Lecture 5
Power Set
➢ In set theory, the power set of a Set A is defined as the set of all subsets of
the Set A including the Set itself and the null or empty set.
➢ It is denoted by P(A).
➢ Basically, this set is the combination of all subsets including null set, of a
given set.
How to Find Power Set?
In order to find a power set, follow these steps:
1. Start with a null or empty set.
2. Then add all combinations of subsets with one element.
3. Then add all combinations of subsets with two elements.
4. Do this till you reach the subsets with N-1 elements (where N is the total
number of elements in the original set).
5. Then add the original set.
How is Power set Calculated?
➢ If the given set has n elements, then its Power Set will contain 2 n elements. It
also represents the cardinality of the power set.
Example of Power Set
➢ Let us say Set A = { a, b, c }
Number of elements: 3
Therefore, the subsets of the set are:
- { } which is the null or the empty set
- {a}
- {b}
- {c}
- {a, b}
- {b, c}
- {c, a}
- {a, b, c}
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The power set |𝑷(𝑨)| = { { } , { a }, { b }, { c }, { a, b }, { b, c }, { c, a }, { a, b, c }
}
➢ Now, the Power Set has 23 = 8 elements.
Example: What is the power set of set A = {1, 2, 3, 4}?
Solution: Given, set A = {1, 2, 3, 4}
➢ By the formula of power set, we know that, the number of subsets we can
form here is given by:
|𝑃(𝐴)| = 2𝑛
where n is the number of elements of set A
➢ Hence,
|P(A)| = 24 = 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 16
➢ There will be 16 subsets of set A.
Subsets of A = {}, {1}, {2}, {3}, {4}, {1, 2}, {1, 3}, {1, 4}, {2, 3}, {2, 4},
{3, 4}, {1, 2, 3}, {1, 2, 4}, {1, 3, 4}, {2, 3, 4}, {1,2,3,4}.
➢ Thus, the power set of set A is given by:
P(A) = { {}, {1}, {2}, {3}, {4}, {1, 2}, {1, 3}, {1, 4}, {2, 3}, {2, 4},
{3, 4},{1, 2, 3}, {1, 2, 4}, {1, 3, 4}, {2, 3, 4}, {1,2,3,4} }.
Cardinality of a Power Set
➢ The cardinality of a set is the total number of elements in the set.
➢ A power set contains the list of all the subsets of a set.
➢ The total number of subsets for a set of 'n' elements is given by 2 n.
➢ Since the subsets of a set are the elements of a power set, the cardinality of a
power set is given by |P(A)| = 2n. Here, n = the total number of elements in
the given set.
Example: Set A = {1,2}; n = 2; |P(A)| = 2n = 22 = 4.
Subsets of A = {}, {1},{2},{1,2}
Therefore, |P(A)| = 4.
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Power Set Properties
➢ A power set is a set that has a list of all the subsets of a given set.
➢ The power set which is denoted by P(A) with 'n' elements has the following
properties:
✓ The total number of elements of a set is 2n.
✓ The power set of an empty set has only one element.
✓ The power set of a set with a finite number of elements is finite. For
example, if set X = {b, c, d}, the power sets are countable.
✓ The power set of an infinite set has infinite number of subsets.
✓ Thus the power set exists for both finite and infinite sets.
Example 2: Find the elements of the power set for Set A, where
Set A = {9,18,5,6}
Solution:
➢ Since power set contains all possible subset for the given set including the
null or empty set.
➢ Therefore Power set of A ,
P(A) = {∅, {9}, {18}, {5}, {6}, {9, 18}, {9, 5}, {9, 6}, {18, 5}, {18, 6},
{5, 6}, {9, 18, 5}, {9, 18, 6}, {9, 5, 6}, {18, 5, 6}, {9, 18, 5, 6} }
➢ So, the power set of set A = {9, 18, 5, 6} contains 24 = 16 elements or subsets.
Example 3: Find the number of elements of an empty set?
Solution:
A={}
➢ Total number of elements of power set of A , P(A) = 20 = 1
➢ P (A) = { }
➢ Power set of an empty set is the set itself.
