Discrete Structure Notes

IT 120
For Benedicto College Cebu use only
Course Description:

This is an introductory course in discrete mathematics. The goal of this course is to introduce
students to ideas and techniques from discrete mathematics that are widely used in science. This course
teaches the students techniques in how to think logically and mathematically and apply these in solving
problems. To achieve this goal, students will learn logic and proof, sets, functions and well as algorithm
and mathematical reasoning. Key topics involving relations, graphs, trees, and formal languages and
computability are covered in this course.

LEARNING 1: WHAT IS LOGIC?

Logic may be defined as the science of reasoning. However, this is not to suggest that logic is an
empirical (i.e., experimental or observational) science like physics, biology, or psychology. Rather, logic is
a non-empirical science like mathematics. Also, in saying that logic is the science of reasoning, we do not
mean that it is concerned with the actual mental (or physical) process employed by a thinking entity
when it is reasoning. The investigation of the actual reasoning process falls more appropriately within
the province of psychology, neurophysiology, or cybernetics. Even if these empirical disciplines were
considerably more advanced than they presently are, the most they could disclose is the exact process
that goes on in a being's head when he or she (or it) is reasoning. They could not, however, tell us
whether the being is reasoning correctly or incorrectly. Distinguishing correct reasoning from incorrect
reasoning is the task of logic.

Logical reasoning (or just “logic” for short) is one of the fundamental skills of effective thinking. It
works by raising questions like:

 If this is true, what else must be true?

 If this is true, what else is probably true?
 If this isn’t true, what else can’t be true?

These are all inferences: they’re connections between a given sentence (the “premise”) and some
other sentence (the “conclusion”). Inferences are the basic building blocks of logical reasoning, and
there are strict rules governing what counts as a valid inference and what doesn’t — it’s a lot like math,
but applied to sentences rather than numbers.

Example:

If there is someone at the door, the dog will bark.

Assuming this sentence holds true, there are some other sentences that must also be true.

 If the dog didn’t bark, there is no one at the door.

 Just because the dog barked doesn’t mean there’s someone at the door.
There are also a few sentences that are probably true, such as:

 The dog can sense (hear or smell) when someone is at the door.

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  The dog belongs to the people who live in the house where the door is located.

LEARNING 2: INFERENCES AND ARGUMENTS

Reasoning is a special mental activity called inferring, what can also be called making (or performing)
inferences. The following is a useful and simple definition of the word ‘infer’.

In place of word ‘premises’, you can also put: ‘data’, ‘information’, ‘facts’.

Examples of Inferences:

(1) You see smoke and infer that there is a fire.

(2) You count 19 persons in a group that originally had 20, and you infer that someone is
missing.

Note carefully the difference between ‘infer’ and ‘imply’, which are sometimes confused. We
infer the fire on the basis of the smoke, but we do not imply the fire. On the other hand, the smoke
implies the fire, but it does not infer the fire. The word ‘infer’ is not equivalent to the word ‘imply’, nor is
it equivalent to ‘insinuate’.

The reasoning process may be thought of as beginning with input (premises, data, etc.) and
producing output (conclusions). In each specific case of drawing (inferring) a conclusion C from premises
P1, P2, P3, ..., the details of the actual mental process (how the "gears" work) is not the proper concern
of logic, but of psychology or neurophysiology. The proper concern of logic is whether the inference of C
on the basis of P1, P2, P3, ... is warranted (correct). Inferences are made on the basis of various sorts of
things – data, facts, information, states of affairs. In order to simplify the investigation of reasoning,
logic treats all of these things in terms of a single sort of thing – statements. Logic correspondingly treats
inferences in terms of collections of statements, which are called arguments. The word ‘argument’ has a
number of meanings in ordinary English. The definition of ‘argument’ that is relevant to logic is given as
follows.

Note that this is not a definition of a good argument. Also note that, in the context of ordinary
discourse, an argument has an additional trait, described as follows.

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 Before giving some concrete examples of arguments, it might be best to clarify a term in the
definition. The word ‘statement’ is intended to mean declarative sentence. In addition to declarative
sentences, there are also interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences. The sentences that
make up an argument are all declarative sentences; that is, they are all statements. The following may
be taken as the official definition of ‘statement’.

The following are examples of statements.

it is raining
I am hungry
2+2 = 4
God exists

On the other hand the following are examples of sentences that are not statements

are you hungry?

shut the door, please
#$%@!!! (replace ‘#$%@!!!’ by your favorite expletive)

Observe that whereas a statement is capable of being true or false, a question, or a command, or an
exclamation is not capable of being true or false.

Note that in saying that a statement is capable of being true or false, we are not saying that we
know for sure which of the two (true, false) it is. Thus, for a sentence to be a statement, it is not
necessary that humankind knows for sure whether it is true, or whether it is false. An example is the
statement ‘God exists’.

Now let us get back to inferences and arguments. Earlier, we discussed two examples of inferences. Let
us see how these can be represented as arguments. In the case of the smoke-fire inference, the
corresponding argument is given as follows.

(a1) there is smoke (premise)

therefore, there is fire (conclusion)

Here the argument consists of two statements, ‘there is smoke’ and ‘there is fire’. The term
‘therefore’ is not strictly speaking part of the argument; it rather serves to designate the conclusion
(‘there is fire’), setting it off from the premise (‘there is smoke’). In this argument, there is just one
premise.

In the case of the missing-person inference, the corresponding argument is given as follows.

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 (a2) there were 20 persons originally (premise)
there are 19 persons currently (premise)
therefore, someone is missing (conclusion)

Here the argument consists of three statements – ‘there were 20 persons originally’, ‘there are
19 persons currently’, and ‘someone is missing’. Once again, ‘therefore’ sets off the conclusion from the
premises.

In principle, any collection of statements can be treated as an argument simply by designating

which statement in particular is the conclusion. However, not every collection of statements is intended
to be an argument. We accordingly need criteria by which to distinguish arguments from other
collections of statements.

There are no hard and fast rules for telling when a collection of statements is intended to be an
argument, but there are a few rules of thumb. Often an argument can be identified as such because its
conclusion is marked. We have already seen one conclusion-marker – the word ‘therefore’. Besides
‘therefore’, there are other words that are commonly used to mark conclusions of arguments, including
‘consequently’, ‘hence’, ‘thus’, ‘so’, and ‘ergo’. Usually, such words indicate that what follows is the
conclusion of an argument.

Other times an argument can be identified as such because its premises are marked. Words that
are used for this purpose include: ‘for’, ‘because’, and ‘since’. For example, using the word ‘for’, the
smoke-fire argument (a1) earlier can be rephrased as follows.

(a1′) there is fire

for there is smoke

Note that in (a1′) the conclusion comes before the premise.

Other times neither the conclusion nor the premises of an argument are marked, so it is harder to tell
that the collection of statements is intended to be an argument. A general rule of thumb applies in this
case, as well as in previous cases.

To state things somewhat differently, when a person (speaking or writing) advances an

argument, he (she) expresses a statement he(she) believes to be true (the conclusion), and he(she) cites
other statements as a reason for believing that statement (the premises).

LEARNING 3: Types of Logical Reasoning

There are two basic types of logic, each defined by its own type of inference. They
correspond to the two categories in the example from section 1.

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  Deduction is when the conclusion, based on the premises, must be true. For example, if it’s
true that the dog always barks when someone is at the door and it’s true that there’s someone
at the door, then it must be true that the dog will bark. Of course, the real world is messy and
doesn’t always conform to the strictures of deductive reasoning (there are probably no actual
dogs who always bark when someone’s at the door), but deductive reasoning is still important in
fields like law, engineering, and science, where strict truths still hold. All math is deductive.

 Induction is when the conclusion, based on the premises, is probably The answers are less
definitive than they are in deductive reasoning, but they are often more useful. Induction is our
only way of predicting what will happen in the future: we look at the way things are, and the
way they have been in the past, and we make an educated guess about what will probably
happen. But all predictions are based on probability, not certainty: for example, it’s extremely
probable that the sun will rise tomorrow morning. But it’s not certain, since there are all sorts of
catastrophes that could happen in between now and then.

DEDUCTIVE LOGIC VERSUS INDUCTIVE LOGIC

Deductive reasoning, or deduction, is one of the two basic types of logical inference. A
logical inference is a connection from a first statement (a “premise”) to a second statement (“the
conclusion”) for which the rules of logic show that if the first statement is true, the second statement
should be true.

Specifically, deductions are inferences which must be true—at least according to the rules. If
you assume that the premise (first statement) is true, then you can deduce other things that have to be
true. These are called deductive conclusions.

Examples:

 Premise: Socrates is a man, and all men are mortal.

 Conclusion: Socrates is mortal.
 Premise: This dog always barks when someone is at the door, and the dog didn’t bark.
 Conclusion: There’s no one at the door.
 Premise: Sam goes wherever Ben goes, and Ben went to the library.
 Conclusion: Sam also went to the library.

Each of these miniature arguments has two premises (joined by the “and”). These
are syllogisms, which provide a model for all deductive reasoning. It is also possible to deduce
something from just one statement; but it isn’t very interesting; for example, from the premise
“Socrates is a man,” you can certainly deduce that at least one man exists. But most deductions require
more than one premise.

You’ll also notice that each premise contains a very general claim–something about “all
men” or what the dog “always” does. This is an extremely common feature of deductions: their
premises are general and their conclusions are specific.

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 In each case, the deductive reasoning is valid, meaning that the conclusion has to be true–if
the premises are true. The logical relation between premise and conclusion is airtight. However, you
always have to be careful with deductive reasoning. Even though the premise and conclusion are
connected by an airtight deduction, that doesn’t necessarily mean the conclusion is true. The premises
could be faulty, making the conclusions invalid.

Premises are often unreliable. For example, in the real world no dog is 100% reliable, so you can’t be
certain that the premise “the dog always barks” is true. Therefore, even though the connection is a
logical certainty, the actual truth of each statement has to be verified through the messy, uncertain
process of observations and experiments.

There’s another problem with deductive reasoning, which is that deductive conclusions
technically don’t add any new information. For example, once you say “All men are mortal, and Socrates
is a man,” you’ve already said that Socrates is mortal. That’s why deductions have the power of logical
certainty: the conclusion is already contained within the premises. That doesn’t mean deductive
reasoning isn’t useful; it is useful for uncovering implications of what you already know—but not so
much for developing really new truths.

LEARNING 3.A: Deductive Reasoning vs. Inductive Reasoning

While deductive reasoning implies logical certainty, inductive reasoning only gives you
reasonable probability. In addition, they often move in opposite directions: where deductive reasoning
tends to go from general premises to specific conclusions, inductive reasoning often goes the other
way—from specific examples to general conclusions.

Examples of inductive reasoning:

 Premise: No one has ever lived past the age of 122.

 Conclusion: Human beings probably all die sooner or later.
 Premise: So far, I’ve never seen someone come to the door without my dog barking.
 Conclusion: My dog will probably bark when the next person comes to the door.
 Premise: Sam has been following Ben around all day.
 Conclusion: Sam will probably go to the library this afternoon when Ben goes.

Induction allows us to take a series of observations (specific premises) and extrapolate from them to
new knowledge about what usually happens (general conclusion) or what will probably happen in the
future. This seems extremely useful!

Inductive reasoning, or induction, is one of the two basic types of inference. An inference
is a logical connection between two statements: the first is called the premise, while the second is called
a conclusion and must bear some kind of logical relationship to the premise.

Inductions, specifically, are inferences based on reasonable probability. If the premise is true, then the
conclusion is probably true as well. This is in contrast to deductive inferences, in which the
conclusion must be true if the premise is.

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Examples

 Premise: Every day so far, the sun has risen in the East and set in the West.
 Conclusion: The sun will probably continue to rise in the East and set in the West.

 Premise: Every time I use the can opener, my cat comes running into the kitchen.
 Conclusion: The cat probably thinks I am opening a can of tuna or wet food.

 Premise: Ben has visited four places today, and Sam has gone to those places soon after.
 Conclusion: Sam is probably following Ben.

Often, Inductive reasoning produces a general conclusion from a specific premise. They start
with particular observations of a pattern, and then infer that there’s a general rule. For example,
everyone knows the general rule in Example #1: the sun always rises and sets the same way. That rule is
based on a huge accumulation of data points, not on a mathematical “proof” or derivation from other
abstract rules. This is a common feature of inductions, but it isn’t always present (for example, #2 is not
deriving a general rule).

LEARNING 3.B: Inductive reasoning vs. Deductive reasoning

Unlike inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, or deduction, is based on absolute logical

certainty. If the premise is true, there’s no way for the conclusion not to be true. Deduction is the basis
for mathematics, but is also used in formal statements such as definitions or categorizations.

Examples

Premise: 2+2=4
Conclusion: 4-2=2

Premise: All gorillas are primates, and Koko is a gorilla.

Conclusion: Koko is a primate.

Premise: The cat always comes running when I ring this bell, and she isn’t coming.

Conclusion: I haven’t rung the bell.

Although deductive reasoning is logically certain, they do not provide new information. In
each of these examples, the conclusion is already contained in the premises; the conclusion is
just another way of stating the premise. Thus, inductive reasoning is often more useful in science and
everyday life because they allow us to generate new ideas about the world, even if those ideas are
based on probability rather than certainty.

In addition, deductions are sometimes misleading in their certainty. That’s because the
conclusion will only be true if the premise is true, and in the real world things are usually too messy for
that. For example, in the third example we can be absolutely certain of the conclusion if the premise is
true; but are we sure that it is? There are probably no actual cats who are so reliable that we can say
they will always behave a certain way.

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LEARNING 3.C: Logical Reasoning vs. Critical Thinking

Logic is one of the main pillars of critical thinking. And there’s no question that critical thinking
would be impossible without some understanding of logical reasoning. However, there are many other
skills involved in critical thinking, such as:

 Empathy, or the ability to imagine what someone else is feeling or experiencing. This is a crucial
skill for critical thinking, since it allows you to broaden your perspective and reflect on your
actions and beliefs. Empathy also makes you a better student of philosophy because it enables
you to put yourself in the author’s shoes and understand the argument from within.

 Analogy, or noticing similarities and thinking them through. Analogies allow us to draw
conclusions about, for example, the similarity between our own time and some moment in
history, and thus try to make better decisions in the future. This skill is closely related to
inductive logic.

 Creativity. Critical thinking is all about innovative problem-solving and coming up with new
ideas, so it’s heavily dependent on creativity. Just like a creative art, critical thinking depends on
assembling old parts in new ways, working inventively within constraints, and matching
moments of inspiration with hours of rigorous craft.

LEARNING 4: What is Mathematical Reasoning?

Mathematical reasoning or the principle of mathematical reasoning is a part of mathematics

where we determine the truth values of the given statements. These reasoning statements are common
in most of the competitive exams like JEE and the questions are extremely easy and fun to solve. Let us
understand what reasoning in maths is in this article and know how to solve questions easily.

Mathematically Acceptable Statements

Consider the following Statement:

“The sum of two prime numbers is always even.”
The given statement can either be true or false since the sum of two prime numbers can be
either be an even number or an odd number. Such statements are mathematically not acceptable for
reasoning as this sentence is ambiguous. Thus, a sentence is only acceptable mathematically when it
is “Either true or false, but not both at the same time.” Therefore, the basic entity required for
mathematical reasoning is a statement. This is the mathematical statement definition.

Types of Reasoning in Maths

In terms of mathematics, reasoning can be of two major types which are:

1. Inductive Reasoning
2. Deductive Reasoning

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The other types of reasoning are intuition, counterfactual thinking, critical thinking, backwards induction
and abductive induction. These are the 7 types of reasoning which are used to make a decision. But, in
mathematics, the inductive and deductive reasoning are mostly used which are discussed below.
Note: Inductive reasoning is non-rigorous logical reasoning and statements are
generalized. On the other hand, deductive reasoning is rigorous logical reasoning and
the statements are considered true if the assumptions entering the deduction are true.
So, in maths, deductive reasoning is considered to be more important than inductive.
Inductive Reasoning

In the Inductive method of mathematical reasoning, the validity of the statement is checked by
a certain set of rules and then it is generalized. In other words, in the inductive method of reasoning, the
validity of the statement is checked by certain set of rules and then it is generalized. The principle of
mathematical induction uses the concept of inductive reasoning.
As inductive reasoning is generalized, it is not considered in geometrical proofs. Here, is an example which
will help to understand the inductive reasoning in maths better.
 Example of Inductive Reasoning:

Statement: The cost of goods is Rs 10 and the cost of labour to manufacture the item is Rs. 5. The sales
price of the item is Rs. 50.
Reasoning: From the above statement, it can be said that the item will provide a good profit for the
stores selling it.
Deductive Reasoning

The principal of deductive reasoning is actually the opposite of the principle of induction. On the
contrary to inductive reasoning, in deductive reasoning, we apply the rules of a general case to a given
statement and make it true for particular statements. The principle of mathematical induction uses the
concept of deductive reasoning (contrary to its name). The below-given example will help to understand
the concept of deductive reasoning in maths better.
 Example of Deductive Reasoning:

Statement: Pythagorean Theorem holds true for any right-angled triangle.

Reasoning: If triangle XYZ is a right triangle, it will follow Pythagorean Theorem.

Types of Reasoning Statements

There are three main types of reasoning statements:

• Simple Statements
• Compound Statements
• If-Then Statements

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Simple Statements

Simple statements are those which are direct and do not include any modifier. These
statements are easiest to solve and does not require much reasoning. An example of a simple statement
is:
a: The Sun rises in the east
In this statement, there are no modifiers and thus it can be simply concluded as true.

Compound Statement

With the help of certain connectives, we can club different statements. Such statements made
up of two or more statements are known as compound statements. These connectives can be “and”,
“or”, etc.
With the help of such statements, the concept of mathematical deduction can be implemented
very easily. For a better understanding consider the following example:
Statement 1: Even numbers are divisible by 2
Statement 2: 2 is also an even number
These two statements can be clubbed together as:

Compound Statement: Even numbers are divisible by 2 and 2 is also an even number

Let us now find the statements out of the given compound statement:
Compound Statement: A triangle has three sides and the sum of interior angles of a triangle is 180°
The Statements for this statement is:
Statement 1: A triangle has three sides.
Statement 2: The sum of the interior angles of a triangle is 180°.
These both statements related to triangles are mathematically true. These two statements are
connected using “and.”

If-Then Statements

According to mathematical reasoning, if we encounter an if-then statement i.e. if a then b, then

by proving that a is true b can be proved to be true or if we prove that b is false then a is also false.
If we encounter a statement which says a if and only if b then we can reason such a statement
by showing that a is true and then b is also true and if b is true then a is definitely true.

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Example:
a: 8 is multiple of 64
b: 8 is a factor of 64
Since one of the given statements i.e. a is true, therefore, a or b is true.
How to Deduce Mathematical Statements?

For deducing new statements or for making important deductions from the given statements three
techniques are generally used:

1. Negation of the given statement

2. Contradiction Method
3. Counter Statements

Let’s take a look at both the methods one by one.

Negation of the Given Statement

In this method, we generate new statements from the old ones by the rejection of the given
statement. In other words, we deny the given statement and express it as a new one. Consider the
following example to understand it better.
Statement 1: “Sum of squares of two natural numbers is positive.”
Now if we negate this statement then we have,
Statement 2: Sum of squares of two natural numbers is not positive.
Here, by using “not”, we denied the given statement and now the following can be inferred
from the negation of the statement:
There exist two numbers, whose squares do not add up to give a positive number.
This is a “false” statement as squares of two natural numbers will be positive.
From the above discussion, we conclude that if (1) is a mathematically acceptable statement
then the negation of statement 1 (denoted by statement 2) is also a statement.
Contradiction Method

In this method, we assume that the given statement is false and then try to prove the assumption
wrong.

Example:
a: The derivative of y=9x2+sinx w.r.t x is 18x+cosx.
For proving the validity of this statement, let us say that dy/dx ≠ 18x + cos x. We know that the
derivative of xn is given by n • xn−1. Therefore, the derivative of 9×2 is 18x and the derivative of sin x is
given by cos x.
Also,
d/dx(f(x)+g(x))=df(x)/dx+dg(x)/dx

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 Therefore, d/dx (9x2+sinx)=18x+cosx
Hence, our assumption is wrong and the statement “a” is a valid statement.

Counter Statements

Another method for proving validity is to use a counter statement i.e. giving a statement or an
example where the given statement is not valid.
Example:
a: If x is a prime number then x is always odd.
To show that the given statement is false we will try to find a counter statement for this. We
know that 2 is a prime number i.e. it is divisible by only itself and 1. Also, 2 is the smallest even number.
Therefore, we can say that 2 is a prime number which is even. Hence, we can say that the statement “a”
is not true for all prime numbers, therefore, the given statement is not valid.

Example Questions Using the Principle of Mathematical Reasoning

Question 1:
Consider the following set of statements and mention which of these are mathematically accepted
statements:
i) The Sun rises in the east.
ii) New Delhi is a country.
iii) Red rose is more beautiful than a yellow rose.
Solution:
When we read the first statement we can straightaway say that the first statement is definitely true and
the second one is definitely false. As far as the third statement is considered it may depend upon
perceptions of different people. Hence, it can be true for some people and at the same time false for
others. But such ambiguous statements are not acceptable for reasoning in mathematics.
Thus a sentence is only acceptable mathematically when it is either true or false but not both at the
same time. So, statement 1 and 2 are mathematically accepted statements while statement 3 is not
accepted mathematically.

Question 2: The sum of three natural numbers x,y and z is always negative.
Solution:
This statement is acceptable. It can never be true because all natural numbers are greater than zero and
therefore the sum of positive numbers can never be negative.
Question 3: The product of three real numbers x,y and z is always zero.
Solution:

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In this given statement we cannot figure out if the statement is true or false. Such a sentence is not
mathematically acceptable for reasoning.
Question 4:
a: A circle with infinite radius is a line
b: A circle with zero radii is a point
Solution:
Since “a” is true and “b” is also true then both statements a and b are also true.
For two given statements a or b to be true, show that either a is true or prove that b is true i.e. if any
one of the statements is true then a or b is also true.
Now it would be clear to you how to use a compound form of statements and negative of a statement
to deduce results. To learn more on this topic, register at BYJU’S now and download BYJU’S- The
Learning App.

LEARNING 5: Mathematical Statements and truth Values?

A mathematical sentence is a sentence that states a fact or contains a complete idea. A

sentence that can be judged to be true or false is called a statement, or a closed sentence.

Important terms in Logic & Mathematical Statements

• Negation
• Conjunction
• Disjunction
• The Conditional

i. Negation. Sometimes in mathematics it's important to determine what the opposite of a

given mathematical statement is. This is usually referred to as "negating" a statement. One
thing to keep in mind is that if a statement is true, then its negation is false (and if a statement
is false, then its negation is true).

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 Negation of a Statement

Example 1: Examine the sentences below.

1. Every triangle has three sides.

2. Albany is the capital of New York State.
3. No prime number is even.

Each of these sentences is a closed sentence.

Definition: A closed sentence is an objective statement which is either true or false.

Thus, each closed sentence in Example 1 has a truth value of either true or false as shown below.

1. Every triangle has three sides. true

2. Albany is the capital of New York State. true
3. No prime number is even. false

Note that the third sentence is false since 2 is a prime number. It is possible that a closed sentence
will have different truth values at different times. This is demonstrated in Example 2 below

Example 2:

1. Today is Tuesday.
2. Bill Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States.

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 Example 3: Examine the sentences below.

1. x + 3 = 7
2. She passed math.
3. y - 4 = 11
4. He is my brother.

The sentences in Example 3 are open sentences.

Definition: An open sentence is a statement which contains a variable and becomes either true or
false depending on the value that replaces the variable.

Let's take another look at Example 3. This time we will Identify the variable for each open sentence.

1. x + 3 = 7 The variable is x.
2. She passed math. The variable is she.
3. y - 4 = 11 The variable is y.
4. He is my brother. The variable is he.

Now that we have identified the variables, we can analyze the meaning of these open sentences.
Sentence 1 is true if x is replaced by 4, but false if x is replaced by a number other than 4. Sentence 3
is true if y is replaced by 15, but false otherwise. Sentence 2 is either true or false depending on the
value of the variable "she." Similarly, sentence 4 is either true or false depending on the value of the
variable "he." In summary, the truth value of each open sentence depends on what value is used to
replace the variable in that sentence.

Example 4:

Let p represent, "Baseball is a sport."

Let q represent, "There are 100 cents in a dollar."
Given:
Let r represent, "She does her homework."
Let s represent, "A dime is not a coin."
Problem: Write each sentence below using symbols and indicate if it is true, false or open.

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 1. A dime is a coin. ~s true
2. Baseball is not a sport. ~p false
3. She does her homework. r open
4. There are not 100 cents in a dollar. ~q false
5. She does not do her homework. ~r open
6. Baseball is a sport. p true

Example 5:

Given: Let p represent the closed sentence "The number 9 is odd."

Problem: What does ~p mean?
In Example 5 we are asked to find the negation of p.

Definition: The negation of statement p is "not p." The negation of p is symbolized by "~p." The
truth value of ~p is the opposite of the truth value of p.

Solution: Since p is true, ~p must be false.

p: The number 9 is odd. true

~p: The number 9 is not odd. false
Let's look at some more examples of negation.

Example 6: Construct a truth table for the negation of x.

Solution:

x ~x
T F
F T

In Example 6, when x is true, ~x is false; and when x is false, ~x is true. From this truth table, we can
see that a statement and its negation have opposite truth values.

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 Example 7: Construct a truth table for the negation of p.

Solution:

p ~p
T F
F T

We can also negate a negation. For example, the negation of ~p is ~(~p) or p. This is illustrated in
the example below.

Example 8: Construct a truth table for the negation of p, and for the negation of not p.

Solution:

p ~p ~(~p)
T F T
F
F T

ii. Conjunction - is a compound statement formed by joining two statements with the connector
AND. The conjunction "p and q" is symbolized by p q. A conjunction is true when both of its
combined parts are true; otherwise it is false.

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 Conjunction

Example 1:

p: Ann is on the softball team.

Given:
q: Paul is on the football team.

Problem: What does p q represent?

Solution: In Example 1, statement p represents the sentence, "Ann is on the softball team," and
statement q represents the sentence, "Paul is on the football team." The symbol is a logical
connector which means "and." Therefore, the compound statement p q represents the sentence,
"Ann is on the softball team and Paul is on the footballteam." The statement p q is a conjunction.

Now that we have defined a conjunction, we can apply it to Example 1. The conjunction p q is true
when both "Ann is on the softball team" and "Paul is on the football team" are true statements;
otherwise it is false. We can construct a truth table for the conjunction "p and q." In order to
list all truth values of p q, we start by listing every combination of truth values in the first two
columns of the truth table below.

p q p q
T T
T F
F T
F F
Next, we complete the last column according to the rules for conjunction listed above.

p q p q
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F F

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 The truth table above lists the truth values of p q. A truth table is an excellent tool for listing the
truth values of a conjunction (or any compound statement). (Note: Throughout our lessons on
symbolic logic, we will always construct truth tables with the first two columns listed exactly as
above. The order of the truth values in these first columns is critical to finding all truth values for a
given statement. This order will also apply to other formats used to list truth values in more
advanced lessons.) Let's look at some more examples of conjunction.

Example 2:

a: A square is a quadrilateral.
Given:
b: Harrison Ford is an American actor.
Construct a truth table for the conjunction "a and b."
Problem:

Solution:

a b a b
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F F

Example 3:

r: The number x is odd.

Given:
s: The number x is prime.

Problem: Can we list all truth values for r s in a truth table?Why or why not?

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 Solution: Since each statement given in this example represents an open sentence, the truth value of
r s will depend on the value of variable x. But there are an infinite number of replacement values
for x, so we cannot list all truth values for r s in a truth table. We can, however, find the truth
value of r s for given values of x as shown below.

If x = 3, then r is true, s is true. The conjunction r s is true.

If x = 9, then r is true, s is false. The conjunction r s is false.

If x = 2, then r is false, s is true. The conjunction r s is false.

If x = 6, then r is false, s is false. The conjunction r s is false.

In the next example we are given the truth values of each statement. We are then asked to
determine the truth values of the specified conjunctions.

Example 4:

p: The number 11 is prime. true

Given: q: The number 17 is composite. false
r: The number 23 is prime. true
Problem: For each conjunction below, write a sentence and indicate if it is true or false.

1. p q The number 11 is prime and the number 17 is composite. false

2. p r The number 11 is prime and the number 23 is prime. true

3. q r The number 17 is composite and the number 23 is prime. false

A conjunction is formed by combining two statements with the connector "and." One of these
statements can be a negation as shown in the example below.

Example 5: Construct a truth table for each conjunction below:

1. x and y
2. ~x and y
3. ~y and x

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 Solution:

x y x y x y ~x ~x y x y ~y ~y x
T T T T T F F T T F F
T F F T F F F T F T T
F T F F T T T F T F F
F F F F F T F F F T F

iii. Disjunction - is a compound statement formed by joining two statements with the connector
OR. The disjunction "p or q" is symbolized by p q. A disjunction is false if and only if both
statements are false; otherwise it is true.

Example 1:

p: Ann is on the softball team.

Given:
q: Paul is on the football team.

Problem: What does p q represent?

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 Solution: In Example 1, statement p represents, "Ann is on the softball team" and statement q
represents, "Paul is on the football team." The symbol is a logical connector which means "or."
Thus, the compound statement p q represents the sentence, "Ann is on the softball team or Paul is
on the football team." The statement p q is a disjunction.

Definition: A disjunction is a compound statement formed by joining two statements with the
connector OR. The disjunction "p or q" is symbolized by p q. A disjunction is false if and only if both
statements are false; otherwise it is true. The truth values of p q are listed in the truth table below.

p q p q

T T T

T F T

F T T

F F F

Example 2:

a: A square is a quadrilateral.
Given:
b: Harrison Ford is an American actor.

Problem: Construct a truth table for the disjunction "a or b."

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 Solution:

a b a b

T T T

T F T

F T T

F F F

Example 3:

r: x is divisible by 2.
Given:
s: x is divisible by 3.

Problem: What are the truth values of r s?

Solution: Each statement given in this example represents an open sentence, so the truth value of r
s will depend on the replacement values of x as shown below.

If x = 6, then r is true, and s is true. The disjunction r s is true.

If x = 8, then r is true, and s is false. The disjunction r s is true.

If x = 15, then r is false, and s is true. The disjunction r s is true.

If x = 11, then r is false, and s is false. The disjunction r s is false.

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 Example 4:

p: 12 is prime. false

Given: q: 17 is prime. true

r: 19 is composite. false

Problem: Write a sentence for each disjunction below. Then indicate if it is true or false.

1. p q 12 is prime or 17 is prime. true

2. p r 12 is prime or 19 is composite. false

3. q r 17 is prime or 19 is composite. true

Example 5: Complete a truth table for each disjunction below.

1. a or b

2. a or not b

3. not a or b

a b a b a b ~b a ~b a b ~a ~a b

T T T T T F T T T F T

T F T T F T T T F F F

F T T F T F F F T T T

F F F F F T T F F T T

Students sometimes confuse conjunction and disjunction. Let's look at an example in which we
compare the truth values of both of these compound statements.

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 Example 6:

x: Jayne played tennis.

Given:
y: Chris played softball.

Problem: Construct a truth table for conjunction "x and y" and disjunction "x or y."

Solution:

x y x y x y

T T T T

T F F T

F T F T

F F F F

With a conjunction, both statements must be true for the conjunction to be true; but with a
disjunction, both statements must be false for the disjunction to be false. One way to remember
this is with the following mnemonic: 'And’ points up to the sand on top of the beach, while ‘or’
points down to the ore deep in the ground.

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 iv. Conditional - symbolized by p q, is an if-then statement in which p is a hypothesis and q is
a conclusion. The logical connector in a conditional statement is denoted by the symbol .
The conditional is defined to be true unless a true hypothesis leads to a false conclusion.

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 Conditional Statements

Example 1:

p: I do my homework.
Given:
q: I get my allowance.

Problem: What does p q represent?

Solution: In Example 1, p represents, "I do my homework," and q represents "I get my allowance."
The statement p q is a conditional statement which represents "If p, then q."

Definition: A conditional statement, symbolized by p q, is an if-then statement in which p is

a hypothesis and q is a conclusion. The logical connector in a conditional statement is denoted by the
symbol . The conditional is defined to be true unless a true hypothesis leads to a false conclusion.
A truth table for p q is shown below.

p q p q

T T T

T F F

F T T

F F T

In the truth table above, p q is only false when the hypothesis (p) is true and the conclusion (q) is
false; otherwise it is true. Note that a conditional is a compound statement. Now that we have
defined a conditional, we can apply it to Example 1.

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 Example 1:

p: I do my homework.
Given:
q: I get my allowance.

Problem: What does p q represent?

Solution: In Example 1, the sentence, "I do my homework" is the hypothesis and the sentence, "I get
my allowance" is the conclusion. Thus, the conditional p q represents the hypothetical
proposition, "If I do my homework, then I get an allowance." However, as you can see from the truth
table above, doing your homework does not guarantee that you will get an allowance! In other
words, there is not always a cause-and-effect relationship between the hypothesis and conclusion of
a conditional statement.

Example 2:

a: The sun is made of gas.

Given:
b: 3 is a prime number.

Problem: Write a b as a sentence. Then construct a truth table for this conditional.

Solution: The conditional a b represents "If the sun is made of gas, then 3 is a prime number."

a b a b

T T T

T F F

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 F T T

F F T

In Example 2, "The sun is made of gas" is the hypothesis and "3 is a prime number" is the conclusion.
Note that the logical meaning of this conditional statement is not the same as its intuitive meaning.
In logic, the conditional is defined to be true unless a true hypothesis leads to a false conclusion. The
implication of a b is that: since the sun is made of gas, this makes 3 a prime number. However,
intuitively, we know that this is false because the sun and the number three have nothing to do with
one another! Therefore, the logical conditional allows implications to be true even when the
hypothesis and the conclusion have no logical connection.

Example 3:

x: Gisele has a math assignment.

Given:
y: David owns a car.

Problem: Write x y as a sentence.

Solution: The conditional x y represents, "If Gisele has a math assignment, then David owns a car..

In the following examples, we are given the truth values of the hypothesis and the conclusion and
asked to determine the truth value of the conditional.

Example 4:

r: 8 is an odd number. false

Given:
s: 9 is composite. true

Problem: What is the truth value of r s?

Solution: Since hypothesis r is false and conclusion s is true, the conditional r s is true.

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 Example 5:

r: 8 is an odd number. false

Given:
s: 9 is composite. true

Problem: What is the truth value of s r?

Solution: Since hypothesis s is true and conclusion r is false, the conditional s r is false.

Example 6:

p: 72 = 49. true

Given: q: A rectangle does not have 4 sides. false

r: Harrison Ford is an American actor. true

s: A square is not a quadrilateral. false

Problem: Write each conditional below as a sentence. Then indicate its truth value.

1. p q If 72 is equal to 49, then a rectangle does not have 4 sides. false

2. q r If a rectangle does not have 4 sides, then Harrison Ford is an American actor. true

3. p r If 72 is equal to 49, then Harrison Ford is an American actor. true

4. q s If a rectangle does not have 4 sides, then a square is not a quadrilateral. true

5. r ~p If Harrison Ford is an American actor, then 72 is not equal to 49. false

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 6. ~r p If Harrison Ford is not an American actor, then 72 is equal to 49. true

Note that in item 5, the conclusion is the negation of p. Also, in item 6, the hypothesis is the negation
of r.

v. Biconditional Statements - The compound statement (p q) (q p) is a conjunction of

two conditional statements. In the first conditional, p is the hypothesis and q is the conclusion;
in the second conditional, q is the hypothesis and p is the conclusion.

Example 1:

p: A polygon is a triangle.
Given:
q: A polygon has exactly 3 sides.
Problem: Determine the truth values of this statement: (p q) (q p)

Let's look at a truth table for this compound statement.

p q p q q p (p q) (q p)
T T
T T T

T
T F F F

F
F T T F

T
F F T T

In the truth table above, when p and q have the same truth values, the compound statement (p
q) (q p) is true. When we combine two conditional statements this way, we have
a biconditional.

Definition: A biconditional statement is defined to be true whenever both parts have the same truth
value. The biconditional operator is denoted by a double-headed arrow . The biconditional p

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 q represents "p if and only if q," where p is a hypothesis and q is a conclusion. The following is a truth
table for biconditional p q.

p q p q
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F T

In the truth table above, p q is true when p and q have the same truth values, (i.e., when either
both are true or both are false.) Now that the biconditional has been defined, we can look at a
modified version of Example 1.

Example 1:

p: A polygon is a triangle.
Given:
q: A polygon has exactly 3 sides.
Problem: What does the statement p q represent?
The statement p q represents the sentence, "A polygon is a triangle if and only if it
Solution:
has exactly 3 sides."

Note that in the biconditional above, the hypothesis is: "A polygon is a triangle" and the conclusion
is: "It has exactly 3 sides." It is helpful to think of the biconditional as a conditional statement that is
true in both directions.

Remember that a conditional statement has a one-way arrow ( ) and a biconditional statement
has a two-way arrow ( ). We can use an image of a one-way street to help us remember the
symbolic form of a conditional statement, and an image of a two-way street to help us remember
the symbolic form of a biconditional statement.

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 Let's look at more examples of the biconditional.

Example 2:

a: x + 2 = 7
Given:
b: x = 5
Problem: Write a b as a sentence. Then determine its truth values a b.

Solution: The biconditonal a b represents the sentence: "x + 2 = 7 if and only if x = 5." When x = 5,
both a and b are true. When x 5, both a and b are false. A biconditional statement is defined to be
true whenever both parts have the same truth value. Accordingly, the truth values of a b are
listed in the table below.

a b a b
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F T

Example 3:

x: I am breathing
Given:
y: I am alive
Problem: Write x y as a sentence.

Solution: x y represents the sentence, "I am breathing if and only if I am alive."

Example 4:

r: You passed the exam.

Given:
s: You scored 65% or higher.
Problem: Write r s as a sentence.

Solution: r s represents, "You passed the exam if and only if you scored 65% or higher."

Mathematicians abbreviate "if and only if" with "iff." In Example 5, we will rewrite each sentence
from Examples 1 through 4 using this abbreviation.

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 Example 5: Rewrite each of the following sentences using "iff" instead of "if and only if."

if and only if iff

A polygon is a triangle if and only if it has exactly 3 A polygon is a triangle iff it has exactly 3
sides. sides.
I am breathing if and only if I am alive. I am breathing iff I am alive.
x + 2 = 7 if and only if x = 5. x + 2 = 7 iff x = 5.
You passed the exam if and only if you scored 65% or You passed the exam iff you scored 65% or
higher. higher.

When proving the statement p iff q, it is equivalent to proving both of the statements "if p, then q"
and "if q, then p." (In fact, this is exactly what we did in Example 1.) In each of the following
examples, we will determine whether or not the given statement is biconditional using this method.

Example 6:

p: x + 7 = 11
Given:
q: x = 5
Problem: Is this sentence biconditional? "x + 7 = 11 iff x = 5."

Solution:

Let p q represent "If x + 7 = 11, then x = 5."

Let q p represent "If x = 5, then x + 7 = 11."

The statement p q is false by the definition of a conditional. The statement q p is also false by
the same definition. Therefore, the sentence "x + 7 = 11 iff x = 5" is not biconditional.

Example 7:

Given:

r: A triangle is isosceles.

s: A triangle has two congruent (equal) sides.

Problem:

Is this statement biconditional? "A triangle is isosceles if and only if it has two congruent (equal)
sides."

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 Solution: Yes. The statement r s is true by definition of a conditional. The statement s r is also
true. Therefore, the sentence "A triangle is isosceles if and only if it has two congruent (equal) sides"
is biconditional.

LEARNING 6: Proposition A declarative sentence that is either true or false, but not both.

Examples:

• CS19 is a required course for the CS major.

• Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings.
• Pigs can fly.

Non-examples:

• What a beautiful evening!

• Do your homework.

Compound Proposition

One that can be broken down into more primitive propositions. E.g.,

• If it is sunny outside then I walk to work; otherwise I drive, and if it is raining then I carry my
umbrella.

This consists of several primitive propositions:

p = “It is sunny outside” q = “I walk to work”

r = “I drive” s = “It is raining”
t= “I carry my umbrella”

Connectives: “if… then” , “ otherwise” , “ and”

If it is sunny outside then I walk to work; otherwise I drive, and if it is raining then I carry my
umbrella.

p = “It is sunny outside” q = “I walk to work”

r = “I drive” s = “It is raining”
= “I carry my umbrella”

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 If p then q; otherwise r and if s then t.
If p then q and (if not p then (r and (if s then t))).
p implies q and ((not p) implies (r and (s implies t))).

Logical Connectives

Used to form compound propositions from primitive ones.

Compound Proposition, in Symbols

If it is sunny outside then I walk to work; otherwise I drive, and if it is raining then I carry my
umbrella.

p = “It is sunny outside” q = “I walk to work”

r = “I drive” s = “It is raining”
t = “I carry my umbrella”

p implies q and ((not p) implies (r and (s implies t))).

(p => q) % (¬p => (r % (s => t)))

Defining a Logical Connective

Consider a connective that combines two propositions, e.g. implication “p => q”. There are
exactly four possibilities:

• p is true, q is true
• p is true, q is false
• p is false, q is true
• p is false, q is false

In each case, specify the truth value of “p => q”.

Proposition Logic

Is concerned with statements to which the truth values, “true” and “false”, can be assigned. The
purpose is to analyze these statements either individually or in a composite manner.

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A proposition is a collection of declarative statements that has either a truth value "true” or a truth value
"false". A propositional consists of propositional variables and connectives. We denote the propositional
variables by capital letters (A, B, etc). The connectives connect the propositional variables.
Some examples of Propositions are given below −

• "Man is Mortal", it returns truth value “TRUE”

• "12 + 9 = 3 – 2", it returns truth value “FALSE”

The following is not a Proposition −

• "A is less than 2". It is because unless we give a specific value of A, we cannot say whether the
statement is true or false.

OR (∨∨) − The OR operation of two propositions A and B (written as A∨BA∨B) is true if at least any of the
propositional variable A or B is true.

The truth table is as follows −

A B A∨B

True True True

True False True

False True True

Connectives

In propositional logic generally we use five connectives which are −

• OR (∨∨)
• AND (∧∧)
• Negation/ NOT (¬¬)
• Implication / if-then (→→)
• If and only if (⇔⇔).

False False False

AND (∧∧) − The AND operation of two propositions A and B (written as A∧BA∧B) is true if both the
propositional variable A and B is true.

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 The truth table is as follows −

A B A∧B

True True True

True False False

False True False

False False False

Negation (¬¬) − The negation of a proposition A (written as ¬A¬A) is false when A is true and is true when A
is false.
The truth table is as follows −

A ¬A

True False

False True

Implication / if-then (→→) − An implication A→BA→B is the proposition “if A, then B”. It is false if A is true
and B is false. The rest cases are true.
The truth table is as follows −

A B A→B

True True True

True False False

False True True

False False True

If and only if (⇔⇔) − A⇔BA⇔B is bi-conditional logical connective which is true when p and q are same,
i.e. both are false or both are true.
The truth table is as follows −

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 A B A⇔B

True True True

True False False

False True False

False False True

Learner 6.A: Tautologies

A Tautology is a formula which is always true for every value of its propositional variables. A compound
statement, that is always true regardless of the truth value of the individual statements, is defined to be
a tautology.
Example − Prove [(A→B)∧A]→B[(A→B)∧A]→B is a tautology
The truth table is as follows −

A B A→B (A → B) ∧ A [( A → B ) ∧ A] → B

True True True True True

True False False False True

False True True False True

False False True False True

As we can see every value of [(A→B)∧A]→B[(A→B)∧A]→B is "True", it is a tautology.

Tautologies

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Example 1: What do you notice about each sentence below?

1. A number is even or a number is not even.

Cheryl passes math or Cheryl does not pass

2.
math.

3. It is raining or it is not raining.

A triangle is isosceles or a triangle is not

4.
isosceles.

Each sentence in Example 1 is the disjunction of a statement and its negation Each of these sentences can be
written in symbolic form as p ~p. Recall that a disjunction is false if and only if both statements are false;
otherwise it is true. By this definition, p ~p is always true, even when statement p is false or statement ~p
is false! This is illustrated in the truth table below:

p ~p p ~p

T F T

F T T

The compound statement p ~p consists of the individual statements p and ~p. In the truth table above, p
~p is always true, regardless of the truth value of the individual statements. Therefore, we conclude that p
~p is a tautology.

Example 2: Is (p q) p a tautology?

p q p q (p q) p

T T T T

T F F T

F T F T

F F F T

Solution: The compound statement (p q) p consists of the individual statements p, q, and p q. The
truth table above shows that (p q) p is true regardless of the truth value of the individual statements.
Therefore, (p q) p is a tautology.

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In the examples below, we will determine whether the given statement is a tautology by creating a truth
table.

Example 3: Is x (x y) a tautology?

x y x y x (x y)

T T T T

T F T T

F T T T

F F F T

Solution: Yes; the truth values of x (x y) are {T, T, T, T}.

Example 4: Is ~b b a tautology?

b ~b ~b b

T F T

F T F

Solution: No; the truth values of ~b b are {T, F}.

Example 5: Is (p q) (p q) a tautology?

p q (p q) (p q) (p q) (p q)

T T T T T

T F T F F

F T T F F

F F F F T

Solution: No; the truth values of (p q) (p q) are {T, F, F, T}.

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Example 6: Is [(p q) p] p a tautology?

p q p q (p q) p [(p q) p] p

T T T T T

T F F F T

F T T F T

F F T F T

Solution: Yes; the truth values of [(p q) p] p are {T, T, T, T}.

Example 7: Is (r s) (s r) a tautology?

r s r s s r (r s) (s r)

T T T T T

T F F T F

F T T F F

F F T T T

Solution: No; the truth values of (r s) (s r) are {T, F, F, T}.

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 Learner 6.B: Contradictions

A Contradiction is a formula which is always false for every value of its propositional variables.
Example − Prove (A∨B)∧[(¬A)∧(¬B)](A∨B)∧[(¬A)∧(¬B)] is a contradiction
The truth table is as follows −

A B A∨B ¬A ¬B (¬ A) ∧ ( ¬ B) (A ∨ B) ∧ [( ¬ A) ∧ (¬ B)]

True True True False False False False

True False True False True False False

False True True True False False False

False False False True True True False

As we can see every value of (A∨B)∧[(¬A)∧(¬B)](A∨B)∧[(¬A)∧(¬B)] is “False”, it is a contradiction.

Learner 6.C: Contingency

A Contingency is a formula which has both some true and some false values for every value of its
propositional variables.

Example − Prove (A∨B)∧(¬A)(A∨B)∧(¬A) a contingency

The truth table is as follows −

A B A∨B ¬A (A ∨ B) ∧ (¬ A)

True True True False False

True False True False False

False True True True True

False False False True False

As we can see every value of (A∨B)∧(¬A)(A∨B)∧(¬A) has both “True” and “False”, it is a contingency.

Prepared by: Glenn L. Tabucanon, Mba, PhD-TM Page 44

LEARNING 7: SETS

German mathematician G. Cantor introduced the concept of sets. He had defined a set as a collection of
definite and distinguishable objects selected by the means of certain rules or description.

Set theory forms the basis of several other fields of study like counting theory, relations, graph theory and
finite state machines. In this chapter, we will cover the different aspects of Set Theory.

Set - Definition
A set is an unordered collection of different elements. A set can be written explicitly by listing its elements
using set bracket. If the order of the elements is changed or any element of a set is repeated, it does not
make any changes in the set.

Some Example of Sets

• A set of all positive integers
• A set of all the planets in the solar system
• A set of all the states in India
• A set of all the lowercase letters of the alphabet

Representation of a Set

Sets can be represented in two ways −

• Roster or Tabular Form

• Set Builder Notation

Roster or Tabular Form

The set is represented by listing all the elements comprising it. The elements are enclosed within
braces and separated by commas.
Example 1 − Set of vowels in English alphabet, A={ a,e,i,o,u} A={a,e,i,o,u}
Example 2 − Set of odd numbers less than 10, B={ 1,3,5,7,9} B={1,3,5,7,9}

Set Builder Notation

The set is defined by specifying a property that elements of the set have in common. The set is
described as A={ x:p(x)} A={x:p(x)}

Example 1 − The set { a,e,i,o,u} {a,e,i,o,u} is written as −

A={ x:x is a vowel in Englishalphabet}A={x:x is a vowel in English alphabet}

Example 2 − The set { 1,3,5,7,9} {1,3,5,7,9} is written as −

B={ x:1≤x<10 and (x%2)≠0} B={x:1≤x<10 and (x%2)≠0}

Prepared by: Glenn L. Tabucanon, Mba, PhD-TM Page 45

 If an element x is a member of any set S, it is denoted by x∈Sx∈S and if an element y is not
a member of set S, it is denoted by y∉Sy∉S.

Example − If S={ 1,1.2,1.7,2},1∈SS={1,1.2,1.7,2},1∈S but 1.5∉S1.5∉S

Some Important Sets

N − the set of all natural numbers = { 1,2,3,4,.....}{1,2,3,4,.....}
Z − the set of all integers = {.....,−3,−2,−1,0,1,2,3,.....}{.....,−3,−2,−1,0,1,2,3,.....}
Z+ − the set of all positive integers
Q − the set of all rational numbers
R − the set of all real numbers
W − the set of all whole numbers

Types of Sets

Sets can be classified into many types. Some of which are finite, infinite, subset, universal, proper,
singleton set, etc.

Finite Set

A set which contains a definite number of elements is called a finite set.

Example − S={ x|x∈NS={x|x∈N and 70>x>50} 70>x>50}

Infinite Set

A set which contains infinite number of elements is called an infinite set.

Example − S={ x|x∈NS={x|x∈N and x>10}

Prepared by: Glenn L. Tabucanon, Mba, PhD-TM Page 46