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A well defined collection of {distinct}objects is called a set.

• The objects are called the elements or members of the set.
• Sets are denoted by capital letters A, B, C …, X, Y, Z.
• The elements of a set are represented by lower case letters a, b, c, … , x, y, z.
• If an object x is a member of a set A we write x ∈A, which reads “x belongs to A” or “x is in A” or “x is an element of A”, otherwise we write x ∉A, which reads “x does not belong to A” or “x is not in A” or “x is not an element of A”.

TABULAR FORM

Listing all the elements of a set, separated by commas and enclosed within braces or curly brackets{}.

EXAMPLES

In the following examples we write the sets in Tabular Form. A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} is the set of first five Natural Numbers. B = {2, 4, 6, 8, …, 50} is the set of Even numbers up to 50. C = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9 …} is the set of positive odd numbers.

NOTE

The symbol “…” is called an ellipsis. It is a short for “and so forth.”

DESCRIPTIVE FORM:

Stating in words the elements of a set.

EXAMPLES

Now we will write the same examples which we write in Tabular

Form ,in the Descriptive Form. A = set of first five Natural Numbers.( is the Descriptive Form ) B = set of positive even integers less or equal to fifty.

( is the Descriptive Form )

C = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, …} ( is the Descriptive Form )

C = set of positive odd integers. ( is the Descriptive Form )

SET BUILDER FORM:

Writing in symbolic form the common characteristics shared by all the elements of the set.

EXAMPLES:

Now we will write the same examples which we write in Tabular as well as Descriptive Form

,in Set Builder Form . A = {x ÎN / x<=5} ( is the Set Builder Form) B = {x Î E / 0 < x <=50} ( is the Set Builder Form) C = {x ÎO / 0 < x } ( is the Set Builder Form)

SETS OF NUMBERS:

1. Set of Natural Numbers

N = {1, 2, 3, … }

2. Set of Whole Numbers

W = {0, 1, 2, 3, … }

3. Set of Integers

Z = {…, -3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3, …} = {0, ±1, ±2, ±3, …} {“Z” stands for the first letter of the German word for integer: Zahlen.}

4. Set of Even Integers

E = {0, ± 2, ± 4, ± 6, …}

5. Set of Odd Integers

O={± 1, ± 3, ± 5, …}

6. Set of Prime Numbers

P = {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, …}

7. Set of Rational Numbers (or Quotient of Integers)

Q = {x | x = ; p, q ∈Z, q ≠ 0}

8. Set of Irrational Numbers

Q=Q′ = { x | x is not rational} For example, √2, √3, π, e, etc.

9. Set of Real Numbers

R=Q ∪ Q′

10. Set of Complex Numbers

C = {z | z = x + iy; x, y ∈ R}

SUBSET:

If A & B are two sets, A is called a subset of B, written A ⊆ B, if, and only if, any element of A is also an element of B. Symbolically: A ⊆ B ⇔ if x ∈ A then x ∈ B

REMARK:

1.  When A ⊆ B, then B is called a superset of A.

2.  When A is not subset of B, then there exist at least one x ∈ A such that x ∉B.

3.  Every set is a subset of itself.

EXAMPLES:

Let

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

C = {1, 2, 3, 4} D = {3, 1, 5}

Then

A ⊆ B ( Because every element of A is in B )

C ⊆ B ( Because every element of C is also an element of B )

A ⊆ D ( Because every element of A is also an element of D and also note

that every element of D is in A so D ⊆ A )

and A is not subset of C .

( Because there is an element 5 of A which is not in C )

EXAMPLE:

The set of integers “Z” is a subset of the set of Rational Number “Q”, since every integer ‘n’ could be written as:

n = ⁿ ∈Q

1

Hence Z ⊆ Q.

PROPER SUBSET

Let A and B be sets. A is a proper subset of B, if, and only if, every element of A is in B but there is at least one element of B that is not in A, and is denoted as A ⊂ B.

EXAMPLE:

Let A = {1, 3, 5} B = {1, 2, 3, 5} then A ⊂ B ( Because there is an element 2 of B which is not in A).

EQUAL SETS:

Two sets A and B are equal if, and only if, every element of A is in B and every element of B is in A and is denoted A = B. Symbolically: A = B iff A ⊆ B and B ⊆ A

EXAMPLE:

Let A = {1, 2, 3, 6} B = the set of positive divisors of 6 C = {3, 1, 6, 2} D = {1, 2, 2, 3, 6, 6, 6} Then A, B, C, and D are all equal sets.

NULL SET: A set which contains no element is called a null set, or an empty set or a void set. It is denoted by the Greek letter ∅ (phi) or { }.

EXAMPLE

A = {x | x is a person taller than 10 feet} = ∅ ( Because there does not exist any human being which is taller then 10 feet ) B = {x | x2 = 4, x is odd} = ∅ (Because we know that there does not exist any odd whose square is 4)

REMARK

∅ is regarded as a subset of every set.

EXERCISE:

Determine whether each of the following statements is true or false.

a.x ∈ {x} TRUE ( Because x is the member of the singleton set { x } )

a.{x}⊆ {x} TRUE ( Because Every set is the subset of itself. Note that every Set has necessarily tow subsets ∅ and the Set itself, these two subset are known as Improper subsets and any other subset is called Proper Subset)

a.{x} ∈{x} FALSE ( Because { x} is not the member of {x} ) Similarly other

UNIVERSAL SET:

The set of all elements under consideration is called the Universal Set. The Universal Set is usually denoted by U.

VENN DIAGRAM:

A Venn diagram is a graphical representation of sets by regions in the plane. The Universal Set is represented by the interior of a rectangle, and the other sets are represented by disks lying within the rectangle.

U

FINITE AND INFINITE SETS: A set S is said to be finite if it contains exactly m distinct elements where m denotes some non negative integer.

In such case we write |S| = m or n(S) = m A set is said to be infinite if it is not finite.

EXAMPLES:

1.  The set S of letters of English alphabets is finite and |S| = 26

2.  The null set ∅ has no elements, is finite and |∅| = 0

3.  The set of positive integers {1, 2, 3,…} is infinite.

EXERCISE:

Determine which of the following sets are finite/infinite.

1.  A = {month in the year} FINITE

2.  B = {even integers} INFINITE

3.  C = {positive integers less than 1} FINITE

4.  D = {animals living on the earth} FINITE

5.  E = {lines parallel to x-axis} INFINITE

6.  F = {x ∈R | x¹⁰⁰ + 29x⁵⁰ – 1 = 0} FINITE

7. G = {circles through origin} INFINITE MEMBERSHIP TABLE:

A table displaying the membership of elements in sets. To indicate that an element is in a set, a 1 is used; to indicate that an element is not in a set, a 0 is used.

Membership tables can be used to prove set identities.

The above table is the Member ship table for Complement of A. now in the above table note that if an element is the member of A then it can`t be the member of A^c thus where in the table we have 1 for A in that row we have 0 in A^c.