Past exam of the year 1 of the computer science course of the University of Oxford / 2015 / Discrete mathematics, continuous mathematics, and probability / 1 / b

Using set difference as an intersection with a complement of a set, and using double negation, givesInterchanging the two sets simply interchanges the two terms of this union, whose commutativity gives

We use a double inclusion proof. First, let $x\in \overline{A\oplus B}$. If $x\in A$, then $x\in B$, since otherwise $x\in A\setminus B\subseteq A\oplus B$. Hence in this case $x\in A\cap B$. If $x\notin A$, then $x\notin B$, since otherwise $x\in B\setminus A\subseteq A\oplus B$. Hence in this case $x\in \overline{A\cup B}$. This proves the first set inclusion.

Conversely, an element of $A\cap B$ belongs to neither $A\setminus B$ nor $B\setminus A$. An element of $\overline{A\cup B}$ also belongs to neither set difference. Thus every element of $(A\cap B)\cup \overline{A\cup B}$ lies outside $A\oplus B$, proving the reverse set inclusion. Therefore