Chapter 1: Sets - JEE Main & Advanced

1. Introduction to Sets

A set is a well-defined collection of distinct objects. The objects in a set are called its elements or members.

Notation

  • Sets are usually denoted by capital letters: A, B, C,...
  • Elements are denoted by small letters: a, b, c,...
  • a ∈ A means 'a is an element of set A'
  • a ∉ A means 'a is not an element of set A'

Methods of Representing Sets

  1. Roster/Tabular Form: Listing all elements {1, 2, 3}
  2. Set-builder Form: {x | x has property P}

2. Types of Sets

Type Definition Example
Empty/Null Set Set with no elements ∅ or {}
Singleton Set Set with one element {5}
Finite Set Set with countable number of elements {1, 2, 3, 4}
Infinite Set Set with unlimited elements Set of natural numbers
Equal Sets Sets with exactly same elements A = {1, 2}, B = {2, 1}
Equivalent Sets Sets with same number of elements A = {1, 2}, B = {a, b}
JEE Tip: Questions often test understanding of empty set vs {∅} - the first has no elements, the second has one element which is the empty set.

3. Subsets and Power Sets

Subset: A is a subset of B (A ⊆ B) if every element of A is in B

Proper Subset: A ⊂ B if A ⊆ B and A ≠ B

Important Properties

  • Every set is a subset of itself (A ⊆ A)
  • Empty set is subset of every set (∅ ⊆ A)
  • Number of subsets of a set with n elements = 2ⁿ
  • Number of proper subsets = 2ⁿ - 1

Example

Find all subsets of A = {1, 2}

Solution: ∅, {1}, {2}, {1, 2} (Total 4 = 2² subsets)

4. Operations on Sets

Operation Notation Definition
Union A ∪ B {x | x ∈ A or x ∈ B}
Intersection A ∩ B {x | x ∈ A and x ∈ B}
Difference A - B {x | x ∈ A and x ∉ B}
Complement A' or Ac {x | x ∉ A in universal set}

De Morgan's Laws

(A ∪ B)' = A' ∩ B'

(A ∩ B)' = A' ∪ B'

5. Venn Diagrams

Visual representation of sets and their relationships using overlapping circles.

Venn Diagram Representation:

[Three overlapping circles representing sets A, B, and C]

Shaded regions show intersections and unions

JEE Tip: Venn diagram problems often appear in JEE Main. Practice problems with 3 sets and their various intersections.

6. Important Formulas

n(A ∪ B) = n(A) + n(B) - 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)

n(A - B) = n(A) - n(A ∩ B)

7. Practice Problems for JEE/Unit Test

  1. If A = {1, 2, 3, 4}, B = {3, 4, 5, 6}, find A ∪ B, A ∩ B, A - B
  2. Prove that A ∩ (B ∪ C) = (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C)
  3. In a class of 50 students, 30 take math, 25 take physics, and 10 take both. How many take neither?
  4. If n(A) = 5, n(B) = 7, and n(A ∩ B) = 3, find n(A ∪ B)
  5. Find the power set of {a, b, c}

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Confusing ∈ and ⊆
  • Forgetting the empty set in power sets
  • Miscounting elements in union/intersection problems
  • Applying De Morgan's laws incorrectly

8. Previous Year JEE Questions

JEE Main 2022: Let A and B be two sets containing 3 and 4 elements respectively. The number of subsets of A × B having at least 5 elements is?

JEE Advanced 2021: For sets A and B, let f: A → B and g: B → A be functions such that f(g(x)) = x for each x ∈ B. Which of the following must be true?