are
uncountable.
Hence, we have a found a new “size” of infinity!
 ORDERS OF INFINITY

As we all know, Infinity is something which is boundless,

endless, or larger than any natural number. It is often denoted
by the infinity symbol ∞.
The ancient Jain mathematical text Surya Prajnapti (c. 4th–3rd
century BCE) classifies all numbers into three sets:
Enumerable, Innumerable, and Infinite.
Each of these was further subdivided into three orders:

 Enumerable: lowest, intermediate, and highest

 Innumerable: nearly innumerable, truly innumerable,
and innumerably innumerable
 Infinite: nearly infinite, truly infinite, infinitely infinite
However, it is fair to say that the orders of infinity are infinitely
many.
 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, exploring the concepts of cardinality and orders

of infinity has provided profound insights into the nature of sets
and their sizes within the realm of mathematics. Through
rigorous examination of different types of infinity and their
corresponding cardinal numbers, we have delved into the
foundational principles that underpin set theory.
We began by defining cardinality as a measure of the “size” of
sets, establishing that sets with the same cardinality can be put
into one-to-one correspondence with each other. This led us to
the concept of countable and uncountable sets, where countable
sets have the cardinality of the natural numbers, while
uncountable sets, such as the real numbers, possess a greater
cardinality.
Moreover, our investigation extended into the theory of orders
of infinity, where we encountered Aleph numbers. We
examined Cantor's theorem, which states that the cardinality of
the power set of any set is strictly greater than the cardinality of
the set itself, reinforcing the existence of different levels of
infinity.
Furthermore, we explored various examples and paradoxes that
challenge our intuitive understanding of infinity, emphasizing
the richness and complexity of these mathematical ideas. By
grappling with these concepts, we have deepened our
appreciation for the elegance and intricacy of set theory, while
also recognizing the unresolved questions that continue to
intrigue mathematicians.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:

 Naive Set Theory by Paul R. Halmos, Springer, 1974.

 Introduction to Set Theory by Karel Hrbacek and Thomas
Jech, CRC Press, 1999.

Articles & Papers:

 Cantor, Georg. “Contributions to the Founding of the

Theory of Transfinite Numbers.” Dover Publications, 1915.
 Jech, Thomas. “Set Theory.” Springer, 2003.

Websites:
 en.wikipedia.org
 www.britannica.com
 www.whitman.edu
 https://bjyus.com
 www.palomar.edu