Set operations are mathematical procedures that involve combining or comparing sets, which are collections of distinct objects. The main operations include union, intersection, and difference. The union of two sets, denoted as A ∪ B, includes all elements from both sets, while the intersection, A ∩ B, contains only the elements common to both. The difference, A - B, consists of elements in set A that are not in set B. These operations help in understanding relationships between sets and are widely used in various fields, including mathematics, computer science, and statistics. Set operations can also be visualized using Venn diagrams, which illustrate how different sets overlap and interact with one another.