VENN DIAGRAMS

and ALGEBRA OF SETS

 Venn Diagrams
Named after the English logician John Venn
(1834-1883), Venn diagrams are used to
describe some set relations and operations. A
Venn diagram uses a rectangle for the universal
set and circles to represent subsets of U.
Example1 The ff. describes some relations on sets.
 Venn Diagrams
Example 2 The following describes some results
of operations on sets.
 Venn Diagrams and Counting
Venn diagrams are helpful in solving
problems on counting.

Example 3
In a class of 42 students, 25 passed the first
quiz and 37 passed the second quiz. However, 3
students did not any of the two quizzes. How
many
1. passed both quizzes?
2. passed the first quiz but not the second?
3. passed the second quiz but not the first?
 Venn Diagrams and Counting
Solution
The Venn diagram below will answer the
questions. Note that there are no overlapping
regions in the diagram.
F S
2 23 14
3
1. 23 passed both quizzes
2. 2 passed the first quiz but failed the second
3. 14 passed the second quiz but failed the first
 Venn Diagrams and Counting
Example 4
In a survey of IT students in a certain college
who are enrolled in programming (P), game
design (G), and digital arts (D) classes, the
following Venn diagram was drawn to represent
the data.
P G
12 7 15
5
8 3
10
6 D
 Venn Diagrams and Counting
1. How many students are P G
enrolled in 12 7 15
a. all three courses? 85 3
b. programming? 10
c. game design only? 6 D
d. digital arts but not programming?
e. both game design and digital arts?
2. How many are not enrolled in digital arts?
3. How many participated in the survey?
 Venn Diagrams and Counting
Solution
By referring on the diagram P G
12 7 15
to the right one can easily
8 5 3
verify the following answers.
1. a. 5 10
6 D
b. 32
c. 15
d. 13
e. 8
2. 40
3. 66
 Set Identities
A set identity is an equation stating the
equality of two sets. The table on the next slide
present the most important set identities.
One can verify a set identity using Venn
diagrams, membership table, or by using
previously proved identities. In our case, we shall
use only the membership table and other set
identities listed in the table.
To construct a membership table, 1 is
assigned for the possibility that an element
belongs to the set and 0 otherwise.
Set Identities
 Set Identities
Example 5 Using membership table, prove that
AB = AB.
Solution
The table on the next page presents the
proof of the identity. A column is utilized for each
atomic set involved. The values 1 and 1 in the first
row indicates the case where an element belongs
to both sets.
 Set Identities

Example 6 Using membership table, prove that

( )
A  (B  C ) = C . B  A
Solution
The table on the next page presents the
proof of the identity.
Set Identities
 Set Identities
Example 6 Using set identities listed in the table
prove that
( )
A  (B  C ) = C  B . A

Solution
A  (B  C ) = A  (B  C ) De Morgan’s Law
= (B  C )  A Commutative Law
( )
= B C  A De Morgan’s Law
= (C  B )  A Commutative Law
 Set Identities
Example 7 Using set identities listed in the table
prove that
A  B = A  (B − A ) .

Solution
(
A  (B − A ) = A  B  A ) definition of set difference
(
= (A  B )  A  A ) Distributive Law
= (A  B )  U Complement Law
= AB Identity Law
 Practice Exercise 2
I. Shade the area described in each set.
1. 2. 3.

A B A B A B
A − (B  A ) AB A−B

4. A B 5. A B 6.
A B

C C C

A  (B  C ) (A  B ) − C (
A  B C )
 Practice Exercise 2
II. Solve the following problems.
A. In a survey of 50 music lovers, 18 enjoyed
classical music, 29 enjoyed popular music,
and 14 enjoyed both. How many in this
survey enjoyed classical music only? popular
music only? neither of the two?
B. The Community Hospital has 500 patients of
whom 78 have high blood pressure only, 130
have heart problems only, and 51 have both
high blood pressure and heart problems.
How many patients have neither high blood
pressure nor heart problems?
 Practice Exercise 2
C. In a group of 100 freshman students, 36 are
enrolled in Algebra, 29 in Trigonometry, and
32 in English. Of these, 11 are taking both
Algebra and Trigonometry, 9 both Algebra
and English, 12 both Trigonometry and
English, and 6 all the three subjects. How
many are enrolled in (a) Algebra only, (b)
Trigonometry only, (c) both Algebra and
English only, (d) At least one of the three
subjects, and (e) neither of the three
subjects?
.
 Practice Exercise 2
III. Using membership table, prove the following
identities.
1. A  (A  B ) = A
(
2. A = A  B  A)
3. A − (B  C ) = (A − B )  (A − C )
IV. Using set identities, prove the following.
a. A  (B  A ) = A  B
(
b. A = A  B  A)
c. (A − B ) − C = (A − C ) − B.
 References

Rosen, Kenneth H. (2008). Discrete Mathematics

and its Applications. 6th edition . Boston: Mc-Graw
Hill.

Dacanay, Elvena, Lupague (2011). Introduction to

Mathematical Logic. Manila: Mc-Graw Hill.