Basic Operations on Sets

We can perform operations like addition, subtraction, division etc. Similarly in Set theory, certain operations can be performed on two or more sets that result in a new set of elements based on the operation performed.

The basic operations that can be performed on sets are as follows:

1. Union of sets
2. Intersection of sets
3. The Complement of a Set

1. Union of Sets:

Definition:

The union of two or more sets is a third set that contains all the elements in the sets.

For example:

if P = {2, 3, 5, 7} and Q = {1, 3, 5}

Then the union of P and Q is a third set R, where R = {1, 2, 3, 5, 7}.

In symbols, we have R = \( \scriptsize P \cup Q \) which means “P union Q equals R”