Chapter Notes – Sets, Relation and Functions
Set
A set is a well-defined collection of objects.
Representation of Sets
There are two methods of representing a set
- Roster or Tabular form In the roster form, we list all the members of the set within braces { } and separate by commas.
- Set-builder form In the set-builder form, we list the property or properties satisfied by all the elements of the sets.
Types of Sets
- Empty Sets: A set which does not contain any element is called an empty set or the void set or null set and it is denoted by {} or Φ.
- Singleton Set: A set consists of a single element, is called a singleton set.
- Finite and infinite Set: A set which consists of a finite number of elements, is called a finite set, otherwise the set is called an infinite set.
- Equal Sets: Two sets A and 6 are said to be equal, if every element of A is also an element of B or vice-versa, i.e. two equal sets will have exactly the same element.
- Equivalent Sets: Two finite sets A and 6 are said to be equal if the number of elements are equal, i.e. n(A) = n(B)
Subset
A set A is said to be a subset of set B if every element of set A belongs to set B. In symbols, we write
A ⊆ B, if x ∈ A ⇒ x ∈ B
Note:
- Every set is o subset of itself.
- The empty set is a subset of every set.
- The total number of subsets of a finite set containing n elements is 2n.
Intervals as Subsets of R
Let a and b be two given real numbers such that a < b, then
- an open interval denoted by (a, b) is the set of real numbers {x : a < x < b}.
- a closed interval denoted by [a, b] is the set of real numbers {x : a ≤ x ≤ b}.
- intervals closed at one end and open at the others are known as semi-open or semi-closed interval and denoted by (a, b] is the set of real numbers {x : a < x ≤ b} or [a, b) is the set of real numbers {x : a ≤ x < b}.
Power Set
The collection of all subsets of a set A is called the power set of A. It is denoted by P(A). If the number of elements in A i.e. n(A) = n, then the number of elements in P(A) = 2n.
Universal Set
A set that contains all sets in a given context is called the universal set.
Venn-Diagrams
Venn diagrams are the diagrams, which represent the relationship between sets. In Venn-diagrams the universal set U is represented by point within a rectangle and its subsets are represented by points in closed curves (usually circles) within the rectangle.
Operations of Sets
Union of sets: The union of two sets A and B, denoted by A ∪ B is the set of all those elements which are either in A or in B or in both A and B. Thus, A ∪ B = {x : x ∈ A or x ∈ B}.
Intersection of sets: The intersection of two sets A and B, denoted by A ∩ B, is the set of all elements which are common to both A and B.
Thus, A ∩ B = {x : x ∈ A and x ∈ B}
Disjoint sets: Two sets Aand Bare said to be disjoint, if A ∩ B = Φ.
Intersecting or Overlapping sets: Two sets A and B are said to be intersecting or overlapping if A ∩ B ≠ Φ
Difference of sets: For any sets A and B, their difference (A – B) is defined as a set of elements, which belong to A but not to B.
Thus, A – B = {x : x ∈ A and x ∉ B}
also, B – A = {x : x ∈ B and x ∉ A}
Complement of a set: Let U be the universal set and A is a subset of U. Then, the complement of A is the set of all elements of U which are not the element of A.
Thus, A’ = U – A = {x : x ∈ U and x ∉ A}
Some Properties of Complement of Sets
- A ∪ A’ = ∪
- A ∩ A’ = Φ
- ∪’ = Φ
- Φ’ = ∪
- (A’)’ = A
Symmetric difference of two sets: For any set A and B, their symmetric difference (A – B) ∪ (B – A)
(A – B) ∪ (B – A) defined as set of elements which do not belong to both A and B.
It is denoted by A ∆ B.
Thus, A ∆ B = (A – B) ∪ (B – A) = {x : x ∉ A ∩ B}.
Laws of Algebra of Sets – Class 11 Maths Notes
Idempotent Laws: For any set A, we have
- A ∪ A = A
- A ∩ A = A
Identity Laws: For any set A, we have
- A ∪ Φ = A
- A ∩ U = A
Commutative Laws: For any two sets A and B, we have
- A ∪ B = B ∪ A
- A ∩ B = B ∩ A
Associative Laws: For any three sets A, B and C, we have
- A ∪ (B ∪ C) = (A ∪ B) ∪ C
- A ∩ (B ∩ C) = (A ∩ B) ∩ C
Distributive Laws: If A, B and Care three sets, then
- A ∪ (B ∩ C) = (A ∪ B) ∩ (A ∪ C)
- A ∩ (B ∪ C) = (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C)
De-Morgan’s Laws: If A and B are two sets, then
- (A ∪ B)’ = A’ ∩ B’
- (A ∩ B)’ = A’ ∪ B’
Formulae to Solve Practical Problems on Union and Intersection of Two Sets
Let A, B and C be any three finite sets, then
- n(A ∪ B) = n(A) + n (B) – n(A ∩ B)
- If (A ∩ B) = Φ, then n (A ∪ B) = n(A) + n(B)
- n(A – B) = n(A) – n(A ∩ B)
- n(A ∪ B ∪ C) = n(A) + n(B) + n(C) – n(A ∩ B) – n(B ∩ C) – n(A ∩ C) + n(A ∩ B ∩ C)
Ordered Pair
An ordered pair consists of two objects or elements in a given fixed order.
Equality of Two Ordered Pairs
Two ordered pairs (a, b) and (c, d) are equal if a = c and b = d.
Cartesian Product of Two Sets
For any two non-empty sets A and B, the set of all ordered pairs (a, b) where a ∈ A and b ∈ B is called the cartesian product of sets A and B and is denoted by A × B.
Thus, A × B = {(a, b) : a ∈ A and b ∈ B}
If A = Φ or B = Φ, then we define A × B = Φ
Note:
- A × B ≠ B × A
- If n(A) = m and n(B) = n, then n(A × B) = mn and n(B × A) = mn
- If atieast one of A and B is infinite, then (A × B) is infinite and (B × A) is infinite.
Relations
A relation R from a non-empty set A to a non-empty set B is a subset of the cartesian product set A × B. The subset is derived by describing a relationship between the first element and the second element of the ordered pairs in A × B.
The set of all first elements in a relation R is called the domain of the relation B, and the set of all second elements called images is called the range of R.
Note:
- A relation may be represented either by the Roster form or by the set of builder form, or by an arrow diagram which is a visual representation of relation.
- If n(A) = m, n(B) = n, then n(A × B) = mn and the total number of possible relations from set A to set B = 2mn
Inverse of Relation
For any two non-empty sets A and B. Let R be a relation from a set A to a set B. Then, the inverse of relation R, denoted by R-1 is a relation from B to A and it is defined by
R-1 ={(b, a) : (a, b) ∈ R}
Domain of R = Range of R-1 and
Range of R = Domain of R-1.
Functions
A relation f from a set A to set B is said to be function, if every element of set A has one and only image in set B.
In other words, a function f is a relation such that no two pairs in the relation have the first element.
Real-Valued Function
A function f : A → B is called a real-valued function if B is a subset of R (set of all real numbers). If A and B both are subsets of R, then f is called a real function.
Some Specific Types of Functions
Identity function: The function f : R → R defined by f(x) = x for each x ∈ R is called identity function.
Domain of f = R; Range of f = R
Constant function: The function f : R → R defined by f(x) = C, x ∈ R, where C is a constant ∈ R, is called a constant function.
Domain of f = R; Range of f = C
Polynomial function: A real valued function f : R → R defined by f(x) = a0 + a1x + a2x2+…+ anxn, where n ∈ N and a0, a1, a2,…….. an ∈ R for each x ∈ R, is called polynomial function.
Rational function: These are the real function of type , where f(x)and g(x)are polynomial functions of x defined in a domain, where g(x) ≠ 0.
The modulus function: The real function f : R → R defined by f(x) = |x|
or

for all values of x ∈ R is called the modulus function.
Domaim of f = R
Range of f = R+ U {0} i.e. [0, ∞)
Signum function: The real function f : R → R defined
by f(x) = , x ≠ 0 and 0, if x = 0
or

is called the signum function.
Domain of f = R; Range of f = {-1, 0, 1}
Greatest integer function: The real function f : R → R defined by f (x) = {x}, x ∈ R assumes that the values of the greatest integer less than or equal to x, is called the greatest integer function.
Domain of f = R; Range of f = Integer
Fractional part function: The real function f : R → R defined by f(x) = {x}, x ∈ R is called the fractional part function.
f(x) = {x} = x – [x] for all x ∈R
Domain of f = R; Range of f = [0, 1)
Algebra of Real Functions
Addition of two real functions: Let f : X → R and g : X → R be any two real functions, where X ∈ R. Then, we define (f + g) : X → R by
{f + g) (x) = f(x) + g(x), for all x ∈ X.
Subtraction of a real function from another: Let f : X → R and g : X → R be any two real functions, where X ⊆ R. Then, we define (f – g) : X → R by (f – g) (x) = f (x) – g(x), for all x ∈ X.
Multiplication by a scalar: Let f : X → R be a real function and K be any scalar belonging to R. Then, the product of Kf is function from X to R defined by (Kf)(x) = Kf(x) for all x ∈ X.
Multiplication of two real functions: Let f : X → R and g : X → R be any two real functions, where X ⊆ R. Then, product of these two functions i.e. f.g : X → R is defined by (fg) x = f(x) . g(x) ∀ x ∈ X.
Quotient of two real functions: Let f and g be two real functions defined from X → R. The quotient of f by g denoted by is a function defined from X → R as
