How to Determine the Cardinal Number of a Set

The cardinal number of a set is a measure of the ‘number of elements’ in that set. To determine the cardinal number, you can follow these steps:

1. Identify the Set: Clearly define your set. For example, let’s say we have a set A = {2, 4, 6, 8}.
2. Count the Elements: Count each distinct element within the set. In our example, there are four elements: 2, 4, 6, and 8.
3. Assign the Cardinal Number: The cardinal number is simply the total count of the distinct elements. So, for set A, the cardinal number is 4.

Note that for sets with an infinite number of elements, such as the set of all natural numbers, we use different terms to describe their cardinality, such as ‘countably infinite’ or ‘uncountably infinite’ depending on the context.