Sample spaces, events and set theory intersection

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the concepts of sample spaces and events in set theory, specifically using a standard deck of 52 playing cards. The original poster is examining the events of drawing a king and drawing a club, and how these events relate to different potential sample spaces.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster questions whether the events A (king) and B (club) are subsets of different sample spaces or the same one. They explore two possible sample space representations and express confusion about the definitions of events in relation to these spaces.

Discussion Status

Participants are actively engaging with the original poster's questions, providing insights into the nature of events and sample spaces. Some participants agree with the original poster's interpretations, while others challenge the definitions and seek clarification on how events are represented within the sample spaces discussed.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights a potential discrepancy between textbook definitions of events and the sample spaces proposed by the original poster. There is an ongoing debate about the correct representation of events and their subsets, with no clear consensus reached yet.

s3a
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Homework Statement


Problem:
Given a regular deck of 52 cards, let A be the event {king is drawn} or simply {king} and B the event {club is drawn} or simply {club}.

Describe the event A ∪ B

Solution:
A ∪ B = {either king or club or both (where "both" means "king of clubs")}

Homework Equations


Set theory intersection.

The Attempt at a Solution


I just wanted to ask whether A and be are subsets of different sample spaces or not. Is there one sample space for the suits and one sample space for the types of cards per suit? In other words, are sets A and B subsets of different sample spaces?

I ask because, if I think of A and B being subsets of the same sample space, then I can think of the sample space either being

##S_1## = {A♥, A♠, A♦, A♣, 2♥, 2♠, 2♦, 2♣, 3♥, 3♠, 3♦, 3♣, 4♥, 4♠, 4♦, 4♣, 5♥, 5♠, 5♦, 5♣, 6♥, 6♠, 6♦, 6♣, 7♥, 7♠, 7♦, 7♣, 8♥, 8♠, 8♦, 8♣, 9♥, 9♠, 9♦, 9♣, 10♥, 10♠, 10♦, 10♣, J♥, J♠, J♦, J♣, Q♥, Q♠, Q♦, Q♣, K♥, K♠, K♦, K♣}

or

##S_2## = {(A,♥), (A,♠), (A,♦), (A,♣), (2,♥), (2,♠), (2,♦), (2,♣), (3,♥), (3,♠), (3,♦), (3,♣), (4,♥), (4,♠), (4,♦), (4,♣), (5,♥), (5,♠), (5,♦), (5,♣), (6,♥), (6,♠), (6,♦), (6,♣), (7,♥), (7,♠), (7,♦), (7,♣), (8,♥), (8,♠), (8,♦), (8,♣), (9,♥), (9,♠), (9,♦), (9,♣), (10,♥), (10,♠), (10,♦), (10,♣), (J,♥), (J,♠), (J,♦), (J,♣), (Q,♥), (Q,♠), (Q,♦), (Q,♣), (K,♥), (K,♠), (K,♦), (K,♣)}

(or the same kinds of sets using different symbols).

Neither ##S_1## nor ##S_2## have subsets that are {king} = {K} or or {club} = {C}.

Could someone please clarify this for me?
 
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s3a said:

Homework Statement


Problem:
Given a regular deck of 52 cards, let A be the event {king is drawn} or simply {king} and B the event {club is drawn} or simply {club}.

Describe the event A ∪ B

Solution:
A ∪ B = {either king or club or both (where "both" means "king of clubs")}

Homework Equations


Set theory intersection.

The Attempt at a Solution


I just wanted to ask whether A and be are subsets of different sample spaces or not. Is there one sample space for the suits and one sample space for the types of cards per suit? In other words, are sets A and B subsets of different sample spaces?

I ask because, if I think of A and B being subsets of the same sample space, then I can think of the sample space either being

##S_1## = {A♥, A♠, A♦, A♣, 2♥, 2♠, 2♦, 2♣, 3♥, 3♠, 3♦, 3♣, 4♥, 4♠, 4♦, 4♣, 5♥, 5♠, 5♦, 5♣, 6♥, 6♠, 6♦, 6♣, 7♥, 7♠, 7♦, 7♣, 8♥, 8♠, 8♦, 8♣, 9♥, 9♠, 9♦, 9♣, 10♥, 10♠, 10♦, 10♣, J♥, J♠, J♦, J♣, Q♥, Q♠, Q♦, Q♣, K♥, K♠, K♦, K♣}

or

##S_2## = {(A,♥), (A,♠), (A,♦), (A,♣), (2,♥), (2,♠), (2,♦), (2,♣), (3,♥), (3,♠), (3,♦), (3,♣), (4,♥), (4,♠), (4,♦), (4,♣), (5,♥), (5,♠), (5,♦), (5,♣), (6,♥), (6,♠), (6,♦), (6,♣), (7,♥), (7,♠), (7,♦), (7,♣), (8,♥), (8,♠), (8,♦), (8,♣), (9,♥), (9,♠), (9,♦), (9,♣), (10,♥), (10,♠), (10,♦), (10,♣), (J,♥), (J,♠), (J,♦), (J,♣), (Q,♥), (Q,♠), (Q,♦), (Q,♣), (K,♥), (K,♠), (K,♦), (K,♣)}

(or the same kinds of sets using different symbols).

Neither ##S_1## nor ##S_2## have subsets that are {king} = {K} or or {club} = {C}.

Could someone please clarify this for me?
For the event (a king is drawn) you ignore the suit, so any of the four kings would be included in this event. For the event (a club is drawn), you ignore the rank, and any of the 13 cards in this suit would be included.
 
s3a said:

Homework Statement


Problem:
Given a regular deck of 52 cards, let A be the event {king is drawn} or simply {king} and B the event {club is drawn} or simply {club}.

Describe the event A ∪ B

Solution:
A ∪ B = {either king or club or both (where "both" means "king of clubs")}

Homework Equations


Set theory intersection.

The Attempt at a Solution


I just wanted to ask whether A and be are subsets of different sample spaces or not. Is there one sample space for the suits and one sample space for the types of cards per suit? In other words, are sets A and B subsets of different sample spaces?

I ask because, if I think of A and B being subsets of the same sample space, then I can think of the sample space either being

##S_1## = {A♥, A♠, A♦, A♣, 2♥, 2♠, 2♦, 2♣, 3♥, 3♠, 3♦, 3♣, 4♥, 4♠, 4♦, 4♣, 5♥, 5♠, 5♦, 5♣, 6♥, 6♠, 6♦, 6♣, 7♥, 7♠, 7♦, 7♣, 8♥, 8♠, 8♦, 8♣, 9♥, 9♠, 9♦, 9♣, 10♥, 10♠, 10♦, 10♣, J♥, J♠, J♦, J♣, Q♥, Q♠, Q♦, Q♣, K♥, K♠, K♦, K♣}

or

##S_2## = {(A,♥), (A,♠), (A,♦), (A,♣), (2,♥), (2,♠), (2,♦), (2,♣), (3,♥), (3,♠), (3,♦), (3,♣), (4,♥), (4,♠), (4,♦), (4,♣), (5,♥), (5,♠), (5,♦), (5,♣), (6,♥), (6,♠), (6,♦), (6,♣), (7,♥), (7,♠), (7,♦), (7,♣), (8,♥), (8,♠), (8,♦), (8,♣), (9,♥), (9,♠), (9,♦), (9,♣), (10,♥), (10,♠), (10,♦), (10,♣), (J,♥), (J,♠), (J,♦), (J,♣), (Q,♥), (Q,♠), (Q,♦), (Q,♣), (K,♥), (K,♠), (K,♦), (K,♣)}

(or the same kinds of sets using different symbols).

Neither ##S_1## nor ##S_2## have subsets that are {king} = {K} or or {club} = {C}.

Could someone please clarify this for me?
You are confusing an English description of the event with the event itself. In either case above, you have sample spaces that contain a representation of the 52 card deck. When you talk about the event that a king is drawn you are describing a subset of the sample space, which would be ##\{K♥, K♠, K♦, K♣\}## or ##\{(K,♥), (K,♠), (K,♦), (K,♣)\}##. There is no event {king}. Remember, events are subsets of the sample space, however you describe them in a sentence.
 
LCKurtz, I agree that the sets you gave are valid events assuming ##S_1## and ##S_2## are the sample spaces worked with.

The thing is, the book says {king} and {club} and does not mention the sample space sets ##S_1## and ##S_2## that I mentioned above. Given that the book claims that {king} and {club} are events, what is a (correct) sample space that is a superset of the {king} and {club} events? Is there any, or did the book make a mistake?

Mark44, when I try to be mathematically rigorous, what you're saying doesn't sit well with me, because neither {K} (K for king) nor {C} (C for club) is a subset of either ##S_1## or ##S_2##.
 
s3a said:
LCKurtz, I agree that the sets you gave are valid events assuming ##S_1## and ##S_2## are the sample spaces worked with.

The thing is, the book says {king} and {club} and does not mention the sample space sets ##S_1## and ##S_2## that I mentioned above. Given that the book claims that {king} and {club} are events, what is a (correct) sample space that is a superset of the {king} and {club} events? Is there any, or did the book make a mistake?

The only way that makes sense is if you name the subsets king and club. For example:

king = ##\{K♥, K♠, K♦, K♣\}## and club similarly.
 
s3a said:
LCKurtz, I agree that the sets you gave are valid events assuming ##S_1## and ##S_2## are the sample spaces worked with.

The thing is, the book says {king} and {club} and does not mention the sample space sets ##S_1## and ##S_2## that I mentioned above. Given that the book claims that {king} and {club} are events, what is a (correct) sample space that is a superset of the {king} and {club} events? Is there any, or did the book make a mistake?

Mark44, when I try to be mathematically rigorous, what you're saying doesn't sit well with me, because neither {K} (K for king) nor {C} (C for club) is a subset of either ##S_1## or ##S_2##.

Strictly speaking, an event is a subset of the sample space so should not have parentheses around its name. Thus, we have (for example)
\rm{King} = \{ \text{King of hearts, King of spades, King of clubs, King of diamonds} \}\\<br /> = \{ \rm{(KH),(KS),(KC),(KD)} \}.
Here, the parentheses are around the elements of the subset, not around the name of the subset.

However, when writing things out it might be that you want to use the word "King" or "Kings" in two different ways, one as some type of general description and one as the name of an event in the sample space. Since we want to avoid mixing up the meanings of these two usages, it is useful to put parentheses around the word when we want to make it clear it is a subset, so we could write {King} for the event and 'King' for some other type of usage.
 

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