Section 3.

1- Set Theory & Set Relations

Set: collection of numbers or objects. We use the { } brackets (I often
refer to these as curly braces) to denote a set, and each element of the
set is separated by a comma.
e.g. {2, 3, 5, 7, 11}
e.g. {a, e, i, o, u}

SET NOTATION- Quick Reference

Sets are denoted with a capital letter. The items, names, objects or numbers are
enclosed by { } .
is the symbol denoting is an element of. is the symbol denoting is not an element
of
ex. A = {all even numbers}, therefore 3 A
The bar symbol | is read such that
ex. F = {x| x is odd} would be read F is the set of all x, such that x is odd.
U

denotes the universal set- general set

The empty set { }, also called the null set, is a set with no elements and is written as

denotes is a subset of- subset of A is a set whose elements are also elements of
A.
denotes is a proper subset of- a subset of A that is not equal to A
intersection (and)- The intersection of sets A and B is the set containing the
elements that shared by sets A and B (the overlap).
union (or)- The union of sets A and B is the set you get when you combine all the
elements of set A and B into a single set.
A the complement of the set A- The complement of set A is the set of all the
elements in the universal set that are not in set A.
AB, A/B, A-B- All of the elements of set A that are not elements of set B
n(A) the number of elements in the finite set A

A number set with a superscript of + includes only the _____________

number set.
Create an example_______________________________________

members of the

 Containment and Shared Properties

The symbol

is the notation for

Similarly, the symbol

_______

is the notation for

N
M
e.g. If
{2, 3, 5, 7, 11} and
{3, 6, 9, 10}, then are the following
statements true or false?

(a)

5 M

(b)

11 N

(c)

2 M

(d)

8 N

Sets like
and
above have finite numbers of elements, and thus are called
______________________________________. We can count the number of elements in a finite
n M
set, and would use the notation

to represent the number of elements in the set

n M
=_______________
We can use set builder notation to represent some sets of numbers.
A x | x , 2 x 4

means the set of all

including

and

such that

is an integer between

A x | x , 2 x 7

e.g. Given

(a) list the elements of set

n A
(b) find

and

(c) Represent

using interval notation.

B x | x , x 3 AND x 1

e.g. Given

(a) list the elements of set

n B

(b) find

Subsets

Set B is a __________________of set A if all elements in set B are contained in set A.

Every set is a subset of ______________________.

ex. ________ is a subset of ___________because every integer is also a real number
denotes is a subset of
denotes is not a subset of
Set B is a _____________________________________of set A if all the elements of B are
contained in set A,

but the two sets are not the same. A set IS _________________ a

proper subset of itself.

denotes is a proper subset of
denotes is not a proper subset of
ex. Let A = {green, yellow, blue}
The following are subsets of A:

The following are proper subsets of A:

Union, Intersection, Compliments

P Q

is the notation for the _________________________ of sets

get when you combine all the elements of

Q
and

, and is the set you

Q
and

into a single set.

P Q

is the notation for the ______________________________________ of sets

the set made up of all elements which are in both

Q
and

, and is

Q
and

(the overlap).

If two sets have no common elements, then their intersection is the

___________________________ set and we say
that the sets are_____________________________________________

M 2,3,5, 7,8,9
e.g. Given

N 3, 4, 6,9,10
,

, and

(a) list the elements of

(c) Are

(b) list the elements of

disjoint sets? Explain.

(d) list the elements of

(M N ) L

(L N ) M

U
The symbol

M N

N
and

(e) list the elements of

M N

L={1,2,3, 7, 8,10 }

is used to represent a universal set. If set

is a subset of this universal set

AU
(so

), then the

__________________________ of set
are not in set

e.g.

, denoted as

U
, is the set made up of all elements of

A A

e.g.

A A

n A
e.g.

that