Probability: Solution to Homework 1

1. (12%) Q : quarter ; N : nickel ; D : dime ; P : pennie

S = {QQ, QN, QP, QD, DN, DP, N P, N N, P P }.

(a) {QP };
(b) {DN, DP, N N };
(c) φ.

2. (16%)

(a) True. (E − EF ) F = (EF c ) (F c

S S S T S S T
F = (E F) F ) = (E F) S =
E F.
S

(b) False. Think about this case: throw a four-sided die; let F = {1, 2, 3}, G =
{2, 3, 4}, E = {1, 4}.
F c = {4}, F c G = {4}, E c = {2, 3}, E c G = {2, 3}.
(c) True. By DeMorgan's law.
(d) True. Since EF ⊂ E G , FG ⊂ G G and
S S S S S S
F ⊂ E F F ⊂ E F
G.
S S S
EG ⊂ E G⊂E F

3. (8%)

(a) Let M = (A ∩ B)c and N = Ac ∪ B c

→ Let x be an arbitrary element of M , then x ∈ M ⇒ x ∈ (A ∩ B)c
⇒ x 6∈ (A ∩ B)
⇒ x 6∈ A or x 6∈ B
⇒ x ∈ Ac or x ∈ B c
⇒ x ∈ Ac ∪ B c
⇒x∈N
Therefore, M ⊆ N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (i)

→ Again, Let y be an arbitrary element of N , then y ∈ N ⇒ y ∈ Ac ∪ B c

⇒ y ∈ Ac or y ∈ B c
 ⇒ y 6∈ A or y 6∈ B
⇒ y 6∈ (A ∩ B)
⇒ y ∈ (A ∩ B)c
⇒y∈M
Therefore, N ⊆ M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (ii)
→ Now combine (i) and (ii) we get M = N i.e. (A ∩ B)c = Ac ∪ B c
(b) Let M = Ac and N = B c
M ∪ N = ((M ∪ N )c )c
By De Morgan's rst law: (A ∪ B)c = Ac ∩ B c .
⇒ M ∪ N = (M c ∩ N c )c
⇒ Ac ∪ B c = ((Ac )c ∩ (B c )c )c
⇒ Ac ∪ B c = (A ∩ B)c , Q.E.D.

4. (5%) Let E be the event that an earthquake will damage the structure next year.
Let H be the event that a hurricane will damage the structure next year. We are
given that P (E) = 0.015, P (H) = 0.025, and P (EH) = 0.0073. Since P (E H) =
S

P (E) + P (H) − P (EH) = 0.015 + 0.025 − 0.0073 = 0.0327, the probability that next
year the structure will be damaged by an earthquake and/or a hurricane is 0.0327.
The probability that it is not damaged by any of the two natural disasters is 0.9673.

5. (5%) Applying Theorem 1.6 twice, we have

P (A ∪ B ∪ C) = P (A ∪ B) + P (C) − P ((A ∪ B) ∩ C)
= P (A) + P (B) − P (AB) + P (C) − P (AC ∪ BC)
= P (A) + P (B) − P (AB) + P (C) − P (AC) − P (BC) + P (ABC)
= P (A) + P (B) + P (C) − P (AB) − P (AC) − P (BC) + P (ABC)

6. (8%) Let T and F be the events that the number selected is divisible by 3 and 5,
respectively.
 (a) The desired quantity is the probability of the event T F c :
333 66 267
P (T F c ) = P (T ) − P (T F ) = − =
1000 1000 1000

(b) The desired quantity is the probability of the event T c F c :

P (T c F c ) = 1 − P (T ∪ F ) = 1 − P (T ) − P (F ) + P (T F )
333 200 66 533
=1− − + =
1000 1000 1000 1000

7. (8%)

(a) False; in the experiment of choosing a point at random from the interval (0, 1),
let A = (0, 1) − {1/2}. A is not the sample space but P (A) = 1.

(b) False; in the same experiment P ({1/2}) = 0 while { 21 } =

6 φ.

8. (5%) For i = 0, 1, 2, . . . , 9, the probability that i appears as the rst digit of the
decimal representation of the selected point is the probability that the point falls
into the interval [ 10i , i+1
10
). Therefore, it equals
i+1
− 10i
10 1
= .
1−0 10
This shows that all numerals are equally likely to appear as the rst digit of the
decimal representation of the selected point.

9. (8%)
∞ ∞
(a) Clearly, 1
( 12 − 2n
1 1 1
) . If x ∈ ( 21 − 2n
1 1 1
) , then, for all n ≥ 1,
T T
2
∈ , 2 + 2n , 2 + 2n
n=1 n=1

1 1 1 1
− <x< + .
2 2n 2 2n
Letting n → ∞, we obtain 1/2 ≤ x ≤ 1/2; thus x = 1/2.
 (b) Let An be the event that the point selected at random is in ( 12 − 1 1
,
2n 2
+ 1
2n
;
)
then

A1 ⊇ A2 ⊇ A3 ⊇ · · · ⊇ An ⊇ An+1 ⊇ · · · ,

Since P (An ) = n1 , by the continuity property of the probability function,

P ({1/2}) = lim P (An ) = 0.

n→∞

10. (8%)

(a) 525 = 380, 204, 032.

(b) 52 × 51 × 50 × 49 × 48 = 311, 875, 200.

11. (5%) For 0 ≤ i ≤ 9, the sum of the rst two digits is i in (i + 1) ways. Therefore,
there are (i + 1)2 numbers in the given set with the sum of the rst two digits equal
to the sum of the last two digits and equal to i. For i = 10, there are 92 numbers in
the given set with the sum of the rst two digits equal to the sum of the last two
digits and equal to 10. For i = 11, the corresponding numbers are 82 and so on.
Therefore, there are altogether

12 + 22 + · · · + 102 + 92 + 82 + · · · + 12 = 670

numbers with the desired property and hence the answer is 670/104 = 0.067.

12. (12%)

(a) Because P (A ∪ B) = P (A)+P (B)-P (AB) and P (A ∪ B) ≤ 1, we can know

P (AB) ≥ P (A) + P (B) − 1.
(b) From the result of (a), we know P (A1 A2 ) ≥ P (A1 )+P (A2 )−1, i.e., P (A1 A2 ) ≥
P (A1 ) + P (A2 ) − (2 − 1). So the result is true for n = 2.
Suppose that the result is true for n = k , i.e., P (A1 A2 · · · Ak ) ≥ P (A1 ) +
P (A2 ) + · · · P (Ak ) − (k − 1).
P (A1 A2 · · · Ak Ak+1 ) = P ((A1 A2 · · · Ak )(Ak+1 )) ≥ P (A1 A2 · · · Ak ) + P (Ak+1 ) −
1.
 ⇒ P (A1 A2 · · · Ak Ak+1 ) ≥ P (A1 ) + P (A2 ) + · · · P (Ak ) − (k − 1) + P (Ak+1 ) − 1 =
P (A1 ) + P (A2 ) + · · · P (Ak+1 ) − ((k − 1) + 1).
By induction, we have P (A1 A2 · · · An ) ≥ P (A1 ) + P (A2 ) + · · · P (An ) − (n − 1)
for n = 2, 3, 4 · · · .
(c) From (b), we have P (A1 A2 · · · An ) ≥ P (A1 ) + · · · + P (An ) − (n − 1). Since
P (A1 ) = P (A2 ) = · · · = P (An ) = 1, we have P (A1 A2 · · · An ) ≥ n−(n−1) = 1.
Since P (A1 A2 · · · An ) ≤ 1 and P (A1 A2 · · · An ) ≥ 1, we have P (A1 · · · An ) = 1.

Extra Exercises:

1. E G = G: If E or F occurs, then G occurs.

S S
F
EF G = G: If G occurs, then E and F occur.

2. Let M and F denote the events that the randomly selected student earned an A on
the midterm exam and an A on the nal exam, respectively. Then

P (M F ) = P (M ) + P (F ) − P (M ∪ F ),

where P (M ) = 17/33, P (F ) = 14/33, and by DeMorgan's law,

11 22
P (M ∪ F ) = 1 − P (M c F c ) = 1 − = .
33 33
Therefore,
17 14 22 3
P (M F ) = + − = .
33 33 33 11
3. A Venn diagram shows that the answers are 1/8, 5/24, and 5/24, respectively.

Figure 1: Venn diagram of Extra Exercise 3.

4. 30−10
30−0
= 23 .

5. There are 6 types of meat or cheese you can choose, but you should select at least
one. Then we can nd (26 − 1) combination methods.
And there are 3 types of sauces. We can nd 23 combination methods. (You can
select none of sauces.)
There are (26 − 1)23 = 504 possible sandwiches. So the claim is true.