Help with Set theory, compund statements

In summary, the conversation discusses the use of quantifiers in mathematical statements and the importance of properly ordering them. The first statement uses "forall" and "exists" in a specific order to convey different meanings. The second statement clarifies the difference between "forall" and "exists" in relation to finding a specific number in a set.
  • #1
Marco Lugo
9
0
The class is called Math for EE and CE. The professor teaches from his own notes and doesn't give many examples. Any help checking my work would be appreciated and/or if you could point me in the direction of more examples like these. I've looked trough Set Theory and discrete math books but nothing looks similar.

1) Write out the following statement in English
∀a∈A: ∃b∈B: ∀c∈C : ((a+b>1 ∧ b-c >2) ⇒a+b+c >2)

My answer:
For all a∈A, all c∈C, there exists one b∈B, such that if a+b > 1 and b-c>2 is true then a+b+c > 2 is also true.

2) Let A = [9] - [3] and B = {x∈A| x>4}
Define by listing the set C = A - B

My answer:

A = [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9] - [1,2,3]
A= [4,5,6,7,8,9]

B= [5,6,7,8,9]

C= A - B = [4,5,6,7,8,9] - [5,6,7,8,9]
C = [4]
 
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  • #2
Be careful with your quantifiers. Changing the order of quantifiers does make a difference.

For example: For all x in R, there exists a y in R such that y>x. This is a true statement, however,
There exists a y in R such that for all x in R, y>x. This is clearly not a true statement.
 
  • #3
Sorry I'm not seeing the difference. I could see how it would be wrong if it were, there exists a x in R such that for all y in R, y>x. But the statements above seem the same.
 
  • #4
The first statement says: For every x, I can find a y that is larger.

The second statement says: That you can find a single y that is greater than EVERY x. That is equivalent to claiming there is a largest real number. Your last reply was a claim that there is a smallest number.Maybe this is more clear:
"For all" can also be read as "For every" or "For any"

In the first example, it is might be more appropriate to read the statement as:
For any x there is a y such that y>x.

In the second, we might read it as:
There is a y such that for every x, y>x.
 
Last edited:

1. What is Set Theory?

Set theory is a branch of mathematics that studies collections of objects, known as sets, and the relationships between these sets.

2. What is a compound statement in Set Theory?

A compound statement in Set Theory is a statement that is formed by combining two or more simple statements using logical connectives such as "and", "or", or "not".

3. How do you represent sets in Set Theory?

Sets in Set Theory are typically represented using curly brackets { } and listing the elements of the set inside the brackets. For example, the set of even numbers can be represented as {2, 4, 6, 8, ...}.

4. What is the difference between a subset and a proper subset?

A subset is a set that contains all the elements of another set, while a proper subset is a subset that contains some, but not all, of the elements of another set.

5. What are some common operations in Set Theory?

Some common operations in Set Theory include union (combining all elements from two or more sets into one set), intersection (finding all elements that are in common between two or more sets), and complement (finding all elements that are not in a given set).

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