MHB How Many Elements Are Found in Each Mathematical Set?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on determining the number of elements in two mathematical sets. For the first set, there is a debate about whether it contains 8995 or 9000 elements, with some participants arguing that both endpoints should be included. The second set is clarified to contain only one element, {2}, as it results from the condition 1 < x ≤ i with x congruent to 2 mod i. Participants express confusion over the notation and the implications of set unions, ultimately agreeing on the correct counts. The conversation highlights the importance of understanding set notation and congruences in counting elements accurately.
lemonthree
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Question: How many elements are in each set?

For the first set, I think it's 8995 because the set is the union of {1,2,3,4,5},{1,2,3,4,5,6},...{1,2,3,...9000}. So 9000 - 5 = 8995.

For the second set, I'm not too sure about counting the elements in the set. Since $$1<x≤i$$, I can't think of any x mod i = 2.
For example, I know 5 mod 3 = 2, but 5 > 3 and in this case it wants i to be greater or equal to x...any hints please?
counting-sets.png
 
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There are, of course, 9000 integers from 1to 9000. Why are you subtracting 5? Which integers are missing?

A number, n, is congruent to 2 (mod i) if n= i+ 2. Every number, except 1 and 2, is equal to i+ 2 for some i.
 
lemonthree said:
Question: How many elements are in each set?

For the first set, I think it's 8995 because the set is the union of {1,2,3,4,5},{1,2,3,4,5,6},...{1,2,3,...9000}. So 9000 - 5 = 8995.
I think it's 8996, because you need to count both endpoints.

lemonthree said:
For the second set, I'm not too sure about counting the elements in the set. Since $$1<x≤i$$, I can't think of any x mod i = 2.
For example, I know 5 mod 3 = 2, but 5 > 3 and in this case it wants i to be greater or equal to x...any hints please?
If $i=1$ then the set $\{x\ |\ x \text{ is an integer and } 1<x\leqslant i \text{ and }x=2\pmod i\}$ is the empty set. For all other values of $i$ that set just consists of $x=2$. So your second set is $\emptyset\cup\{2\}$. It therefore contains two elements.
 
Both of you are quite right;

For the first question, there are 9000 elements. @Country Boy How do you know that there are 9000 elements though? Doesn't that symbol represent the union of indexed collection from i = 5 to i = 9000? I see it to be similar to the summation notation but I guess that's where I'm wrong.

For the second question, there is 1 element, i.e. {2}, so @Opalg you are right. We take ∅∪{2} to be equal to {2}. Thank you for the explanation, I realized I could view it as 2 = 0*i + 2, for various i values until infinity, which made sense for {2} to be the only element.
 
If $A\subseteq B$ then $A\cup B= B$. These sets are "nested" so the union is just the largest set.
 
lemonthree said:
Both of you are quite right;

For the first question, there are 9000 elements. @Country Boy How do you know that there are 9000 elements though? Doesn't that symbol represent the union of indexed collection from i = 5 to i = 9000? I see it to be similar to the summation notation but I guess that's where I'm wrong.

For the second question, there is 1 element, i.e. {2}, so @Opalg you are right. We take ∅∪{2} to be equal to {2}. Thank you for the explanation, I realized I could view it as 2 = 0*i + 2, for various i values until infinity, which made sense for {2} to be the only element.
Yes, you are correct. In both cases I was thinking in terms of a set of sets rather than a union of sets.
 
I was reading documentation about the soundness and completeness of logic formal systems. Consider the following $$\vdash_S \phi$$ where ##S## is the proof-system making part the formal system and ##\phi## is a wff (well formed formula) of the formal language. Note the blank on left of the turnstile symbol ##\vdash_S##, as far as I can tell it actually represents the empty set. So what does it mean ? I guess it actually means ##\phi## is a theorem of the formal system, i.e. there is a...
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