Venn diagrams or set diagrams are diagrams that show all hypothetically possible logical relations between a finite collection of sets (aggregation of things). Venn diagrams were conceived around 1880 by John Venn. They are used to teach elementary set theory, as well as illustrate simple set relationships in probability, logic, statistics, linguistics and computer science (see logical connectives).
A Venn diagram is an illustration of the relationships between and among sets, groups of objects that share something in common. Usually, Venn diagrams are used to depict set intersections (denoted by an upside-down letter U). This type of diagram is used in scientific and engineering presentations, in theoretical mathematics, in computer applications, and in statistics.
ILLUSTRATION OF VENN DIAGRAM:
The following example involves two sets, A and B, represented here as coloured circles. The orange circle, set A, represents all living creatures that are two-legged. The blue circle, set B, represents the living creatures that can fly. Each separate type of creature can be imagined as a point somewhere in the diagram. Living creatures that both can fly and have two legs—for example, parrots—are then in both sets, so they correspond to points in the area where the blue and orange circles overlap. That area contains all such and only such living creatures.
Humans and penguins are bipedal, and so are then in the orange circle, but since they cannot fly they appear in the left part of the orange circle, where it does not overlap with the blue circle. Mosquitoes have six legs, and fly, so the point for mosquitoes is in the part of the blue circle that does not overlap with the orange one. Creatures that are not two-legged and cannot fly (for example, whales and spiders) would all be represented by points outside both circles.
The combined area of sets A and B is called the union of A and B, denoted by A ∪ B. The union in this case contains all living creatures that are either two-legged or that can fly (or both). The area in both A and B, where the two sets overlap, is called the intersection of A and B, denoted by A ∩ B. For example, the intersection of the two sets is not empty, because there are points representing creatures that are in both the orange and blue circles.
Venn diagrams were invented by a guy named John Venn (no kidding; that was really his name) as a way of picturing relationships between different groups of things. (Inventing this type of diagram was, apparently, pretty much all he ever accomplished. To add insult to injury, much of what we refer to as "Venn diagrams" are actually "Euler" diagrams. But we'll stick with the usual "Venn" terminology for the purposes of this lesson.) Since the mathematical term for "a group of things" is "a set", Venn diagrams can be used to illustrate both set relationships and logical relationships.
To draw a Venn diagram, you first draw a rectangle which is called your "universe". In the context of Venn diagrams, the universe is not "everything", but "everything you're dealing with right now". Let's deal with the following list of things:
