# Introduction to Sets

### Introduction to Sets

#### Introduction

• A set is a collection of elements, such as:
• A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
• A set does not have order:
• {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} is the same as {5, 4, 3, 2, 1}
• It is convenient to write the elements of a set in consecutive order, but this is only for convenience.
• Every element in a set is unique, multiples of the same element are ignored:
• The set {1, 2, 2} has a size of 2, and is the same as {1, 2}

#### Notation

• It is common for sets to be denoted by a uppercase letter, and for its elements to be wrapped in curly braces:k
LaTeX:\mathbf{A} = \{ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 \}
• Sets can also be defined using set builder notation:
• A rule is used to show which elements are members of the set:
• The set A defined above would contain all even integers between 0 and 2000.
• The format of the rule is: (formula: conditions) or (formula| conditions).
• If it is not specified as a condition, then it is assumed that a is a real number.

#### Elements in a set

• Elements in a set are usually represented by a lowercase letter.
• To demonstrate that an element is part of a set, we use the set membership symbol:
LaTeX:\mathbf{a} \in \mathbf{A}
• This can also be done with proper elements:
LaTeX:\1 \in \{ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 \}
• To show that an element is not part of a set, we use the 'not member of' symbol:
LaTeX:6 \notin \{ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 \}

#### Length of a set

• The length of a set is defined as the number of elements it contains.
• It is denoted by surrounding the set by a pair of vertical lines:

#### The Empty Set

The Empty Set (or Null Set) is a set containing no items. It is represented by the empty set symbol:

LaTeX:\varnothing = \{\}

#### code (Python)

A = frozenset([1, 2, 3, 4, 5])

print(1 in A) # prints 'True'
print(6 not in A) # prints 'True'