Set operations and Venn diagrams. week 5 MAT - Essay Example

Venn diagram is a way to visualize the organization of a set of objects based on their similarities and differences. Two or more overlapping circlesare used to represent the characteristics through which the objects will be compared. Thus, if we want to compare vehicles, one circle can represent land vehicles, while the other can be water vehicles. We can also add another circle for air vehicles if we want to. After assigning characteristics to our circles, we then write the name of the things we want to organize in the circle to which it belongs to.

So using the example above, cars, buses and vans should be written inside the circle for land vehicles, while rafts and yachts belong to the circle for water vehicles.It is also possible that an object possesses both characteristics. For example, if you want to use a Venn diagram to organize a variety of tools based on whether it is for kitchen (circle 1) or for plumbing (circle 2), you know that scissors belong to both circles. To represent this, we write ‘scissors’ in the overlap of two circles.

What if you have an object that does not have any of the characteristics represented by your circles? Then you simply put its name outside the overlapping circles, to signify that it does not belong to any of the groups. Taking the Venn diagram of tools, you know that a watering can does not belong to either kitchen or plumbing tools because it is a gardening tool. Thus, you put ‘watering can’ outside the overlapping circles.ReferenceHow do I use Venn diagrams? (n. d.). Retrieved from: http://www.lpg.fsu.

edu/charting/InstructionalStrategies/howto-tactics/ht-k1ccvenn.asp