State and prove the inclusion-exclusion principle by induction.

Proof:

We set $P(n)$ to be the number of element for the union of $n$ exact sets.We make the sets to be $A_1,A_2,A_3……$, distinguished by different symbols.

BASIS STEP:

$P(1) = |A|$
$P(2) = |A \cup B| = |A| + |B| - |A \cap B|$

INDUCTIVE STEP:

For $n > 2$
We assume that $n-1$ is true, which means

$$P(n-1) = |\bigcup_{i=1}^{n-1}A_i| = \sum_{i=1}^{n-1}(-1)^{i-1}\sum_{1\le b_1<...<b_i \le n-1} |\bigcap_{j=1}^iA_{b_j}|$$
For $n$, we have
$$\begin{eqnarray} |\bigcup_{i=1}^{n}A_i| &=& |(\bigcup_{i=1}^{n-1}A_i)\bigcup A_n| \nonumber\\ & = & |\bigcup_{i=1}^{n-1}A_i| + |A_n| - |(\bigcup_{i=1}^{n-1}A_i) \bigcap A_n| \nonumber\\ & = & |\bigcup_{i=1}^{n-1}A_i| + |A_n| - |\bigcup_{i=1}^{n-1}(A_i \bigcap A_n)| \nonumber\\ & = & \sum_{i=1}^n|A_i| + \sum_{i=2}^{n-1}(-1)^{i-1}\sum_{1\le b_1<...<b_i \le n-1} |\bigcap_{j=1}^iA_{b_j}| \nonumber\\ & &+ \sum_{i=2}^{n-1}(-1)^{i-1}\sum_{1\le b_1<...<b_i \le n-1} |\bigcap_{j=1}^iA_{b_j}\bigcap A_n| + (-1)^{n-1}|\bigcap_{i=1}^nA_i| \nonumber\\ & = & \sum_{i=1}^n |A_i| + \sum_{i=2}^{n-1}(-1)^{i-1}\sum_{1\le b_1<...<b_i \le n} |\bigcap_{j=1}^iA_{b_j}| + (-1)^{n-1}|\bigcap_{i=1}^nA_i| \nonumber\\ & = & \sum_{i=1}^n(-1)^{i-1}\sum_{1\le b_1<...<b_i \le n} |\bigcap_{j=1}^iA_{b_j}| \nonumber\\ \end{eqnarray}$$

So it’s proofed.

$$P(n) = |\bigcup_{i=1}^{n}A_i| = \sum_{i=1}^{n}(-1)^{i-1}\sum_{1\le b_1<...<b_i \le n} |\bigcap_{j=1}^iA_{b_j}|$$