Analyzing the Setup
Imagine a grand hall hosting three events:
A,
B, and
C. We are given that
60 men have won at least one medal, which in set notation is the union of the three sets:
n(A∪B∪C)=60
The individual counts for each event are
n(A)=48,
n(B)=25, and
n(C)=18. We are also given the central anchor, representing the men who won medals in all three events:
n(A∩B∩C)=5
The Power of Inclusion-Exclusion
When we sum n(A)+n(B)+n(C), we inadvertently over-count individuals who won multiple medals. To correct this, we apply the Principle of Inclusion-Exclusion:
n(A∪B∪C)=n(A)+n(B)+n(C)−[n(A∩B)+n(B∩C)+n(C∩A)]+n(A∩B∩C)
This formula accounts for the overlaps by subtracting the pairwise intersections and adding back the triple intersection that was removed too many times. Substituting our known values into the equation:
60=48+25+18−[n(A∩B)+n(B∩C)+n(C∩A)]+5
Simplifying the expression, we find:
60=96−[n(A∩B)+n(B∩C)+n(C∩A)]
Rearranging the terms, we determine the sum of the pairwise intersections:
The 'Exactly Two' Trap
The sum ∑n(A∩B) represents the total of the pairwise intersections. However, in a Venn diagram, each pairwise intersection region inherently includes the central region where all three events overlap.
Because the central region n(A∩B∩C) is contained within each of the three pairwise intersections, it has been counted three times in our sum of 36. To find the number of men who received medals in exactly two events, we must remove this central region three times.
The logic is expressed as follows:
Exactly 2=∑n(A∩B)−3×n(A∩B∩C)
Substituting our calculated values:
Final Result
By carefully stripping away the triple-counted overlap, we conclude that the number of men who received medals in exactly two events is 21.