So the answer to the posed question is a resounding yes. It takes an introduction to logic to understand this, but this statement is one that is "vacuously" or "trivially" true.Ī good way to think about it is: we can't find any elements in the empty set that aren't in A, so it must be that all elements in the empty set are in A. Going back to our definition of subsets, if every element in the empty set is also in A, then the empty set is a subset of A. We won't define it any more than that, it could be any set. So let's go back to our definition of subsets. So what's so weird about the empty set? Well, that part comes next. Some other examples of the empty set are the set of countries south of the south pole. This is known as the Empty Set (or Null Set).There aren't any elements in it. "But wait!" you say, "There are no piano keys on a guitar!"Īnd right you are. This is probably the weirdest thing about sets.Īs an example, think of the set of piano keys on a guitar. When we talk about proper subsets, we take out the line underneath and so it becomes A B or if we want to say the opposite, A B. Or we can say that A is not a subset of B by A B ("A is not a subset of B") When we say that A is a subset of B, we write A B. Notice that when A is a proper subset of B then it is also a subset of B. because the element 4 is not in the first set. In Number Theory the universal set is all the integers, as Number Theory is simply the study of integers.īut in Calculus (also known as real analysis), the universal set is almost always the real numbers.Īnd in complex analysis, you guessed it, the universal set is the complex numbers. Everything that is relevant to our question. Universal SetĪt the start we used the word "things" in quotes. But there is one thing that all of these share in common: Sets. Graph Theory, Abstract Algebra, Real Analysis, Complex Analysis, Linear Algebra, Number Theory, and the list goes on. Math can get amazingly complicated quite fast. In mathematics, the equal sign can be used as a simple statement of fact in a specific case (x 2), or to create definitions (let x 2), conditional statements. But it's only when we apply sets in different situations do they become the powerful building block of mathematics that they are. For example, the expression 5 + 3 5 +3 is equal to the expression 6 + 2 6 +2 (because they both equal 8 8 ), so we can write the following equation: 5 + 3 6 + 2 5 + 3 6 + 2 All equations have an equal sign ( ). While dividing numbers, we break down a larger number into smaller numbers such that the multiplication of those smaller numbers will be equal to the larger number taken. It is defined as the act of forming equal groups. It is the inverse of the multiplication operation. Now as a word of warning, sets, by themselves, seem pretty pointless. An equation is a statement that two expressions are equal. The division is the process of repetitive subtraction. Sets are the fundamental property of mathematics. Are all sets that I just randomly banged on my keyboard to produce. This iteration is less common in high school math, but when exploring limits and differential equations further, the epsilon-delta definition of a limit might become more common.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |