MODULE-1 SET THEORY

1. SET
A set is a well defined collection of distinct objects.

1.1 Notations
The sets are usually denoted by capital letters A, B, C, etc. and
the members or elements of the set are denoted by lowercase letters
a, b, c, etc. If x is a member of the set A, we write x A (read
as 'x belongs to A') and if x is not a member of the set A, we write
x A (read as 'x does not belong to A,). If x and y both belong
to A, we write x,yA

2. REPRESENTATION OF A SET

Usually, sets are represented in the following two ways : (i) Roster
form or Tabular form (ii) Set Builder form or Rule Method

2.1 Roster Form

In this form, we list all the member of the set within braces (curly
brackets) and separate these by commas. For example, the set A of all
odd natural numbers less than 10 in the Roster form is written as :
A = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}

NOTE
(i) In roster form, every element of the set is listed only once.
(ii) The order in which the elements are listed is immaterial.
(iii) For example, each of the following sets denotes the same set
{1, 2, 3}, {3, 2, 1}, {1, 3, 2}

2.2 Set-Builder Form

In this form, we write a variable (say x) representing any member of

the set followed by a property satisfied by each member of the set. For
example, the set A of all prime numbers less than 10 in the set-builder
form is written as A = {x | x is a prime number less that 10} The symbol
'|' stands for the words 'such that'. Sometimes, we use the symbol ':'
in place of the symbol '|'.

3. TYPES OF SETS

3.1 Empty Set or Null Set

A set which has no element is called the null set or empty set. It is
denoted by the symbol  .

For example, each of the following is a null set:

1. The set of all real numbers whose square is –1.

2. The set of all rational numbers whose square is 2.
3. The set of all those integers that is both even and odd.

A set consisting of at least one element is called a non-empty set.

3.2 Singleton Set

A set having only one element is called singleton set. For example,
{0} is a singleton set, whose only member is 0.
3.3 Finite and Infinite Set
A set which has finite number of elements is called a finite set.
Otherwise, it is called an infinite set. For example, the set of all
days in a week is a finite set whereas the set of all integers,
denoted by {... -2, -1, 0, 1, 2,...} or {x | x is an integer}, is an
infinite set. An empty set  which has no element in a finite set
A is called empty of void or null set.

3.4 Cardinal Number

The number of elements in finite set is represented by n(A), known as
Cardinal number.
3.5 Equal Sets
Two sets A and B are said to be equals, written as A = B, if
every element of A is in B and every element of B is in A.
 3.6 Equivalent Sets
Two finite sets A and B are said to be equivalent, if
n (A) = n (B). Clearly, equal sets are equivalent but equivalent sets
need not be equal.
For example, the sets A = {4, 5, 3, 2} and B = {1, 6, 8, 9} are
equivalent but are not equal.
3.7 Subset
Let A and B be two sets. If every elements of A is an element of B,
then A is called a subset of B and we write A B or B A (read
as 'A is contained in B' or B contains A'). B is called superset of
A.

NOTE
(i) Every set is a subset and a superset itself.
(ii) If A is not a subset of B, we write A B.
(iii) The empty set is the subset of every set.
(iv) If A is a set with n(A) = m, then the number of subsets
of A are 2m and the number of proper subsets of A are
2m -1.

For example, let A = {3, 4}, then the subsets of A are , {3}, {4}. {3, 4}.
Here, n(A) = 2 and number of subsets of A = 22 = 4. Also, {3} {3,4}and {2,3}
{3, 4}

3.8 Power Set

The set of all subsets of a given set A is called the power set of A
and is denoted by P(A).
For example, if A = {1, 2, 3}, then
P(A) = {,{1}, {2}, {3}, {1,2} {1, 3}, {2, 3}, {1, 2, 3}}
Clearly, if A has n elements, then its power set P (A) contains exactly 2n
elements.

4. OPERATIONS ON SETS

4.1 Union of Two Sets

The union of two sets A and B, written as AB (read as ‘A’ union ‘B'),
is the set consisting of all the elements which are either in A or in
B or in both Thus, A  B = {x : x A or x  B

For example, if A = {a, b, c, d} and B = {c, d, e, f}, then A B

= {a, b, c, d, e, f}

4.2 Intersection of two sets

The intersection of two sets A and B, written as A  B (read as
‘A’ intersection ‘B’) is the set consisting of all the common
elements of A and B. Thus,
For example, if A = {a, b, c, d) and B = {c, d, e, f}, then A  B
= {c, d}.

4.3 Disjoint Sets

Two sets A and B are said to be disjoint, if A  B =  , i.e. A and B have
no element in common.

4.4 Difference of Two Sets

If A and B are two sets, then their difference A - B is defined as :
A - B = {x : x  A and x B}.Similarly, B - A = {x : x B and x A }.
 For example, if A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and B = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9} then A- B = {2,
4} and B - A = {7, 9}.

4.5 Complement of a Set

If U is a universal set and A is a subset of U, then the complement of A
is the set which contains those elements of U, which are not contained
in A and is denoted by A' or Ac. Thus,

For example, if U = {1,2,3,4 ...} and A {2,4,6,8,...}, then

Ac ={1,3,5,7, ...}

5. ALGEBRA OF SETS
COMMUTATIVE LAW

ASSOCIATIVE LAW

DISTRIBUTIVE LAW

DE MORGAN’S LAW

For any three sets A ,B, C we have

CARTESIAN PRODUCT

If A and B are sets, the Cartesian product of A and B is the set

The Cartesian product of two sets is a set, and the elements of that set are
ordered pairs. In each ordered pair, the first component is an element of
A, and the second component is an element of B.

LINTU JOSEPH