Chapter 2

Mutually and Not

Mutually Exclusive
Events
MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE AND NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
EVENTS:

Events are said to be mutually exclusive if only one of the events can occur
on any one trial.
Events are mutually exclusive if one and only one of them can take place at
a time.
Consider again the example of the coin toss. We have two possible
outcomes, heads and tails. On any single toss, either heads or tails may turn
up, but not both.
Accordingly, the events heads and tails on a single toss are said to be
mutually exclusive.
VENN DIAGRAM FOR MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE AND
NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE EVENTS
They are called not mutually exclusive if the list of
outcomes includes every possible outcome. (2 or more
possible outcomes)

Many common experiences involve events that have both

of these properties.

In tossing a coin, for example, the possible outcomes are a

head or a tail. Since both of them cannot occur on any one
toss, the outcomes head and tail are mutually exclusive.
 Example 1: Rolling A Die. Rolling a die is a simple experiment that has six possible outcomes, each listed in
the following table with the corresponding probability:

OUTCOME OF ROLL PROBABILITY

1 1/6
2 1/6
3 1/6
4 1/6
5 1/6
6 1/6
----------------
Total 1
These events are both mutually exclusive ( on any roll, only one of the six events can occur) and are also
not mutually exclusive (one of them must occur and hence they total in probability to 1).
 Standard Deck of Cards (52 cards)
Spades 13 Black Cards
Hearts 13 Red Cards
Diamonds 13 Red Cards
Clubs 13 Black Cards
According to Number:
Even 5 (2,4,6,8,10)
Odd 4 (3,5,7,9)
Face Cards:
King 4
Queen 4
Jack 4
Ace 4
Non-Face Cards 36
Example 2:
Drawing A Card. You are asked to draw one card from a deck of 52 playing cards. Using a
logical probability assessment, it is easy to set some of the relationships, such as:

P (drawing a 7) = 4/52 = 1/13 or .07 or 7%

P (drawing a heart) = 13/52 = ¼ or 25%

We also see that these events (drawing a 7 and drawing a heart) are not mutually exclusive
since a 7 of hearts can be drawn. They are also not collectively exhaustive since there are
other cards in the deck besides 7s and hearts.
 ADDING MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE EVENTS

Often we are interested in whether one event or a second event will occur. This is
often called the union of two events. When these two events are mutually
exclusive, the law of addition is simply as follows:

P (event A or event B) = P (event A) + P (event B)

or, more briefly,
P (A or B) = P (A) + P ( B)
Ex. P(head or Tail) = P(head) + P(tail)
For example, we know that the events of drawing a spade or drawing a club out of a deck of cards are
mutually exclusive.
Since P(spade) = 13/52 and P (club) = 13/52, the probability of drawing either a spade or a club is:

P (spade or club) = P (spade) + P ( club)

= 13/52 + 13/52
= 26/52 = ½ = 0.50 = 50%

Another example: Drawing a King or a Queen

P (King or Queen) =P (King) + P (Queen)

=4/52 + 4/52
=8/52 = .15 or 15%
 LAW OF ADDITION FOR EVENTS THAT ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE

When two events are not mutually exclusive, the equation should be:

P (event A or event B) = P (event A) + P (event B)- P (event a and event B both occurring)
In shorter form:

P (A or B) = P (A) + P ( B) - P ( A and B)

When events are not mutually exclusive, the area of overlap, called the intersection, is 0.
Let us consider the events drawing a 5 and drawing a diamond out of a deck of cards. These events are not
mutually exclusive, to compute for the probability of either a 5 or a diamond will be drawn, the following is
the solution:
P (five or diamond) = P (five) + P (diamond) - P (five and diamond)
Kaya sya 1/52, one event lang ang five and
=4/52 + 13/52 – 1/52
diamond
= 16/52 P (event A and event B both occurring)

= 4/13 or 31%
* There is 31% probability of drawing a five or a diamond from a deck of cards.
Another example: Drawing a Jack and drawing a Club
P (Jack or Club) =P(Jack) + P(Club) – P (Jack and Club)
= 4/52 + 13/52 – 1/52
Same here
=16/52 or 31%
* There is 31% probability of drawing a Jack or a Club from a deck of cards.G
EXAMPLE: These are the experience data for 50 welders in a fabrication shop.
Years of experience Number Probability

0-2 5 5/50 = .1 = 10%

3-5 10 10/50 = .2 = 20%
6-8 15 15/50 = .3 = 30%
More than 8 20 20/50 = .4 = 40%
------------- ------------------------
Total 50 50/50 = 1.00= 100%

What is the probability that a welder selected at random will have 6 or more years of experience?
P (6 or more) = P(6-8) + P(more than 8)
= .3 + .4
= .7 or 70%
– The Addition Rule for Events That Are Not Mutually Exclusive: If
two events are not mutually exclusive, it is possible for both events
to occur together. In such cases, the addition rule must be
modified.
– Let us use the example of a deck of cards to introduce the idea.
What is the probability of drawing either an ace or a spade from a
deck of cards? Obviously the events ace and spade can occur
together because we could draw the ace of spades; thus ace and
spade are not mutually exclusive. The correct equation to use for
the probability of one or more of two events that are not mutually
exclusive is:
P (A or B) = P (A) + P (B) - P (A and B)
EXAMPLE: The City Council of San Fernando is composed of the following:

Person Sex Age

1 Male 31
2 Male 33
3 Female 46
4 Female 29
5 Male 41

If the members of the council decide to elect a chairperson by random

draw ( say, by drawing the names from a hat), what is the probability that the
chairperson will be either a female or over 35?
– What is the probability that the chairperson will be either a female or over
35?
Series of possible probabilities:
P ( Male ) = 3/5 P (Female) = 2/5
P (below 35) = 3/5 P(over 35) = 2/5
P (F & over 35) = 1/5 P (M & over 35)=1/5
P (F &below 35)= 1/5 P (M& below 35)=2/5

P(female or over 35) = P(female) + P(over 35) – P(female and over 35)

= 2/5 + 2/5 - 1/5

= 3/5 = .6 or 60%
SUMMARY: KEY EQUATIONS
1. A basic statement of probability

0 < P (event) < 1

2. Law of addition for mutually exclusive events

P (A or B) = P (A) + P ( B)

3. Law of addition for events that are not mutually exclusive

P (A or B) = P (A) + P ( B) - P ( A and B)
MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE EVENTS
• Events are mutually exclusive if one and only one
of them can take place at a time.
• Events are said to be mutually exclusive if only
one of the events can occur on any one trial
• are events that cannot happen at the same
time. Examples include: right and left hand turns,
even and odd numbers on a die, winning and losing
a game, or running and walking.
• There is no intersection between the two events/no
common elements
NON-MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE EVENTS
• are events that can happen at the same time. Examples
include: driving and listening to the radio, even numbers and
prime numbers on a die, losing a game and scoring, or
running and sweating.
• Non-mutually exclusive events can make calculating
probability more complex.
• There is an intersection between the two events/common
elements
 1.Drawing (or picking) a 5 or 8 from
1.Mutually a standard deck of cards
2.Not mutually 2. Getting a grade of 90 in Math and
a grade of 90 in English.
3.Not mutually
3.A person works in the Philippines
4.Mutually and a pinay.
5.Not mutually 4.A person is watching TV and
sleeping
5.Rolling a fair die and getting an
even number or a multiple of