Set Notation & Set Operations

By TARMath Published December 1, 2017 Sets

Videos are also on YouTube and will be embeded “soon”.

A set is a collection of objects. The object is a member or element of the set.

The roster method of writing a set encloses the list of elements in a set of braces { }, such as {1, 2, 3, 4} or {2, 4, 6, 8 }

The symbol ∈ means element of, i.e. x ∈ ℜ, means x is an element of the real numbers.

The symbol | means such that. This way we can list a set without stating every element. Example to be added later…

The empty set or null set is a set that contains no elements, ø or { }.

The union,

\cup

, of two sets, A

\cup

B, is the set that contains all the elements of set A & all the elements of set B, listing each element only once.

The intersection, ∩, of two sets, A ∩ B, is the set that contains the elements that are common to both of the sets.

A = {1, 3, 5, 6, 7} B = {3, 4, 6, 8, 9} C = {9, 10, 11 }

\cup

B = {1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}

A ∩ B = {3, 6}

A ∩ B = { } or ø

The use of set notation and operations makes it easier for everyone to quickly and easily see what items are being discussed.

For example, if we were to get ready to prepare taxes for someone, we would ask them to bring all their medical receipts for 2017. This set is very easy for us to understand. If instead you were to ask the person to bring their receipts for 2017 from individual places, you would have to know every place that they had a medical expenditure. If they do not have any receipts for medical expenses for 2017, it would be an empty set.

This same idea carries over into mathematical sets, and we use sets when we talk about solutions to equations and inequalities and other situations.

Notation used with Sets ~ Flash video ~ Mp4 (~ 4.4MG)
Set Defintions, Word Search Game
Set Defintions, Monkey Race
Set Notations, Matching Game
Set Notations, Board Game, different questions may appear
Set Notations, Dragon’s Lair
Descriptions of Sets ~ Flash video ~ Mp4 (~ 1.7MG)
Operatons on Sets ~ Flash video ~ Mp4 (~ 4MG)
Venn Diagrams ~ Flash video ~ Mp4 (~ 3.9MG)
Venn Diagram, Steps for filling in a Venn Diagram with 3 sets

Game Links on other sites ~ Play at your own risk, I have not had a chance to play with them.
CyberChase Logic Zoo ~ Game for kids – other students found this one helpful
Venn Diagrams ~ one application
Venn Diagrams ~ another application
Xp Math ~ variety of games and information

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