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Exercise 1714Combinatorics › Inclusion-exclusionL1Added 3 Nov 2026

At least two properties

#IE#at least two#intersection

Statement

Among 100100 items: 5050 have property AA, 4040 have BB, 3030 have CC, 2020 have AA and BB, 1515 have AA and CC, 1010 have BB and CC, 55 have all three. How many have at least two properties?

Hint

Sum pairwise intersections, then correct by triple intersection.

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Solution

Sum pairwise. 20+15+10=4520+15+10=45. But items with all three are counted 33 times, we want once.

Correct. Items with exactly two: pairwise sum −3⋅-3\cdot(triple)? No — items with all three contribute 33 to pairwise sum (each pair) but should contribute only once. Items with exactly two contribute 11 to pairwise sum. So: at least two = (pairwise sum) −2⋅-2\cdot(triple) + (triple)? This is getting confused.

Correct approach. At least two = (exactly 2) + (exactly 3). Let t3=∣A∩B∩C∣=5t_3=|A\cap B\cap C|=5, t2=∣t_2=|exactly two∣|. Pairwise sum = 2t2+3t32t_2+3t_3 if we count per item? No: pairwise sum counts each item with exactly two properties once, and each item with three properties 33 times. So pairwise sum =t2+3t3=45=t_2+3t_3=45, giving t2=45−15=30t_2=45-15=30. At least two =t2+t3=35=t_2+t_3=35.

Conclusion. 3535 items have at least two properties.