Probability of Mutually

Quarter 3: Exclusive and Not

Module 30
Mutually Exclusive
Events
Review:
●The probability of an event (E) is given by the formula:
P(E) = =
●The probability of an event must be a number from 0
to 1.
That is, 0 ≤ P(E) ≤ 1.
●The union of events A and B, denoted by A B, is the
set of all outcomes for either A or B.
●The intersection of events A and B, denoted A B, is
the set of all outcomes shared by A and B.
Let us consider the situation below.
Daryll and Ricky decided to
play
Polynomial Damath to ease their
boredom brought about by the
COVID-19 pandemic. They
agreed that they will roll a die
to determine who will make the first
move. Both will roll the die and
whoever gets the higher number
makes the first move. Ricky rolls the FAIR PLAY
die and gets a 4. What is the
Rolling a die and getting a 5 and rolling a die and getting a 6 are two simple
events that cannot occur at the same time.
Say YES if the events can happen at the same time and NO if they cannot happen at the same
time.
1. Tossing a coin and getting a head; tossing a coin and getting a tail
NO
2. Rolling a die and getting a factor of 6; rolling a die and getting a prime number
YES
3. A heart is drawn from a standard deck of cards; a face card is drawn from a standard deck of cards
YES
4. An 8 is drawn from a standard deck of cards; a king is drawn from a standard deck of cards
NO
5. A multiple of 3 turning up in rolling a die once; a factor of 4 turning up in rolling a die once
NO
The pair of events in the previous activity are compound events
and they can either be mutually exclusive or not mutually
exclusive events.
Definition
∙ A compound event consists of two or more simple
events that are connected by the word and or or.
∙ Two events are mutually exclusive if both events
cannot occur at the same time. These events have no
common elements. They are also called disjoint
events.
∙ Two events are not mutually exclusive if both events
can occur at the same time. These events have common
elements. They are also called inclusive events.
Example 1. In tossing a coin once, the
events of getting a head and getting a tail
are mutually exclusive events because
they cannot appear at the same time. If A

event of getting a tail, then, A ∩ B = { } or

is the event of getting a head and B is the

n(A ∩ B) = 0. That is, there is no common

element in events A and B.
Example 2. In rolling a six-sided die once,
the events ‘a 2 turning up’ and ‘an even
number turning up’ are not mutually
exclusive events. If A is the event of ‘a 2

number turning up’, then, A = {2} and

turning up’ and B is the event of ‘an even

B = {2, 4, 6}. Observe that the number 2 is

A ∩ B = {2} or n(A ∩ B) = 1.
common to both events A and B, therefore,

Answer the next activity to familiarize yourself

with mutually exclusive and not.
Activity 1:
Determine if each pair of events are mutually
exclusive (ME) or not mutually exclusive _____ 9) ‘working in Davao’ and ‘you are an
(NME). Write your answer on the blank before Ilokano’
each number. _____10) ‘attending a class in school’ and
_____ 1) drawing ‘a jack’ and ‘a club’ from a ‘sleeping on the bed at home’
standard deck of cards
_____ 2) drawing ‘a 7’ and ‘a 4’ from a standard Answers:
deck of cards 1. NME
_____ 3) picking ‘a blue ball’ and ‘a red ball’ in a 2. ME
basket 3. ME
_____ 4) electing ‘the president’ and ‘the 4. ME
secretary’ of the class 5. NME
_____ 5) getting ‘an even number’ and ‘a factor
of 4’ in rolling a fair die once 6. NME
_____ 6) getting ‘a prime number’ and ‘a 7. ME
multiple of 2’ in rolling a fair die once 8. NME
_____ 7) getting ‘a 1’ and ‘a prime number’ in 9. NME
rolling a fair die once
_____ 8) getting ‘a grade of 90 in Math’ and 10. ME
getting ‘a grade of 90 in English’
Activity 2:
MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE OR NOT?
1. Mario has 45 red chips, 12 blue chips, and 24 white
chips. What is the probability that Mario randomly
selects a red chip or a white chip?
2. Of 240 students, 176 are on the honor roll, 48 are
members of the varsity team, and 36 are in the honor
roll and are also members of the varsity team. What is
the probability that a randomly selected students is on
the honor roll or is member of the varsity team?
3. Ruby’s dog has 8 puppies. The puppies include white
females, 3 mixed-color females, 1 white male, and 2 mixed-
color males. Ruby wants to keep one puppy. What is the
probability that she randomly chooses a puppy that is a
female and white?
4. Carl’s basketball shooting records indicate that for any
frame, the probability that he will score a two-point shoot is
30%, a three-point shoot, 45%, and neither, 25%. What is the
probability that Carl will score either in a two-point shoot or
in a three-point shoot?
The probability that one event or another event
will occur usually involves union and addition.
Probability of Mutually Exclusive Events
If two events, A and B, are mutually exclusive, then the prob.
that either A or B occurs is the sum of their probabilities.
In symbols,
P(A or B) = P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B)

Using the Venn diagram, we have,

Using the situation of Dayrll and Ricky, the die must
show a 5 or a 6 so that Daryll will play first. Let us find
P(E) where E is the event that “the die shows either 5
or 6”.
Since the die has 6 faces numbered from 1 – 6, then n(S) = 6
Let: A  be the event that the die shows a 5
B  be the event that the die shows a 6
P(A) = P(B) =
P(5 or 6) = P(5 P (5) + P (6) = = =
Therefore, the probability that Daryll will play first is .
Example 1. A bag contains 4 blue marbles, 8
green marbles and 6 red marbles. Carlo draws one
ball at random. What is the probability that the
marble is either red or green?
Solution: A ball cannot be both red and green, so

P(red or green) = P(red) + P(green)

these are mutually exclusive events.

P(red or green) = +
P(red or green) = or
∴The probability that the drawn marble is either
red or green is .
Example 2. A card is drawn at random
from a standard deck of 52 cards. What is
the probability of drawing an ace, a 10 or a
king?
Note: A standard deck of 52 cards has 4 suits, the
heart, the diamond, the spade, and clover. It is also of
two colors, red and black. The hearts and the
diamonds are red while the spades and the clovers
are black. There are 13 cards in each suit. Each suit
has 3 face cards – the king, queen and jack, and 10
number cards.
Example 2. A card is drawn at random from a standard deck of 52
cards. What is the probability of drawing an ace, a 10 or a king?

Solution: The three events are mutually exclusive since you

cannot draw a card that is an ace, a 10 and a king at the same
time. Thus,

P(ace or 10 or king) = P(ace) + P(10) + P(king)

P(ace or 10 or king) =
P(ace or 10 or king) =
∴The probability of drawing an ace, a 10 or a king is
Example 3. In this ‘new normal situation’, nobody can go
out without wearing a face mask. Mark has 15 disposable
face masks of which 4 are red, 6 are blue and 5 are green.
What is the probability that he will wear a red or a blue
face mask today?
Solution: A face mask cannot be both red and blue at the
same time, so these are mutually exclusive events.
P(red or blue) = P(red) + P(blue)
Pred or blue) =
P(red or blue) =
∴The probability of wearing a red or a blue face mask is
Example 4. A number is drawn at random
from the set {1, 2, 3, …, 20}. Find the
probability that the number chosen is a
multiple of 3 or a multiple of 10.

Example 5. A five-card hand is drawn at

random. Find the probability that all red
cards are drawn or all black cards are drawn.
 Probability of Not Mutually Exclusive Events or Inclusive
Events
For any two events A and B of the same experiment which are not
mutually exclusive events, the probability of the union of A and B

= P(A)
using +P(B)
the Venn−Diagram.
P(A and B)
is

P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B) − P(A ∩ B)

Let us illustrate the concept above
P(A or B)

A B
P(A B)

Observe that the events intersect each other. This only shows that there are
elements in A and B that occur at the same time. The intersection of A and B
should be subtracted to eliminate elements being duplicated.
Example 1. A die is rolled once. What is the
probability of an even number or a factor of 6
turning up?

Solution: A die has six faces numbered 1 – 6, so, n(S) = 6.

Let: A = { even number} and B = {factor of 6}
A = {2, 4, 6 } B = {1, 2, 3, 6 }
n(A) = 3 n(B) = 4
A ∩ B = {2, 6} n(A ∩ B) = 2
P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B) − P(A ∩ B)
P(A ∪ B) = +
P(A ∪ B) =
∴The probability of getting an even number or a factor of 6 is .
 Example 2. If there is 30% chance of rain on Saturday, 70%
chance of rain on Sunday, and 21% chance of rain on
Saturday and Sunday, what is the probability that it will rain
on either Saturday or Sunday?
Solution: Let: A = {chance of rain on Saturday}
B = {chance of rain on Sunday}
P(A ∩ B) = {Saturday and Sunday}
P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B) − P(A ∩ B)
P(A ∪ B) = 0.30 + 0.70 − 0.21
P(A ∪ B) = 0.79 = 79%
∴There is 79% chance that it will rain on either Saturday or Sunday.
 Example 3. Each of the numbers 1 – 30 is written on a
slip of paper, rolled and put in a box and mixed
thoroughly. One number is picked up at random. Find the
probability that the picked number is even or a multiple of
5? Let: n(S) = 30
A={even number}={2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28,
Solution:

30}; n(A)=15
B= {multiple of 5} = {5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 }; n(B) = 6
A ∩ B = {10, 20, 30}; n(A ∩ B) = 3
P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B) − P(A ∩ B)
P(A ∪ B) =
P(A ∪ B) =

∴The probability that the number picked is even or multiple of 5 is .

and Z winning the math quiz bee is , and ,
Example 4. The probabilities of three students X, Y

respectively. If only one contestant can win the quiz

bee, find the probability that:
a) either X or Y wins b) neither X nor Z wins

Solution: Since only one candidate can

a) P(X or Y wins) = P(X wins) + P(Y wins)

win, the events are mutually exclusive.

=
 b) To get the probability that neither X nor Z
wins, we get first its complement which is either
X or Z wins, then, subtract it from 1.
P(X or Z wins) = P(X wins) + P(Z wins)
=
P(neither X nor Z wins) = 1 − P(X or Z wins)
=1−
P(neither X nor Z wins) =
∴ The probability that neither X nor Z wins is .
–
Example 5.DIY store has 30 employees, 18 men
and 12 women. Two-thirds of the men and half of
the women are married. Find the probability that
one employee chosen at random is a man or is
married.
Example 6. The probabilities of three students,
Rey, Roy and Rye, to be elected as SSG president
are respectively. Find the probability that
a. either Roy or Rye will be elected.
B. either Rey or Rye will be elected.
C. neither Rey nor Rye will be elected.
 Any
questions or
clarifications?