[Math] Venn Diagrams in Discrete Structures

discrete mathematics

I'm hoping someone can explain how I go about drawing up venn diagrams in my discrete structures class. The book this class uses doesn't explain much at all, and gives only two examples..

My homework asks me to:

Use Venn diagrams to determine whether each of the following is true or false:

  1. $(A ∪ B) ∩ C = A ∪ (B ∩ C)$
  2. $A ∩ (B ∪ C) = (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C)$

I'm NOT looking for the answers to these, I just need a better understanding on how I can draw these out so I can answer them.

Would these look correct?

  1. $A ∩ (B ∪ C) = (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C)$ = true from what my drawings are showing below

(A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C)

A ∩ (B ∪ C)

Best Answer

Here is how I would approach the problem. For each of these equations, start by drawing two Venn diagrams with three sets each. Label the sets A, B, and C. I'm thinking of something that looks like this.

$\hskip2in$ venn_diagram

In the first Venn diagram, shade the region corresponding to the set on the left hand side of the equation. Similarly, in the second Venn diagram, shade the region corresponding to the set on the right hand side of the equation. If the shadings match up, then the equation is correct. This exercise provides a nice visual intuition for why these statements may or may not be true.