Venn Diagrams
What Are Venn Diagrams?
Venn diagrams are diagrams used to represent sets of objects,
numbers or things. The universal set is usually represented by a
rectangle whereas sets within it are usually represented by circles or
ellipses.
• Example #1:
The following is a Venn diagram that shows set A within the
universal set U. A ' , the complement of A, is shaded.
• Example #2:
In this example, U would be {2, 3, 5, 7, 8}, A = {2, 7, 8} and
A ' = {3, 5}. These elements can be shown as:
Subsets
As B ⊆ A then B is contained within A as every element of B is also
in A:
Intersection
As A ∩ B consists of all elements common to both A and B, then
A ∩ B is the shaded region:
Union
As A ∪ B consists of all elements in A or B (or both A and B) then
A ∪ B is the shaded region:
Disjoint (Or Mutually Exclusive) Sets
Disjoint sets do not have common elements. For example, A = {2, 3,
8} and B = {4, 5, 9} i.e., A ∩ B = ∅ . These are represented by non-
overlapping circles.
Note:
If two sets A and B are disjoint and exhaustive then A ∩ B = ∅ and
U = A ∪ B . We can represent this situation without using circles for
the sets, as shown in the diagram below:
Likewise if three sets A, B and C are disjoint and exhaustive then
A ∩ B = ∅ , B ∩ C = ∅ , A ∩ C = ∅ and U = A ∪ B ∪ C . We can
represent this situation with the diagram below:
Examples
• Example #1:
U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {4, 5}.
These are disjoint sets and we write A ∩ B = ∅ . The symbol
“ ∩ ” represents intersection. If C = A ∩ B , then set C contains
elements that are in both set A and set B.
• Example #2:
U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {3, 4, 5, 6}.
These are intersecting sets. We know this because A ∩ B = {3} .
The symbol “ ∪ ” represents union. We read A ∪ B as “A union
B”. If C = A ∪ B , then set C contains elements that either
belong to set A or to set B. In this case, A ∪ B = U . It is
important to note that n( A ∪ B) ≠ n(A) + n(B) because we would
be double counting the 3 that shows up in set A and in set B.
We could find the true value of n( A ∪ B) by using the following
formula: n( A ∪ B) = n(A) + n(B) − n(A ∩ B) , the last part is to
avoid double counting.
• Example #3:
U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, A = {2, 3, 4} and B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}.
Set A is drawn inside set B. We say that A is a subset of B and
write it as: A ⊆ B . We say that set A is a subset of set B if all of
the elements in set A are contained in set B. The symbol “ ⊆ ”
represents “is a subset of.”
Venn Diagram Regions
We use shading to show various sets being considered. For example,
for two intersecting sets:
A is shaded. A ∩ B is shaded. B' is shaded. A ∩ B' is shaded.
Numbers in Regions
There are four regions on a Venn diagram which contains two
overlapping sets A and B.
The number of elements in each region:
U
A B
One Two Three Four
Region Description of Region Number of Elements
One The elements that belong only in n(A) − n(A ∩ B)
set A
Two The elements that belong only in n(B) − n(A ∩ B)
set B
Three The elements that belong to set n(A ∩ B)
A and set B
Four The elements that do not belong n(U) − n(A ∪ B)
to set A or set B
Examples
• Example #1:
Draw a Venn Diagram to show the number of elements in each
region if, n(U) = 50, n(A) = 32, n(B) = 25, n(A ∩ B) = 11.
From the rules above:
Elements in A only = n(A) − n(A ∩ B) = 32 – 11 = 21
Elements in B only = n(B) − n(A ∩ B) = 25 – 11 = 14
Elements in U only = n(U) − n(A ∪ B) = 50 – (32 + 25 – 11) = 4
Venn Diagram:
U
A B
21 11 14
• Example #2:
Out of a class of 30 IB students, 22 study Math Studies (M), 15
study Biology (B) and 7 study both. Draw a Venn diagram to
show the number of students in each region of the Venn
Diagram.
Elements in M = n(M) − n(M ∩ B) = 22 – 7 = 15
Elements in B = n(B) − n(M ∩ B) = 15 – 7 = 8
Elements in neither = n(U) − n(M ∪ B) = 30 – (22 + 15 – 7) = 0
Venn Diagram:
U M B
15 7 8
