LESSON 2

Set Theory

Introduction

In this lesson, you will discuss the definition of a set and learn different ways of
expressing a set. You will also learn properties of union as well as intersection sets.
Types of sets such as subsets, universal set, complement of a set, empty set and many
more will also be discussed. Lastly, you will learn how sets are applied in everyday
life.

Objectives of the Unit

By the end of this lesson you should be able to:

 Express a set in different notations
 Find subset of a given set
 Find complement, union and intersection of sets
 Define a universal set and complement of a set
 State properties of union and intersection of sets
 Apply set theory in real-life problems

Key Terms

During the course of this lesson, make sure that you come to understand the meaning
of the following key terms. You should practice using them correctly.
Set
Subset
Union
Intersection
Complement
Universal set
Empty set
De Morgan's Laws

Notation and Terminology

A set is a collection of objects or things which have at least one common attribute.
The objects in a set are called elements or members. A set is denoted by capital letters;
A, B, C, … and its elements by lower case letters; a, b, c,… If A is a set and x is an
element of A, we will write this as x  A . If x is not an element of A then we will
write this as x  A .
To present a set, we use braces or curly brackets; { }. For example, the set of vowels
is written as V  a, e, i, o, u . In the same way, the set of odd consecutive numbers is
written as 1,3,5,7,... . The three dots show that the elements are continuing in the
pattern indefinitely.
So far, we have presented sets by listing elements. We can also present sets by using
set builder notation. For example, consider the set of all prime numbers, using set-
builder notation, we can present this as
{ x : x is a prime number}.
Which is read as "the set of all x such that x is a prime number". We can also use a
vertical bar ' | ' instead of the colon, ':'. For example, the above set of prime numbers
can be written as
{ x | x is a prime number}.
Example 1
(a) Use set notation to write the set of counting numbers less than 9
(b) Describe the following set by stating the common attribute:
B= Penny, Paul, Peter, Polly, Priscilla
(c) State whether the following are true or false:
i. 12 multiples of 3
ii. lettuce  banana, apple, orange, passionfruit
Solutions

(a) counting numbers less than 9 . We can also rewrite the set by listing the

elements such as, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

(b) The attribute common to the elements in set B is that they are all names and
that they all begin with P i.e set of names beginning with the letter P.
(c) i. 12 multiples of 3
Listing the elements of this set, we find
3,6,9,12,15,...
Therefore 12 multiples of 3 is true.

i. lettuce  banana, apple, orange, passionfruit

The elements of this set are listed and lettuce is not included.
Therefore, lettuce  banana, apple, orange, passionfruit is false.
 Activity 1
1. Write down the following sets using set-builder notation:
i. A set A of all numbers greater than 3
ii. A set B of all numbers less than 4
iii. A set Y of all months of the year with more than 30 days
iv. A set W of all days of a week
2. List all elements in each set, giving your answer both in set notation and set
builder notation.
a. The set of all positive even numbers less than or equal to 10
b. The set of all letters in the word "AUSTRALIA".
c. The set of all whole numbers greater than 3 and smaller than 16, and
divisible by 3
d. The set of all whole numbers greater than 5 and smaller than 35, and
divisible by 5
e. The set of all prime numbers divisible by 3.
3. Find the attribute common to all elements in each set and then describe the set:
i. January, June, July  (ii) Saturday, Sunday 

Subsets

Let A and B be sets. The set A is a subset of set B ( or A is contained in B) written

A  B or B  A if every element of A is also an element of B. Consider the following
sets:A  a, d , x, p, q and B  a, d , x, p, q . You notice that every element of A is also
an element of B. Thus A  B . Similarly, every element of B is also an element of A.
Thus, B  A . Therefore, these sets are called equal sets.

Definition. Let A and B be sets. Then A is equal to B if A  B and B  A .

Note the following;
a) Consider the following three sets;
X  1,2,3 , Y  1,2,3,4,5 and Z  1,2,3,4,2,5
You notice that X is entirely contained in Y. X is then said to be a proper subset
of Y, written as X  Y .
On the other hand, Y is a subset of Z and also equal to Z. Y is therefore an
improper subset of Z. In this case, we write Y  Z
b) A  A for every set A. Every set is an improper subset of itself.
c) Sets are also represented by diagrams called Venn diagrams. Venn diagrams
are a method for displaying set relations in a way that is more visual than the
more algebraic form. For example X  Y can be represented as in figure 1
below;
 d) Repetition of elements in a set is irrelevant. For example 1,1,2,3,2,3,2,2,1,2
is equal to1,2,3 . It does not matter how often the same element is listed.
e) Order of elements is meaningless. For example 1,2,3  3,1,2
f) Let A be a set. Then the number of distinct (different) elements in A is called
the cardinal number of A and is denoted by n(A) or A . For instance, if
A  1,1,2,3,2,3,2,2,1,2 then n( A)  3

Activity 2
1. Write down all the subsets of each of the following sets:
A  a, b, c
a.
b. X  11,14
c. P= {set theory, number systems, functions, probability}

2. Let Q be any set with cardinality n . Using your answers to question 1

(a), state the total number of subsets of Q

(Note that the number of subsets of a set with 𝑛 elements is 2𝑛 )

Union and Intersection of Sets

Union of Sets
Let A and B be sets. The union of A and B, denoted by A  B , is a set whose elements
are in A or B or both. In set – builder notation, this is written
A  B  { x : x  A or x  B }
Example 2

Let A  a, b, c, d , e and B   f , g , b, c, h . Find

a) A  B .
b) n( A  B)

Solution

a) A  B  a, b, c, d , e, f , g , h
b) n( A  B)  8

Intersection Sets
Let A and B be sets. The intersection of A and B, denoted by A  B is defined as the
set of all elements that are common to both A and B. In set – builder notation, this
is written
A  B  { x : x  A and x  B }.

Using Venn diagram, A  B is illustrated as in figure

NOTE: The intersection of two sets is a subset of each of the original sets. For
example, if A  1,2,3,4,5 and B  2,4,6 then A  B  2,4 . But A  B  2,4  A
and A  B  2,4  B .
Example 3

Let A  a, b, c, d , e and B   f , g , b, c, h and C  c, g , e, k

a) Find  A  B   B  C 
b) Show that A  B  B
Solutions

a) A  B  a, b, c, d , e, f , g , h and B  C  c, g

So  A  B    B  C   c, g
b) A  B  b, c  B

Activity 3
1. Find the intersection of the following sets:
X  a, b, c, d , e, f , g and
Y  e, f , g , h, i, j, k
2. Given the following sets;
M  4,8,12,16,20 and N  3,6,9,12,15,18
Find
i. M  N (ii) n  M  N 

Universal Set, Empty Set and Complement of a Set

Universal Set
The universal set is a single set which contains all possible elements that may be
referred to. It is mainly used when a problem involves two or more sets. It is denoted
by the symbol  . In Venn diagram, universal set is given by a rectangle. Thus, when
considering the set V of all vowels or C of all consonants in the English alphabet,
then the universal set is the English alphabet itself.

Empty Set
An empty set is a set that has no elements. It is also called a null set. It is denoted by
 or { }. Let A and B be sets. Then A and B are disjoint if A  B   . An empty set is
a subset of any set. This is so because A     . Therefore  is a subset of both 
and A since the intersection of two sets is a subset of each of the original sets.
Complement of a Set
Let be the universal set and let A   . Then the complement of A in  denoted
by A , is the set of all elements in  that do not belong to A.
/

Example 4
(a) Draw a Venn diagram of the following sets:
A  2,4,6,8,10 and   counting numbers less than 15
(b) Shade the region called the complement of A
/
(c) List the elements of the set A
Solutions

(a) A  2,4,6,8,10 and   1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14

(b) Shaded region = complement of A

(c) A/  1,3,5,7,9,11,12,13,14

Activity 4

1. Given that   counting numbers up to 20 , find:

/
(a) B when B  3,5,6,8,12,15,19
M  even numbers
/
(b) M when

Given that A  2,4,6,8,10 and B  1,3,5,7,9 , the find A B

Some Properties of Union and Intersection of sets

Properties of Union of Sets

Let  denote a universal set with subsets A, B and C. Denote by  the empty set.
Then:
a) A  A  A
b) A  B  B  A
c) A   B  C    A  B  C
d) A  A  B
e) A    
f) A    A
g) A  A/  
Properties b) and c) are referred to as commutative and associative properties
respectively of the union sets.

Properties of intersection of sets

Let  denote a universal set with subsets A, B and C. Denote by  the empty set.
Then:
a) A  A  A
b) A  B  B  A
c) A   B C    A  B  C
d) A  B  A
e) A    A
f) A  
g) A  A  
/

Similarly, properties b) and c) are the commutative and associative properties of

intersection of sets.
Other laws that result from combing operations are the distributive laws stated as
follows. Let A, B and C be sets. Then
a) A   B  C    A  B   A  C 
b) A   B  C    A  B   A  C 
The Morgan's laws states that given sets A and B then

 A  B   A/  B /
/
a)

 A  B   A/  B /
/
b)

You can refer to a book written by J.P.G. Ewer for the proof of these laws. He used
Venn diagram to simplify the understanding.
Example 5
Simplify 𝐴 ∩ (𝐴′ ∪ 𝐶)

Solution
𝐴 ∩ (𝐴′ ∪ 𝐶 ) = (𝐴 ∩ 𝐴′) ∪ (𝐴 ∩ 𝐶)
= ∅ ∪ (𝐴 ∩ 𝐶 )
= 𝐴∩𝐶

Activity 5
1. Using properties (identities) of sets that you know, simplify the following
a. X   X  

b. X  X  
/

c. X  X  X  X 
/ /

d. A B  A  '

2. Use set laws to prove the following set identities.

a. (𝐴 ∩ 𝐵′ )′ ∩ 𝐴 = 𝐵

b. (𝑋 ′ )′ ∪ (𝑋 ∩ 𝜉 )′ = 𝜉
Applications of Set Theory

Sets can be used to solve some real-life problems as in the following example

Example 5
In a survey, 30 respondents are asked on their preference on two soccer stars namely
Dan Kumwenda and Adam Mhango. 15 respondents support Dan, 13 support Adam
while 23 support Dan or Adam. How many support
a) Both Dan and Adam
b) Adam only
c) Neither Dan nor Adam

Solution
Let x denote the number of respondents that support Dan and Adam. Since 15
support Dan, then 15  x support Dan only. Similarly 13  x support Adam only. So
using this information, we get the following venn diagram,

a) ( 15  x )+ x +( 13  x )= 23
28- 2 x =23
x5
Hence 5 support Dan and Adam
b) Adam only = 13 -5
=8
Therefore, 8 support Adam only
d) Neither Dan nor Adam = n    n  M  T  =30 −23 = 7
 Activity 6
1. In a class of 40 students, 24 take Mathematics, 15 take English, and 7 take
English but not Mathematics. How many take
i. Neither;
ii. Mathematics but not English.
2. A college has 100 students in year one. They have three sports to choose from
softball (S), tennis (T) or athletics (A). If 5 students do all three sports, 13 do
softball and tennis, 17 do tennis and athletics, 21 do athletics and softball and
the total number of students doing each sport is softball 46, tennis 35 and
athletics 55, find the number of students who;
i. Do not do a sport;
ii. Play softball only;
iii. Do softball or tennis.

Lesson Summary

In this unit, you should have learnt set theory. You learnt how to rewrite a set using
set notation as well as set builders. You also learnt how to use set properties in order
prove or simplify a given set expression. You also considered the Morgan's laws.
Below are the two the Morgan's laws;

 A  B   A/  B /
/
a)

 A  B   A/  B /
/
b)

Lastly, you learnt how to apply set theory in order to solve real life problems.

Test

1. Let   1, 2,3, 4,5, 6, 7 , A  1, 2,3, 4,5 and B  2,5, 7 . Find the following;

a) A  B (b) n  A  B 
2. Let P and Q be sets. We define the difference set to be the set
P  Q  x  P : x  Q
a) Use Venn diagrams (together with a universal set) to illustrate P  Q
b) Let   a, b, c, d , e , X  a, c, e and Y  a, b, e . Find
i. X Y
ii. YX
iii. Hence verify that  X  Y  Y  X   
c) Using the sets in part 4 b, show that
X  Y  X Y /
3. Let P and Q be sets. We define the symmetric difference to be the set
PQ   P  Q   Q  P 
a) Use Venn diagrams (together with a universal set) to illustrate
PQ   P  Q    Q  P 
b) Without using the Venn diagram (i. e using identities), show that
PQ   P Q    P /  Q /  . (Hint use 2 c)
c) Using 2 c. show using identities, that
PQ   P  Q    P /  Q /  .

4. 65 people were asked on the activities they engage in during their free time.
The results showed that 23 visit national parks, 26 engage in cycling while 22
engage in swimming. Furthermore 9 engage in swimming and visit national
parks, 9 engage in swimming only while 11 visit national parks only. How
many engage in
a) Swimming and cycling
b) Cycling only
c) Neither swimming nor visiting national parks nor cycling.

5. In a class of 40 students, 12 enrolled for both English and Computer. 22

enrolled for Computer. If the students of the class enrolled for at least one of
the two subjects, then how many students enrolled for only English and not
Computer?

6. A petro station had a total of 83 cars through in one day. If 76 cars got petro
and 52 got oil and 7 got neither petro nor oil, use a Venn diagram to find the
number of cars which
i. Got petro only;
ii. Got both petro and oil;
iii. Got oil only;
iv. Did not get petro;
v. Did not get oil