To Represent Set Theoretic Operations Using Venn Diagrams
To Represent Set Theoretic Operations Using Venn Diagrams
Venn Diagrams
Most of the relationships between sets can be represented by means of diagrams which are known
as Venn diagrams.
Rectangles and closed curves, usually circles, make up these diagrams. A rectangle represents the
universal set, and circles denote its subsets.
A Venn diagram is a diagram that helps us visualize the logical relationship between sets and their
elements and helps us solve examples based on these sets.
A∪B
The union of two sets A and B is the set C, which consists of all those elements that are either in A
or in B (including those that are in both).
As seen in the following illustration, a Venn diagram can be used to indicate the union of two sets. In
Fig. 1, A ∪ B is represented by the shaded area.
Fig. 1: A ∪ B operation
Let A and B be any two sets. The union of A and B is the set that consists of all the elements of A
and all the elements of B, the common elements being taken only once. The symbol ‘∪’ is used to
denote the union. Symbolically, we write A ∪ B which is usually read as A union B.
Example: A = {1, 2, 4, 8} and B = {2, 8, 10, 12}. Find A ∪ B.
Solution: We wiil get all element of both set A and B.
Answer: A ∪ B = {1, 2, 4, 8, 10, 12}
A∩B
The set of all the items that are a part of both sets A and B is the intersection of those two sets.
The shaded portion in the figure below indicates the intersection of A and B.
Fig. 2: A ∩ B operation
The set of all elements shared by sets A and B is called the intersection of those sets. The
intersection is indicated by the symbol "∩." The set of all the items that are a part of both sets A and
B is the intersection of those two sets. We can express A ∩ B = {x: x ∈ A and x ∈ B} symbolically.
(A ∪ B)'
The intersection of the complements of the two sets A and B is the union B complement.
The shaded portion in Fig. 3 indicates the (A ∪ B)'
Example:
Let U be the universal set which consists of all prime numbers and A be the subset of U which
consists of all those prime numbers that are not divisors of 42. Thus,
A = {x : x ∈ U and x is not a divisor of 42}.
We see that 2 ∈ U but 2 ∉ A, because 2 is divisor of 42.
Similarly, 3 ∈ U but 3 ∉ A, and 7 ∈ U but 7 ∉ A. Now 2, 3 and 7 are the only elements of U which do
not belong to A.
The set of these three prime numbers, i.e., the set {2, 3, 7} is called the Complement of A with
respect to U, and is denoted by A′. So we haveA′ = {2, 3, 7}.
Fig. 5: A′ operation
A'∪B
(A’∪B) is the set of elements x such that x is not an element of A or x is an element of B.
Fig. 8: A ∩ B = ∅ operation
Example : U = {9, 5, 6, 3, 86, 32, 74} and A = {6, 86, 74 } and B = {9, 5, 3, 32}. Find A'∩ B = ∅.
Solution: We note that both A and B sets are disjoint sets, and their elements do not belong to each
other.
Answer: A'∩ B = ∅ = null
A⊂B
A set A is a subset of another set B if all elements of the set A are elements of the set B. In other
words, set A is contained inside set B. The subset relationship is denoted as A⊂B.
The symbol ⊂ stands for ‘is a subset of’ or ‘is contained in’.