Sets - Review and Notation

Dr. Philippe B. Laval

Kennesaw State University

Abstract
This handout is a brief review of the material on sets. It gives the
basic definitions and notations.

Sets

1.1

Sets

Definition 1 (set) A set is a well defined collection of objects.

A set can be nite or innite. Sets are usually named using a capital letter
such as A, B, ...

1.2

Examples and Notation

There are three conventional ways of representing sets.

1.2.1

The Roster Method

In this method, we list all the elements of the set if the set is small, or, we list
enough elements until a pattern is established, then we add .... In both cases,
the elements are surrounded by curly brackets { and }.
Example 2
1. A = {1, 2, 3} represents the set consisting of the elements 1,
2 and 3.
2. B = {M ary, P aul, F red} represents the set containing the elements Mary,
P aul, and F red.
3. C = {0, 1, 2, ...} is the set of whole numbers starting at 0.

1.2.2

The Set Builder Method

In this method, we give a rule or a condition to be satised in order to belong

to a set.
Example 3

1. A = {x|x is an even whole number} is the same as {0, 2, 4, 6, ...}

2. B = {x| 2 < x < 5} is the set of elements between -2 and 5 .

3. C = {{1, 2} , {4, 5} , {10, 11}}. The elements of this set are themselves
sets.
1.2.3

Interval Notation

There is a compact notation used to denote all the elements between two xed
elements. It is called interval notation. It is dened as follows:
1. [a, b] = {x|a x b}
2. [a, b) = {x|a x < b}
3. (a, b] = {x|a < x b}
4. (a, b) = {x|a < x < b}
5. (, b] = {x|x b}
6. [a, ) = {x|x a}
1.2.4

Special Symbols

There are some special symbols associated with sets. Some of these symbols
include:
means is a member of. When we write 2 A, we mean that the
element 2 is a member of the set called A.

/ means is not a member of.
means is included in or is a subset of; it is used between two sets.
When we write A B, the two sets could be equal.
means is included in or is a subset of; it is used between two sets.
When we write A B, it is understood that A cannot be equal to B. We
say that A is a proper subset of B.
denotes the empty set.

Example 4 Given the sets A = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} and B = {1, 2, 3} the statements below are true:
1
1
4
4
/
B

A
B
A
B
A

Some sets which are used often have a special name.

R represents the set of real numbers.
Q represents the set of rational numbers.
Z represents the set of integers.
N represents the set of non-negative integers.

1.3

Operations on Sets

There are three operations on sets you should know about. They are (union),
(intersection) and (or \) (dierence). These operations are dened as
follows: Given two sets A and B
A B = {x|x A or x B} i.e. it consists of the elements which are
either in A or in B.
A B = {x|x A and x A} i.e. it consists of the elements which are in
both A and B.
A B = {x|x A and x
/ B} i.e. it consists of the elements of A which
are not in B.
Example 5 Given A = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} and B = {5, 6, 7, 8, 9}, then we have:
AB
AB
AB
BA

1.4

=
=
=
=

{0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}
{5, 6}
{0, 1, 2, 3, 4}
{7, 8, 9}

Concepts Review

You should be able to answer the questions below before you attempt to do the
problems.
1. What is a set?
3

2. What are the various ways to represent a set?

3. What are the operations one can perform on sets?
4. What is the meaning of the symbols below? Illustrate them with examples.
(a)
(b)
/
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)

1.5

Practice Problems

1. Let the sets A, B, C and D be dened as follows:

A
B
C
D

=
=
=
=

{4.7, 3.2, 1, 2.45, 4, 8.8}

(3, 8.8]
[0, 5]
(, )

Find what the following sets are:

(a) A B
(b) A B
(c) A (B C)
(d) (A B) C
(e) C D
(f) D (A B)
(g) (C B) (A D)
(h) A (B D)
(i) B (D A)
(j) A B C D

1. Answers:
It is helpful to notice that if we have two sets A and B such that A B
then
AB
AB

= B
= A

(a) A B = {4.7, 3.2} B

(b) A B = {1, 2.45, 4, 8.8}
(c) A (B C) = {4.7, 3.2} B
(d) (A B) C = {1, 8.8} C
(e) C D =
(f) D (A B) = R {4.7, 3.2}
(g) (C B) (A D) = [0, 2.45) (2.45, 4) (4, 5] = C {2.45, 4}
(h) A (B D) = A
(i) B (D A) = (, 4.7) (4.7, 3.2) (3.2, )
(j) A B C D = {2.45, 4}