Axioms,
Interpretations,
and Properties of Probability

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Part 1: Show that A∪
B⊆
(
A−
(
A∩
B))
∪
(B−
(
A∩
B))
∪
(
A∩
B) *LYHQ DQ\

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 [ ∈ $ DQG [ ∈
/ %
 [ ∈ % DQG [ ∈
/ $
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E\ GH¿QLWLRQ RI XQLRQ
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% − ($ ∩ %) DQG $ ∩ % DUH PXWXDOO\ GLVMRLQW
Part 2: Show that ( A − ( A ∩ B)) ∪ (B − ( A ∩ B)) ∪ ( A ∩ B) ⊆ A ∪ B  6XSSRVH [
LV DQ\ HOHPHQW LQ ( $ − ( $ ∩ %)) ∪ (% − ($ ∩ %)) ∪ ($ ∩ %) %\ GH¿QLWLRQ RI XQLRQ
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/ $ ∩ % E\ GH¿QLWLRQ RI VHW GLIIHUHQFH
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+HQFH LQ DOO WKUHH FDVHV [ ∈ $ ∪ % ZKLFK FRPSOHWHV WKH SURRI RI SDUW 

E 3($ ∪ %) = 3(($ − ($ ∩ %)) ∪ (% − ($ ∩ %)) ∪ ($ ∩ %)) E\ SDUW D

= 3($ − ($ ∩ %)) + 3(% − ($ ∩ %)) + 3($ ∩ %)
E\ H[HUFLVH  DW WKH HQG RI WKH VHFWLRQ DQG WKH IDFW WKDW
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= 3($) − 3($ ∩ %) + 3(%) − 3($ ∩ %) + 3($ ∩ %)
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Example
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Example
3URYHWKDWLI6LVDQ\VDPSOHVSDFHDQG8DQG9DUHDQ\HYHQWVLQ6 WKHQ  3(9−
8 )
=
3(9)
−
3(8∩
9)

Example
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LI
$,
$,
$, . . . ,
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Q
3( $ ∪ $ ∪ $ ∪ · · · ∪ $Q ) = 3($N ).
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1 ($ ∪ %) = 1 ($) + 1 (%) − 1 ($ ∩ %)
DQG
1 ($ ∪ % ∪ &) = 1 ($) + 1 (%) + 1 (&) − 1 ($ ∩ %) − 1 ($ ∩ &)
−1 (% ∩ &) + 1 ($ ∩ % ∩ &).

ExampleCountingtheNumberofElementsinanIntersection
A professor in a discrete mathematics class passes out a form asking students to check
all the mathematics and computer science courses they have recently taken. The finding
is that out of a total of 50 students in the class,
30 took precalculus; 16 took both precalculus and Java;
18 took calculus; 8 took both calculus and Java;
26 took Java; 47 took at least one of the three courses.
9 took both precalculus and calculus;
Note that when we write “30 students took precalculus,” we mean that the total num-
ber of students who took precalculus is 30, and we allow for the possibility that some of
these students may have taken one or both of the other courses. If we want to say that
30 students took precalculus only (and not either of the other courses), we will say so
explicitly.
a. How many students did not take any of the three courses?
b. How many students took all three courses?
c. How many students took precalculus and calculus but not Java? How many students
took precalculus but neither calculus nor Java?
For any three events A, B, and C,
P(A  B  C)  P(A)  P(B)  P(C)  P(A  B)  P(A  C)
 P(B  C)  P(A  B  C)