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Prove distributive laws for unions and intersections of sets

Prove that A \cap (B \cup C) = (A \cap B) \cup (A \cap C) and A \cup (B \cap C) = (A \cup B) \cap (A \cup C).


Proof (A \cap (B \cup C) = (A \cap B) \cup (A \cap C)). Let x be an arbitrary element of A \cap (B \cup C). This means that x \in A and x \in (B \cup C). Further, since x \in (B \cup C) we know x \in B or x \in C. But then, this implies x \in (A \cap B) or x \in (A \cap C) depending on whether x \in B or x \in C, respectively. Then, since x \in (A \cap B) or x \in (A \cap C), we have x \in (A \cap B) \cup (A \cap C). Thus, A \cap (B \cup C) \subseteq (A \cap B) \cup (A \cap C).
For the opposite inclusion, we let x be an arbitrary element of (A \cap B) \cup (A \cap C). This means that x \in (A \cap B) or x \in (A \cap C). If x \in (A \cap B) then x \in A and x \in B, while if x \in (A \cap C) we have x \in A and x \in C. Thus, we have x \in A no matter what, and either x \in B or x \in C. Since x \in B or x \in C, we know x \in (B \cup C). Since we already had that x \in A no matter what, we now have x \in A \cap (B \cup C). Therefore, (A \cap B) \cup (A \cap C) \subseteq A \cap (B \cup C).
Hence, A \cap (B \cup C) = (A \cap B) \cup (A \cap C).∎

Proof (A \cup (B \cap C) = (A \cup B) \cap (A \cup C)). Let x be an arbitrary element of A \cup (B \cap C). This means x \in A or x \in (B \cap C). If x \in A then x \in A \cup B and x \in A \cup C. Hence, x \in (A \cup B) \cap (A \cup C). Otherwise, if x \in (B \cap C) then x \in B and c \in C. Hence, x \in A \cup B and x \in A \cup C; therefore, x \in (A \cup B) \cap (A \cup C). Therefore, A \cup (B \cap C) \subseteq (A \cup B) \cap (A \cup C).
For the reverse inclusion, let x be an arbitrary element of (A \cup B) \cap (A \cup C). This means x \in (A \cup B) and x \in (A \cup C). This implies that x \in A or x \in B and x \in C (since if x \notin A then the fact that x \in A \cup B and x \in A \cup C means x must be in both B and C). If x \in A, then x \in A \cup (B \cap C). On the other hand, if x \in B and x \in C, then x \in B \cap C. Hence, x \in A \cup (B \cap C). Therefore, (A \cup B) \cap (A \cup C) \subseteq A \cup (B \cap C).
Therefore, A \cup (B \cap C) = (A \cup B) \cap (A \cup C).∎