Operations on Sets

Now that we have an idea about what a set is, we can move on to understand how to work with them. Is there a way to merge two sets together? What is the intersection of sets and how do we find the intersection of two sets? Should we even be allowed to add two sets together? Here we will find out all the answers!

Operations on Sets

Operations on Sets

Unlike the real world operations, mathematical operations do not require a separate no-contamination room, surgical gloves, and masks. But certainly, expertise to solve the problem, special tools, techniques, and tricks as well as knowledge of all the basic concepts are required to obtain a solution. Following are some of the operations that are performed on the sets: –

Union
Intersection
Difference
Complement
Let’s deal with them one by one.

Union of Sets
Let A = {2, 4, 6, 8} and B = {6, 8, 10, 12}. Then, A U B is represented as the set containing all the elements that belong to both the sets individually. Mathematically,

A U B = {x : x ϵ A or x ϵ B}

So, A U B = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12},

here the common elements are not repeated.

Properties of (A U B)
Commutative law holds true as (A U B) = (B U A)
Associative law also holds true as (A U B) U {C} = {A} U (B U C)
Let A = {1, 2} B = {3, 4} and C = {5, 6}
A U B = {1, 2, 3, 4} and (A U B) U C = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
B U C = {3, 4, 5, 6} and A U (B U C) = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
Thus, the law holds true and is verified.

A U φ = A (Law of identity element)
Idempotent Law – A U A = A
Law of the Universal set (U): (A U U) = U


Intersection of Sets
An intersection is the collection of all the elements that are common to all the sets under consideration. Let A = {2, 4, 6, 8} and B = {6, 8, 10, 12} then A ∩ B or “A intersection B” is given by:

“A intersection B” or A ∩ B = {6, 8}

Mathematically, A ∩ B = {x : x ϵ A and x ϵ B}

Properties of the Intersection – A ∩ B
The intersection of the sets has the following properties:

Commutative law – A ∩ B = B∩ A
Associative law – (A ∩ B)∩ C = A ∩ (B∩ C)
φ ∩ A = φ
U ∩ A = A
A∩ A = A; Idempotent law.
Distributive law – A ∩ (BU C) = (A ∩ B) U (A ∩ C)
Difference of Sets
The difference of set A and B is represented as:

A – B = {x : x ϵ A and x ϵ B}

Conversely, B – A = {x : x ϵ A and x ϵ B}

Let, A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} and B = {2, 4, 6, 8} then A – B = {1, 3, 5} and B – A = {8}. The sets (A – B), (B – A) and (A ∩ B) are mutually disjoint sets; it means that there is NO element common to any of the three sets and the intersection of any of the two or all the three sets will result in a null or void or empty set.


Complement of Sets
If U represents the Universal set and any set A is the subset of A then the complement of set A (represented as A’) will contain ALL the elements which belong to the Universal set U but NOT to set A.

Mathematically, A’ = U – A

Alternatively, the complement of a set A, A’ is the difference between the universal set U and the set A.

Properties of Complement Sets
A U A’ = U
A ∩ A’ = φ
De Morgan’s Law – (A U B)’ = A’ ∩ B’ OR (A ∩ B)’ = A’ U B’
Law of double complementation : (A’)’ = A
φ’ = U
U’ = φ
Hence, these are the basic concepts and operations on Sets.



This article was originally published on The toppr. Read the original article.

Source:
https://www.toppr.com/guides/maths/sets/operations-on-sets/