Does this set of fruit grow in your country? How can you describe this set of fruits?
In the study of mathematics, a set refers to a collection of items which share common characteristics.
These items are called “elements” or “members” of the set.
For example, we can describe a set verbally such as:
“Fruit trees which grow in Guyana.”
That’s a huge set!
We can describe this set using a list, also called tabulation. This is done using braces.
Here is an example of the set “Fruit trees which grow in Canada” described using tabulation.
{mango, cherry, pineapple, pear}
We can also represent or describe this set using a loop, as in picture below.
Notice, when we use tabulation to describe sets, we need to separate each item with a comma, BUT when we use a loop to describe the set, we do not need commas.