This guide will help you learn how to use LaTeX to represent set relationships, including proper and non-subsets, with ease. LaTeX provides simple commands to display these concepts accurately.
If you find LaTeX challenging at first, don’t worry! This tutorial will explain each step clearly with easy-to-follow examples.
Basic Command
To represent a subset in LaTeX, use the ⊆ symbol with the \subseteq command. This command is built into LaTeX, so no additional packages are required.
\[ a \subseteq b \]
Output :
If you want to indicate that one set is not contained within another, use the \nsubseteq command.
\[ a \nsubseteq b \]
Output :
Additionally, every set contains itself. To show this property, you can use the same \subseteq command.
\[ P \subseteq P \]
Output :
Proper and non-proper subset symbol
A proper set containment means that one set is fully included within another but is not equal to it. This indicates that the first set is strictly smaller than the second.
To represent this in LaTeX, use the ⊂ symbol with the \subset command.
\[ a \subset b \]
Output :
If you need to show that one set is not contained within another, combine the \not and \subset commands.
\[ a \not \subseteq b \]
Output :
Subset with not equal symbol
In LaTeX, there are cases where you need to show that one set is contained within another but is not equal to it. This can be done using the \subsetneq and \subsetneqq commands.
However, these commands require the amssymb package, so you must include it at the beginning of your document.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\begin{document}
\[ P \subsetneq Q \]
\[ P \subsetneqq Q \]
\end{document}Output :
