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In set theory, a proper subset is a set that is entirely contained within another set, but is not identical to it. If set B is a proper subset of set A, denoted as B ⊂ A, it means every element in B is also in A, but A contains at least one element not found in B. For example, if set A is {1, 2, 3, 4} and set B is {1, 2}, then B is a proper subset of A because all elements of B are in A, and A has elements (3 and 4) not in B. The empty set (∅) is a subset of every set, but it is only a proper subset of non-empty sets.123

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