Notation in Set Theory

A detailed tutorial of the notation in set theory. Step by step tutorial including several examples of the notation in set theory for reference.

The notation for set theory, also called set notation or set-builder notation, is simple. It consists of a special curled bracket enclosing the elements of the set. It also includes a variable, x. When using the notation for set theory, your elements will be arranged such as {x|x = …}. You could have what x is equal to, what x in not equal to, you could say that x is less than or greater than something, or that x must be something. Whatever x is, is part of your set. If x is a natural number less than 2, then your only element is 1. Reading the set and writing the set is not difficult, but can be confusing if you don’t understand that all x stands for is all the elements of the set, and has no significance outside of that.