[Math] showing compactness of the intersection of a compact set and disjoint open sets.

compactnessgeneral-topologyreal-analysis

Here's the problem I'm trying to solve.

"If $A\subseteq B_1\cup B_2$ where $B_1, B_2$ are disjoint open sets and $A$ is compact, show that $A\cap B_1$ is compact. Is the same true if $B_1$ and $B_2$ are not disjoint?"

Hope you can help, I can't seem to wrap my head around this one. Thanks!

Best Answer

Hint: Let $\cal U$ be an open cover of $A\cap B_1$ then $\{U\cup B_2\mid U\in\cal U\}$ is an open cover of $A$.

For the second part note that $[0,1]\subseteq (-1,1)\cup(\frac12,\frac43)$.

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