Sets & Probabilities Marios A.

Pappas
mpap@iit.demokritos.gr
6972808879

1. Sets
A set is a collection of objects, called elements of the set. A set can be
represented by listing its elements between braces: A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}. The
symbol is used to express that an element belongs to a set, for instance 4
. Its negation is represented by , e.g. 7 .

If the set is finite, its number of elements is represented n(A), e.g. if A =

{1,2,3,4,5} then n(A) = 5.

Universal Set U: A set fixed within the framework of a question and

consisting of everything that is relevant to the question.

Some important sets are the following:

= {0, 1, 2, 3 } the set of natural numbers.

= { , 3, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 3 . }the set of integers.
=the set of rational numbers.
= the set of real numbers.
= the set of complex numbers.

Set-builder notation. An alternative way to define a set, called set- builder

notation, is by stating a property verified by exactly its elements, for instance
A = {x Z | 1 x 5} = set of integers x such that 1 x 5i.e.: A = {1, 2, 3,
4, 5}.

Venn Diagrams: Venn diagrams are graphic representations of sets as

enclosed areas in the plane.

A U

1.
2. 4.
3. 5.
Sets & Probabilities Marios A. Pappas
mpap@iit.demokritos.gr
6972808879
1.1. Set Operations

Intersection: The common elements of two sets:

A B = {x | (x A) (x B)}

If A B = , the sets are said to be disjoint.

Union: The set of elements that belong to either of two sets:

A B = {x | (x A) (x B)}.

Complement: The set of elements (in the universal set) that do not belong to a
given set: A = {x U | x A}.
Sets & Probabilities Marios A. Pappas
mpap@iit.demokritos.gr
6972808879
1.2. Basic Properties and identities

Let the Universal Set be = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, ,10}.If A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and

B = {2, 4, 6, 8} by counting the number of elements in each set we find that:
= 5, = 4.

Also,
= 6,7,8,9,10 , = 5
= 2,4 , = 2
= 1,2,3,4,5,6,8 , = 7

When counting the number of elements in the union of A and B we must

subtract once the number of the common elements, thus:

n(AB) = n(A) + n(B) n(AB)

If the two sets are disjoint,

n(AB) = 0 and n(AB) = n(A) + n(B)

When counting the number of elements in the complement of A we just need

to count how many elements of U are not in A, thus:

n(A) = n(U) n(A) n(A)+ n(A) = n(U)

Note: If U is an infinite set and A finite, the complement of A will be infinite.

Sets & Probabilities Marios A. Pappas
mpap@iit.demokritos.gr
6972808879

2. Probabilities
Many events can't be predicted with total certainty. The best we can say is how
likely they are to happen, using the idea of probability.

Probability is the measure of the likelihood that an event will occur.

Probability is quantified as a number between 0 and 1, where, loosely
speaking, 0 indicates impossibility and 1 indicates certainty
For example consider the tossing of a coin.

When a coin is tossed, there are two possible outcomes:

heads (H) or
tails (T)

We say that the probability of the coin landing H is

And the probability of the coin landing T is

In general:

Number of ways it can happen

of an event happening =
Number of all possible outcomes

2.1. Sample space

The sample space of an experiment is the set of all possible outcomes or

results of that experiment.

For example the sample space of tossing a coin is: {, }

while the sample space of tossing two coins is:

{ head, tail , head, tail , tail, head , tail, tail }.

The simplest way to represent a sample space is a tree diagram.

A tree diagram is simply a way of representing a sequence of events. Tree

diagrams are particularly useful in probability since they record all possible
outcomes in a clear and uncomplicated manner.

For example consider the tossing of a coin three times. The most convenient
way of writing the sample space is the following:
Sets & Probabilities Marios A. Pappas
mpap@iit.demokritos.gr
6972808879

2.2. Facts about probabilities

For every event the numerator of the corresponding probability will be

lesser than the denominator. It is also easy to be seen that a probability can
never get a negative value. So:

()

for every event .

Independent events

If two events, A and B are independent (the occurrence of one does not affect
the probability of occurrence of the other) then the joint probability is:

P A and B = P A B = P A P(B)

For example, if two coins are flipped the chance of both being heads is
1 1 1
= .
2 2 4

Mutually exclusive events

If either event A or event B occurs on a single performance of an experiment

this is called the union of the events A and B denoted as . If two events are
mutually exclusive then the probability of either occurring is:

P A or B = P A B = P A + P(B)

1 1 1
For example the chance of rolling an 1 or 2 on a six sided dice is + = .
6 6 3
Sets & Probabilities Marios A. Pappas
mpap@iit.demokritos.gr
6972808879
Not mutually exclusive events

If the events are not mutually exclusive then:

= + ( )

Example: A fair 6 sided die numbered 1 to 6 is rolled once. Find the

probability that the number obtained is either even or a prime number.

Solution

Let event A = number is even

Event B = number is prime

Therefore

= {2,4,6}

= {2,3,5}