Prove difference between a set and the union of other two sets
Yes, your guesses are correct (except for “the necessary and sufficient condition for (i) to be correct” — I explain it in my other answer.)
Ad (i):
To prove, that it is not always true, it is sufficient to provide particular sets $A$, $B$, $C$ which don't satisfy the equation (i.e. so called contra example).
So let $A$, $B$, $C$ are as in this table, where are progressively calculated expressions from them:
Row | Expression | Value |
---|---|---|
1 | $$A$$ | $$\{1\}$$ |
2 | $$B$$ | $$\emptyset$$ |
3 | $$C$$ | $$\{2\}$$ |
4 | $$(B-C)$$ | $$\emptyset$$ |
5 | $$A−(B−C)$$ | $$\{1\}$$ |
6 | $$(A−B)$$ | $$\{1\}$$ |
7 | $$(A−B)∪C$$ | $$\{1, 2\}$$ |
By comparing rows 5 and 7 we see that the equation is not satisfied.
Ad (ii):
To prove the equality for every sets $A$, $B$, $C$, we need to prove that every element in the set on the left-hand side of the equality
$$A−(B∪C)=(A−B)−C$$
belongs to the right-hand set, and vice versa.
So let
$$x \in A−(B∪C).$$
Then by definition of the set subtraction
$$x \in A, \ \text{but}\ x \notin (B \cup C)$$
But if $x \notin (B \cup C)$, then by definition of the set union
$$\text{neither}\ x \in B, \ \text{nor}\ x \in C$$
which mean — again by definiton of the set subtraction — that
$$x \in (A - B), \ \text{ but }\ x \notin C$$
i.e. — once more by definiton of the set subtraction — that
$$x \in (A - B) - C$$
So we proved that the arbitrary element $x$ of the left-hand side belongs to the right-hand side, too.
The reversed statement we may prove by similar manner.