Sets and Subsets
The ability to classify items into sets is important in many contexts. For example, the registrar of a university puts students into classes. Each class can be considered a set. It can also be considered a subset of the entire student population. The admissions officer puts students into majors. Again, each major can be considered a subset of the entire student population. At graduation, students need to be put into groups with similar GPAs for honors, groups with similar degrees, or groups from different schools within the university. On this Unit’s Discussion Board, you will investigate sets, subsets, and proper subsets making at least three posts as described below.
Post 1
- Using your first, middle, and last name, create a universal set and write it in roster notation. If you do not have a middle name, use your first and last name only.
- List all the subsets of your universal set.
- How many subsets did you list? How do you know how many subsets a set will have?
- List all the proper subsets of your universal set. Are all subsets of a set also proper subsets of a set? Why or why not?
Review an example of a response for this Discussion.
Post 2
- Choose one of your classmates’ posts and using the letters of either their first, middle or last name, create a set and write it in roster notation.
- Determine the number of distinct subsets of the set.
- Determine the number of distinct proper subsets of the set.