Question:
In a committee, 50 people speak French, 20 speak Spanish and 10 speak both Spanish and French. How many speak at least one of these two languages?
Solution:
Let F be the set of people in the committee who speak French, and
S be the set of people in the committee who speak Spanish
∴ n(F) = 50, n(S) = 20, n(S ∩ F) = 10
We know that:
n(S ∪ F) = n(S) + n(F) – n(S ∩ F)
= 20 + 50 – 10
= 70 – 10 = 60
Thus, 60 people in the committee speak at least one of the two languages.