Mathematic Made Simple: Sets

Set:

A set is a collection of distinct and well defined objects.

The objects of which a set consists of are called its elements.

Representation of a Set:

A set is usually denoted by capital English Letters:

Eg A,B,C

A set is mainly represented in three ways

1.Tubular Method:

The members of a set are written within braces , for example:

A = ( 1,2,3,4,5,6,7)

2.Descriptive Method:

The members of a set are described in words  with regards to a common attribute in them for example

A = A set of natural numbers from 1 to 7

3.Set Builder Notation:

We use symbols to describe this set for example

.A = ( x I x is a natural number, 1   < x < 7 )

This can be explained as A is a set of all x such that xis a natural number from 1 to 7.

Common types of sets:

N = Set of natural numbers = ( 1,2,3,4,…….)

W= Set of whole numbers= (0,1,2,3,4,……..)

Z = Set of integers

Z+ Set of positive integers

Z- The set of negative integers

P= set of prime numbers = (2,3,5,7,11,13,……)

E = set of even integers

O Set of odd integers

Q = set of rational numbers