What exactly is a natural map I have numerous questions on my abstract homework asking me to define "the natural map", though i don't see reference to it in my textbook. 
Let X and Y be sets and let C be the set {f : {1,2}→ X ∪Y|f(1) ∈ X and f(2) ∈ Y} (1) Deﬁne the natural map Γ: C → X × Y (2) Deﬁne the map $Γ^{−1}$: X ×Y → C . 
I don't understand what is being asked of me. Also:
For a set S deﬁne the natural isomorphism Char: P(S) →F(S,{0,1}). For A ⊆ S denote the function Char(A) by χA. (2) Deﬁne Char−1: F(S,0,1) →P(S) 
I know that an isomorphism is a function that perserves structure between two structurally-the-same algebraic thingies. 
Can someone give me an intuitive definition of what all this natural stuff is about?
 A: Natural maps arise all the time in algebra and topology and it's important to understand the definition. A canonical map, also called a natural map, is a map or morphism between objects that arises naturally from the definition or the construction of the objects. A closely related notion is a structure map or structure morphism; the map that comes with the given structure on the object. They are also sometimes called canonical maps.Canonical maps are usually associated with quotient structures, which allow one to generalize the idea of congruence to abstract algebriac objects or topological ones, such as quotient spaces. 
The best way to understand what a natural or canonical map is to see some examples. 
1) If N is a normal subgroup of a group G, then there is a canonical map from G to the quotient group G/N that sends an element g to the coset that g belongs to.
  2) If V is a vector space, then there is a canonical map from V to the second dual space of V that sends a vector v to the linear functional fv defined by fv(λ) = λ(v).
  3)   If f is a ring homomorphism from a commutative ring R to commutative ring S, then S can be viewed as an algebra over R. The ring homomorphism f is then called the structure map (for the algebra structure). The corresponding map on the prime spectra: Spec(S) →Spec(R) is also called the structure map.
  4)  If E is a vector bundle over a topological space X, then the projection map from E to X is the structure map.
In this case, the natural map is the indexed ordered pair map of $X\cup Y$ into X x Y . Clearly, the map f that defines C is the indexing map of the ordered pairs in X x Y where $x_1\in X$ and $x_2\in Y$. So that Γ: C → X × Y is defined by Γ($x_1,x_2$) = ($x_1,x_2$) where $x_1,x_2$ is the unordered indexed pair in C and ($x_1,x_2$) an ordered pair in X x Y. 
Can you now define the inverse? First,you have to show this map is an isomorphism, which isn't hard.  
A: Intuitively speaking, to say that a map is "natural" usually just means it's defined independently of any choices, so that if you and I are given the same data, we will come up with the same map. 
More rigorously, most things that are called "natural maps" can be formulated in the language of category theory as natural transformations between functors. 
A: A natural map is a map which you are too lazy to define. 
A: In this context "natural" means "the simplest, least surprising one".  The image of $f$ is a  pair $\{x,y\}$ such that $x\in X$ and $y\in Y$.  The natural value for $\Gamma(f)$ would be $(x,y)$.  
