Probability of the

Union of Two Events

ELMER LEOCADIO
CINCO
Review on
probability of
mutually
exclusive events

Sir Ocnic
A case contains 8 white pencils, 7 green pencils and 6 red
pencils. What is the probability that it is a white or red?

= P(W or R)
P(white)
= +
P(red) =
= =
Sir Ocnic
 A pair of dice is rolled, what is the probability
of getting a sum of four or five?

P(sum of 3) = (1,3)(3,1)(2,2)
P(sum of 7) = (1,4)(4,1)(3,2)(2,3)
Total possible outcomes =
(6)(6) = 36
Sir Ocnic
A pair of dice is rolled, what is the probability
of getting a sum of four or five?
P(7 or 11)
P(3) =
= +
P(7) =
=

Sir Ocnic
Sir Ocnic Probability of the
union of two events
If two events A and B are not
mutually exclusive, then they share
common outcomes. The overlap of
the two sets is their intersection.
Picking an ace or a spade from a regular deck of
cards are not mutually exclusive because a card
can be both an ace and a spade

Sir Ocnic
If A and B are events in sample space S and are
not mutually exclusive, then

P (AorB ) = P(AB) = P(A) + P(B) – P(AB)

Sir Ocnic
 Find the probability of getting a black card or a
face card from an ordinary deck of cards

= P(B or F) =
P(black)
P(B) + P(F) - P(BF)
P(face) = = + -
P(black-face) = = =
Sir Ocnic
 Find the probability of getting a spade card or
an ace from an ordinary deck of cards

= P(S or J) =
P(spade)
P(S) + P(J) - P(SJ)
P(jack) = = + -
P(spade-jack) = = =
Sir Ocnic
 A die is rolled, what is the probability of getting
an even or less than 5

= P(E or LT5) =
P(even)
P(E) + P(LT5) - P(ELT5)
P(lessthan5) = = + -
P(even-less) = =
Sir Ocnic
A pair of die is rolled, what is the probability of
getting a sum of even or greater than 6

Sir Ocnic
 A pair of die is rolled, what is the probability of
getting a sum of even or greater than 6

= P(R or Q) =
P(even)
P(R) + P(Q) - P(RQ)
P(GT6) = = + -
P(EGT6) = = =
Sir Ocnic
Generalization

Sir Ocnic
If A and B are events in sample space S and are
not mutually exclusive, then

P (AorB ) = P(AB) = P(A) + P(B) – P(AB)

Sir Ocnic
Knowledge Check

Sir Ocnic
 Find the probability of getting a red card or an
ace from an ordinary deck of cards

A die is rolled, what is the probability of getting

a prime or less than 3

What is the probability that a number selected at random

from the first 30 odd numbers or a multiple of 5.
 Find the probability of getting a spade card or
an ace from an ordinary deck of cards

= P(R or A) =
P(red)
P(R) + P(A) - P(RA)
P(ace) = = + -
P(red-spade) = = =
Sir Ocnic
 A die is rolled, what is the probability of getting
a prime or less than 3

= P(P or LT3) =
P(prime)
P(P) + P(LT3) - P(PLT3)
P(lessthan3) = = + -
P(prime-less3) = = =
Sir Ocnic
What is the probability that a number selected at random from
the first 30 odd numbers or a multiple
of 5.

= P(E or M5) =
P(odd)
P(O) + P(M5) - P(OM5)
P(M5) = = + -
P(odd-M5) = = =
Sir Ocnic
Enjoy
Learning
Mathematics