CSC102 - Discrete Structures

(Discrete Mathematics)
Lecture # 16-17
Chapter 2.1,2.2,8.5

Set
 Lecture Outline
• Sets
– Set Terminologies
– Power Set
– Cartesian Product
– Set notation with Quantifier
– Set Operations
– Set Identities
– Membership Tables
– Inclusion-Exclusion Principle of Sets (8.5 From Rosen 8th
ed.)

06/13/2025 CSC102 - Discrete Structures 3

 Application of Sets

• Databases
• Data-type or type in computer programming
• Constructing discrete structures
• Finite state machine
• Modeling computing machine
• Representing computational complexity of
algorithms
 Set
• A set is an unordered collection of objects.
• The objects in a set are called the elements, or members,
of the set.
• A set is said to contain its elements.
Example:
– Cities in the Pakistan: {Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, … }
– Sets can contain non-related elements: {3, a, red, Gilgit }
Properties:
• Order does not matter
– {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} is equivalent to {3, 5, 2, 4, 1}
• Sets do not have duplicate elements
– Consider the list of students in this class
– It does not make sense to list somebody twice
 Specifying a Set
• Capital letters (A, B, S…) for sets
• Italic lower-case letter for elements (a, x, y…)
• Two ways of specifying set
– Roster method
– Set builder notation

Roster method
• Easiest way: list all the elements within curly braces, “{“ and “}”
– A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, Not always feasible!
• May use ellipsis (…) to describe a set without listing all of its
elements : B = {0, 1, 2, 3, …}
May cause confusion. C = {3, 5, 7, …}. What’s next?
If the set is all odd integers greater than 2, it is 9
If the set is all prime numbers greater than 2, it is 11
 Set Builder

• Set builder:
Characterize all elements in the set by stating properties they must
have.

• Example:

O= {x ∈ | x is odd and x<10}

O= {x | x is an odd positive integer less than 10}

O= {1,3,5,7,9}
The vertical bar means “such that”
 Important Sets

• Set of natural numbers

• = {1,2,3,…}
• Set of integers
• = {…,-2,-1,0,1,2,…}

• Set of positive integers

• = {1,2,3,…}

• = {p/q | p ∈ , q ∈ , and q ≠ 0}
• Set of rational numbers

• Set of real numbers

•
 Set Membership

• a is an element of the set A, denoted by a A.

• a is not an element of the set A, denoted by a A.

• S1 = { N, Z, Q, R }
– S1 has 4 elements, each of which is a set.

• S2 = {x | x ∈ N and k k ∈ N, x = }
– Set of squares of natural numbers
 Sets Membership (example)
•
 Equality of Sets

•
 The Universal Set

• U is the universal set – the set containing all

objects or elements under consideration, and
of which all other sets are subsets
– For the set {-2, 0.4, 2}, U would be the real numbers
– For the set {0, 1, 2}, U could be the N, Z, Q, R depending on
the context
– For the set of the vowels of the alphabet, U would be all
the letters of the alphabet
 Venn Diagrams

• Sets can be represented graphically using Venn diagram.

• The box represents the universal set

• Circles represent the set(s)
• Consider set S, which is the set of all vowels in the
alphabet
• The individual elements are usually not written in a
Venn diagram
 Empty Set and Singleton Set

•
 Sets Of Sets

• Sets can contain other sets

S = { {1}, {2}, {3} }
T = { {1}, {{2}}, {{{3}}} }
V = { { {1}, {{2}} } , {{{3}}} , { {1}, {{2}}, {{{3}}} } }

• Note that 1 ≠ {1} ≠ {{1}} ≠ {{{1}}}

• They are all different
 Subset-  Notation

• Let A and B be sets, A is a subset of B if and only if

every element of A is also an element of B, denoted by
AB.
• A B if and only if x (x A x B).

• Every non-empty set S is guaranteed to have at least

two subsets, the empty set and the set itself; i.e.

set S,
• Ø S
• S S
 Subset
• Show set S, Ø S.

We want to show x (x ∈ Ø  x ∈ S).

Proof:

• Ø contains no element, so x ∈ Ø is false.

• Hypothesis of conditional statement is false,

x ∈ Ø  x ∈ S is true.
so

• Thus, x (x ∈ Ø  x ∈ S) is true.
 Subset

• Show set S, S S.

We want to show x (x ∈ S  x ∈ S).

Proof:

• If x ∈ S is true, then hypothesis and conclusion of

conditional statement are both true and (x ∈ S  x
∈ S) is true.
• If x ∈ S is false, then hypothesis and conclusion of
conditional statement are both false and (x ∈ S  x
∈ S) is true.
• Thus, x (x ∈ S  x ∈ S) is true.
 Subset and Equality

IF A ⊆ B, x (x A x B)

B ⊆ A, x (x B x A)
and

then
Equality holds for A and B
A = B, x (x A x B)
 Subset (example)

Q⊆R
• Q and R

N⊆Z
• N and Z

• A = {x | x and x<10}

B⊆A
B = {x | x x is even and x<10}
 Proper Subset

Let A and B be sets.

• A is a proper subset of B if and only if A ⊆ B

but A B, denoted A B.

• A B if and only if x (x ∈ A  x ∈ B) x (x ∈ B
x A).
 Subset Example
• If S is a subset of T, and S is not equal to T, then S is a
proper subset of T
Let T = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and S = {1, 2, 3}
• S is not equal to T, and S is a subset of T

• Let Q = {4, 5, 6}. Q is neither a subset of T nor a proper

subset of T

• The difference between “subset” and “proper subset”

 is to , as < is to .
 Subset Example

•
 Subset Example

•
 Subset Example

•
 Size of Sets-Cardinality

•
 Example-Cardinality

Compute cardinality.
1. |{1, -13, 4, -13, 1}|
2. |{3, {1,2,3,4}, }|
3. |{}|
4. |{ {}, {{}}, {{{}}} }|
 Example-cardinality
Hint: After eliminating the redundancies just look at
the number of top level commas and add 1 (except
for the empty set).

1. |{1, -13, 4, -13, 1}| = |{1, -13, 4}| = 3

2. |{3, {1,2,3,4}, }| = 3. To see this, assume S = {1,2,3,4}.
Compute the cardinality of {3,S, }
3. |{}| = || = 0
4. |{ {}, {{}}, {{{}}} }| = |{ , {}, {{}}| = 3
 cardinality
The set S is said to be finite if its cardinality is a
nonnegative integer. Otherwise, S is said to
be infinite.
EG: N, Z, Z+, R, Q are each infinite.

Note: We’ll see later that not all infinities are

the same. In fact, R will end up having a
bigger infinity-type than N, but surprisingly,
N has same infinity-type as Z, Z+, and Q.
 The Power Set
• Let S be a set, the power set of S is the set of all
subsets of S, denoted by P(S).

Examples:
P({ a ,b }) = {Ø ,{a} ,{b} ,{ a ,b }}
P({1,2,3}) = { Ø, {1}, {2}, {3}, {1,2}, {2,3}, {1,3}, {1,2,3} }
P(Ø) = {Ø}
P({Ø}) = {Ø, {Ø}}
 The Cardinality of the Power Set

• Assume A is finite.
• |P(A)| = ?
Solution:
• A = {a} P(A) = {Ø, {a}} |P(A)| = 2
• A = {a,b} P(A) = {Ø, {a}, {b}, {a,b}} |P(A)| = 4
• A = {a,b,c} P(A)={Ø,{a},{b},{c},{a,b},{a,c},{b,c},{a,b,c}} |P(A)| =
8

• |P(A)| = ; If a set has n elements , then its power set will have 2n
elements
 Cartesian Product

Let A and B be sets, the Cartesian product of A

pairs (a,b), where a ∈ A and b ∈ B.

and B, denoted by A x B, is the set of all ordered

• A x B = {(a,b) | a ∈ A ˄ b ∈ B}
 Cartesian Product- Order Matters
• As opposed to sets, repetition and ordering do
matter with cartesian product.
(11, 11, 11, 12, 13)  ( 11, 12, 13 )
Example:
A = {0,1,2} and B = {a,b}
Are A x B and B x A equal?
Solution:
A x B = {(0,a),(0,b),(1,a),(1,b),(2,a),(2,b)}

So, A x B ≠ B x A.
B x A = {(a,0),(a,1),(a,2),(b,0),(b,1),(b,2)}
 Cartesian Product
• Let A1, A2, …, An be sets.

• The Cartesian product of A1, A2, …, An , denoted

by

(a1, a2, …, an), where ai ∈ Ai for i = 1,2,…,n.

A1 x A2 x …x An, is the set of all ordered n-tuples

• A1 x A2 x …x An = {(a1, a2, …, an) | ai ∈ Ai , i ∈ {1,2,

…,n}}
 Ordered n-tuple

• The ordered n-tuple is the ordered collection

that has as its first element, as its second
element, …, and as its nth element.
• Example:
(a,b) is an ordered 2-tuple (ordered pair).
(a,b,c) is an ordered 3-tuple.
 Ordered n-tuple (example)

• Assume c b.
• Are ordered 3-tuples (a,b,c) and (a,c,b) equal?

Solution:
• a = a but b c and c b.
• So, (a,b,c) and (a,c,b) are not equal.
 The Cardinality of Cartesian Product

Assume A and B are finite. |AxB| = ?

1. A = {a} B={0}
AxB = {(a,0)} |AxB| = 1

2. A = {a,b} B={0}
AxB = {(a,0),(b,0)} |AxB| = 2

3. A = {a,b} B={0,1}
AxB={(a,0),(a,1),(b,0),(b,1)} |AxB| = 4

• |AxB| = |A|.|B|
 The Cardinality of Cartesian product

A = {1,2}, B = {3,4}, C = {5,6,7}

A B C = { (1,3,5), (1,3,6), (1,3,7),
(1,4,5), (1,4,6), (1,4,7),
(2,3,5), (2,3,6), (2,3,7),
(2,4,5), (2,4,6), (2,4,7) }
|AxBxC| = |A|.|B|.|C|

• The cardinality of the Cartesian product is the

product of the cardinalities:
| A1  A2  … An | = |A1||A2| … |An|
 Using Set Notation with Quantifiers

• x P(x) where domain: S

x ∈ S (P(x))

x (x ∈ S P(x))
 Using Set Notation with Quantifiers

• x P(x) where domain: S

x ∈ S (P(x))

x (x ∈ S ˄ P(x))
 Example

x ∈ R ( 0)
• What does the following statement mean?

Solution:
• For every real number x, ( 0).
• The square of every real number is
nonnegative.
 Example

• What does the following statement mean?

x Z ( = 1)

Solution:
• There is an integer x such that = 1.
• There is an integer whose square is 1.
 Truth Sets of Predicates

• Let P be a predicate and D is a domain.

• The truth set of P is the set of elements x in D

for which P(x) is true.

• The truth set of P(x) is {x D | P(x)}.

 Example
Let P(x) be |x| = 1 where the domain is the set of integers.
What is the truth set of P(x)?
Solution:
The truth set of P(x) is {-1,1}.

Let R(x) be |x| = x where the domain is the set of integers.

What is the truth set of R(x)?
Solution:
The truth set of R(x) is .

Let Q(x) be = 2 where the domain is the set of integers.

What is the truth set of Q(x)?
Solution:
The truth set of Q(x) is Ø.
 Truth Set of Quantifiers

• x P(x) is true over the domain D if and only if

the truth set of P is the set D.

• x P(x) is true over the domain D if and only if

the truth set of P is nonempty.
 Exercises
• List the member of the set
C = {x | x is the square of an integer and x<100}
• Determine Subset
The set of people who speak English, the set of
people who speak English with an Australian accent
The set of students studying discrete mathematics,
the set of students studying data structures
• How many elements does P(P(Ø)) set have.
 Exercises

• Translate each of these quantifications into

English and determine its truth value.
∃ x∈R (x3 = -1)
∀ x∈Z (x - 1 ∈ Z)
• Find the truth set of each of these predicates
where the domain is the set of integers.
P(x): x3= 1
R(x):2x + 1 = 0
 Set Operations

• Two sets can be combined in many different

ways.

• Set operations can be used to combine sets.

 Set Operations-Union
• Let A and B be sets, the union of A and B, denoted by AB,
is the set containing those elements that are either in A
or in B, or in both.
A B = {x | x A ˅ x B}

• Examples
• {1, 2, 3}  {3, 4, 5} = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
• {a, b}  {3, 4} = {a, b, 3, 4}
• {1, 2}   = {1, 2}
 Set Operations-Union
Properties of the union operation

A=A Identity law

AU=U Domination law

AA=A Idempotent law

AB=B A Commutative law

A  (B  C) = (A  B)  C Associative law
 The Cardinality of the Union of Sets

Example:
Let

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 Set Operations-Intersection
• Let A and B be sets, the intersection of A and B,
denoted by A B, is the set containing those
elements in both A and B.
A B = {x | x A ˄ x B}

Examples
{1, 2, 3} ∩ {3, 4, 5} = {3}
{a, b} ∩ {3, 4} = 
{1, 2} ∩  = 
 Set Operations-Intersection
Properties of the intersection operation

A∩U=A Identity law

A∩= Domination law

A∩A=A Idempotent law

A∩B=B∩A Commutative law

A ∩ (B ∩ C) = (A ∩ B) ∩ C Associative
 Set Operations-Disjoint Sets
• Two sets are called disjoint if their intersection is empty.

• Examples
{even integers} and {odd integers} are disjoint
{a, b} and {3, 4} are disjoint
{1, 2} and  are disjoint
 Complement
• Let U be the universal set and A be a set, the
complement of A, denoted by , is U - A.
•
Examples:
assuming U = Z
{1, 2, 3}c = { …, -2, -1, 0, 4, 5, 6, … }
{a, b}c = Z
Properties of complement sets
(Ac)c = A Complementation law
A  Ac = U Complement law
A ∩ Ac =  Complement law
 Set Operations-Difference
• Let A and B be sets, the difference of A and B, denoted
by A - B, is the set containing those elements that are
in A but not in B. (also called complement of B with
respect to A).
• A - B = {x | xA ˄ x B}
= A Bc
Examples:
{1, 2, 3} - {3, 4, 5} = {1, 2}
{a, b} - {3, 4} = {a, b}
{1, 2} -  = {1, 2}
The difference of any set S with the empty set will be the set S
 Summary Set Operations

Operation Notation
Union AB = {x | x A ˅ x B}
Intersection A B = {x | x A ˄ x B}
Difference A - B = {x | xA ˄ x B}
Complement (U - A)
 Set identities
A=A
Identity Law
AU=A
AA=A
Idempotent Law
AA=A
AU=U
Domination law
A=
(Ac)c = A Complementation Law

A  (A  B) = A
Absorption Law
A  (AB) = A

A  Ac = U A  Ac = 
Complement Law
Uc =   c= U
 Set identities
AB=BA
Commutative Law
AB=BA
A  (B  C) = (A  B)  C
Associative Law
A  (B  C) = (A  B)  C
(A  B)c = Ac  Bc
De Morgan’s Law
(A  B)c = Ac  Bc
A  (B  C) = (A  B)  (A  C)
Distributive Law
A  (B  C) = (A  B)  (A  C)
A  B  C iff A  C and B  C Subset Laws
C  A  B iff C  A and C  B

A – B = A  Bc Set Difference
 How to Prove a Set Identity

Four methods:

• Use membership tables

• Use the basic set identities
• Prove each set is a subset of the other
• Use set builder notation and logical equivalences
 What is a membership table

• Membership tables show all the combinations

of sets an element can belong to
• 1 means the element belongs, 0 means it does not
• Consider the following membership table:
A B A B A B A-B
1 1 1 1 0
1 0 1 0 1
0 1 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
 Proof using Membership Table
A(B C) = (AB) (AC)
Distributive Law

A B C BC A(B C) AB AC (AB) (AC)

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1
1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1
1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1
0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Proof using Set Identities (example)
Proof using Set Identities (example)

Solution:
 Proof using Set Identities

A  ( B  A)  A  B
L.H .S  A  ( B  A)
 A  ( B  A) Difference Law
( A  B )  ( A  A) Distribution Law
( A  B )   Complement Law
A  B Identity Law
R.H .S
Proof by showing each set is a subset
of the others
(A  B)c = Ac  Bc
We need to show that
(A  B)c  Ac  Bc and Ac  Bc  (A  B)c
(i) x  (A  B)c
 x  (A  B)
  (x  A  B)
  (x  A  x B )
  (x  A)   (x  B)
xAxB
 x  Ac  x  B c
 x  Ac  B c
(ii) Similarly we show that Ac  Bc  (A  B)c
 Proof by set builder notation

(A  B)c ={x | x  A  B} by definition of complement

={x |¬(x ∈ (A  B))} by definition of membership

={x |¬(x ∈ A ∧ x ∈ B)} by definition of intersection

={x |¬(x ∈ A) ∨¬(x ∈ B)} by the first De Morgan law

={x | x  A ∨ x  B} by definition of membership

={x | x ∈ Ac ∨ x ∈ Bc} by definition of complement

={x | x ∈ Ac  Bc } by definition of union

= Ac  B c by meaning of set builder notation

Inclusion-Exclusion Principle of
Sets
 The Cardinality of the Union of Sets

Generalization of union of any arbitrary number

of sets is called Principle of inclusion-exclusion.

Example:
Let

69
 Inclusion-Exclusion Principle of Sets

For 2 set
|A B| = |A| + |B| - |A B|

For 3 set
|A B C | = |A| + |B| +|C| - |A B| - |A C| - |B C| + |A B C |
 2 - Set Venn Diagram
• Region I represents the elements in set A that are not
in set B.
• Region II represents the elements in both sets A and B.
• Region III represents the elements in set B that are not
in set A.
• Region IV represents the elements in the universal set
that are in neither set A nor set B.
 2 – Set Example

Suppose a list A contains the 30 students in a

mathematics class, and a list B contains the 35 students in
an English class, and suppose there are 20 names on both
lists. Find the number of students:
• only on list A
• only on list B
• on list A or B (or both)
• on exactly one list.
 2 – Set Example
A contains the 30 students in a mathematics
B contains the 35 students in an English
20 names on both lists.
• only on list A 30 − 20 = 10 names are only on list A.

• only on list B 35 − 20 = 15 are only on list B.

• on list A or B (or both)

• |A ∪ B|= |A| + |B| − |A B| = 30 + 35 − 20 = 45.
• on exactly one list.
• 10 + 15 = 25 names are only on one list; that is,
• |A ⊕ B| = 25.
 3 - Set Venn Diagram
• Region I represents the elements in set A but not in set B or set C.
• Region II represents the elements in set A and set B but not in set C.
• Region III represents the elements in set B but not in set A or set C.
• Region IV represents the elements in sets A and C but not in set B.
• Region V represents the elements in sets A, B, and C.
• Region VI represents the elements in sets B and C but not in set A.
• Region VII represents the elements in set C but not in set A or set B.
• Region VIII represents the elements in the universal set U, but not in set A,
B, or C.
 3 - Set Example
Consider the following data for 120 mathematics
students at a college concerning the languages French,
German, and Russian:
65 study French, 45 study German,
42 study Russian , 20 study French and German,
25 study French and Russian, 15 study German and
Russian. 8 study all three languages.

Determine how many students study exactly 1 language

course and fill the correct numbers of students in each
eight region of Venn diagram shown in figure.
 U 120
F 65
G 45
R 42
F  G = 20
F  R =25
G  R =15
F  G  R =8
¿ 𝑹 𝟏=𝟔𝟓 −𝟏𝟐 −𝟖 −𝟏𝟕=𝟐𝟖
¿ 𝑹 𝟑=𝟒𝟓 − 𝟏𝟐 −𝟖 −𝟕=𝟏𝟖
¿ 𝑹 𝟕=𝟒𝟐 − 𝟏𝟕 −𝟖 −𝟕=𝟏𝟎
¿ 𝑹 𝟐=𝟐𝟎 −𝟖=𝟏𝟐
𝑹 𝟒= 𝟐𝟓 −𝟖=𝟏𝟕
𝑹 𝟔=𝟏𝟓 −𝟖=𝟕
¿ 𝑹 𝟓=𝟖
¿ |𝑭 ∪ 𝑮 ∪ 𝑹|=65+45+42−20−25−15+8=100
¿ 𝑹 𝟖 −|𝑼|−|𝑭 ∪ 𝑮 ∪ 𝑹|=𝟏𝟐𝟎 − 𝟏𝟎𝟎=𝟐𝟎
 Example
• Total number of students exactly registered in
one course = 28+18+10=56
 Exercise
• In a class of 50 , there are 30 girls, and there
are 35 students with dark hair. Show that
there are at least 15 girls with dark hair.
Chapter Reading and Exercise Questions

Topic # 2.1
Question # 1-11,2122,23,32 33,34,45-48
Topic # 2.2
Question # 1- 6,15,16, 19- 27