Mathematics for IT Unit 1

Unit 1 Set Theory

Structure:
1.1 Introduction
Objectives
1.2 Sets and their Representations
1.3 The Empty Set
1.4 Finite and Infinite Sets
1.5 Equal and Equivalent Sets
1.6 Subsets
1.7 Power Set
1.8 Universal Set
1.9 Venn Diagrams
1.10 Complement of a Set
1.11 Operations on Sets
1.12 Applications of Sets
1.13 Cartesian Product of Sets
1.14 Summary
1.15 Terminal Questions
1.16 Answers

1.1 Introduction
The concept of set is basic in all branches of mathematics. It has proved to
be of particular importance in the foundations of relations and functions,
sequences, geometry, probability theory etc. The study of sets has many
applications in logic philosophy, etc.
The theory of sets was developed by German mathematician Georg Cantor
(1845 – 1918 A.D.). He first encountered sets while working on problems on
trigonometric series. In this unit, we discuss some basic definitions and
operations involving sets.
Objectives:
At the end of the unit you would be able to
 understand the concept of sets
 perform the different operations on sets
 write the Power set of a given set

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1.2 Sets and their Representations

In every day life, we often speak of collection of objects of a particular kind
such as pack of cards, a herd of cattle, a crowd of people, cricket team, etc.
In mathematics also, we come across various collections, for example,
collection of natural numbers, points in plane, prime numbers, etc. More
specially, we examine the collections:
i) Odd natural numbers less than 10, i.e., 1, 3, 5, 7, 9
ii) The rivers of India
iii) The vowels in the English alphabet, namely a, e, i , o, u
iv) Prime factors of 210, namely 2, 3, 5 and 7
v) The solutions of a equation x2 – 5x + 6 = 0 viz, 2 and 3
We note that each of the above collections is a well defined collection of
objects in the sense that we can definitely decide whether a given object
belongs to a given collection or not. For example, we can say that the river
Nile does not belong to collection of rivers of India. On the other hand, the
river Ganga does belong to this collection. However, the following
collections are not well defined:
i) The collection of bright students in Class XI of a school
ii) The collection of renowned mathematicians of the world
iii) The collection of beautiful girls of the world
iv) The collection of fat people
For example, in (ii) above, the criterion for determining a mathematician as
most renowned may vary from person to person. Thus, it is not a well
defined collection.
We shall say that a set is a well defined collection of objects. The following
points may be noted:
i) Objects, elements and members of a set are synonymous terms.
ii) Sets are usually denoted by capital letters A, B, C, X, Y, Z etc.
iii) The elements of a set are represented by small letters a, b, c, x, y, z
etc.
If a is an element of a set A, we say that ‘a belongs to A’. The Greek symbol
 is used to denote the phrase ‘belongs to’. Thus, we write   A. If b is not
an element of a set A, we write b  A and read ‘b does not belong to A’.
Thus, in the set V of vowels in the English alphabet, a  V but l  V. In the
set P of prime factors of 30, 3  P but 15  P.
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There are two methods of representing a set:

i) Roster or tabular form
ii) Set builder form.
i) In roster form, all the elements of a set are listed, the elements being
separated by commas and are enclosed within braces { }. For example,
the set of all even positive integers less than 7 is described in roster
form as {2, 4, 6}. Some more examples of representing a set in roster
form are given below:
a) The set of all natural numbers which divide 42 is {1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 14, 21, 42}.
Note that in roster form, the order in which the elements are listed is
immaterial. Thus, the above set can also be represented as
{ 1, 3, 7, 21, 2, 6, 14, 42}.
b) The set of all vowels in the English alphabets is {a, e, i, o, u}.
c) The set of odd natural numbers is represented by {1, 3, 5,. . .}. The
three dots tell us that the list is endless.
It may be noted that while writing the set in roster form an element is
not generally repeated, i.e., all the elements are taken as distinct.
For example, the set of letters forming the word “SCHOOL” is
{S, C, H, O, L}.
ii) In set builder form, all the elements of a set possess a single common
property which is not possessed by any element outside the set. For
example, in the set “{a, e, i, o, u}” all the elements possess a common
property, each of them is a vowel in the English alphabet and no other
letter possesses this property. Denoting this set by V, we write
V = {x : x is a vowel in the English alphabet}.
It may be observed that we describe the set by using a symbol x for
elements of the set (any other symbol like the letters y, z etc. could also be
used in place of x). After the sign of ‘colon’ write the characteristic property
possessed by the elements of the set and then enclose the description
within braces. The above description of the set V is read as ‘The set of all
x such that x is a vowel of the English alphabet’. In this description the
braces stand for ‘the set of all’, the colon stands for ‘such that’.
For example, the following description of a set
A = {x : x is a natural number and 3 < x < 10)

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is read as “the set of all x such that x is a natural number and 3 < x < 10”.
Hence, the numbers 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are the elements of set A.
If we denote the sets described above in (a), (b) and (c) in roster form by A,
B and C, respectively, then A, B and C can also be represented in set
builder form as follows
A = {x : x is a natural number which divides 42}
B = {y : y is a vowel in the English alphabet}
C = {z : z is an odd natural number}.
Example: Write the set of all vowels in the English alphabet which precede q.
Solution: The vowels which precede q are a, e, i, o. Thus A = {a, e, i, o} is
the set of all vowels in the English alphabet which precede q.

Example: Write the set of all positive integers whose cube is odd.

Solution: The cube of an even integer is also an even integer. So, the
members of the required set can not be even. Also, cube of an odd integer
is odd. So, the members of the required set are all positive odd integers.
Hence, in the set builder form we write this set as {x : x is an odd positive
integer} or equivalently as
{2k + 1 : k  0, k is an integer}

Example: Write the set of all real numbers which can not be written as the
quotient of two integers in the set builder form.

Solution: We observe that the required numbers can not be rational

p
numbers because a rational number is a number in the form , where p, q
q
are integers and q  0. Thus, these must be real and irrational. Hence, in set
builder form we write this set as
{x : x is real and irrational}

1 2 3 4 5 6 
Example: Write the set  , , , , ,  in the set builder form.
2 3 4 5 6 7 
Solution: Each member in the given set has the denominator one more
than the numerator. Also, the numerators begin from 1 and do not exceed 6.
Hence, in the set builder form the given set is

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 n 
x : x  , n is a natural number and 1  n  6
 n1 
Example: Match each of the sets on the left described in the roster form
with the same set on the right described in the set builder form:
i) { L, I, T, E) a) {x : x is a positive integer and is a divisor of 18}
ii) {0) b) {x : x is an integer and x2 – 9 = 0}
iii) {1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18} c) {x : x is an integer and x + 1 = 1}
iv) {3, – 3} d) {x : x is a letter of the word LITTLE}
Solution: Since in (d), there are six letters in the word LITTLE and two
letters T and L are repeated, so (i) matches (d). Similarly (ii) matches (c) as
x + 1 = 1 implies x = 0. Also, 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18 are all divisors of 18. So,
(iii) matches (a). Finally, x2 – 9 = 0 implies. x = 3, –3. So, (iv) matches (b).
Example: Write the set {x : x is a positive integer and x2 < 40} in the roster
form.
Solution: The required numbers are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. So, the given set in the
roster form is {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}.

1.3 The Empty Set

We will understand this concept with the help of example.
Consider the set {x : x is an integer, x2 + 1 = 0}. We know that there is no
integer whose square is –1. So, the above set has no elements.
We now define set B as follows:
B = {x : x is a student presently studying in both Classes X and XI}.
We observe that a student cannot study simultaneously in both Classes X
and XI. Hence, the set B contains no element at all.
Consider the set
A = {x : x is a student of Class XI presently studying in a school}
We can go to the school and count the number of students presently
studying in Class XI in the school. Thus, the set A contains a finite number
of elements.

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Definition: A set which does not contain any element is called the empty
set or the null set or the void set.
According to this definition B is an empty set while A is not. The empty set is
denoted by the symbol ‘’. We give below a few examples of empty sets.
i) Let P = {x: 1 < x < 2, x is a natural number }.
Then P is an empty set, because there is no natural number between
1 and 2.
ii) Let Q = {x : x2 - 2 = 0 and x is rational}.
Then, Q is the empty set, because the equation x2 - 2 = 0 is not satisfied
by any rational number x.
iii) Let R = {x : x is an even prime number greater than 2}
Then R is the empty set, because 2 is the only even prime number.
iv) Let S = {x : x2 = 4, and x is an odd integer}. Then, S is the empty set,
because equation x2 = 4 is not satisfied by any value of x which is an
odd integer.

1.4 Finite and Infinite Sets

Let A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5), B = {a, b, c, d, e, f} and C = {men in the world}.
We observe that A contains 5 elements and B contains 6 elements. How
many elements does C contain ? As it is, we do not know the exact number
of elements in C, but it is some natural number which may be quite a big
number. By number of elements of a set A, we mean the number of distinct
elements of the set and we denote it by n(A). If n(A) is some finite number,
then A is a finite set, otherwise the set A is said to be an infinite set. For
example, consider the set, N, of natural numbers. We see that n(N), i.e., the
number of elements of N is not finite since there is no natural number which
equals n(N). We, thus, say that the set of natural number is an infinite set.
Definition: A set which is empty or consists of a definite number of
elements is called finite. Otherwise, the set is called infinite.
We shall denote several set of numbers by the following symbols:
N : the set of natural numbers
Z : the set of integers
Q : the set of rational numbers

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R : the set of real numbers

+
Z : the set of positive Integers
+
Q : the set of positive rational numbers
+
R : the set of positive real numbers
We consider some examples:
i) Let M be the set of days of the week. Then M is finite.
ii) Q, the set of all rational numbers is infinite.
iii) Let S be the set of solution (s) of the equation x2 - 16 = 0. Then S is finite.
iv) Let G be the set of all points on a line. Then G is infinite.
When we represent a set in the roster form, we write all the elements of the
set within braces { }. It is not always possible to write all the elements of an
infinite set within braces { } because the number of elements of such a set is
not finite. However, we represent some of the infinite sets in the roster form
by writing a few elements which clearly indicate the structure of the set
followed (or preceded) by three dots.
For instance, {1, 2, 3, 4, ... } is the set of natural numbers, {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, .. . }
is the set of odd natural numbers and {..., – 3, –2, –1, 0, 1, 2, 3, ... } is the
set of integers. But the set of real numbers cannot be described in this form,
because the elements of this set do not follow any particular pattern.

1.5 Equal and Equivalent Sets

Given two sets A and B. If every element of A is also an element of B and if
every element of B is also an element of A, the sets A and B are said to be
equal. Clearly, the two sets have exactly the same elements.
Definition: Two sets A and B are said to be equal if they have exactly the
same elements and we write A = B. Otherwise, the sets are said to be
unequal and we write A  B
We consider the following examples:
i) Let A = {1, 2, 3, 4, } and B = {3, 1, 4, 2).
Then A = B.
ii) Let A be the set of prime numbers less than 6 and P the set of prime
factors of 30. Obviously, the set A and P are equal, since 2, 3 and 5
are the only prime factors of 30 and are less than 6.

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Let us consider two sets L = {1, 2, 3, 4} and M = {1, 2, 3, 8}. Each of them
has four elements but they are not equal.
Definition: Two finite sets A and B are said to be equivalent if they have the
same number of elements. We write A  B.
For example, let A = {a, b, c, d, e} and B = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}. Then A and B are
equivalent sets.
Obviously, all equal sets are equivalent, but all equivalent sets are not
equal.
Example: Find the pair of equal sets, if any, giving reasons:
A = {0}, B = {x : x > 15 and x < 5}, C = {x : x - 5 = 0}, D = {x:x2 = 25}
E = {x : x is a positive integral root of the equation x2 – 2x – 15 = 0}
Solution: Since 0  A and 0 does not belong to any of the sets B, C, D and
E. Therefore, A  B, A  C, A  D, A  E. B =  but none of the other sets
are empty. Hence B  C, B  D and B  E. C = {5}, since {5, –5}  D, hence
C  D. Since E = {5}, C = E. D = {–5, 5} and E = {5}. Therefore D  E. Thus,
the only pair of equal sets are C and E.

1.6 Subsets
Consider the sets S and T, where S denotes the set of all students in your
school and T denotes the set of all students in your class. We note that
every element of T is also an element of S. We say that T is a subset of S.
Definition: If every element of a set A is also an element of a set B, then A
is called a subset of B or A is contained in B. We write it as A  B.
If at least one element of A does not belong to B, then A is not a subset of
B. We write it as A  B.
We may note that for A to be a subset of B, all that is needed is that every
element of A is in B. It is possible that every element of B may or may not be
in A. If it so happens that every element of B is also in A, then we shall also
have B  A. In this case, A and B are the same sets so that we have A  B
and B  A which implies A = B.

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It follows from the definition that every set A is a subset of itself, i.e., A  A.
Since the empty set  has no elements, we agree to say that  is a subset of
every set. We now consider some examples
i) The set Q of rational numbers is a subset of the set R of real numbers
and we write Q  R.
ii) If A is the set of all divisors of 56 and B the set of all prime divisors of
56, then B is a subset of A, and we write B  A.
iii) Let A = {1, 3, 5} and B = {x : x is an odd natural number less than 6},
then A  B and B  A and hence A = B.
iv) Let A = {a, e, i, o, u}, B = {a, b, c, d}. Then A is not a subset of B. Also
B is not a subset of A. We write A  B and B  A.
v) Let us write down all the subsets of the set {1, 2}. We know  is a
subset of every set. So  is a subset of {1, 2}. We see that {1}, {2} and
{l, 2} are also subsets of {1,2}. Thus the set {1,2} has, in all, four
subsets, viz. , {1}, {2} and {1,2}.

Definition: Let A and B be two sets. If A  B and A  B, then A is called a

proper subset of B and B is called a superset of A. For example, A= {1, 2, 3}
is a proper subset of B = {1, 2, 3, 4}.
Definition: If a set A has only one element, then we call it a singleton set.
Thus {a } is a singleton.

1.7 Power Set

In example (v) of Section 1.6, we found all the subsets of the set {1, 2}, viz.,
, {1}, {2} and {1, 2}. The set of all these four subsets is called the power set
of {1, 2}.
Definition: The collection of all subsets of a set A is called the power set of
A. It is denoted by P(A). In P(A), every element is a set.
Example (v) of section 1.6, if A = {1, 2}, then P(A)={, {1}, {2}, {1,2}}. Also,
note that, n[P(A)] = 4 = 22.
In general, if A is a set with n(A) = m, then it can be shown that
n[P(A)] = 2m > m = n(A).

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1.8 Universal Set

If in any particular context of sets, we find a set U which contains all the sets
under consideration as subsets of U, then set U is called the universal set.
We note that the universal set is not unique.
For example, for the set Z of all integers, the universal set can be the set Q
of rational numbers or, for that matter, the set R of real numbers.
For another example, in the context of human population studies, the
universal set consists of all the people in the world.
Example: Consider the following sets : , A = {1, 3), B = {1, 5, 9},
C = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}, Insert the correct symbol  or  between each pair of sets
(i)  — B, (ii) A — B (iii) A — C (iv) B — C.
Solution:
i)   B as  is a subset of every set.
ii) A  B as 3  A and 3  B.
iii) A  C as 1, 3  A also belongs to C.
iv) B  C as each element of B also belongs to C.
Example: Let A = {1, 2, 3, 4}, B = {1, 2, 3} and C = {2, 4}. Find all sets X
such that
(i) X  B and X  C (ii) X  A and X  B.
Solution:
i) X  B means that X is a subset of B, and the subsets of B are , {1}, {2},
{3}, {1,2}, {1,3}, {2,3} and {1,2,3} . X  C means that X is a subset of C,
and the subsets of C are , {2}, {4} and {2, 4}. Thus, we note that X  B
and X  C means that X is a subset of both B and C. Hence, X = , {2}.
ii) X  A, X  B means that X is a subset of A but X is not a subset of B.
So, X is one of these {4}, {1,2,4}, {2,3,4}, {l,3,4}, {1,4}, {2,4}, {3,4},
{1,2,3,4}.
Note: A set can easily have some elements which are themselves sets. For
example, {1, {2,3}, 4} is a set having {2,3} as one element which is a set and
also elements 1,4 which are not sets.
Example: Let A, B and C be three sets. If A  B and B  C, is it true that
A  C? If not, give an example.

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Solution: No. Let A = {1}, B = C = { { 1 }, 2}. Here A  B as A = {1} and

B = C implies B  C. But A  C as 1  A and 1  C.
Note that an element of a set can never be a subset of it.

1.9 Venn Diagrams

Most of the relationships between sets can be represented by means of
diagrams. Figures representing sets in the form of enclosed region in the
plane are called Venn diagrams named after British logician John Venn
(1834 –1883 A.D.). The universal set U is represented by the interior of a
rectangle. Other sets are represented by the interior of circles.

Fig. 1.1

Fig. 1.1 is a Venn diagram representing sets A and B such that A  B.

Fig. 1.2

In Fig.1.2, U = {1, 2, 3, ..., 10} is the universal set of which A = {2,4,6,8,10}

and B = {4,6} are subsets. It is seen that B  A. The reader will see an
extensive use of the Venn diagrams when we discuss the operations on
sets.

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1.10 Complement of a Set

Let the universal set U be the set of all prime numbers. Let A be the subset
of U which consists of all those prime numbers that are not divisors of 42.
Thus A = { x : x  U and x is not a divisor of 42}. We see that 2  U but
2A, because 2 is a divisor of 42. Similarly 3  U but 3A, and 7  U but
7  A. Now 2, 3 and 7 are the only elements of U which do not belong to A.
The set of these three prime numbers, i.e., the set {2, 3, 7} is called the
complement of A with respect to U, and is denoted by A. So we have
A = {2, 3, 7}. Thus, we see that A = {x : x U and x  A). This leads to the
following definition.
Definition: Let U be the universal set and A is a subset of U. Then the
complement of A with respect to (w.r,t.) U is the set of all elements of U
which are not the elements of A. Symbolically, we write A to denote the
complement of A with respect to U. Thus A = {x:xU and x A}. It can be
represented by Venn diagram as

Fig. 1.3

The shaded portion in Fig. 1.3 represents A.

Example: Let U = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10} and A= {1,3,5,7,9}. Find A.
Solution: We note that 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 are the only elements of U which do
not belong to A. Hence A = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}.
Example: Let U be the universal set of all the students of Class XI of a
co-educational school. Let A be the set of all girls in the Class Xl. Find A.

Solution: As A is the set of all girls, hence A is the set of all boys in the
class.

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1.11 Operations on Sets

In earlier classes, you learnt how to perform the operations of addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division on numbers. You also studied certain
properties of these operations, namely, commutativity, associativity,
distributivity etc. We shall now define operations on sets and examine their
properties. Henceforth, we shall refer all our sets as subsets of some
universal set.
a) Union of Sets: Let A and B be any two sets. The union of A and B is
the set which consists of all the elements of A as well as the elements of B,
the common elements being taken only once. The symbol ‘’ is used to
denote the union. Thus, we can define the union of two sets as follows.
Definition: The union of two sets A and B is the set C which consists of all
those elements which are either in A or in B (including those which are in
both).

Symbolically, we write A  B = {x:x A or x  B} and usually read as

‘A union B’.
The union of two sets can be represented by a Venn diagram as shown in
Fig. 1.4.

Fig. 1.4

The shaded portion in Fig. 1.4 represents A  B.

Example: Let A = {2, 4, 6, 8} and B = {6, 8, 10, 12}. Find A  B.

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Solution: We have A  B = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12}.

Note that the common elements 6 and 8 have been taken only once while
writing A  B.

Example: Let A = {a, e, i, o, u} and B = {a, i, u}. Show that A  B = A.

Solution: We have A  B = {a, e, i, o, u} = A.

This example illustrates that the union of a set A and its subset B is the set
A itself, i.e., if B  A , then A  B = A.
Example: Let X = {Ram, Shyam, Akbar} be the set of students of Class XI
who are in the school Hockey team. Let Y = {Shyam, David, Ashok} be the
set of students from Class XI who are in the school Football team. Find
X  Y and interpret the set.
Solution: We have X  Y = {Ram, Shyam, Akbar, David, Ashok}. This is the
set of students from Class XI who are either in the Hockey team or in the
Football team.
Example: Find the union of each of the following pairs of sets:
i) A = {1, 2, 3, 4}; B = {2, 3, 5}
ii) A = {x : x  Z+ and x2 > 7}; B = {1, 2, 3}
iii) A = {x : x  Z+ }; B = {x : x  Z and x < 0}
iv) A = {x : x  N and 1 < x  4}; B = {x:x N and 4 < x < 9}
Solution:
i) A  B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
ii) A = {3, 4, 5,... }, B = {1, 2, 3}. So, A  B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5,... } = Z+
iii) A={1, 2, 3,. . .}, B ={x:x is a negative integer} = {-1,-2,…}. So
A  B={x:x  Z, x  0} = {…,-2,-1,1,2,…}.
iv) A = {2, 3, 4}, B = {5, 6, 7, 8}. So, A  B = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}.
b) Intersection of Sets: The intersection of sets A and B is the set of all
elements which are common to both A and B. The symbol  is used to
denote the intersection.
Thus, we have the following definition.
Definition: The intersection of two sets A and B is the set of all those
elements which belong to both A and B. Symbolically, we write

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A  B = {x:x  A and x  B} and read as ‘A intersection B’.

The intersection of two sets can be represented by a Venn diagram as
shown in Fig. 1.5.

Fig. 1.5

The shaded portion represents A  B.

If A  B = , then A and B are said to be disjoint sets. For example, let

A = {2, 4, 6, 8} and B = {1, 3, 5, 7}. Then, A and B are disjoint sets, because
there is no element which is common to A and B. The disjoint sets can be
represented by Venn diagram as shown in Fig. 1.6.

Fig. 1.6

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Example: Let A = {2, 4, 6, 8} and B = {6, 8, 10, 12}. Find A  B.

Solution: We see that 6, 8 are the only elements which are common to both
the sets A and B. Hence A  B = {6, 8}.
Example: Let X = {Ram, Shyam, Akbar} be the set of students of Class XI
who are in the school Hockey team. Let Y = {Shyam, David, Ashok} be the
set of students from Class XI who are in the school Football team. Find
X  Y.
Solution: We see that the element “Shyam” is the only element common to
both the sets X and Y. Hence, X  Y = { Shyam }.
SAQ 1: Let A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10} and B = {2, 3, 5, 7}. Find A  B
and prove that A  B = B.
SAQ 2: Let A = {x : x  Z+} ; B = {x : x is a multiple of 3, x  Z}:

C = {x:x is a negative integer}; D = {x:x is an odd integer}. Find (i) A  B,

(ii) A  C, (iii) A  D, (iv) B  C, (v) B  D, (vi) C  D.
c) Difference of Sets: The difference of sets A and B, in this order, is the
set of elements which belong to A but not to B. Symbolically, we write
A — B and read as ‘A difference B’. Thus A — B = {x : x  A and x  B} and
is represented by Venn diagram in Fig.1.7. The shaded portion represents
A — B.

Fig. 1.7

SAQ 3: Let V = {a, e, i, o, u} and B = {a, i, k, u}. Find V – B and B – V.

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SAQ 4: Let A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} and B = {2, 4, 6, 8}. Find A – B and

B – A.

1.12 Applications of Sets

Let A and B be finite sets. If A  B = , then
n(A  B) = n(A) + n(B) (1)
The elements in A  B are either in A or in B but not in both as
A  B = . So (1) follows immediately.
In general, if A and B are finite sets, then
n(A  B) = n(A) + n(B) – n(A  B) (2)

Fig. 1.8

Note that the sets A – B, A  B and B – A are disjoint and their union is
A  B (Fig 1.8). Therefore

n(A  B) = n(A – B) + n(A  B) + n(B – A)

= n(A – B) + n(A  B) + n(B – A) +n(A  B) – n(A  B)
= n(A) + n(B) – n(A  B).
which verifies (2).
If A, B and C are finite sets, then
n(A  B  C) = n(A) + n(B) + n(C) –n(A  B) –n(B  C)
– n(A  C) + n(A  B  C) (3)
In fact, we have
n[A  (B  C)] = n(A) + n(B  C) – n(A  (B  C ))
[by (2)]
= n(A) + n(B) + n(C) – n(B  C) – n (A  (B  C)) [by (2)]

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Since A  (B  C) = (A  B)  (A  C), we get

n[A  (B  C)] = n[(A  B)  (A  C)]
= n(A  B) + n (A  C) – n[A  B  A  C)] {by (1)}
= n(A  B) + n (A  C) – n[A  B  C)]
Therefore
n(A  B  C) = n(A) + n(B) + n(C) – n(B  C) – n(A  B)
– n(A  C) + n(A  B  C).
This proves (3).
Example: If X and Y are two sets such that n(X  Y) = 50, n(X) = 28 and
n(Y) = 32, find n(X  Y).
Solution: By using the formula
n(X  Y) = n(X) + n(Y) – n(X  Y),
we find that
n(X  Y) = n(X) +n(Y) – n(X  Y)
= 28 + 32 –50 = 10..
Alternatively, suppose n(X  Y) = k, then

Fig. 1.9

n(X – Y) = 28 – k, n(Y – X) = 32 – k. (by Venn diagram in Fig 1.9)

This gives 50 = n(X  Y) = (28 – k) + k + (32 – k).
Hence, k = 10
Example: In a school there are 20 teachers who teach mathematics or
physics. Of these, 12 teach mathematics and 4 teach physics and
mathematics. How many teach physics?

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Solution: Let M denote the set of teachers who teach mathematics and
P denote the set of teachers who teach physics. We are given that
n(M  P) = 20, n(M) = 12, n(M  P) = 4. Therefore
n(P) = n(M  P) – n(M) + n(M  P) = 20 – 12 + 4 = 12.
Hence, 12 teachers teach physics.
SAQ 5: In a group of 50 people, 35 speak Hindi, 25 speak both English and
Hindi and all the people speak at least one of the two languages. How many
people speak only English and not Hindi ? How many people speak
English?

1.13 Cartesian Product of Sets

Let A, B be two sets. If a  A, b  B, then (a, b) denotes an ordered pair
whose first component is a and the second component is b. Two ordered
pairs (a, b) and (c, d) are said to be equal if and only if a = c and b = d.
In the ordered pair (a, b), the order in which the elements a and b appear in
the bracket is important. Thus (a, b) and (b, a) are two distinct ordered pairs
if a ≠ b. Also, an ordered pair (a, b) is not the same as the set {a, b}.
Definition: The set of all ordered pairs (a, b) of elements a  A , b  B is
called the Cartesian Product of sets A and B and is denoted by A x B. Thus
A  B = {(a, b): a  A, b  B}.

Let A = {a1, a2}, B = {b1, b2, b3}. To write the elements of A x B, take a1  A
and write all elements of B with a1, i.e., (a1, b1), ( a1, b2), (a1, b3). Now take
a2 ε A and write all the elements of B with a2, i.e., (a2, b1), (a2, b2), (a2, b3).
Therefore, A x B will have six elements, namely, (a1, b1), (a1, b2), (a1, b3),
(a2, b1), (a2, b2), (a2, b3).
Remarks:
i) If A =  or B = , then A  B = .
ii) If A ≠  and B ≠ , then A  B ≠ . Thus, A  B ≠  if and only if A ≠ 
and B ≠ . Also, A  B ≠ B  A.
iii) If the set A has m elements and the set B has n elements, then A  B
has mn elements.
iv) If A and B are non-empty sets and either A or B is an infinite set, so is
A x B.

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v) If A = B, then A  B is expressed as A2.

vi) We can also define, in a similar way, ordered triplets. If A, B and C are
three sets, then (a ,b, c), where a  A, b  B and c  C, is called an
ordered triplet. The Cartesian Product of sets A, B and C is defined as
A  B  C = {(a, b, c): a  A, b  B, c  C}. An ordered pair and ordered
triplet are also called 2-tuple and 3-tuple, respectively. In general, if
A1, A2,.. ., An are n sets, then (a1,a2,..., an) is called an n-tuple where
ai  Ai, i = 1, 2,…,n and the set of all such n-tuples, is called the
Cartesian product of A1, A2, ……, An. It is denoted by A1 x A2 x. . .x An.
Thus
A1  A2  …..  An = {(a1, a2, …. an): ai  Ai, 1 i  n}}.
Example: Find x and y if (x + 2, 4) = (5, 2x + y).
Solution: By definition of equal ordered pairs, we have
x+2=5 (1)
2x + y = 4 (2)
Solving (1) and (2), we get x = 3, y = –2.
Example: Let A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {4, 5}. Find A x B and B x A and show
that A  B ≠ B  A.
Solution: We have
A  B = {(1, 4), (1, 5), (2, 4), (2, 5), (3, 4), (3, 5)}
and B  A = {(4, 1), (4, 2), (4, 3), (5, 1), (5, 2), (5, 3)}
Note that (1, 4)  A  B and (1, 4)  B  A. Therefore, A  B ≠ B  A.
Example: Let A = {1, 2, 3}, B = {3, 4} and C = {4, 5, 6}. Find
i) A  (B  C) ii) (A  B)  (A  C)
iii) A  (B  C) iv) (A  B)  (A  C)
Solution:
i) We have B  C = {4}. Therefore, A x (B  C) = {(1, 4), (2, 4), (3, 4)}.
ii) We note that
A  B = {(1, 3), (1, 4), (2, 3), (2, 4), (3, 3), (3, 4)}
and A  C = {(1, 4), (1, 5), (1, 6), (2, 4), (2, 5), (2, 6), (3, 4), (3, 5), (3, 6)}
Therefore (A  B)  (A  C) = {(1, 4), (2, 4), (3, 4)}.
iii) Clearly B  C = {3, 4, 5, 6}. Thus

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A  (B  C) = {(1, 3), (1, 4), (1, 5), (1, 6), (2, 3), (2, 4), (2, 5), (2, 6), (3, 3),
(3, 4), (3, 5), (3, 6)}
iv) In view of (ii), we see that
(A  B)  (A  C) = {(1, 3), (1, 4), (1, 5), (1, 6), (2, 3), (2, 4), (2, 5), (2, 6),
(3, 3), (3, 4), (3, 5), (3, 6)}.
In view of the assertion in above Example , we note that
A  (B  C) = (A  B)  (A  C)
and A  (B  C) = (A  B)  (A  C).
SAQ 6: Let A and B be two sets such that n(A) = 5 and n(B) = 2.
If (a1, 2), (a2, 3), (a3, 2), (a4, 3), (a5, 2) are in A  B and a1, a2, a3, a4 and
a5 are distinct. Find A and B.

1.14 Summary
This unit tells us about sets and their representations. We study the
concepts of Empty sets, Finite and Infinite sets, Equal sets, universal sets.
All the concepts discussed is well illustrated by standard examples. The
different operations on sets like complement of Set, Operation on Sets and
Applications of sets are also discussed here.

1.15 Terminal Questions

1. Which of the following pairs of sets are equal ? Justify your answer.
i) A, the set of letters in “ALLOY” and B, the set of letters in “LOYAL”
ii) A = {n : n  Z and n2  4} and B = {x:x  R and x2 – 3x + 2 = 0} .
2. State which of the following sets are finite and which are infinite:
i) {x : x  N and (x – 1) (x – 2) = 0}
ii) {x : x  N and x2 = 4}
iii) {x : x  N and 2x – 1 = 0 }
iv) {x : x  N and x prime}
v) {x : x  N and x odd}

3. If A and B are two non-empty sets such that A  B = B  A, show that

A=B

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1.16 Answer
Self Assessment Questions
1. We have A  B = {2, 3, 5, 7} = B.

We note that if B  A , then A  B = B.

2. A = {x:x is a positive integer}, B = {3n : n  Z}; C = {x:x is a negative

integer}; D = {x:x is an odd integer}.
i) A  B = {3, 6, 9, 12,...} = {3n:n  Z+}.
ii) A  C = 
iii) A  D = {1, 3, 5, 7,...}
iv) B  C = {– 3, –6, –9,. . . } = {3n : n is a negative integer}
v) B  D = {. . ., –15, –9, –3, 3, 9, 15,...}
vi) C  D = {–1, –3, –5, –7,...}
3. We have V – B = {e, o}, since the only elements of V which do not
belong to B are e and o. Similarly B – V = {k}
4. We have A – B = {1, 3, 5}, as the only elements of A which do not
belong to B are 1, 3 and 5. Similarly, B – A = {8}.
We note that A – B  B –A
5. Let H denote the set of people speaking Hindi and E the set of people
speaking English. We are given that n(H  E) = 50, n(H) = 35,
n(H  E) = 25. Now
n(H  E) = n(H) + n(E – H).
So 50 = 35 + n(E – H), i.e. , n(E – H) = 15.
Thus, the number of people who speak only English but not Hindi is 15.
Also, n(H  E) = n(H) + n(E) – n(H  E) implies
50 = 35 + n(E) – 25,
which gives n(E) = 40.
Hence, the number of people who speak English is 40.
6. Since a1, a2, a3, a4, a5  A and n(A) = 5, A = {a1, a2, a3, a4, a5}. Also 2, 3
 B and n(B) = 2. Therefore, B = {2, 3}.

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Terminal Quesitons
1. i) A = {A, L, L, O, Y}, B = {L, O, Y, A, L}. Then A, B are equal sets as
repetition of elements in a set do not change a set. Thus
A = {A, L, O, Y} = B.
ii) A = {–2, –1, 0, 1, 2,}, B = (1, 2). Since 0  A and 0 B, A and B are
not equal sets.
2. i) Given set = {1, 2}. Hence, it is finite.
ii)Given set = {2}. Hence, it is finite.
iii)Given set = . Hence, it is finite.
iv) The given set is the set of all prime numbers and since the set of
prime numbers is infinite, hence the given set is infinite.
v) Since there are infinite number of odd numbers, hence the given set
is infinite

3. Let a  A. Since B ≠ , there exists b  B. Now, (a, b)  A  B = B  A

implies a  B. Therefore, every element in A is in B giving A  B.
Similarly, B  A. Hence A = B.

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