Probability of Independent and

Dependent Events
CCM2 Unit 6: Probability
 Independent and Dependent Events

• Independent Events: when one event has no

affect on the probability of the other event
occurring.

• Dependent Events: if the outcome or

probability of the first event affects the
outcome of the second.
 Independent Events
Suppose a die is rolled and then a coin is tossed.
• Explain why these events are independent.
– They are independent because the outcome of
rolling a die does not affect the outcome of
tossing a coin, and vice versa.
• Fill in the table to represent the sample space
– how many total outcomes are there?
Roll 1 Roll 2 Roll 3 Roll 4 Roll 5 Roll 6
Head
Tail
 Roll 1 Roll 2 Roll 3 Roll 4 Roll 5 Roll 6
Head 1,H 2,H 3,H 4,H 5,H 6,H
Tail 1,T 2,T 3,T 4,T 5,T 6,T

• How can you find the total outcomes of the

sample space WITHOUT writing it out?
Remember the Fundamental Counting Principle.
– Still stumped? Here is the process:
– How many outcomes are there for rolling the die?
• 6 outcomes
– How many outcomes are there for tossing the coin?
• 2 outcomes
– How many outcomes are there in the sample space of
rolling the die and tossing the coin?
6 • 2 = 12 outcomes
 Roll 1 Roll 2 Roll 3 Roll 4 Roll 5 Roll 6
Head 1,H 2,H 3,H 4,H 5,H 6,H
Tail 1,T 2,T 3,T 4,T 5,T 6,T

Use the table to find the following probabilities:

1. P(rolling a 3) 4. P(rolling an even)
2/12 = 1/6 6/12 = ½
2. P(Tails) 5. P(heads)
6/12 = ½ 6/12 = ½
3. P(rolling a 3 AND 6. P(rolling an even AND
getting heads)
getting tails)
3/12 or 1/4
1/12
What do you notice about #1 and #2 to Do you see the pattern again with #4
get #3? and #5 to get #6?
 Multiplication Rule of Probability for
Independent Events
• The probability of two independent events
occurring can be found by the following
formula:
P(A and B) = P(A) x P(B)
 • Let’s go back to the table
• How can we find the probabilities for this
table?
– Just the way you found the total number of
possibilities – by multiplying!
Roll 1 Roll 2 Roll 3 Roll 4 Roll 5 Roll 6
P(1) = P(2) = P(3) = P(4) = P(5)= P(6)=
1/6 1/6 1/6 1/6 1/6 1/6

Head 1,H 2,H 3,H 4,H 5,H 6,H

P(H) =
P(1 and H) = P(2 and H) = P(3 and H) = P(4 and H) = P(5 and H) = P(6 and H) =
1/2 (1/6)(1/2) 1/12 1/12 1/12 1/12 1/12
= 1/12
Tail 1,T 2,T 3,T 4,T 5,T 6,T
P(T) =
P(1 and T) = P(2 and T) = P(3 and T) = P(4 and T) = P(5 and T) = P(6 and T) =
1/2
1/12 1/12 1/12 1/12 1/12 1/12
 Example 1
At City High School, 30% of students have part-time
jobs and 25% of students are on the honor roll.
What is the probability that a student chosen at
random has a part-time job and is on the honor
roll? Write your answer in context.
P(PT job and honor roll) = P(PT job) x P(honor roll) = .
30 x .25 = .075
There is a 7.5% probability that a student chosen at
random will have a part-time job and be on the
honor roll.
 Dependent Events
• Remember, we said earlier that
• Dependent Events: two events are dependent if the
outcome or probability of the first event affects the
outcome or probability of the second.
• Let’s look at some scenarios and determine
whether the events are independent or
dependent.
 Example 2: Determine whether the events
are independent or dependent:
a.) Selecting a marble from a container and selecting a jack
from a deck of cards.
• Independent
b.) Rolling a number less than 4 on a die and rolling a
number that is even on a second die.
• Independent
c.) Choosing a jack from a deck of cards and choosing
another jack, without replacement.
• Dependent
d.) Winning a hockey game and scoring a goal.
• Dependent
 Multiplication Rule of Probability for
Dependent Events
• The probability of two dependent events
occurring can be found by the following
formula:
P(A and B) = P(A) x P(B following A)
 Example 3: Let’s look at a different of Independent vs. Dependent Example

INDEPENDENT
A box contains 4 red marbles and 6 purple marbles. You are going
to choose 3 marbles with replacement .
a.) Draw a tree diagram and write the probabilities on each
Purple
branch.
6/10
Purple 4/10 Red
6/10
Purple
Purple 4/10 6/10
6/10 Red 4/10 Red
4/10 Purple
6/10 6/10
Red Purple 4/10
4/10 Red
Red 6/10 Purple
4/10
Red
b.) What is the probability of drawing 2 purple marbles and 1 red
marble in succession (aka in order)?
P(1st draw purple) • P(2nd draw purple) • P(3rd draw red)
6/10 • 6/10 • 4/10
= 18/125 or .144 or 14.4%
 DEPENDENT
A box contains 4 red marbles and 6 purple marbles. You are going
to choose 3 marbles without replacement .
a.) Draw a tree diagram and write the probabilities on each
Purple
branch.
4/8
Purple 4/8 Red
5/9
Purple
Purple 4/9 5/8
6/10 Red 3/8 Red
4/10 Purple
6/9 5/8
Red Purple 3/8
3/9 Red
Red 6/8 Purple
2/8
Red
b.) What is the probability of drawing 2 purple marbles and 1 red
marble in succession (aka in order)?
P(1st draw purple) • P(2nd draw purple) • P(3rd draw red)
6/10 • 5/9 • 4/8
= 1/6 or .167 or 16.7%
In the above example, what is the probability of
first drawing all 4 red marbles in succession
and then drawing all 6 purple marbles in
succession without replacement?
• P(4 red then 6 purple) = (4/10)(3/9)(2/8)(1/7)(6/6)(5/5)
(4/4)(3/3)(2/2)(1/1) = 1/210 or .0048
• The probability of drawing 4 red then 6 purple without
replacement is 0.48%
• Explain why the last 6 probabilities above were all
equivalent to 1.
• This is because there were only purple marbles left, so
the probability for drawing a purple marble was 1.
Example 4: How does permutations and combinations work
into this type of probability???
a.) There are 32 students in the classroom and the teacher needs to
be make a seating chart. What is the probability that Deshawn will
be in the first seat, Sophie in the second seat, and Delaney in the
third seat?

P(Deshawn 1st) • P(Sophie 2nd) • P(Delaney 3rd )

You get
1/32 • 1/31 • 1/30 the same
answer!
= 3.36 x 10-5 = .0000336 = .00336%

OR Since the order matters, we call this a permutation choosing 3

out of 32: 32P3 and we’re looking for a specific one order, so:
1_ = 1 = .00336%
32P3 32•31•30
Example 4: How does permutations and combinations work into this type
of probability???

b.) There are 32 students in the classroom and the teacher can only
choose 2 students to go to the media center. What is the probability
that Arturo and Jon will be chosen?

P(Arturo or Jon) • P(the other one)

2/32 • 1/31 You get
the same
answer!
= .002 = .20%

OR Since the order does NOT matter, we call this a combination choosing
2 out of 32: 32C2 and we’re looking for a specific one group of people, so:
1_ = 1 = .20%
32C2 32 •31
2•1