rd

Notes based on Chartrand, Polimeni & Zhang’s "Mathematical Proofs: A Transition to Advanced Mathematics" (3 Ed.)

Sets
Describing Sets
A set is a collection of objects called elements (or members) of the set.
If a is an element of a set S (we also say a belongs to S or a is in S or S contains a),
then we write a 2 S (if a is not an element of S we write a 62 S).
Unless stated otherwise, we will in general use capital letters (e.g. A; B; : : : ; X; Y ) for
sets and small letters (e.g. a; b; : : : ; x; y) for elements. (However, we shall see examples
of sets whose elements are themselves sets.)
A set that does not contain any element is called the empty (or null or void) set and
is denoted ; or fg :

List Notation

Some sets can be described by listing all their elements (the order in which
elements are listed is immaterial). For example, the set f2; 3; 5; 7g is the set of
all prime numbers less than 10:

Some sets can also be described by listing some of their elements and using an
ellipsis . . . (or ellipses) to indicate a pattern. For example, the set f1; 3; 5; : : : ; 99g
is the set of all odd positive integers less than 100; and f: : : ; 2; 1; 0; 1; 2; 3; : : :g
is the set Z of all integers.

Set-builder Notation
When a set S consists of elements x satisfying a certain property or condition p (x),
we write S = fx : p (x)g or S = fx j p(x)g : (We then say S is the set of all x such that
p (x) :)
For example, fx : x was a KFUPM studentg is the set of all persons who were KFUPM
students.
The set of all elements x of a set A that have property p (x) is written fx 2 A : p (x)g :

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For example, fx 2 N : x2 < 10g is the set f1; 2; 3g and fx 2 R : x > 0g is the set of all
positive real numbers (denoted R+ ).

Cardinality
The number of elements of a set S is called the cardinal number or cardinality (or
size) of S; it is denoted by jSj (or card (S)). We will discuss cardinality of in…nite sets
later on.

Examples
j;j = 0 and jf2; 3; 5; 7gj = 4:
Let A = fx 2 Z : x2 < 4g ; B = fx 2 Q : x2 = 2g : Then jAj = 3 and jBj = 0:
Let C = f0; 1; f0g ; f0; 1gg : Then jCj = 4:
A set S is …nite if jSj is a nonnegative integer. A set is in…nite if it is not …nite.

Subsets
If every element of a set A is an element of a set B we say that A is a subset of (or
is contained in) B and we write A B: (We also sometimes say B is a superset of A:)
If there is an element of a set A not in a set B; then we write A 6 B:

For example, ; N Z Q R C:

Let A be any set. Then ; A and A A: (We sometimes say that ; and A are the
trivial subsets of A:)
Also, for every a 2 A; we have fag A: (A set containing exactly one element is called
a singleton.)

Equality of Sets
Two sets A and B are equal (A = B) if and only if A B and B A: If two sets A
and B are not equal, we write A 6= B:

If a set A is a subset of a set B but A 6= B; then we say A is a proper subset of A

and we write A B: This means B contains an element that does not belong to A:

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Examples
1. Find two sets A and B such that A 2 B and A B.

Solution. Take A = ; and B = f;g :

2. Let A = f0; 1; f0g ; f0; 1gg : Is ff0; 1gg an element of A? Is it a subset of A?

Solution. Clearly ff0; 1gg is not an element of A. Since f0; 1g 2 A; it follows that
ff0; 1gg A.

Power Set
The set of all subsets of a set A is called the power set of A: It is denoted by P (A) :

Examples
1. P (;) = f;g ; P (P (;)) = f;; f;gg ; P (P (P (;))) = f;; f;g ; ff;gg ; f;; f;ggg.

2. If A = f0; 1; 2g ; then P (A) = f;; f0g ; f1g ; f2g ; f0; 1g ; f0; 2g ; f1; 2g ; Ag :

In general, for a …nite set S, jP (S)j = 2jSj :

Set Operations
Let A and B be sets.

The union of A and B is the set of all elements that are in A or in B: It is denoted
by A [ B: Thus A [ B = fx : x 2 A or x 2 Bg :

The intersection of A and B is the set of all elements that are in A and in B: It is
denoted by A \ B: Thus A \ B = fx : x 2 A and x 2 Bg :
If A \ B = ; we say that A and B are disjoint.

The di¤erence of A and B is the set of all elements that are in A but not in B: It is
denoted by AnB or A B: Thus A B = fx : x 2 A and x 62 Bg :

Note. Suppose that the sets discussed in a certain context are subsets of a set U: We
then refer to U as a universal set.

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[For example, we usually take R as the universal set when we discuss intervals (a; b) ;
(a; b]; ( 1; a); etc. We have (a; b) = fx 2 R : a < x < bg ; (a; b] = fx 2 R : a < x bg ;
( 1; a) = fx 2 R : x < ag ; etc.]

In a universal set U; the complement of the set A is U A and is denoted A: Thus

A = fx 2 U : x 62 Ag :

Note. The set di¤erence A B is also called relative complement of B in A: In

this case, A B = A \ B.

Properties of set operations will be discussed in a later chapter. However, we can

immediately make the following few observations.

For any sets A; B; C, we have:

A\B A A [ B:

If A B and B C; then A C:

Examples
1. For the (real) interval (a; b], we have (a; b] = ( 1; a] [ (b; 1) :
1 1
2. 62 N if U = Z, but 2 N if U = Q:
2 2

3. Exercise. Let U = f1; 2; 3g : Find two subsets A and B of U such that the sets:
A [ B; A [ B; A [ B; A [ B; A \ B; A \ B; A \ B; A \ B are all di¤erent.

Indexed Collections of Subsets

Let A1 ; A2 ; : : : ; An be sets. The union A1 [ A2 [ : : : [ An is the set of all elements
belonging to at least one of the Ai (1 i n). It can be written as [ni=1 Ai :
Similarly, the intersection A1 \ A2 \ : : : \ An is the set of all elements belonging to each
of the Ai (1 i n). It can be written as \ni=1 Ai :

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In general, given a nonempty set I (called index set) and a collection (called indexed
collection or indexed family) Ai (i 2 I) of sets, we have

[ \
Ai = fx : x 2 Ai for some i 2 Ig and Ai = fx : x 2 Ai for each i 2 Ig
i2I i2I

Examples
1. Let I = f1; 2; : : : ; 10g and Ai = fi; i + 2g (i 2 I) : Then
[
Ai = f1; 2; : : : ; 12g
i2I
\
Ai = ;
i2I

[
k
Ai = fj; j + 1; : : : ; k; k + 1; k + 2g = fn 2 N : j n k + 2g for 1 j<k 10;
i=j

S
2. Let An = [0; 1=n) for n 2 N: Then An = [0; 1) and
n2N
\
Ai = fx 2 R : 0 x < 1=n for every n in Ng = f0g :
n2N

Partitions
Let S be a set and let C be a collection of nonempty pairwise disjoint subsets of S. If
the union of the members of C is S, then we say C is a partition of S: This is equivalent
to saying: all members of C are nonempty subsets of S and every element of S is in
exactly one member of C:

Hence C is a partition of S if it satis…es the following conditions:

(i) 8A 2 C; A 6= ;
(ii) 8A; B 2 C; either A = B or A \ B = ;
S
(iii) S = A:
A2C

Example

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Let S = f1; 2; 3; 4; 5g : Then C1 = ff1g ; f2; 3; 4g ; f5gg is a partition of S
but C2 = ff1g ; ;; f2; 3; 4g ; f5gg, C3 = ff1g ; f2; 3; 4g ; f2; 5gg ; C4 = ff1g ; f2; 3g ; f5gg
are not. Note that jC1 j = 3:

Cartesian Products
The Cartesian product A B of sets A and B is the set of all ordered pairs (x; y)
such that x 2 A and y 2 B; i.e. A B = f(x; y) : x 2 A; y 2 Bg :
In the ordered pair (x; y) ; x (respectively y) is the …rst (respectively second) element
(or entry or coordinate or component).

Note that

If A = ; or B = ;; then A B=;

If A and B are …nite sets, then jA Bj = jAj jBj

In general, A B 6= B A.

Examples
1. Let A = fx; yg and B = f0; 1; 1g : Then A B = f(x; 0) ; (x; 1) ; (x; 1) ; (y; 0) ; (y; 1) ; (y; 1)g :

2. R R is the set of all points in the xy-plane.

3. For each real number r; let Ar = fr; r + 1g and S = fx 2 R : x2 + 2x 1 = 0g :

(a) Determine B = Ar At where r and t (r < t) are the distinct elements of S:
(b) Let C = fab : (a; b) 2 Bg : Find the sum of the elements in C:

Solution
p p
(a) The roots of x2 + 2x 1 = 0 are r = 2 1 and t = 2 1 (so that r < t).
p p p p
Hence Ar = 2 1; 2 and At = 2 1; 2 :
p p p p p p p p
We obtain B = 2 1; 2 1 ; 2 1; 2 ; 2; 2 1 ; 2; 2 :
p p
(b) C = 1; 2 2; 2 + 2; 2 : The sum of the elements of C is 7:

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