GCSE Mathematics  ›  M5.3 Venn diagrams and set notation

Venn diagrams and set notation

Free GCSE Mathematics practice questions on Venn diagrams and set notation. Aligned with the UK Department for Education GCSE subject content — works for any UK GCSE exam board. Sample questions below with detailed mark schemes. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.

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Describe — 2 marks

A physics teacher is organising a set of laboratory equipment. Some items can be used to measure length, some can be used to measure time, and some can be used for both purposes. The teacher decides to use a Venn diagram to classify the equipment.

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  • (a) The overlapping region represents equipment that can measure both length and time / equipment that belongs to both sets
  • (b) A stopwatch would be placed in the 'measures time' region only / outside the 'measures length' region, because a stopwatch measures time but not length

Show — 3 marks

A teacher asks students to consider numbers from 1 to 12. Set A = {even numbers} Set B = {multiples of 3} The Venn diagram shows this information.

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  • (a) 6, 12 (both required for the mark)
  • (b) Method: n(A) + n(B) − n(A ∩ B) or lists all elements of A ∪ B
  • (b) Correct completion showing 6 + 4 − 2 = 8 or listing {2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12}

Explain — 2 marks

A teacher surveys 30 students about their favourite subjects. The Venn diagram shows the sets: M = students who like Mathematics and E = students who like English. The numbers in each region represent the number of students.

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  • (a) The probability of selecting a student who likes Mathematics OR English (or both)
  • (b) 12 + 15 − 7 = 20 students like at least one subject, so 30 − 20 = 10 like neither

State — 4 marks

The Venn diagram shows two sets, A and B, within the universal set ξ. Set A contains the even numbers from 2 to 12, and set B contains the multiples of 3 from 3 to 12. The universal set ξ = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}.

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  • (a) 6
  • (a) 12
  • (b) 8

Compare — 3 marks

The Venn diagram shows the universal set ε = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20}. Set A contains the even numbers in ε. Set B contains the multiples of 3 in ε.

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  • (a) {6, 12, 18} (accept without brackets, any order)
  • (b) Correctly identifies A ∩ B' = {2, 4, 8, 10, 14, 16, 20} so n(A ∩ B') = 7
  • (b) Correctly identifies A' ∩ B = {3, 9, 15} so n(A' ∩ B) = 3 AND states that n(A ∩ B') > n(A' ∩ B) (or equivalent comparison, e.g., 7 > 3)
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