| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| − | Cardinality is a measure of the size of a set. For finite sets, its cardinality is simply the number of elements in it. | + | Cardinality is a measure of the size of a [[set theory|set]]. For [[finite]] sets, its cardinality is simply the number of elements in it. In general, two sets have the same cardinality if there is a [[bijection]] between them. That is, the elements of one set can be put into one-to-one correspondence with those of the other. |
| | + | |
| | + | For example, the set of even numbers, and the set of all multiples of 3 is the same, as they can be put into one-to-one correspondence as follows: |
| | + | 2:3,4:6,6:9,8:12,10:15,..2n:3n... |
| | + | |
| | + | Both sets are [[countable]], as they have the same cardinality as the set of [[natural number]]s (0,1,2...). |
| | | | |
| | [[category: set theory]] | | [[category: set theory]] |