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Ch. R - Review of Basic Concepts
Lial - College Algebra 13th Edition
Lial13th EditionCollege AlgebraISBN: 9780136881063Not the one you use?Change textbook
Chapter 1, Problem 79

Determine whether each statement is true or false. ∅ ∪ ∅ = ∅

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Recall the definition of the union of two sets: for any sets A and B, the union A \(\cup\) B is the set containing all elements that are in A, or in B, or in both.
Identify the sets involved: here both sets are the empty set, denoted by \(\emptyset\), which contains no elements.
Apply the union operation to the empty sets: \(\emptyset\) \(\cup\) \(\emptyset\) means the set of all elements in \(\emptyset\) or in \(\emptyset\).
Since \(\emptyset\) has no elements, there are no elements to combine, so the union \(\emptyset\) \(\cup\) \(\emptyset\) is also an empty set.
Conclude that the statement \(\emptyset\) \(\cup\) \(\emptyset\) = \(\emptyset\) is true because the union of two empty sets is still an empty set.

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Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Empty Set (∅)

The empty set, denoted by ∅, is the set containing no elements. It is unique and serves as the foundation for set theory. Understanding that ∅ has no members is crucial for evaluating operations involving it.
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Union of Sets

The union of two sets A and B, written as A ∪ B, is the set containing all elements that are in A, in B, or in both. If both sets are empty, their union will also be empty since there are no elements to combine.
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Set Equality

Two sets are equal if and only if they contain exactly the same elements. To determine if ∅ ∪ ∅ = ∅, we check if both sides have the same elements, which they do since both are empty sets.
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