STATISTICS

AND
PROBABILI
TY
ALBERT O. ALMINE, CPA
TEACHER
 ADDITION RULE OF PROBABILITY
Two events are mutually exclusive if they cannot occur at the same time;
that is, they have no common outcomes. Examples of mutually
exclusively events are getting an odd number and getting an even
number in tossing a die, getting a black card and getting a red card form
an ordinary deck of playing cards in one attempt, or getting a female and
getting a male from a set of students.
When the two events A and B are mutually exclusive, the probability that A
or B will occur is given by

P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B) (1.2)

When the two events A and B are not mutually exclusive, one of the
probabilities of the common outcomes must subtracted since it has
been calculated twice (see figure 1.1B). That common outcomes is
given by the intersection of the events A and B, denoted by A ∩ B.
Thus, the probability that A or B will occur becomes

P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B) - P(A ∩ B)

(1.3)
FIGURE 1.1 Two mutually exclusive events are represented in B while
two nonmutually exclusive events are represented in A.
Example 1.3

1. In tossing a die, what is the probability of obtaining an even number

or an odd number?
2. In drawing, a card from an ordinary deck of cards, what is the
probability of getting a heart card or a king card?
 
Solution.
1. Recall that in tossing a die, the sample space S is S = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}. Let A
be the event of obtaining an even number and B the event of obtaining an odd
number. Events A and B are given by A = {2, 4, 6} and B = {1, 3, 5},
respectively. The probability of obtaining an even number or an odd is denoted
by P(A ∪ B).
 
Note that the given events A and B are mutually exclusive events because
they have no common points.

Thus, P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B) = + = 1

 
Solution

2. The probability of getting a heart card and the probability a getting a king card are given
by
P(H) = and P(K) = = , respectively.

There is one card included in the intersection of the two sets: the king of hearts card.
Thus, the probability of getting a king card and a heart card is given by P(K ∩ H) = .

Now, using the equation 1.3, the probability of getting a king card or heart card can be
solved as P(K ∪ H) = P(K) + P(H) - P(K ∩ H).
= + - = =
In general, events A1, A2, … Ak are said to be mutually exclusive events if
each pair of events are mutually exclusive. That is, for any integer i and j,
which i ≠ j
Ai ∩ A j = Ø
 
This also means that if an event Ai will occur, it automatically implies that
the other events will not occur. For mutually exclusive events A1, A2, … Ak,

P(A1 ∪ A2 ∪ … ∪ Ak) = P(A1) + P(A2) + … + P(Ak). (1.4)

Example 1.4
 
In a bag containing 3 red balls, 4 orange balls, 6 green balls, 5
yellow balls, and 2 blue balls, 1ball will be chosen at random.
What is the probability of getting red , blue or yellow ball?
 
Solution
Note that the three events “getting a red ball,” “getting a blue ball,”
“getting a yellow ball,” form this bag are three mutually exclusive events.
Note that there is no intersection for a red and a blue ball, a red ball and a
yellow ball, and a blue and a yellow ball. Thus, using equation 1.4,
 
P(R ∪ B ∪ Y) = P(R) + P(B) + P(Y).
 
= + + = =
IS THERE ANY QUESTION?