Set theory

 A set is a collection of well-defined objects called elements or members of the set.

 Capital letters A , B , X , Y ,…. are used to denote sets while lowercase letters a , b , x , y
… are used to denote elements of sets.
 Examples
The set of the days of the week (note capital letters are used for sets)
A  Sunday, Monday, Tuesday,Wenesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Another example is B as the set of possible states of a switch
B  off , on
Another example might be the set of binary digits
C  0,1
 Membership in a set is denoted as follows:
To state that an element belongs to a particular set we use the symbol  , this symbol
meaning is ‘is a member of’. Thus for the set A above
Sunday  A
Indicates that Sunday is a member of set A . The symbol  is used to indicate that an
element is not a member of a particular set . Thus for set C above
2C .
Example
a  A and read as a is an element of set A .
a  A and read as a is not an element of set A
e.g A  a, e, i, o, u
a  A and b  A
 The number of elements in a set is called its cardinality. The cardinality of set A is
denoted by n A or Car  A or A or # A .

Specifying sets
There are essentially two ways.
(i) Listing of elements or members separated by commas and enclosed in a curly
bracket   e.g A  1,3,5,7,9, B  1, 2, 3,..., 20
(ii) State the property which characterize the elements of the set e.g
A  x : x is an odd a positive int eger, x  10
B  x : x is an odd int eger

C  x : x 2  3x  2  0 
NB

 Elements of a set can be arranged in any order i.e C  1, 2, 3  2, 3, 1  1, 3, 2
 No repetition is allowed i.e D  1, 2, 3, 1  1, 2, 3
  Finite set is a set having countable elements e.g A  1, 2, 3..., 100
 Infinite se is a set having uncountable elements e.g A  1, 2, 3,...

Terminologies use in set theory

1. Subset
 Suppose every element of a set A is also an element of another set B i.e suppose a  A
implies a  B , then A is called a subset of B . We also say that “ A is contained in B ”
or “ B contains A ”.
 This is written as
A  B and read as A is a subset of B
B  A and read as B contains A
 Two sets are equal if they both have the same elements or equivalently if each is
contained in the other i.e A  B if and only if iff  A  B and B  A .

 If A is not a subset of B i.e at least one element of A doesn’t belong to be B , we write

A  B.

Example

Consider the sets A  1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, B  1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and C  1, 3.

Then C  A and C  B since 1 and 3 , the elements of C are also members of A and B .

But B  A since some elements of B e.g 2 and 5 do not belong to A .

Similarly , A  B since some elements of A e.g 7 , 8 and 9 do not belong B .
Property I
 The statement A  B does not exclude the possibility that A  B . In fact, for every set
A , A  A.
 However if A  B and A  B , then we say that A is a proper subset of B , written
A  B.
Property II
Suppose every element of A belongs to a set B and every element of B belongs to a set C .
Then clearly every element of A also belong to C i.e if A  B and B  C , then A  C .

Notations

 N  Set of natural numbers  1, 2, 3, ...

 Z  Set of all integers  ...,4,3,2,1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4,...
 1 1 1 1
 Q  Set of rational numbers   , , , 
 4 3 2 5
 1 1
   Set of real numbers  1, 7 ,3, , 
 3 4
 C  Set of complex numbers
We therefore observe that N  Z  Q    C

2. Universal set
 All sets under investigation in any application of set theory are assumed to belong to some large
fixed set called the universal set , usually denoted by  .
3. Empty/ Null/ Void set
 Given a universal set  and a property say P , there may not be any elements of  having the
desired property P e.g the following set has no elements :

S  x : x is apositive int eger, x 2  3 
 A set with no elements is called an empty set and is denoted by  or  .
 The empty set is also regarded as a subset of every other set.
i.e   A  
4. Disjoint sets
 Two sets A and B are disjoint if they have no elements in common. For example
A  1, 2 , B  4, 5, 6 and C  5, 6, 7, 8, then A and B are disjoint as are A
and C . B and C are not disjoint as they have elements 5 and 6 in common.

5. Singleton
 A set having exactly one element e.g. B  4

Set operations
1. Union
The union of two sets A and B , denoted by A  B is the set of all elements which
belong to A or B , i.e.
A  B  x : x  A or x  B 
Example
Let A  1, 2, 3, 4 and B  3, 4, 5, 6, 7 , then A  B  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
2. Intersection
The intersection of two sets A and B , denoted by A  B is the set of elements which
belong to both A and B , i.e.
A  B  x : x  A and x  B 
Example
Let A  1, 2, 3, 4 and B  3, 4, 5, 6, 7 , then A  B  3, 4 .
3. Absolute Complement
 All sets under consideration are subsets of a fixed universal set  . The complement of a set
A , denoted by A C , is the set of elements which belong to  but do not belong to A i.e.
AC  x : x   and x  A.
Example
Let   1, 2, 3,...., 100 and A  1 ,2, 3, 4, then AC  5, 6,7,....., 100.
4. Difference
The set difference of two sets A and B denoted by A \ B or A  B is the set of elements
which belong to A but do not belong to B i.e.
A \ B  x : x  A and x  B.
Example
Let A  1, 2, 3, 4 and B  3, 4, 5, 6, 7 , then A \ B  1, 2 and B \ A  5, 6, 7 .
5. Symmetric difference
The symmetric difference of sets of sets A and B , denoted by AB or A  B is the set of
elements which belong to A or B but not both i.e.
A  B  x : x  A or x  B, x   A  B 
Example

Let A  1, 2, 3, 4 and B  3, 4, 5, 6, 7 , then A  B   A \ B   B \ A  1, 2, 5, 6, 7.

Example 1.
List the elements of the following sets.

i) A  x : x  , 3  x  9
ii) 
B  x : x  , x 2  1  10 
iii) C  x : x  , x is odd,  5  x  5
iv) 
D  x : x  , x 2  3x  2  0 
v) E  x : x  , 3  x  12
vi) F  x : x  , x is even, x  15
vii) H  x : x  , 4  x  3

Solution

i) A  4, 5, 6, 7, 8
ii) Solving for the equation
x 2  1  10
x2  9
x  3
 B  3 since  3  
iii) C  1, 3
iv) Solving the quadratic equation
 x 2  3x  2  0
x  1x  2  0
x  1 or 2

 D  1,2

v) E  3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

vi) F  2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14
vii) Solving the equation
4 x 3
x  1
 G    or  since  3  

Example 2
Use set notation to describe the set of x values where x is a member of the set of:

(i) Real numbers that lie in the range 0 to 4 , including 0 and 4 .

(ii) Real numbers that lie in the range  3 to  5 , including  3 and 5 .
(iii) Whole numbers that lie in the range 0 to 6 , including 0 and 6

Solution

i) x : x   and 0  x  4
ii) x : x   and  3  x  5
iii) x : x   and 0  x  6
Example 3

Let U  1, 2, 3,.., 9 , A  1, 2, 3, 4, B  2, 4, 6, 8 and C  3, 4, 5, 6 be sets.

Find

(i) A B
(ii) A B
(iii) A B C
(iv) A B C
(v) AC
(vi)  A  B  C C
(vii)  A  B  C C
(viii) A\ B
(ix) A B
(x)  A  B   B  C 
(xi) n A  B   B  C 
Solution

(i) A  B  1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8
(ii) A  B  2, 4
(iii) A  B  C  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8
(iv) A  B  4
(v) AC   \ A  5, 6, 7, 8, 9
(vi)  A  B  C C   \  A  B  C   7, 9
(vii)  A  B  C C   \  A  B  C   1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
(viii) A \ B  1, 3
(ix) A  B   A \ B   B \ A  1, 3 6,8  1, 3, 6, 8
(x)  A  B  B  C   1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8  2, 3, 4, 6, 8
(xi) n A  B   B  C   5
Example 4

For the following sets , determine A  B , A  B and A  B .

(i) A  b, c, d , e , B  d , e, f , g
(ii) A  x : x   and 0  x  3, B  x : x   and  1  x  1
(iii) A  x : x   and 1  x  9, B  x : x   and 5  x  12
Solution

(i) A  B  b, c, d , e, f , g
A  B  d , e
A  B   A \ B   B \ A  b, c  f , g  b, c, f , g
(ii) A  B   1, 0, 1, 2, 3 A  B  0, 1
A  B   A \ B   B \ A  2,3  1   1, 2, 3
(iii) A  B  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 A  B  5, 6, 7, 8, 9
A  B   A \ B   B \ A  1, 2, 3, 4 10, 11, 12  1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12
Exercises.

1. For the following sets , determine A  B , A  B and A  B .

(i) A  1, 2, 3, 4, B  3, 4, 5, 6
(ii) A  x : x   and 0  x  5 , B  x : x   and  1  x  3
(iii) A  x : x   and 2  x  9, B  x : x   and 5  x  13
(iv) A  x : x   and 0  x  2, B  x : x   and 1  x  3
2. Use set notation to describe the set of x values where x is a member of the set of:
(i) Real numbers that lie in the range 0 to 1 , including 0 and 1 .
 (ii) Real numbers that lie in the range  3 to  3 , including  3 and 3 .
(iii) Whole numbers that lie in the range 0 to 3 , including 0 and 3 .
3. Show that  A  B   A C  B C if   1, 2, 3,...,8, 9, A  1,2,3,4 , B  2, 4, 6, 8.
C

4. Let  be the set of all students in a college. Let A be the set of all students taking mathematics
course and B be the set of students taking calculus course. Describe the following:
(i) A B
(ii) A B
(iii) A B
(iv) BA
5. The sets A , B and C are subsets of the  . They are defined as follows
  positive int egers less than 16
A  prime numbers
B   factors of 36
C  multiples of 4
Find:
(i) A B C
(ii) A B C
(iii) A B
B \ A  C 
C
(iv)
6. Let U  x : 1  x  17, x   . P , Q and R are subsets of  such that
P  multiples of four, Q   factors of 36 and R  square numbers .
List the elements of:
(i) U
(ii) P
(iii) Q
(iv) R
(v) P Q R
(vi) Describe in words the set P  Q .
7. Let   positive int egers less than 15 , X  multiples of 2, Y  multiples of 3.
Find:
(i) X Y
(ii) X Y
(iii) X Y
(iv)  X  Y C
8. The universal set  is defined as the se of positive integers less than 10 . The subsets A and
B are defined as follows:
A  int egers that are multiples of 3
A  int egers that are factors of 30
Find:
 (i)  A  B C
(ii) AC  B C
9. A company makes products A , B and C from a number of basic components. A requires
components a , b and c . B requires b , d and e . C requires components a and f .
Determine (a) A  B , (b) A  B  C and explain what is meant by these sets.

Classes of sets

 Given a set S ,we might wish to talk about some of its subsets. Thus we would be
considering a “set of sets”. Whenever such a situation arises we speak of a class or
collection or family of sets rather than a set of sets
Example

Consider A  1, 2, 3, 4

a) Let B be the class of subsets of A which contains exactly three elements of A . Then
B  1,2,3, 1,2,4, 1,3,4, 2,3,4
i.e. the elements of B are 1,2,3, 1,2,4 , 1,3,4 and 2,3,4. (Cardinality of 4).
b) Let C be the family of subsets of A each which contains 2 and two other elements of A . Then
C  1,2,3, 1,2,4, 2,3,4
i.e. the elements of C are 1,2,3, 1,2,4 and 2,3,4. (Cardinality of 3).

Power sets

 For a given set S , the power set of S is the set of all subsets of S , denoted by PS  .
 The number of elements of PS  is given by 2 n , where n is the cardinality of S .

Example 1.

Let S  a, find PS  .

Solution

n  1, PS    , a

PS  has 21  2 elements

Example 2

Let A  1,2 , find P A .

Solution

P A   , 1, 2, 1,2 or P A   , 1, 2, A

Example 3
Let A  1,2,3 , find P A .

Solution

Let P A   , 1, 2, 3, 1,2, 1,3, 2,3, 1,2,3 or P A   , 1, 2, 3, 1,2, 1,3, 2,3, A .

Exercises
Find the power sets of the following:

(i) A  a, b, c
(ii) A  a, b, c, d 
(iii) A  a, b, c, d 
(iv) A  1, 1,3
(v) A   , 1,2,3
(vi) A  a, b, c, d , e
(vii) A  1,2,3,4,5
Venn diagram
Definition

 A Venn diagram is a graph made of two or more circles contained in a universe that is used to
show the relationships between sets.
 A Venn diagram is a pictorial representation of sets.
 The universal set  is represented by the rectangle while the circles represent sets.
 A set is a collection of things or objects.
 The universe is a collection of all the things that can be members of the set in a Venn diagram.
Examples

A B

A B
AC

A \ B or A  B

B \ A or B  A
 …

A  B   A \ B   B \ A

 A  B C
A B C

A B C

 A  B  C C

B  A  C 
 A  B   B  C 

Exercises
1. Shade the region represented by the following on a Venn diagram.
a) AC  B
b) A  B  A  C 
c)  A  B    A  C 
d) Given W  V ,shade the regions;
(i) V C W C
(ii) W V
(iii) W V
(iv) V C W
(v) WC
(vi) W C V
 2. On a Venn diagram shade the region represented by;
(i) B  A  C C
(ii) C  B   A
(iii) 
C  A  BC 
(iv) C  A  B  C

(v) A  B A  C 
C

(vi) C
A  B   C
C

3. Represent by Venn diagrams;

(i) AC  B C
(ii)  A  B C
(iii) A  B C

(iv) AC  B C
(v)  A  B C
Exercises.

1. Given   1, 2, 3, 4, 5 6, 7, 8, 9, X  1, 2, 6, 7 and Y  1, 3, 4, 5, 8.

Draw a Venn diagram to illustrate  X  Y  .
C
(i)
Find  X  Y 
C
(ii)

Solution

 First, fill in the elements for X  Y  1

 Fill in the other elements for X and Y and for 
 Shade the region outside X  Y to indicate  X  Y 
C
 X Y

2 3

6 1

7
8
9

 We can see from the Venn diagram that  X  Y   9

C

2. Given   x : 1  x  10, x is an int eger , A  The set of odd numbers,

B  The set of factors of 24 and C  3,10.
(a) Draw a Venn diagram to show the relationship.
(b) Using the Venn diagram or otherwise, find:
(i)  A  B C
(ii)  A  C C
(iii)  A  B  C C
Solution

A  1,3,5,7,9, B  1,2,3,4,6,8 and C  3,10

 First, fill in the elements for A  B  C  3 , A  B  1,3, A  C  3,

B  C  3 and then the other elements.
 2
4

6
8

5 3

7 10

 We can see from the Venn diagram that

 A  B C  10 ,  A  C C  2,4,6,8 ,  A  B  C C    or 
The inclusion-exclusion principle
1. Let A and B be any finite sets. Then n A  B   n A  nB   n A  B  . That is to find the
number of element in the union A  B , we add n A and nB  ,and then we subtract n A  B 
. That is ‘include’ n A and nB  , and we ‘exclude’ n A  B  . This follows from the fact that ,
when we add n A and nB  , we have counted the elements of A  B twice. This principle
holds for any number of sets.
2. For any finite sets A , B and C we have
n A  B  C   n A  nB   nC   n A  B   n A  C   n A  B   n A  B  C 

That is we ‘include’ n A , nB  , nC  , we ‘exclude’ n A  B  , n A  C  , nB  C  and we

include n A  B  C  .

Example.

Consider A  1,2,3,4 , B  2, 5, 1and C  7, 8, 5, 1, 2. Then

 n A  4 , nB   3 , nC   5 , n A  B   2 , n A  C   2 , nB  C   3 , n A  B  C   2
and

n A  B  C   n A  nB   nC   n A  B   n A  C   nB  C   n A  B  C 

 435223 2
7

Check : A  B  C  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 , then n A  B  C   7

NOTE: If A and B are disjoint finite sets, then A  B is finite and n A  B   n A  nB  e.g.
A  1, 2, 3, 4, B  7, 8, 9, then n A  B   n A  nB   4  3  7

Check: A  B  1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, then n A  B   7

Examples

1. Among 1000 personal computer users, it was found that 375 have a scanner and 450 have a
DVD player attached to their personal computer. Moreover 150 had both devices.
(i) Draw a Venn diagram to represent the above information.
(ii) How many had either a scanner or a DVD player?
(iii) How many had neither device?
Solution
(i)

S D

225 150
55 300

325

(ii) 225  150  300  675 or

 nS  D   nS   nD   nS  D   375  450  150  675

(iii)  
325 or n S  D C  325
2. A travel agent in Nairobi surveyed 100 people who had visited the cities of Mombasa and Kitale.
The results were given below:
30 people had visited Mombasa.
26 people had visited Kitale.
12 people had visited both Mombasa and Kitale.
Required:
(i) Present the above information in a Venn diagram.
(ii) The number of people who had visited Mombasa or Kitale.
(iii) The number of people who had visited Kitale but not Mombasa.
(iv) The number of people who had visited only one of the two cities.
(v) The number of people who had visited neither of the two cities.
Solution
(i)

M
K

18
12
14

56

(ii) 18  12  14  44 or nM  K   nM   nK   nM  K   30  26  12  44 .

(iii) 12
(iv) 18  14  32
(v)  
56 or n M  K C  56

3. In a class of 50 students. 30 study Mathematics, 18 study Electronics, 26 study Accounting, 9

study Mathematics and Electronics, 16 study Mathematics and Accounting, 8 study Electronics
and Accounting. 47 study at least one of the three subjects.
(i) How many study none of the three of the three subjects?
 (ii) How many study all of the three subjects?
(iii) Present the information in a Venn diagram.
(iv) How many students study Mathematics or Electronics but not Accounting?
(v) How many students study Mathematics and Electronics but not Accounting?
(vi) How many students study exactly one subject?
(vii) How many students study exactly two subjects?
Solution.

(i) 
n M  E  A
C
  n  nM  E  A  50  47  3
nM  E  A  nM   nE   n A  nM  E   nM  A  nE  A  nM  E  A
(ii) 47  30  18  26  9  16  8  nM  E  A
nM  E  A  6
(iii)

11

10 3

E
8 2 7

3
 (iv) 21
(v) 3
(vi) 26
(vii) 15
Exercises.

1. A group of 191 students , of which 10 are taking French , Business, and Music; 36 are taking
French and Business; 20 are taking French and Music; 18 are taking Business and Music; 65
are taking French; 76 are taking Business; and 63 are taking music.
(i) How many are taking French and Music but not Business?
(ii) How many are taking Business and neither French nor Music?
(iii) How many are taking none of the three subjects?
(iv) How many are taking French or Business or both?
(v) How many are taking at least one of the three subjects?
(vi) How many are taking exactly one of the three subjects?
(vii) How many are taking exactly two of the three subjects?
2. In an examination , 70% of the candidates passed in Mathematics, 73% passed in Physics, and
64% passed in both subjects. If 63 candidates failed in both subjects, use a Venn diagram to find
the total number of candidates who appeared at the examination.
3. 500 people were asked about their morning vitamin intake. It was found that 150 take vitamin
B , 200 take vitamin C , 165 take vitamin E , 57 take both B and C , 125 take both B and E ,
82 take both C and E , and 52 take all three vitamins.
(i) Draw a Venn diagram for the above information.
(ii) How many people take both B and E but do not take C ?
(iii) How many take none of these vitamins?
4. 100 people were surveyed to find out whether newspaper advertisements or flyers were more
efficacious in advertising supermarket specials. 20 of them said they pay no attention to either
medium. 50 said they read the flyers, and 15 of those said they also check newspapers. How
many use the newspaper advertisement in total?
5. 1865 voters were surveyed about a new highway. Of them , 805 were in favor of financing it
with a new tax, 627 favored toll on the highway , while 438 said they would vote in favor of
either measure.
(i) How many favor taxes but not tolls?
(ii) How many favor tolls but not taxes?
(iii) How many would vote against either form of funding?
6. A shopping mall contains K-Mart, Walmart and Target stores. In a survey of 100 shoppers, it is
found that:
 47 shopped at Walmart.
 61 shopped at K-Mart.
 52 shopped at Target.
 32 shopped at both Walmart and K-Mart.
 35 shopped at both K-Mart and Target.
 22 shopped at both Walmart and Target.
 12 shopped at all three stores.
 (i) How many people shopped only at Walmart?
(ii) How many shopped at Walmart and K-Mart, but not at Target?
(iii) How many people shopped at exactly one of the stores?
(iv) How many people shopped at none of the three stores?
7. Sixty people were asked about news magazines. It was found that 32 read Newsweek regularly ,
25 read Time and 20 read US News and World Report. 9 read both Time and US News and
World Report, 11 read both Newsweek and Time, and 8 read both Newsweek and US News and
World Report. 8 of the people do not read any of the magazines.
(i) How many read all three magazines?
(ii) Represent the data in a Venn diagram?
(iii) How many people read exactly one of the three magazines?
8. A survey on a sample of 25 new cars being sold at a local auto dealer was conducted to see
which of the three popular options, air-conditioning (A) , radio (R) ,and power windows (W)
were already installed . The survey found that:
 15 had air-conditioning.
 12 had radio.
 5 had air-conditioning and power windows.
 9 had air conditioning and radio.
 4 had radio and power windows.
 3 had all the three options.
 2 had no option.
Find the number of cars that had:
(i) Only power windows.
(ii) Only air-conditioning
(iii) Only radio.
(iv) Radio and power windows but not air-conditioning.
(v) Air-conditioning and radio but not power windows.
(vi) Only one of the options.
9. A survey of 2000 students in Strathmore showed that 500 students played squash , 480 played
rugby and 760 students played chess. The number that played squash and rugby is 240 ,the
number that played squash and chess is 200 number that played rugby and chess is 300 .Only
100 played all the three.
(i) Illustrate this information by use of a Venn diagram.
(ii) How many students played exactly two of the three?
(iii) How many students played none of the games?
10. In a group of fifty students, the number of students studying French, English and Sanskrit were as
follows: French  17 , English  13 and Sanskrit  15 . French and English  9 ,
English and Sanskrit  4 , French and Sanskrit  5 . Given that twenty students do not
take any of the three, determine:
(i) nF  S  \ E 
(ii) nE  S  \ F 
(iii) At least one of the three languages.
(iv) F S E