
P1: FXS/ABE P2: FXS
9780521740524c06.xml CUAU021-EVANS August 22, 2008 22:4
164 Essential Mathematical Methods1&2CAS
By a set we mean a collection of objects. The objects that are in the set are known as
elements or members of the set. If x is an element of a set A we write x ∈ A. This can also be
read as ‘x is a member of the set of A’or‘x belongs to A’or‘x is in A’.
The notation x /∈ A means x is not an element of A.For example:
2 /∈ set of odd numbers
Set B is called a subset of set A, if and only if
x ∈ B implies x ∈ A
To indicate that B is a subset of A,wewrite B ⊆ A.
This expression can also be read as ‘B is contained in A’or‘A contains B’.
The set of elements common to two sets A and B is called the intersection of A and B and is
denoted by A ∩ B. Thus x ∈ A ∩ B if and only if x ∈ A and x ∈ B.
If the sets A and B have no elements in common, we say A and B are disjoint, and write
A ∩ B = Ø. The set Ø is called the empty set.
The union of sets A and B, written A ∪ B,isthe set of elements that are either in A or in B.
This does not exclude objects that are elements of both A and B.
Example 1
For A = {1, 2, 3, 7} and B = {3, 4, 5, 6, 7}, find:
a A ∩ B b A ∪ B
Solution
a A ∩ B = {3, 7} b A ∪ B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}
In Example 1, 3 ∈ A and 5 /∈ A and {2, 3} ⊆ A.
Finally we introduce the set difference of two sets A and B:
A \ B ={x: x ∈ A, x /∈ B}
A \ B is the set of elements of A that are not elements of B.For sets A and B in Example 1,
A \ B = {1, 2} and B \ A = {4, 5, 6}.
Sets of numbers
We begin by recalling that the elements of {1, 2, 3, 4, . . .} are called the natural numbers and
the elements of {...,−2, −1, 0, 1, 2,...} are called integers.
The numbers of the form
p
q
, with p and q integers, q = 0, are called rational numbers.
The real numbers which are not rationals are called irrational (e.g. and
√
2).
The rationals may be characterised by the property that each rational number may be written
as a terminating or recurring decimal.
The set of real numbers will be denoted by R.
The set of rational numbers will be denoted by Q.
Cambridge University Press • Uncorrected Sample Pages •
2008 © Evans, Lipson, Wallace TI-Nspire & Casio ClassPad material prepared in collaboration with Jan Honnens & David Hibbard