The union of two sets contains all elements that are in either set. The intersection of two sets contains only the elements that are in both sets. The complement of a set contains all elements that are not in the original set.
2. Union, Intersection, and Complement
The union of two sets contains all the elements contained in either set (or both sets).
The union is notated A ⋃ B.
For Example : A U B = {a, b, c} U { b, c, d}
AUB = {a, b, c, d}
The intersection of two sets contains only the elements that are in both sets.
The intersection is notated A ⋂ B.
For Example : A ⋂ B.= {a, b, c} U { b, c, d}
A ⋂ B. = { b, c}
The complement of a set A contains everything that is not in the set A.
The complement is notated A’, or Ac, or sometimes ~A.
For Example :A’ = U – A
A’ = {a, b, c, d, e} - { a, b, c}
A’ = { d, e}
3. Examples
Consider the sets:
A = {red, green, blue} B = {red, yellow, orange}
a) Find A ⋃ B
The union contains all the elements in either set: A ⋃ B = {red, green, blue,
yellow, orange}
Notice we only list red once.
b) Find A ⋂ B
The intersection contains all the elements in both sets: A ⋂ B = {red}