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The algebra of sets is the set-theoretic analogue of the algebra of numbers. Just as arithmetic addition and multiplication are associative and commutative, so are set union and intersection; just as the arithmetic relation "less than or equal" is reflexive, antisymmetric and transitive, so is the set relation of "subset".
This article lists mathematical properties and laws of sets, involving the set-theoretic operations of union, intersection, and complementation and the relations of set equality and set inclusion. It also provides systematic procedures for evaluating expressions, and performing calculations, involving these operations and relations.
The set {x: x is a prime number greater than 10} is a proper subset of {x: x is an odd number greater than 10} The set of natural numbers is a proper subset of the set of rational numbers; likewise, the set of points in a line segment is a proper subset of the set of points in a line.
A derived binary relation between two sets is the subset relation, also called set inclusion. If all the members of set A are also members of set B, then A is a subset of B, denoted A ⊆ B. For example, {1, 2} is a subset of {1, 2, 3}, and so is {2} but {1, 4} is not. As implied by this definition, a set is a subset of itself.
Counting the empty set as a subset, a set with elements has a total of subsets, and the theorem holds because > for all non-negative integers. Much more significant is Cantor's discovery of an argument that is applicable to any set, and shows that the theorem holds for infinite sets also.
A generalized form of the diagonal argument was used by Cantor to prove Cantor's theorem: for every set S, the power set of S—that is, the set of all subsets of S (here written as P(S))—cannot be in bijection with S itself. This proof proceeds as follows: Let f be any function from S to P(S). It suffices to prove f cannot be surjective.
A set of stamps partitioned into bundles: No stamp is in two bundles, no bundle is empty, and every stamp is in a bundle. The 52 partitions of a set with 5 elements. A colored region indicates a subset of X that forms a member of the enclosing partition. Uncolored dots indicate single-element subsets.
The simple theorems in the algebra of sets are some of the elementary properties of the algebra of union (infix operator: ∪), intersection (infix operator: ∩), and set complement (postfix ') of sets. These properties assume the existence of at least two sets: a given universal set, denoted U, and the empty set, denoted {}.