Q16 of 43 Page 296

A sample space consists of 9 elementary outcomes e1, e2, ..., e9 whose probabilities are

P(e1) = P(e2) = .08, P(e3) = P(e4) = P(e5) = .1


P(e6) = P(e7) = .2, P(e8) = P(e9) = .07


Suppose A = {e1, e5, e8}, B = {e2, e5, e8, e9}


(a) Calculate P (A), P (B), and P (A B)


(b) Using the addition law of probability, calculate P (A B)


(c) List the composition of the event A B, and calculate P (A B) by adding the probabilities of the elementary outcomes.


(d) Calculate P () from P (B), also calculate P () directly from the elementary outcomes of .

Given that:

S = {e1, e2, e3, e4, e5, e6, e7, e8, e9}


A = {e1, e5, e8} and B = {e2, e5, e8, e9}


P(e1) = P(e2) = .08, P(e3) = P(e4) = P(e5) = .1


P(e6) = P(e7) = .2, P(e8) = P(e9) = .07


(a) To find: P(A), P(B) and P(A B)


A = {e1, e5, e8}


P(A) = P(e1) + P(e5) + P(e8)


P(A) = 0.08 + 0.1 + 0.07 [given]


P(A) = 0.25


B = {e2, e5, e8, e9}


P(B) = P(e2) + P(e5) + P(e8) + P(e9)


P(B) = 0.08 + 0.1 + 0.07 + 0.07 [given]


P(B) = 0.32


Now, we have to find P(A B)


A = {e1, e5, e8} and B = {e2, e5, e8, e9}


A B = {e5, e8}


P(A B) = P(e5) + P(e8)


= 0.1 + 0.07


= 0.17


(b) To find: P(A B)


By General Addition Rule:


P(A B) = P(A) + P(B) – P(A B)


from part (a), we have


P(A) = 0.25, P(B) = 0.32 and P(A B) = 0.17


Putting the values, we get


P(A B) = 0.25 + 0.32 – 0.17


= 0.40


(c) A = {e1, e5, e8} and B = {e2, e5, e8, e9}


A B = {e1, e2, e5, e8, e9}


P(A B) = P(e1) + P(e2) + P(e5) + P(e8) + P(e9)


= 0.08 +0.08 + 0.1 + 0.07 + 0.07


= 0.40


(d) To find:


By Complement Rule, we have




= 0.68


Given: B = {e2, e5, e8, e9}




= 0.08 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.2 + 0.2 [given]


= 0.68


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