Skip to content

Intersection

Definition

The intersection of two sets \(A\) and \(B\), written \(A \cap B\), is the set of all elements that are in both \(A\) and \(B\).

\[A \cap B = \{x : x \in A \land x \in B\}\]

Properties

Commutativity

\[A \cap B = B \cap A\]

Associativity

\[(A \cap B) \cap C = A \cap (B \cap C)\]

Identity

\[A \cap \emptyset = \emptyset\]

Idempotence

\[A \cap A = A\]

Distributive Laws

\[A \cap (B \cup C) = (A \cap B) \cup (A \cap C)$$ $$A \cup (B \cap C) = (A \cup B) \cap (A \cup C)\]

Examples

Example 1

\[\{1, 2, 3\} \cap \{2, 3, 4\} = \{2, 3\}\]

Example 2

\[\{1, 2\} \cap \{3, 4\} = \emptyset\]

Disjoint Sets

Two sets are disjoint if their intersection is empty: $\(A \cap B = \emptyset\)$