closed under disjoint union $\Rightarrow$ closed under union?

Question

Closed under disjoint union $\Rightarrow$ closed under union?

Seems easy, but I can't wrap my head around it. If the implication is not true, I would appreciate a counterexample.

For completeness, the definitions made in class:

For $A_1, A_2\subset\mathcal{A}$, subsets of a set system, we say that $\mathcal{A}$ is closed under disjoint union $A_1\sqcup A_2$, if $A_1\sqcup A_2$ is in $\mathcal{A}$.

With $A_1\sqcup A_2=A_1\cup A_2$ if $A_1\cap A_2\ne \emptyset$.

Answer 1

Hint: What if $\mathcal{A}$ contains just the two subsets $\{1,2\}$ and $\{2,3\}$?

A good general approach to this kind of question is to imagine really small (counter)examples before trying to wrestle with the formal arguments.