SUBSET

In mathematics, a set A is a subset of a set B, or equivalently B is a superset of A, if A is "contained" inside B, that is, all elements of A are also
elements of B. Aand B may coincide. The relationship of one set being a subset of another is called inclusion or sometimes containment. A is a
subset of B may also be expressed as B includes A; or A is included in B.
The subset relation defines a partial order on sets.
The algebra of subsets forms a Boolean algebra in which the subset relation is called inclusion.

Definitions
If A and B are sets and every element of A is also an element of B, then:

 A is a subset of B, denoted by 

or equivalently
 B is a superset of A, denoted by 
If A is a subset of B, but A is not equal to B (i.e. there exists at least one element of B which is not an element of A), then

 A is also a proper (or strict) subset of B; this is written as 

or equivalently
 B is a proper superset of A; this is written as 

For any set S, the inclusion relation ⊆ is a partial order on the set  of all subsets of S (the power set of S) defined by . We may
also partially order  by reverse set inclusion by defining 

When quantified, A ⊆ B is represented as: ∀x{x∈A → x∈B}. [1]

Properties

 A set A is a subset of B if and only if their intersection is equal to A.

Formally:

 A set A is a subset of B if and only if their union is equal to B.

Formally:

 A finite set A is a subset of B if and only if the cardinality of their intersection is equal to the cardinality of A.
Formally:

⊂ and ⊃ symbolS

Some authors use the symbols ⊂ and ⊃ to indicate subset and superset respectively; that is, with the same meaning and instead of the symbols, ⊆
and ⊇.[2] So for example, for these authors, it is true of every set A that A ⊂ A.
Other authors prefer to use the symbols ⊂ and ⊃ to indicate proper (also called strict) subset and proper superset respectively; that is, with the
same meaning and instead of the symbols, ⊊ and ⊋.[3] This usage makes ⊆ and ⊂ analogous to the inequality symbols ≤ and <. For example,
if x ≤ y then x may or may not equal y, but if x < y, then x definitely does not equal y, and is less than y. Similarly, using the convention that ⊂ is
proper subset, if A ⊆ B, then A may or may not equal B, but if A ⊂ B, then A definitely does not equal B.

A is a proper subset of B,  A⊂B,  and conversely Bis a proper superset of A

Examples
 The regular polygons form a subset of the polygons

 The set A = {1, 2} is a proper subset of B = {1, 2, 3}, thus both expressions A ⊆ B and A ⊊ B are true.
 The set D = {1, 2, 3} is a subset (but not a proper subset) of E = {1, 2, 3}, thus D ⊆ E is true, and D ⊊ E is not true (false).
 Any set is a subset of itself, but not a proper subset. (X ⊆ X is true, and X ⊊ X is false for any set X.)
 The empty set { }, denoted by ∅, is also a subset of any given set X. It is also always a proper subset of any set except itself.
 The set {x: x is a prime number greater than 10} is a proper subset of {x: x is an odd number greater than 10}
 The set of natural numbers is a proper subset of the set of rational numbers; likewise, the set of points in a line segment is a proper
subset of the set of points in a line. These are two examples in which both the subset and the whole set are infinite, and the subset has the
same cardinality (the concept that corresponds to size, that is, the number of elements, of a finite set) as the whole; such cases can run
counter to one's initial intuition.
 The set of rational numbers is a proper subset of the set of real numbers. In this example, both sets are infinite but the latter set has a
larger cardinality (or power) than the former set.

Another example in an Euler diagram:

A is a proper subset of B

C is a subset but not a proper subset of B

Other properties of inclusion[edit]

A ⊆ B and B ⊆ C imply A ⊆ C

Inclusion is the canonical partial order in the sense that every partially ordered set (X, ) is isomorphic to some collection of sets ordered by
inclusion. The ordinal numbers are a simple example—if each ordinal n is identified with the set [n] of all ordinals less than or equal to n,
then a ≤ b if and only if [a] ⊆ [b].
For the power set  of a set S, the inclusion partial order is (up to an order isomorphism) the Cartesian product of k = |S| (the cardinality of S) copies
of the partial order on {0,1} for which 0 < 1. This can be illustrated by enumerating S = {s1, s2, ..., sk} and associating with each subset T ⊆ S (which
is to say with each element of 2S) the k-tuple from {0,1}k of which the ith coordinate is 1 if and only if si is a member of T.

Operations on sets

The symbol ∪ is employed to denote the union of two sets. Thus, the set A ∪ B—read “A union B” or “the union
of A and B”—is defined as the set that consists of all elements belonging to either set A or set B (or both). For
example, suppose that Committee A, consisting of the 5 members Jones, Blanshard, Nelson, Smith, and Hixon, meets
with Committee B, consisting of the 5 members Blanshard, Morton, Hixon, Young, and Peters. Clearly, the union of
Committees A and B must then consist of 8 members rather than 10—namely, Jones, Blanshard, Nelson, Smith,
Morton, Hixon, Young, and Peters.
The intersection operation is denoted by the symbol ∩. The set A ∩ B—read “A intersection B” or “the intersection
of A and B”—is defined as the set composed of all elements that belong to both A and B. Thus, the intersection of the
two committees in the foregoing example is the set consisting of Blanshard and Hixon.
If E denotes the set of all positive even numbers and O denotes the set of all positive odd numbers, then their union
yields the entire set of positive integers, and their intersection is the empty set. Any two sets whose intersection is the
empty set are said to be disjoint.

When the admissible elements are restricted to some fixed class of objects U, U is called the universal set (or
universe). Then for any subset A of U, the complement of A (symbolized by A′ or U − A) is defined as the set of all
elements in the universe U that are not in A. For example, if the universe consists of the 26 letters of the alphabet, the
complement of the set of vowels is the set of consonants.
In analytic geometry, the points on a Cartesian grid are ordered pairs (x, y) of numbers. In general, (x, y) ≠ (y, x);
ordered pairs are defined so that (a, b) = (c, d) if and only if both a = c and b = d. In contrast, the set {x, y} is identical
to the set {y, x} because they have exactly the same members.

The Cartesian product of two sets A and B, denoted by A × B, is defined as the set consisting of all ordered pairs (a, b) for
which a ∊ A and b ∊ B. For example, if A = {x, y} and B = {3, 6, 9}, then A × B = {(x, 3), (x, 6), (x, 9), (y, 3), (y, 6), (y, 9)}.

Relations in set theory

In mathematics, a relation is an association between, or property of, various objects. Relations can be represented by sets of
ordered pairs (a, b) where abears a relation to b. Sets of ordered pairs are commonly used to represent relations depicted on charts
and graphs, on which, for example, calendar years may be paired with automobile production figures, weeks with  stock
market averages, and days with average temperatures.
A function f can be regarded as a relation between each object x in its domain and the value f(x). A function f is a relation with a
special property, however: each x is related by f to one and only one y. That is, two ordered pairs (x, y) and (x, z) in f imply
that y = z.
A one-to-one correspondence between sets A and B is similarly a pairing of each object in A with one and only one object in B,
with the dual property that each object in B has been thereby paired with one and only one object in A. For example, if A =
{x, z, w} and B = {4, 3, 9}, a one-to-one correspondence can be obtained by pairing x with 4, z with 3, and w with 9. This pairing
can be represented by the set {(x, 4), (z, 3), (w, 9)} of ordered pairs.

1.2.2 Set Operations

The union of two sets is a set containing all elements that are in AA or in BB (possibly both). For
example, {1,2}∪{2,3}={1,2,3}{1,2}∪{2,3}={1,2,3}. Thus, we can write x∈(A∪B)x∈(A∪B) if and only
if (x∈A)(x∈A) or (x∈B)(x∈B). Note that A∪B=B∪AA∪B=B∪A. In Figure 1.4, the union of sets AA and BB is
shown by the shaded area in the Venn diagram.

Fig.1.4 - The shaded area shows the set B∪AB∪A. 

Similarly we can define the union of three or more sets. In particular, if A1,A2,A3,⋯,AnA1,A2,A3,⋯,An are nnsets,
their union A1∪A2∪A3⋯∪AnA1∪A2∪A3⋯∪An is a set containing all elements that are in at least one of the sets.
We can write this union more compactly by
⋃i=1nAi.⋃i=1nAi.

For example, if A1={a,b,c},A2={c,h},A3={a,d}A1={a,b,c},A2={c,h},A3={a,d},

then ⋃iAi=A1∪A2∪A3={a,b,c,h,d}⋃iAi=A1∪A2∪A3={a,b,c,h,d}. We can similarly define the union of infinitely many
setsA1∪A2∪A3∪⋯A1∪A2∪A3∪⋯.
The intersection of two sets AA and BB, denoted by A∩BA∩B, consists of all elements that are both
in AA and−−−and_ BB. For example, {1,2}∩{2,3}={2}{1,2}∩{2,3}={2}. In Figure 1.5, the intersection of
sets AA and BBis shown by the shaded area using a Venn diagram.

Fig.1.5 - The shaded area shows the set B∩AB∩A. 

More generally, for sets A1,A2,A3,⋯A1,A2,A3,⋯, their intersection ⋂iAi⋂iAi is defined as the set consisting of the
elements that are in all AiAi's. Figure 1.6 shows the intersection of three sets.

Fig.1.6 - The shaded area shows the set A∩B∩CA∩B∩C. 

The complement of a set AA, denoted by AcAc or A¯A¯, is the set of all elements that are in the universal
set SS but are not in AA. In Figure 1.7, A¯A¯ is shown by the shaded area using a Venn diagram.

Fig.1.7 - The shaded area shows the set A¯=AcA¯=Ac. 

The difference (subtraction) is defined as follows. The set A−BA−B consists of elements that are in AA but
not in BB. For example if A={1,2,3}A={1,2,3} and B={3,5}B={3,5}, then A−B={1,2}A−B={1,2}. In Figure
1.8, A−BA−B is shown by the shaded area using a Venn diagram. Note that A−B=A∩BcA−B=A∩Bc.
 Fig.1.8 - The shaded area shows the set A−BA−B.

Two sets AA and BB are mutually exclusive or disjoint if they do not have any shared elements; i.e., their
intersection is the empty set, A∩B=∅A∩B=∅. More generally, several sets are called disjoint if they are pairwise
disjoint, i.e., no two of them share a common elements. Figure 1.9 shows three disjoint sets.

Fig.1.9 - Sets A,B,A,B, and CC are disjoint.

If the earth's surface is our sample space, we might want to partition it to the different continents. Similarly, a
country can be partitioned to different provinces. In general, a collection of nonempty sets A1,A2,⋯A1,A2,⋯ is
a partition of a set AA if they are disjoint and their union is AA. In Figure 1.10, the
sets A1,A2,A3A1,A2,A3 and A4A4 form a partition of the universal set SS.

Fig.1.10 - The collection of sets A1,A2,A3A1,A2,A3 and A4A4 is a partition of SS.