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Mathematics
Quarter 3 – Module 4
Illustrating Events, and Union and
Intersection of Events

LALALYN N. PATAYAN, Writer

Teacher III, Bayambang National High School

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 What I Need to Know

If you throw up a cube whose sides are differently colored, how many possible
colors would you obtain with one side of the cube facing up?

This module will help you understand the concept of outcomes and events
as introduction to the study of probability. You will learn to identify the number of
events for a certain occurrence or experiment, and events that are joined together
to form unions, and common events singled out as intersections.

The most essential learning competency aligned in this module is to:

1. Illustrate events, and union and intersection of events. (M10SP - lllf1
- 1)
The scope of this module is to develop your skill in illustrating events - their union
and intersection. While going through the course of this module, you are expected
to:
1. enumerate events and sample space for a given situation or experiment;
2. illustrate and identify the union of events, and;
3. illustrate and identify the intersection of events.

What I Know

Let us determine how much you already know about events, and union and
intersection of events. If you answer all the test items correctly in this pretest, then
you may skip studying this learning material and proceed to the next learning
module.

DIRECTION: Read and understand each item, then choose the letter of your
answer and write it on your answer sheet.
1. It is the set of all outcomes in an experiment?
A) event C) sample space
B) intersection D) probability
2. Which of the following is an event in a random experiment?
A) tossing a coin
B) getting a “5” when a die is rolled
C) randomly choosing a ball from a box
D) answering a multiple choice question
3. Which of the following is an example of a compound event?
A) drawing a heart and an ace from a deck of cards
B) answering “true” in a true-or-false question
C) obtaining a tail when tossing a coin
D) choosing between soda and water
4. Study the figure below. What does the shaded portion in the middle
indicates?

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 A) sample space C) union of events A and B
B) complement of A and B D) intersection of A and B
5. Which of the following is NOT an experiment
A) randomly choosing a ball from a box
B) getting a “5” when you roll a die
C) tossing a coin
D) answering a multiple choice question
6. Two fair dice are tossed. Find the number of outcomes of obtaining a pair
of even numbers.
A) 6 B) 9 C) 16 D) 32
7. A box contains 15 balls: 5 red, 5, blue, and 5 yellow. What is the sample
space?
A) 3 B) 5 C) 15 D) 125
8. Which of the following describes the sample space when two coins are
tossed?
A) 𝑆 = {(𝐻, 𝑇} C) 𝑆 = {(𝐻𝐻, 𝑇𝐻, 𝐻𝑇, 𝑇𝑇}
B) 𝑆 = {(𝐻𝐻, 𝑇𝑇} D) 𝑆 = {(𝐻𝐻, 𝑇𝐻, 𝑇𝑇}
9. A random number generator on a computer selects two integers from 1 to
5. How many possible outcomes are there when the numbers are both even
or both odd.
A) 5 B) 10 C) 13 D) 15
10. A die and a coin are tossed. Describe the event of getting an even number
and a tail.
A) 𝐸 = {(2, 𝑇), (4, 𝑇), (6, 𝑇)}
B) 𝐸 = {(2, 𝐻 ), (4, 𝐻 ), (6, 𝐻)}
C) 𝐸 = {(2, 𝑇), (4, 𝑇), (6, 𝑇), (2, 𝐻 ), (4, 𝐻 ), (6, 𝐻)}
D) 𝐸 = {(1, 𝑇), (2, 𝑇), (3, 𝑇), (4, 𝑇), (5, 𝑇), (6, 𝑇), (1, 𝐻 ), (2, 𝐻 ), (3, 𝐻 ), (4, 𝐻 ), (5, 𝐻 ),
(6, 𝐻)}
11. Three coins are tossed. What is the total sample space?
A) 2 B) 4 C) 6 D) 8
12. It is the collection of all outcomes that are elements of one event or of the
other events in a random experiment.
A) union of events C) complement of an event
B) intersection of events D) sample space
13. Which of the following statements describe intersection of events in
drawing cards?
A) drawing a face card and a red card
B) drawing a face card or a red card
C) drawing a face card of all suits alternately
D) drawing four face cards
14. In a class of 30 students, 19 play sport, 8 play piano and 3 play both sport
and piano. How many students play sport or piano?
A) 3 B) 24 C) 16 D) 21
15. Which of the following corresponds to the combining description of union of
events?
A) and B) or C) of D) by

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 Lesson Illustrating Events, and
1 Union and Intersection of
Events

WHAT’S IN

The concept of sets – their union and intersection has already been introduced to
you when you were in Grade 7. You have learned about the Venn Diagram which
is an indispensable tool in studying the union and intersection of sets. The
following activity will give you a walkthrough of that knowledge as prerequisite to
the topic to be discussed in this module.

Activity 1. Let’s Review!

Direction: Read and analyze each problem below and do what is being asked.

A) Given: 𝑈 = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑, 𝑒, 𝑓, 𝑔}
𝐴 = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑 }
𝐵 = {𝑐, 𝑑, 𝑒, 𝑓, 𝑔}
i) Find 𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 and draw a Venn diagram to illustrate it.
ii) Find 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 and draw a Venn diagram to illustrate it.

B) At a breakfast buffet table, 95 persons chose coffee for their beverage and 45
people chose juice. Twenty-five people chose coffee and juice. If each person chose
at least one beverage, how many people visited the buffet? Draw the Venn diagram
representing the problem and find the intersection and union.

What’s New

At this point of the module, you are about to learn the concept of outcomes and
events. Let us begin with a simple activity below.

Activity 2. Let’s Discover!

Direction: Read, understand, and perform the given instructions below then
answer the questions that follow. Materials: 2 pieces of coins, 1 piece of die

1) Get one piece of coin. Lay the coin on a flat surface with the head up. Then,
turn the coin over showing the tail up this time.
a) How many possible outcomes are there when you flip a coin? _________
b) Enumerate the specific outcomes when you flip a coin?
i. ______________
ii. ______________
2) Get the two coins this time. Label your coins #1 and #2. Note that you should
accomplish the table below as you go thru the instructions.

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 a) Event A: Lay the coin #1 on a flat surface. Put down coin #2 beside coin #1.
What are the faces (head H or tail T ) shown on each coin? List down on the
table below.
b) Event B: Flip coin #2. What faces are showing this time? List it on the table.
c) Event C: Flip coin #1 and pick up coin #2. Then put it back beside coin #1.
Note the faces that are shown on both coins.
d) Event D: Flip coin #2. Complete the table below.
e) What is the total number of possible outcomes when two coins are
flipped/tossed? __________

Event Coin #1 Coin #2 Coin #1-Coin #2

(H or T) (H or T) (HH, HT, TH or TT)
A
B
C
D

3) Get the piece of die and examine carefully all the faces of the die.
a) How many faces does the die have? ______________
b) Enumerate the number of dots on each face of the die? ________________
c) When you roll the die:
i) How many possible outcomes of getting an even number? ___________
What are those numbers? ___________
ii) How many possible outcomes of getting an odd number? ___________
What are those numbers? ___________
iii) How many possible outcomes of getting a number greater than 2?
_________ What are those numbers? ___________
iv) How many possible outcomes of getting an even number greater than
2? ________ What are those numbers? ___________

Were you able to complete the task? If yes, you may proceed to the next page. If no,
take time to finish for you to better understand the next discussions.

What Is It

Let us now discuss your answers in Activity 2.

1. A coin has two faces. Flipping a coin will show the faces alternately. Thus, there
are ONLY two (2) possible outcomes when you flip a coin, and those are – the
head H and the tail T.

2. Tossing two coins will give you more outcomes than flipping one coin. When you
throw two coins up in the air, they will land on the ground with either a head
or a tail facing up for each of the coins. A sample result of the activity is shown
below:

Event Coin #1 Coin #2 Coin #1-Coin #2

(H or T)
A H
B H
C T
D T
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(H or T) (HH, HT, TH or TT)
H HH
T HT
T TT
H TH
 Based on the activity, there are four (4) total number of possible outcomes when
flipping or tossing two coins.
3. In this part of the activity, you would have thoroughly examined a die. A die,
which is in the shape of a cube, has 6 sides or faces with dots numbering from
1 to 6. When a die is tossed, the occurrence of one side facing up is one possible
outcome or event showing distinct number of dots. Therefore, there are six (6)
possible outcomes or events when a die is tossed.

When you tossed a die there are 3 possible outcomes of getting an even number,
and those are: 2, 4, and 6. There are also 3 possible outcomes of getting an odd
number, which are: 1, 3, and 5.

There are 4 possible outcomes of obtaining a number greater than 2, and those
are: 3, 4, 5, and 6. There are only 2 possible outcomes of obtaining an even
number greater than 2 which are – 4 and 6.

Tossing a coin and rolling a die are traditional examples of random

experiments. Obtaining a head or a tail upon tossing a coin is an example of an
outcome of the random experiment. All the possible outcomes in a random
experiment, such as obtaining a head and a tail in tossing one piece of coin is called
the sample space.
When a die is rolled, there are six (6) possible outcomes that can occur –
which are: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Thus, the sample space of rolling a single die is 6.
The number of outcomes of obtaining an odd number is three (3) – which are: 1, 3,
and 5. Consequently, the number of outcomes of obtaining an even number is also
three (3) – which are: 2, 4, and 6. Obtaining a set of odd numbers and a set of even
numbers are both called events.

DEFINITIONS

A random experiment is an action that produces a specific outcome which

cannot be predicted with certainty.
An outcome is the result of a single trial of a random experiment.
A sample space is the set of all possible outcomes in any experiment.
An event consists of a set of outcomes which is a subset of the sample space.

Other examples of random experiments and events are listed below.

Examples:
1. Drawing a card from an ordinary deck of cards
2. Answering a true-false question
3. Rolling two dice
4. Predicting the gender of a child in a family
5. Randomly choosing balls in a box

At this point of the module, you are expected to have understood the concept
of events and illustrating them. Moving on, events, just like sets, also have their
unions and intersections. The principle of determining the unions and intersection
events is the same as that of sets.

DEFINITION

The union of events A and B, denoted by 𝑨 ∪ 𝑩, is the collection of all

outcomes that are elements of event A or of event B, or both. It corresponds
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to the combining description of the two events using the word “or”.
 The occurrence of A union B, 𝑨 ∪ 𝑩, means that on a particular trial of the
experiment either event A and event B occurred, or both did.
Consider rolling a single die, find the union of A and B, 𝑨 ∪ 𝑩, whereas event A is
getting an even number and event B is getting an even number greater than 2.
The sample space in rolling a die is given as S = {𝟏, 𝟐, 𝟑, 𝟒, 𝟓, 𝟔}, getting an even
number for event A is given by 𝑨 = {𝟐, 𝟒, 𝟔}, and getting a number greater than 2 for event
B is given by 𝑩 = {𝟑, 𝟒, 𝟓, 𝟔}.

To put it more clearly in words, 𝑨 ∪ 𝑩 means “the number rolled is even OR is

greater than 2.” Looking at the set notations of events A and B, the numbers which are on
either sets of events A and B (or both) are the numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Thus, the union
of events A and B is given by 𝑨 ∪ 𝑩 = {𝟐, 𝟑, 𝟒, 𝟓, 𝟔}.

DEFINITION

The intersection of events A and B, denoted by 𝑨 ∩ 𝑩, is the collection of

all outcomes that are elements of both events A and B. It corresponds to
combining descriptions of the two events using the word “and”.

The occurrence of A intersection B, 𝑨 ∩ 𝑩, means that event A and event B

occurred at the same time on a particular trial of the experiment.
Consider the same example above and find the intersection of events A and B, 𝑨 ∩
𝑩, whereas event A is getting an even number and event B is getting an even number
greater than 2.
The sample space in rolling a die is given as S = {𝟏, 𝟐, 𝟑, 𝟒, 𝟓, 𝟔}, getting an even
number for event A is given by 𝑨 = {𝟐, 𝟒, 𝟔}, and getting an even number greater than 2 for
event B is given by 𝑩 = {𝟑, 𝟒, 𝟓, 𝟔}.
To put it more clearly in words, 𝑨 ∩ 𝑩 means “the number rolled is even B AND
is greater than 2.” Looking at the set notations of events A and B, the numbers which
occurred on both events are 4 and 6. Thus, the intersection of events A and B is given by
𝑨 ∩ 𝑩 = {𝟒, 𝟔}.

Read and study more examples illustrating union and intersection of events
below.

Example 1. A two-child family is selected at random. Let D denote the event

that at least one child is a girl, let E denote the event that at least one child
is a boy, and let F denote that the genders of the two children are the same.
Find 𝑫 ∪ 𝑬 and 𝑬 ∩ 𝑭.

Solution:
Step 1: List down the sample space for having a two-child family. This may
easily be listed down by tree diagram. Let b stands for boy and g
stands for girl
Boy boy-boy (bb)

Boy

Girl boy-girl (bg)

Boy girl-boy (gb)

Girl

Girl girl-girl (gg)

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Step 2: Write the sample space in set notation.
S = {𝒃𝒃, 𝒃𝒈, 𝒈𝒃, 𝒈𝒈}
Step 3: Referring to the sample space, enumerate the events in set notation.
D = {𝒃𝒈, 𝒈𝒃, 𝒈𝒈}
E = {𝒃𝒃, 𝒃𝒈, 𝒈𝒃}
F = {𝒃𝒃, 𝒈𝒈}
Step 4: Find 𝐷 ∪ 𝐸 and 𝐸 ∩ 𝐹.
To get the union of D and E, D ∪ E, we put together all the
elements of events D and E. Thus,
𝑫 ∪ 𝑬 = {𝒃𝒈, 𝒈𝒃, 𝒈𝒈, 𝒃𝒃}
To get the union of E and F, E ∩ F, we simply identify the common
elements in event E and F. Thus,
𝑬 ∩ 𝑭 = {𝒃𝒃}

Example 2. A pair of fair dice is rolled.

a) Find the number of times a sum of 7 or 11 will occur.
b) Find the number of times that both dice turn up the same
number and the sum is less than 5.
Solution:
Step 1: Determine the sample space when a pair of dice is rolled. This
can be easily done by using a table.

Die 1
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 1, 1 1, 2 1, 3 1, 4 1, 5 1, 6
2 2, 1 2, 2 2, 3 2, 4 2, 5 2, 6
Die 3 3, 1 3, 2 3, 3 3, 4 3, 5 3, 6
2 4 4, 1 4, 2 4, 3 4, 4 4, 5 4, 6
5 5, 1 5, 2 5, 3 5, 4 5, 5 5, 6
6 6, 1 6, 2 6, 3 6, 4 6, 5 6, 6

Step 2: Solution for a:

Let: A = event that a sum of 7 is obtained
B = event that a sum of 11 is obtained

𝐴 = {(6,1), (5, 2), (4, 3), (3, 4), (2, 5), (1, 6)}
The number of times that the sum of 7 is obtained is 6 times.
𝐵 = {(6, 5), (5, 6)}
The number of times that the sum of 11 is obtained is 2 times.

The number of times that the sum of 7 or 11 will occur refers to

the union of events A and B, A ∪ B (Hint: the word “or” is used).
𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 = {(6,1), (5, 2), (4, 3), (3, 4), (2, 5), (1, 6), (6, 5), (5, 6)}
There are 8 elements in A ∪ B. Thus, the answer is 8.

Solution for b:
Let: C = event that the same numbers turn up for both dice
D = event that the sum obtained is less than 5

𝐶 = {(1,1), (2, 2), (3, 3), (4, 4), (5, 5), (6, 6)}
The number of times the same numbers turn up for both dice is 6.
𝐷 = {(1, 1), (1, 2), (1, 3), (2, 1), (2, 2), (3, 1)}
The number of times that a sum less than 5 is obtained is 6.

The number of times that both dice turn up the same number and the
sum is less than 5 refers to the intersection of events C and D, C ∩ D
(Hint: the word “and” is used): 𝐶 ∩ 𝐷 = {(1, 1), (2, 2)}
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 There are 2 elements in C ∩ D. Thus, the answer is 2.

Example 3. How many numbers from the first 50 integers is

a) divisible by 3 or 4?
b) divisible by 3 and 4?

Solution:
Step 1: The sample space for this problem is set of integers from 1 to 50.
𝑆 = {1, 2,3, … , 50}

Step 2 Enumerate the outcomes for the event of obtaining a number less
than 50 that is divisible by 3. Denote it as set T.
𝑇 = {3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, 39, 42,45, 48}
Enumerate the outcomes for the event of obtaining a number less
than 50 that is divisible by 4. Denote it as set F.
𝐹 = {4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, 42, 48}

Step 3: Solve for a:

The numbers less than 50 that is divisible by 3 or 4 is the union of

events T and F (T ∪ F).
𝑇 ∪ 𝐹 = 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 24, 27, 28, 30, 32, 33, 36, 39, 40, 42, 44, 45, 48}
{
There are 24 numbers which are divisible by 3 or 4.

Solve for b:

The numbers less than 50 that is divisible by 3 and 4 is the

intersection of events T and F (T ∩ F).
𝑇 ∪ 𝐹 = {12, 24, 36, 48}
There are 4 numbers which are divisible by 3 and 4.

What’s More

Practice makes perfect! Answer the following problems below to reinforce your skills
in illustrating events and solving a simple problem on intersection and union of
events.

Activity 3. Illustrating Events.

A. Direction: Write a corresponding outcome for each random experiment.
Random Experiment Outcome
Tossing a coin
Drawing from a deck of
cards
Rolling a die
Answering a true-or-false
question

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B. Direction: Write the corresponding outcomes for each event.

Event Outcome
Obtaining an even number when a die
is rolled
Drawing ace from a deck of cards
Getting the same faces when two coins
are tossed
Getting numbers that are both even
when two dice are rolled

Activity 4. Illustrating Union and Intersection of Events

Direction: Analyze and solve the following problem.
1. Let our experiment be to draw a single card at random from a deck of cards.
Define the following events:
a) event A: the card drawn is an ace
b) event H: the card drawn is a heart
c) find A ∪ H
d) find A ∩ H

What I Have Learned

Great! You have reached this part of the module. You will now be asked to share,
by answering the questions below, what you have learned about illustrating events
and illustrating unions and intersection of events.

1. State the definition of random experiment and sample space.

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. State the difference between outcome and event.
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. Complete the table below by assigning the words/phrase/symbols in the box to
the appropriate column.

and or ∪ either
one or the other either ∩ neither

Intersection of Events Union of Events

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 What I Can Do

At this point, own up to your learning by applying the concepts that you have
learned in this module through the following problems.

Activity 5: Family Matters

Think about your own family. How many children have your parents sired
including you?
a) Make a tree diagram illustrating all the possible outcomes for the 1st, 2nd,
3rd, 4th (and so on) child. Then, encircle the outcome which describes the
arrangement in your family.
b) Consider the sample space for three children. Describe the following:
i) Event B: having two boys and a girl in the family
ii) Event G: having two girls and a boy in the family
iii) find B ∪ G
iv) find B ∩ G

Assessment

Let us determine how much you have learned from this module. Read and
understand each item, then choose the letter of your answer and write it on your
answer sheet.

1. It refers to the total number of outcomes in a random experiment.

A) sample space C) intersection of events
B) disjoint events D) simple event
2. Which of the following is a simple event?
A) drawing an ace and a diamond suit from a deck of cards
B) choosing the best answer in a multiple choice question
C) getting a double when two fair dice are tossed
D) picking up two differently colored balls from a box
3. The union of two events indicates that:
A) an outcome is an element of both events
B) an outcome is an element of either events
C) an outcome is an element of neither events
D) an outcome is not an element of the sample space
4. Illustrating the outcome of drawing an ace and a diamond suit is an example
of:
A) union of events C) intersection of events
B) disjoint events D) simple event
5. A spinner is divided into 8 sectors which are numbered from 1 to 8. Describe
the number outcomes that will occur when spinning it twice and obtaining
an even and an odd number with each pair of spins.
A) 64 B) 31 C) 16 D) 8

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6. When two dice are rolled, find the number of outcomes of getting an unequal
number of dots on each die?
A) 6 B) 24 C) 30 D) 36
7. Find the total number of outcomes if a coin is tossed 5 times assuming that
the order of outcomes is significant.
A) 2 B) 8 C) 16 D) 32
8. Two fair dice and a coin are tossed. What is the total sample space?
A) 72 B) 32 C) 16 D) 8
9. How many numbers less than 100 that are multiples of 5 or 10?
A) 10 B) 20 C) 30 D) 50
10. How many numbers less than 100 that are multiples of 5 and 10?
A) 10 B) 20 C) 30 D) 50
11. Two dice are rolled. Which set defines the event of obtaining an outcome
where at least one die shows four dots?
A) 𝐴 = {(4, 4)}
B) 𝐴 = {(1, 1), (2, 2), (3, 3), (4, 4), (5, 5), (6, 6)}
C) 𝐴 = {(1, 4), (2, 4), (3, 4), (4, 4), (5, 4), (6, 4)}
D) 𝐴 = {(1, 4), (2, 4), (3, 4), (4, 4), (5, 4), (6, 4), (4, 1), (4, 2), (4, 3), (4, 5), (4, 6)}
12. Find 𝐶 ∩ 𝐷, where event C is drawing a jack and event D is drawing at least
one card from an ordinary deck of cards.
A) 𝐶 ∩ 𝐷 = {𝐽♦, 𝐽♣, 𝐽♠, 𝐽♡} C) 𝐶 ∩ 𝐷 = {𝐽♣}
B) 𝐶 ∩ 𝐷 = 𝐽♦{ } D) 𝐶 ∩ 𝐷 = {𝐽♠}
13. In a class of 26 students, 19 have black hair and 17 have brown eyes. Four
students have neither black hair nor brown eyes. How many students have
both black hair and brown eyes?
A) 3 B) 5 C) 14 D) 17
14. A married couple wanted to bear one boy and one girl but not more than 3
children. How many outcomes are there if the youngest child is a girl?
A) 3 B) 4 C) 6 D) 8
15. Consider the integers from 1 to 40. Let event A be the multiples of 4 and
event B be the multiples of 8. Find A ∩ B.
A) 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 = {4, 8, 16,20, 24, 32, 40}
B) 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 = {4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40}
C) 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 = {1, 2, 3, … 38, 39, 40}
D) 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 = {8, 16, 24, 32, 40}

Additional Activities

Try this survey activity with the whole class!

1. Find out your classmates’ favorite and least favorite subjects in school. Ask
them what they like and dislike about each.
2. Tally your classmates’ favorite and least favorite subjects. Find the union and
intersection of each.

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