Q.Three coins are tossed. Describe
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🔒 Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Concept understanding — Set Operations
The idea in plain words
Think of your two favourite groups of friends — the ones who play cricket and the ones who play football. Some friends are in both groups, some in only one, and some in neither. Set operations are simply the mathematical ways to answer questions like: "Who's in at least one team?" or "Who's only in the cricket team?".
The whole secret? Each operation is just a different way of combining or comparing two collections — like sorting your friends into different buckets.
Why this works
Sets are just labelled buckets that hold distinct items. The universal set U is the "whole world" of things we're talking about — say, all your friends. Then each operation picks out a specific bucket:
| Operation | What it asks | Bucket contains |
|---|---|---|
| Union (A∪B) | In either? | Everything from A or B (or both) |
| Intersection (A∩B) | In both? | Only the overlap |
| Difference (A∖B) | In A but not B? | Just the part of A that doesn't touch B |
| Complement (Ac) | Not in A? | Everything outside A (inside U) |
| Symmetric Difference (A△B) | In exactly one? | The two crescent-shaped parts, excluding the overlap |
Step by step
Let's take two concrete sets so you can see each operation in action:
A={1,2,3},B={3,4,5}
Step 1: Union — gather everything from both, but don't repeat anything.
A∪B={1,2,3,4,5}
Step 2: Intersection — only what's common to both.
A∩B={3}
Step 3: Difference (A minus B) — start with A, remove anything that's also in B.
A∖B={1,2}
Step 4: Complement — needs a universal set. Let U={1,2,3,4,5}. Then:
Ac={4,5}
Step 5: Symmetric Difference — combine the two differences:
A△B=(A∖B)∪(B∖A)={1,2}∪{4,5}={1,2,4,5}
A common slip …
The key idea is Set Operations — representing coin-toss outcomes as a sample space and defining events as subsets.
Step 1: Sample space
S={HHH,HHT,HTH,HTT,THH,THT,TTH,TTT} (8 equally likely outcomes).
Step 2: Define events as subsets
- Mutually exclusive events cannot happen together. Example: A={exactly one head}={HTT,THT,TTH}, B={exactly two heads}={HHT,HTH,THH}. A∩B=∅.
- Mutually exclusive and exhaustive events cover S with no overlap. Example: C={no head}={TTT}, D={exactly one head}, E={at least two heads}={HHT,HTH,THH,HHH}. C∪D∪E=S, and all pairwise intersections are empty.
- Not mutually exclusive means they can occur together. Example: F={first coin head}={HHH,HHT,HTH,HTT}, G={exactly two heads}. F∩G={HHT,HTH}=∅. …
The key idea is to use the sample space of 8 outcomes from tossing three coins and apply set operations to construct events that satisfy the given conditions. The final answers are specific subsets of the sample space.
When three coins are tossed, each coin can land either heads (H) or tails (T). The total number of possible outcomes is 23=8. The sample space S is:
S={HHH,HHT,HTH,HTT,THH,THT,TTH,TTT}
An event is any subset of S. Two events are mutually exclusive if they have no outcome in common — their intersection is empty. Events are exhaustive if their union equals the entire sample space S. If they are not exhaustive, their union is a proper subset of S.
Let’s construct each required set step by step.
-
Two events which are mutually exclusive
Pick any two events that cannot happen together. For instance, let
A={all heads}={HHH} and
B={all tails}={TTT}.
Since A∩B=∅, they are mutually exclusive. They are not exhaustive because many outcomes (like HHT) are in neither.
-
Three events which are mutually exclusive and exhaustive
We need three disjoint events whose union is S. A natural way is to group outcomes by the number of heads:
- E0={0 heads}={TTT}
- E1={exactly 1 head}={HTT,THT,TTH}
- E2={exactly 2 heads}={HHT,HTH,THH}
- E3={exactly 3 heads}={HHH} But that gives four events. To have exactly three, combine two of them. For example, let:
- X={0 or 1 head}={TTT,HTT,THT,TTH}
- Y={exactly 2 heads}={HHT,HTH,THH}
- Z={exactly 3 heads}={HHH} Check: X∩Y=∅, X∩Z=∅, Y∩Z=∅, and X∪Y∪Z=S. So these three are mutually exclusive and exhaustive.
-
Two events which are not mutually exclusive
They must share at least one outcome. Let
P={first coin is H}={HHH,HHT,HTH,HTT} and
Q={second coin is H}={HHH,HHT,THH,THT}.
Their intersection P∩Q={HHH,HHT} is non-empty, so they are not mutually exclusive.
-
Two events which are mutually exclusive but not exhaustive
They must be disjoint, but their union should miss at least one outcome. Take
R={exactly 2 heads}={HHT,HTH,THH} and
S={exactly 0 heads}={TTT}.
R∩S=∅, so mutually exclusive. Their union {HHT,HTH,THH,TTT} does not include outcomes like HHH or HTT, so not exhaustive.
-
Three events which are mutually exclusive but not exhaustive
We need three pairwise disjoint events whose union is a proper subset of S. For instance:
- U={first coin H, second H}={HHH,HHT}
- V={first coin T, second T}={TTH,TTT} …
Showing the 12 most recent of 16 on this concept.
- COMEDK 2026Set 2026-A1 markMCQQ.Given the sets A={1,2,3};B={2,3,5} and C={4,5,6} identify which of the following statement is incorrect. (A) B−C={2,3} (B) n[(A∪B)∩(B∩C)]=1 (C) (A∩B)∪C=A∩(B∪C) (D) (A∩B)∩C=∅
›Reveal solutionSolution
Checking each statement, three are true and only option (C) asserts an equality that fails, so the incorrect statement is (C).
Concept
The problem tests basic set operations — union, intersection, difference and cardinality. Work each statement out explicitly; for an equality, compute both sides separately and compare. A frequent trap is to assume set operations distribute like ordinary arithmetic, which they do not.
Solution
Using A={1,2,3},B={2,3,5},C={4,5,6}:
- (A) B−C: keep elements of B not in C, giving {2,3} — statement correct.
- (B) A∪B={1,2,3,5} and B∩C={5}; their intersection is {5}, so n=1 — statement correct. …
- COMEDK 2026Set 2026-M1 markMCQQ.If A={x:x is the first three odd numbers}, B={2x+3:0≤x<5, x∈N}, then which of the following is true (A) A⊂B (B) n(B)=5 (C) A∩B=∅ (D) A∩B is a singleton set
›Reveal solutionSolution
[!TLDR]
Writing out A={1,3,5} and B={3,5,7,9,11} shows B has exactly five elements, so n(B)=5 is the true statement.
Concept
This CBSE Class 11 Sets question is answered by roster-forming each set and testing subset/intersection/cardinality claims directly.
Solution
- A: the first three odd numbers are 1,3,5, so A={1,3,5}.
- B: for x=0,1,2,3,4 (with 0≤x<5), 2x+3 gives 3,5,7,9,11, so B={3,5,7,9,11} and n(B)=5.
- Check (A): A⊂B is false because 1∈A but 1∈/B.
- Check (C): A∩B={3,5}=∅, so false.
- Check (D): A∩B={3,5} has two elements, so it is not a singleton, false. …
- COMEDK 2026Set 2026-M1 markMCQQ.The set expression A∪(B∩(A′∪B′)) is equivalent to (A) (A′∪B′)′ (B) ξ (Universal set) (C) A∪B (D) A∩B′
›Reveal solutionSolution
The expression simplifies to A∪B by applying De Morgan’s law and the distributive law. The correct option is (C).
We start with the expression A∪(B∩(A′∪B′)). The goal is to simplify it step by step using set identities. The key insight is to notice that A′∪B′ is the complement of A∩B (by De Morgan’s law), so the inner part B∩(A′∪B′) is “everything in B that is not in A”. Then unioning with A gives all of A plus that part of B outside A, which is exactly A∪B.
Let’s verify this carefully.
- Apply De Morgan’s law to the innermost complement expression: A′∪B′=(A∩B)′. So the expression becomes:
A∪(B∩(A∩B)′).
- Interpret B∩(A∩B)′: This is the set of elements that are in B but not in A∩B. Since A∩B is the overlap of A and B, removing it from B leaves exactly the part of B that is not in A. That is:
B∩(A∩B)′=B∩A′=B−A.
- Now the whole expression is:
A∪(B∩A′).
- Use the distributive law (or simply think: A plus the part of B outside A): A∪(B∩A′)=(A∪B)∩(A∪A′). …
- KCET 2025Set A-11 markMCQQ.A and B are two sets having 3 and 6 elements respectively. Consider the following statements. Statement (I): Minimum number of elements in A∪B is 3 Statement (II): Maximum number of elements in A∩B is 3 Which of the following is correct? (A) Statement (I) is true, statement (II) is false (B) Statement (I) is false, statement (II) is true (C) Both statements (I) and (II) are true (D) Both statements (I) and (II) are false
›Reveal solutionSolution
Both extremes occur when the smaller set sits inside the bigger one: then A∪B=B (size 6, so the minimum union is 6, not 3) and A∩B=A (size 3, so the maximum intersection is 3).
Step 1 — The governing bounds.
For finite sets,
max{n(A),n(B)}≤n(A∪B)≤n(A)+n(B)
0≤n(A∩B)≤min{n(A),n(B)}
Both follow from the inclusion–exclusion identity
n(A∪B)=n(A)+n(B)−n(A∩B)
A union can never be smaller than either of the sets it contains, and an intersection can never be bigger than the smaller set.
Step 2 — Test Statement (I): "minimum n(A∪B) is 3".
Here n(A)=3, n(B)=6. The union must contain all of B, so
n(A∪B)≥max{3,6}=6
The minimum 6 is attained when A⊆B (then A∪B=B). It can never be 3.
⇒Statement (I) is FALSE
Step 3 — Test Statement (II): "maximum n(A∩B) is 3". …
- COMEDK 2025Set 2025-A1 markMCQQ.Let A={x:x=4n+1, n∈Z, 0≤n<4}, B={x:x=15n+4, n∈N, n≤3}, C={x:x is a prime number, x∈A∪B}. Then the cardinal number of set C is (A) ∅ (B) 3 (C) 4 (D) 5
›Reveal solutionSolution
Common terms of A (x=4n+1) and B (x=5m+2) satisfy x≡17(mod20), i.e. 17,37,57,…; within the stated ranges there are exactly 3 of them — option (B).
A member of both sets needs 4n+1=5m+2, i.e. x≡1(mod4) and x≡2(mod5).
Combine by the Chinese Remainder Theorem. The two congruences (moduli 4 and 5, gcd=1) give a unique residue mod lcm(4,5)=20. Testing, x=17 satisfies 17=4(4)+1=5(3)+2, so
x≡17(mod20)⇒x=17,37,57,77,…
The common terms form an AP with first term 17 and common difference 20. …
- COMEDK 2025Set 2025-A1 markMCQQ.If A={1,2,4}B={2,4,5}C={2,5} then (A−B)∩(B−C)= (A) {2,4,5} (B) {1,2,4,5} (C) ∅ (D) {4,5}
›Reveal solutionSolution
The key idea is to compute the set differences first, then intersect them. The result is the empty set, so the correct option is (C).
We start by recalling what set difference means: A−B is the set of elements that are in A but not in B. Similarly, B−C is the set of elements in B but not in C. The intersection (A−B)∩(B−C) then collects elements that belong to both of these difference sets. Intuitively, an element would have to be in A but not in B, and also in B but not in C — which is impossible because if it’s not in B, it can’t be in B. So we expect the answer to be empty.
Let’s verify step by step.
-
Compute A−B
A={1,2,4}, B={2,4,5}.
Remove from A any element that also appears in B.
- 1 is in A but not in B → keep.
- 2 is in both → remove.
- 4 is in both → remove. So A−B={1}.
-
Compute B−C
B={2,4,5}, C={2,5}.
Remove from B any element that also appears in C.
- 2 is in both → remove.
- 4 is in B but not in C → keep.
- 5 is in both → remove. So B−C={4}.
-
Intersect the results
(A−B)∩(B−C)={1}∩{4}. …
-
- COMEDK 2025Set 2025-E1 markMCQQ.If P={5m:m∈N} and Q={5m:m∈N}, where N is set of natural numbers, then (A) P=Q (B) P⊂Q (C) Q⊂P (D) P∪Q=N
›Reveal solutionSolution
The set P contains all multiples of 5, while Q contains only powers of 5. Since every power of 5 is a multiple of 5 but not every multiple of 5 is a power of 5, we have Q⊂P. The correct option is (C).
Concept and intuition:
We are comparing two sets defined over the natural numbers N={1,2,3,…}.
- P={5m:m∈N} means P is the set of all positive multiples of 5: 5,10,15,20,25,30,…
- Q={5m:m∈N} means Q is the set of all positive powers of 5: 51=5,52=25,53=125,…
The key insight: every power of 5 is certainly a multiple of 5, but not every multiple of 5 is a power of 5 (e.g., 10 is a multiple of 5 but not a power of 5). This tells us that Q is a proper subset of P.
Step-by-step reasoning:
-
Understand the definitions
N is the set of natural numbers, typically {1,2,3,…}.
- P={5,10,15,20,25,30,…} — all numbers divisible by 5.
- Q={5,25,125,625,…} — numbers that are 5 raised to a natural exponent.
-
Check if P=Q
For equality, every element of P must be in Q and vice versa.
Take 10∈P. Is 10 a power of 5? No, because 51=5 and 52=25, and 10 is between them. So 10∈/Q. Hence P=Q. Option (A) is false.
-
Check if P⊂Q
This would mean every multiple of 5 is a power of 5. But as we just saw, 10 is a multiple of 5 but not a power of 5. So P⊂Q. Option (B) is false.
-
Check if Q⊂P …
- COMEDK 2025Set 2025-M1 markMCQQ.If n(A)=3 and n(B)=7 and A⊆B then the number of elements in A∩B is equal to (A) 7 (B) 10 (C) 0 (D) 3
›Reveal solutionSolution
Since A⊆B, every element of A is also in B, so the intersection A∩B is exactly A itself. With n(A)=3, the number of elements in A∩B is 3, making option (D) correct.
The key idea here is the meaning of subset and intersection. When one set is contained entirely inside another, their overlap is just the smaller set. Many students mistakenly think intersection always means "common elements" in a vague sense, but here "common" means all of A is common because A lives inside B.
Let’s walk through it step by step.
-
Understand the given information.
We have n(A)=3 (set A has 3 elements) and n(B)=7 (set B has 7 elements). Crucially, A⊆B means every element of A is also an element of B. So A is a subset of B.
-
What is A∩B?
The intersection A∩B is the set of all elements that belong to both A and B. Since every element of A is in B (by the subset condition), every element of A qualifies. Are there any elements of B that are also in A? Only those that are already in A — no extra ones. So A∩B=A.
-
Count the elements.
If A∩B=A, then the number of elements in the intersection is exactly n(A)=3.
-
Check the options.
- (A) 7 — that would be n(B), but the intersection can’t be larger than A. …
-
- COMEDK 2025Set 2025-M1 markMCQQ.Identify the correct statement (A) A∪A′=∅ (B) A−B=A′∩B (C) (A∪B)′=A′∪B′ (D) A⊆B⇒B′⊆A′
›Reveal solutionSolution
The key idea is to test each set-theory statement using definitions and simple examples. Only statement (D) is always true: if A⊆B, then B′⊆A′.
We need to check each option carefully. The best way is to recall the definitions of complement, difference, and subset, and test with a small universal set.
-
Option (A): A∪A′=∅
- A′ is the complement of A (everything not in A).
- The union of a set and its complement is always the universal set U, not the empty set.
- For example, let U={1,2,3} and A={1}. Then A′={2,3}, so A∪A′={1,2,3}=U=∅.
- False.
-
Option (B): A−B=A′∩B
- A−B means elements in A but not in B.
- A′∩B means elements not in A but in B.
- These are completely different: one is inside A, the other is outside A.
- Example: U={1,2,3}, A={1,2}, B={2,3}. Then A−B={1}, but A′∩B={3}.
- False.
-
Option (C): (A∪B)′=A′∪B′
- This is a common mistake. De Morgan’s laws say: (A∪B)′=A′∩B′, not union.
- Example: U={1,2,3}, A={1}, B={2}. Then (A∪B)′={3}, but A′∪B′={2,3}∪{1,3}={1,2,3}.
- False.
-
Option (D): A⊆B⇒B′⊆A′ …
-
- CA Foundation 2025Set may-20251 markMCQQ.If A={1,2,3,4}, B={2,4,6,8} and C={3,4,5,6}, the value of A−{B∪C} is (A) {1, 2, 3} (B) {2, 3, 4, 5} (C) {1} (D) {0}
›Reveal solutionSolution
B∪C={2,3,4,5,6,8}; removing these from A leaves {1}.
Step 1 — Compute the union B∪C
{2,4,6,8}∪{3,4,5,6}={2,3,4,5,6,8}
Step 2 — Compute the difference A−(B∪C)
Keep elements of A={1,2,3,4} NOT in the union. Elements 2,3,4 are all present in the union; only 1 survives.
A−(B∪C)={1}
Why the other options are wrong: (A) {1,2,3} and (B) {2,3,4,5} keep elements that ARE in the union; (D) {0} introduces 0, which is in no set. …
- KCET 2024Set A-11 markMCQQ.The negation of the statement “For every real number x ; x2+5 is positive” is (A) For every real number x ; x2+5 is not positive (B) For every real number x ; x2+5 is negative (C) There exists at least one real number x such that x2+5 is not positive (D) There exists at least one real number x such that x2+5 is positive
›Reveal solutionSolution
Negating a "for every" statement flips the quantifier to "there exists" and negates the predicate — both changes must happen.
Step 1 — Identify the logical form of the statement.
The given statement is:
∀x∈R, p(x)where p(x):“x2+5 is positive”
This is a universally quantified statement.
Step 2 — Apply the rule for negating a quantifier.
The standard rule of quantifier negation is
∼(∀x, p(x))≡∃x such that ∼p(x)
Why: "It is not true that p holds for every x" means precisely that p fails for at least one x. It does not mean p fails for all x — that is a much stronger claim, and it is the classic trap in this question.
Step 3 — Negate the predicate.
∼p(x):“x2+5 is NOT positive”
Note carefully: the negation of "positive" is "not positive" (i.e. ≤0), not "negative" (i.e. <0), because zero is neither.
Step 4 — Assemble the negation.
“There exists at least one real number x such that x2+5 is not positive.”
Step 5 — Eliminate the distractors.
- (A) keeps "for every" — the quantifier was not flipped. ✗ …
- COMEDK 2024Set 2024-A1 markMCQQ.
[!FORMULA] If aN={ax:x∈N}, then 3N∩7N is
(A) 10N (B) 21N (C) 4N (D) 3N›Reveal solutionSolution
The intersection of the sets of multiples of 3 and multiples of 7 is exactly the set of multiples of their least common multiple, which is 21. So the answer is 21N.
We are asked: if aN={ax:x∈N} (where N is the set of natural numbers, usually {1,2,3,…}), then what is 3N∩7N?
Concept and intuition:
The set aN is all positive multiples of a. The intersection of two such sets consists of numbers that are multiples of both a and b. A number is a multiple of both if and only if it is a multiple of the least common multiple (LCM) of a and b. Why? Because being a multiple of both means the number contains all prime factors of a and all prime factors of b; the smallest number that does this is the LCM, and any common multiple is a multiple of that LCM. So the intersection is exactly the set of multiples of lcm(a,b).
Step-by-step:
-
Interpret the sets:
3N={3,6,9,12,15,18,21,24,…} — all multiples of 3.
7N={7,14,21,28,35,42,…} — all multiples of 7.
-
Find the common elements:
A number n belongs to both sets exactly when n is divisible by 3 and by 7. Since 3 and 7 are coprime (they share no common prime factors), the smallest positive number divisible by both is 3×7=21. Every common multiple must be a multiple of 21.
-
General principle:
For any positive integers a and b,
aN∩bN=lcm(a,b)N. …
-
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