6.

1
Concept of a Set What are you going to learn?
To state the concept of a set To acquire set symbols To determine if an object belongs to a set To acquire the symbols of element and not element of a set

Have you ever watched a football tournament? What can you see at the tournament?

Key Terms:
object collection sets set symbols set elements/members

Figure 6.1 A Football Tournament

Can you mention as many objects as possible in a football tournament? In a football tournament, we can see balls, players, spectators, goals, tribune, etc. If you look carefully at a football tournament, there are different collections of things, such as: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. spectators football players referee coaches medical officers substitutes ball the goals the football field

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Figure 6.2 A classroom

Now, observe the situation of the learning process in the classroom as shown in Figure 6.2 . What and who can you see in the classroom? If you notice carefully, there are collections of: 1. students who are studying 2. a teacher who is explaining a subject to her students 3. student tables 4. chairs 5. a teacher table 6. a blackboard 7. female students 8. male students Can you mention the collection of objects in your own classroom? Now, think about your house. How many kinds of collections of objects are inside your house?

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Thus, from a region or a place with a certain condition, we can form a collection of objects. Furthermore, the term that is used in mathematics to express a collection of objects is called a set. In a football tournament, for instance, the following sets can be mentioned: 1. the set of football players, 2. the set of football watchers, 3. the set of goalkeepers. Now, can you tournament? mention some other sets in a football

If you observe the teaching-learning process in your classroom, you can form sets such as: 1. the set of the first year junior high school (SMP) students in the classroom 2. the set of teachers who is teaching students 3. the set of student chairs in the classroom Can you form some other sets of objects in your class? What kinds of set of objects in your house can you form? Set of objects in your schoolbag? Set of objects in your cupboard? Can you form sets of objects from other places? Discuss the sets of objects from the places you and your classmates have selected. In relation to the football tournament, we can form several sets, such as: the set of football players We can replace the word the set of with a pair of curly brackets enclosing the other words, as follows:
{football players}

It is another way of expressing a set.

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Now, try together with your classmates to form the sets of: 1. Students in your classroom with 125 cm tall. 2. Things in your class that have the price less than Rp 25,000.00. 3. Teachers at your school who wear uniform. 4. Red flowers. Now, work with your classmates and think about the sets of: 1. Tall students in your classroom. 2. Expensive goods. 3. Smart teachers at your school. 4. Very fragrant smelling flowers. Match your answer with your classmates answers. Are the four sets you wrote the same as your friends? Can you determine exactly the four sets? Why?

1.

I am tall, while you are short, arent you?

Oh, no. Im also tall.

2.
Yes, its not that expensive.

This book is too expensive.

I think, it is not too expensive.

I think Mr. Udi is the smartest.

I think Mrs. Ani is smart.

In my opinion, they are Mrs. Ida and Mrs. Ani.

A rose smells fragrant.

Oh, no, a jasmine is more fragrant.

I think an orchid is the most fragrant.

??

Which one?

3.
Figure 6.3

4.

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Examine the four sets you have formed with the ones your classmates have. From your examination, what can you conclude about them (e.g. based on the number of elements in each set)? The condition used to form a set must be well defined. The member criteria must be clear enough and unique. To denote sets, we use capital letters such as A, B, or K. P = {names of football players} G = the set of teachers who teach grade VII R = {names of religious buildings in my village} I = the sets of names of fish in an aquarium

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Elements of a Set
Recall the set of football players. Each player who joins the club is called a member or an element of the set. A football trainer is not a member or an element of the set of football players. How about the football watchers, are they members of the set? If A = {SMP students of Year VII of your classmate}, then each student from Year VII of SMP at the same classroom as you is a member of set A. Of course every student from year VIII of SMP at your school is not a member of set A. Are the teachers who teach in your class the members of set A? Now consider set H = {names of days starting with letter S}. Do you know what days are elements of H? What days are not included in H? In Mathematics, to express symbol is used. Because Sunday is an element of H, we can write: Sunday H Meanwhile, Wednesday is not an element of H, so we can write: Wednesday H Now consider set A = {natural numbers less than five}. Here we can write: 1 A, 2 A, 3A 4 A, and 5 A, 7 A, 9 A, 11 A. element of a set, the symbol is used and to express not element of a set, the

Next, consider set P = {names of months starting with letter J}. Which of the following statements are correct? a. January P b. February P c. March P d. April P
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g. July P h. August P i. September P j. October P

e. May P f. June P

k. November P l. December P

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1. Determine whether the following conditions can or cannot form sets. a. Beautiful flowers b. SMP Students of Year VII having birthday on the 1st of July c. SMP teachers who are less than 40 years old d. The wise mathematics teachers e. The even numbers between 1 and 10 f. The prime numbers less than 20 g. The clever students of grade VII h. The kind parents i. The mathematics textbooks for SMP j. The smart people 2. Given P = {prime factor of 24}. Check whether the following statements are true or false. a. 1 P b. 5 P c. 9 P d. 2 P e. 6 P f. 11 P g. 3 P h. 7 P i. 12 P j. 4 P k. 8 P l. 24 P

3. Related to Real World

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Given M = {the names of provinces in Indonesia}. Check whether each of the following statements is true or false. a. Jakarta M b. East Java M c. East Timor M d. DIY M e. Jayapura M f. Banda Aceh M g. East Kalimantan M h. Banjarmasin M i. Ujung Pandang M j. Bali M k. Palembang M l. Maluku M

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