11.7 Probability (Page 3/18)

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A card is drawn from a standard deck. Find the probability of drawing a red card or an ace.

$\frac{7}{13}$

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Computing the probability of mutually exclusive events

Suppose the spinner in [link] is spun again, but this time we are interested in the probability of spinning an orange or a $d .$ There are no sectors that are both orange and contain a $d,$ so these two events have no outcomes in common. Events are said to be mutually exclusive events when they have no outcomes in common. Because there is no overlap, there is nothing to subtract, so the general formula is

P (E \cup F) = P (E) + P (F)

Notice that with mutually exclusive events, the intersection of $E$ and $F$ is the empty set. The probability of spinning an orange is $\frac{3}{6} = \frac{1}{2}$ and the probability of spinning a $d$ is $\frac{1}{6} .$ We can find the probability of spinning an orange or a $d$ simply by adding the two probabilities.

\begin{array}{l} P (E \cup^{​} F) = P (E) + P (F) \\ = \frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{6} \\ = \frac{2}{3} \end{array}

The probability of spinning an orange or a $d$ is $\frac{2}{3} .$

A General Note

Probability of the union of mutually exclusive events

The probability of the union of two mutually exclusive events $E and F$ is given by

P (E \cup F) = P (E) + P (F)

How To

Given a set of events, compute the probability of the union of mutually exclusive events.

Determine the total number of outcomes for the first event.
Find the probability of the first event.
Determine the total number of outcomes for the second event.
Find the probability of the second event.
Add the probabilities.

Computing the probability of the union of mutually exclusive events

A card is drawn from a standard deck. Find the probability of drawing a heart or a spade.

The events “drawing a heart” and “drawing a spade” are mutually exclusive because they cannot occur at the same time. The probability of drawing a heart is $\frac{1}{4},$ and the probability of drawing a spade is also $\frac{1}{4},$ so the probability of drawing a heart or a spade is

\frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{4} = \frac{1}{2}

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Try It

A card is drawn from a standard deck. Find the probability of drawing an ace or a king.

$\frac{2}{13}$

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Using the complement rule to compute probabilities

We have discussed how to calculate the probability that an event will happen. Sometimes, we are interested in finding the probability that an event will not happen. The complement of an event $E,$ denoted $E^{'},$ is the set of outcomes in the sample space that are not in $E .$ For example, suppose we are interested in the probability that a horse will lose a race. If event $W$ is the horse winning the race, then the complement of event $W$ is the horse losing the race.

To find the probability that the horse loses the race, we need to use the fact that the sum of all probabilities in a probability model must be 1.

P (E^{'}) = 1 - P (E)

The probability of the horse winning added to the probability of the horse losing must be equal to 1. Therefore, if the probability of the horse winning the race is $\frac{1}{9},$ the probability of the horse losing the race is simply

1 - \frac{1}{9} = \frac{8}{9}

A General Note

The complement rule

The probability that the complement of an event will occur is given by

P (E^{'}) = 1 - P (E)

Using the complement rule to calculate probabilities

Two six-sided number cubes are rolled.

Find the probability that the sum of the numbers rolled is less than or equal to 3.
Find the probability that the sum of the numbers rolled is greater than 3.

The first step is to identify the sample space, which consists of all the possible outcomes. There are two number cubes, and each number cube has six possible outcomes. Using the Multiplication Principle, we find that there are $6 \times 6,$ or $36$ total possible outcomes. So, for example, 1-1 represents a 1 rolled on each number cube.

$1-1$	$1-2$	$1-3$	$1-4$	$1-5$	$1-6$
$2-1$	$2-2$	$2-3$	$2-4$	$2-5$	$2-6$
$3-1$	$3-2$	$3-3$	$3-4$	$3-5$	$3-6$
$4-1$	$4-2$	$4-3$	$4-4$	$4-5$	$4-6$
$5-1$	$5-2$	$5-3$	$5-4$	$5-5$	$5-6$
$6-1$	$6-2$	$6-3$	$6-4$	$6-5$	$6-6$

We need to count the number of ways to roll a sum of 3 or less. These would include the following outcomes: 1-1, 1-2, and 2-1. So there are only three ways to roll a sum of 3 or less. The probability is
$\frac{3}{36} = \frac{1}{12}$
Rather than listing all the possibilities, we can use the Complement Rule. Because we have already found the probability of the complement of this event, we can simply subtract that probability from 1 to find the probability that the sum of the numbers rolled is greater than 3.
$\begin{array}{l} P (E^{'}) = 1 - P (E) \\ = 1 - \frac{1}{12} \\ = \frac{11}{12} \end{array}$

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Questions & Answers

A golfer on a fairway is 70 m away from the green, which sits below the level of the fairway by 20 m. If the golfer hits the ball at an angle of 40° with an initial speed of 20 m/s, how close to the green does she come?

Aislinn Reply

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A mouse of mass 200 g falls 100 m down a vertical mine shaft and lands at the bottom with a speed of 8.0 m/s. During its fall, how much work is done on the mouse by air resistance

Jude Reply

Can you compute that for me. Ty

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what is the dimension formula of energy?

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what is viscosity?

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what is chemistry

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what is inorganic

emma

Chemistry is a branch of science that deals with the study of matter,it composition,it structure and the changes it undergoes

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please, I'm a physics student and I need help in physics

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chemistry could also be understood like the sexual attraction/repulsion of the male and female elements. the reaction varies depending on the energy differences of each given gender. + masculine -female.

Pedro

A ball is thrown straight up.it passes a 2.0m high window 7.50 m off the ground on it path up and takes 1.30 s to go past the window.what was the ball initial velocity

Krampah Reply

2. A sled plus passenger with total mass 50 kg is pulled 20 m across the snow (0.20) at constant velocity by a force directed 25° above the horizontal. Calculate (a) the work of the applied force, (b) the work of friction, and (c) the total work.

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you have been hired as an espert witness in a court case involving an automobile accident. the accident involved car A of mass 1500kg which crashed into stationary car B of mass 1100kg. the driver of car A applied his brakes 15 m before he skidded and crashed into car B. after the collision, car A s

Samuel Reply

can someone explain to me, an ignorant high school student, why the trend of the graph doesn't follow the fact that the higher frequency a sound wave is, the more power it is, hence, making me think the phons output would follow this general trend?

Joseph Reply

Nevermind i just realied that the graph is the phons output for a person with normal hearing and not just the phons output of the sound waves power, I should read the entire thing next time

Joseph

Follow up question, does anyone know where I can find a graph that accuretly depicts the actual relative "power" output of sound over its frequency instead of just humans hearing

Joseph

"Generation of electrical energy from sound energy | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore" ***ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7150687?reload=true

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answer

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progressive wave

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A string is 3.00 m long with a mass of 5.00 g. The string is held taut with a tension of 500.00 N applied to the string. A pulse is sent down the string. How long does it take the pulse to travel the 3.00 m of the string?

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Who can show me the full solution in this problem?

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Source: OpenStax, Precalculus. OpenStax CNX. Jan 19, 2016 Download for free at https://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11667/1.6

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