CHAPTER 6 PROBABILITY

CHAPTER 6: PROBABILITY

6.1 Set theory and Venn diagrams

Set theory is a branch of mathematics which is concerned with basic logic and which
is applied in many other branches of mathematics. Venn diagrams are diagrams which are
used to illustrate the ideas and theorems of set theory. We will use the ideas of set theory,
illustrated by Venn diagrams, in studying probability, but they can be applied in almost every
branch of mathematics.
A set is defined as a collection of objects of any kind (physical or abstract) which are
referred to as the members, or elements, of the set. The basic property relating to a set is
that of belonging: an object which belongs to a set is a member of the set; an object which
does not belong to the set is not a member of the set.
The set which consists of all the objects under consideration in a particular situation is
called the universe. The set which contains no objects is called the empty set.
In Venn diagrams, a set is usually represented by a
circle (or similar closed figure) and the members of the set are
represented by points inside the circle. For example, if the set
A contains the numbers 2, 3, 7, 9 and 15, then we write
A = { 2, 3, 7, 9, 15} and illustrate it thus:
Since two sets may have some members in common,
one usually draws sets as overlapping in Venn diagrams, thus:
The common members lie in the overlapping area. If one
knows that two sets do not have any members in common, one
can draw them not overlapping.
The union of two sets, A and B, is denoted by AB and is
defined as the set consisting of all the members of A and all the
members of B. It is represented by the shaded area thus:
The intersection of two sets, A and B, is denoted by AB
and is defined as the set consisting of all those members of A which
also belong to B. It represented by the shaded area thus:
Similar definitions apply for the union and intersection of
three or more sets.
A set, A, is called a subset of a set, B, if every member of
A is also a member of B. Thus, in any given case under
consideration, every possible set of the universe is a subset of the
universe, which is usually represented by a rectangle, thus:
Other examples are: (AB) is a subset of A and of B; A
and B are subsets of (AB).
If AB is empty and AB is the universe, ie. if A and
B have no common members and if every member of the
universe belongs to either A or B, then B is called the
complement of A, which is denoted by A .

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6.2 Meaning of probability

For many events in daily life, one is uncertain about whether the event will occur or
not, eg. passing an exam, getting killed in a car crash, or buying a prize-winning Lotto ticket.
So we speak of “the chance, or probability, of an event occurring”.
On any one occasion when a particular event can occur, either it will occur or it will
not occur, but it is useful to have a measure that indicates how often the event could be
expected to occur in a series of such occasions. Such a measure is called a probability.
A probability is a numerical indicator of the chance that an event occurs. It is number
between 0 and 1. If an event cannot possibly happen, it is called an impossible event and it
has a probability of 0. If an event will definitely happen on every occasion when it can
possibly happen, it is called a certain event and it has a probability of 1. In other cases, the
size of the probability of an event indicates how likely it is to happen, eg. an event with
probability 0.6 is twice as likely to happen as an event with probability 0.3. It is very
common to multiply probabilities by 100 and treat them as percentages.

6.3 Definitions
Before formally defining probability, we need to define some underlying concepts and
terms.
An experiment is a process which may be repeated many times and which results in
the occurrence of one of a set of distinct possible outcomes every time it is repeated. Each
time it is repeated is called a trial of the experiment. For example, a simple experiment is to
observe whether it rains each day: each day is a trial of the experiment and the possible
outcomes are just “rain” and “no rain”. Another simple experiment is to toss a coin: the two
possible outcomes are that a crest or an animal faces upwards.
Outcomes are descriptions of the possible results of a trial of the experiment in the
simplest possible terms. One usually tries to define the outcomes of an experiment in such a
way that they are equally likely to occur. For example, for the experiment of rolling a six-
sided die (whose faces are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6), the possible outcomes are 1, 2, 3, 4,
5 and 6. If the die is symmetric and balanced, the outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 would be
equally likely; if it is biased or unbalanced (loaded) then these outcomes would not be
equally likely.
An event is a set of possible outcomes; if, on a trial of the experiment, one of the
outcomes in the set occurs, then the event is said to have occurred. The outcomes in the set,
ie. the outcomes corresponding to the event, are said to be “favourable to the event”.
Example 6.3.1: For the experiment of rolling a die, some events are: (A) number rolled
is even; (B) number rolled is greater than 3; (C) number rolled is 4. The outcomes
favourable to A are 2, 4 and 6; the outcomes favourable to B are 4, 5 and 6; the only
outcome favourable to C is 4.
There are two ways of defining probability: empirically and theoretically. To define
probability empirically, we consider a series of historical repetitions of the experiment and
we define the probability of an event as the relative frequency with which the event
occurred, ie. the proportion of trials of the experiment which resulted in the event occurring.
For example, if we collect data over ten years showing on how many days it rained and on

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how many days it did not rain, then we may estimate the probability that it will rain on any
particular day as
(Number of rainy days)/(Total number of days) = 2,190/3,652 = 0.6
We define probability theoretically as follows. If an experiment has n distinct
possible outcomes which are equally likely, the probability than an event X occurs on any
given trial of the experiment is
Pr[ X ] = Number of outcomes favourable to X
n
Example 6.3.2: Suppose that two dice are rolled. Let (f, s) represent the outcome that
the first die shows “f” and the second die shows “s”, eg. (1, 6) represents the
outcome that the first die shows 1 and the second shows 6. How many possible
outcomes described in this way are there? Are they equally likely?
There are 36 (= 6*6) possible outcomes described in this way. Assuming that the dice are
fair (ie. balanced, or unbiased), the 36 outcomes are equally likely and the probability of each
such outcome is 1/36.
Example 6.3.3: If two fair dice are rolled and the total (T) is calculated, what is the
probability that T is equal to 4?
If we define outcomes as in Example 6.3.2, there are 36 of them and they are equally likely.
The outcomes that are favourable to the event that T is 4 are (2, 2), (3, 1) and (1, 3). Hence
Pr[ T = 4 ] = Number of favourable outcomes / Total number of outcomes
= 3 / 36 = 1 / 12 = 0.0833
It should be noticed that it is quite possible to define outcomes of an experiment in
such a way that they are not equally likely.
Example 6.3.4: Consider the same experiment as in Example 6.3.2 but let [a, b]
represent the outcome that the dice show “a” and “b” in any order, eg. [1, 6]
represents the outcome that one of the dice shows 1 and the other shows 6. How
many possible outcomes described in this way are there? Are they equally likely?
If a and b are different, each outcome described as [a, b] corresponds to two of the outcomes
described as in Example 6.3.2. Thus, for example, [2, 5] corresponds to (5, 2) and (2, 5).
However, if a and b are the same, the outcome [a, b] corresponds to only one of the outcomes
described as in Example 6.3.2. Thus, for example, [2, 2] corresponds to (2, 2) only. There
are six outcomes described as (f, s), where f and s are the same, and they correspond to the
six outcomes described as [a, b], where a and b are the same. There are 30 outcomes
described as (f, s), where f and s are different, and they correspond in pairs to the outcomes
described as [a, b]. Thus, there are 21 (= 6 + 15) outcomes described as [a, b].
Where a and b are different,
Pr[ [a, b] ] = Pr[ (a, b) or (b, a) ] = 2 / 36
However, Pr[ [a, a] ] = Pr[ (a, a) ] = 1 / 36.
Thus, for example, Pr[ [4, 1] ] = 2 / 36 but Pr[ [4, 4] ] = 1 / 36, so the outcomes described
as [a, b] are not equally likely. As a result they cannot generally be used in the theoretical
definition of probability given above in order to calculate probabilities of events defined for

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the experiment. This definition applies only where a complete set of outcomes has been
defined in such a way that all the outcomes are equally likely.
The phrase “at random” is often used to convey the idea that each possible outcome
is equally likely to occur. If three students are selected “at random” from a class, that means
that, when each student is selected, every student is equally likely to be selected. It also
means that every possible sample of size 3 has the same chance of being the selected sample.
When using the symbolic expression Pr[ X ], it is important to bear in mind that
Pr[ X ] is a number (which may be manipulated just like a pronumeral) and that X is not a
number but an event, ie. something which may or may not happen. For example, for the
experiment of tossing a die, we may write “Pr[ 3 ]” as a form of shorthand, but it does not
mean “the probability of 3” - it means “the probability that 3 appears on the die”.

6.4 Diagrammatic representation of events

If we regard the possible outcomes of an experiment as objects belonging to sets, we
can use Venn diagrams to represent outcomes and events as follows. The set of all possible
outcomes of an experiment is the universe; each
outcome belongs to the universe and is represented
in the Venn diagram as a point; an event is a set of
outcomes and is represented by a set of points in
the Venn diagram.
Example 6.4.1: The die-rolling experiment
in Example 6.3.1 may be illustrated as
shown here.
Notice that we usually use the same symbol to refer to an event and to the set of
outcomes representing the event in the Venn diagram.

6.5 Combinations of events

For any experiment one may define a number of events of interest.
Example 6.5.1: If you roll two dice, you may be interested in the following events:
A: the total rolled is even;
B: the total rolled is greater than 5;
C: both the numbers rolled are the same;
D: one number is odd and one is even.
You may also be interested in compound events, ie. combinations of events, such as:
E: A and B occur;
F: A or B occurs;
G: either C or D occurs:
H: A occurs but B does not occur.
Notice that the word “or” has two different meanings in English, which are sometimes
referred to as “exclusive or” and “inclusive or”. When “or” is used with “either”, it has an

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“exclusive” meaning. Thus “either X or Y occurs” means “X occurs or Y occurs but not
both”, so the “exclusive or” excludes the case of both X and Y occurring. When “or” is used
without “either”, it is understood to be “inclusive”. Thus “X or Y occurs” means “X occurs
or Y occurs or both occur”, so “or” by itself includes the case of both X and Y occurring.
Similarly “X or Y or Z or … occurs” means that any positive number of these events (at least
one) occurs, but “either X or Y or Z or … occurs” means that exactly one of these events
occurs.
Example 6.5.2: For the experiment of tossing a
die, the following events are defined.
U = [Even number appears];
V = [Number appears that is greater than 2];
W = [1 appears];
Z = [5 appears].

The union of the sets representing U and V, ie. the set {2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, represents the
compound event that “U or V occurs”: the outcomes 2, 4 and 6 are favourable to U and the
outcomes 3, 4, 5 and 6 are favourable to V. On any trial of the experiment, if the outcome is
2, then only U has occurred; if the outcome is 3 or 5, then only V has occurred; if it is 4 or 6,
then both U and V have occurred.
The intersection of the sets representing U and V, ie. the set {4, 6}, represents the
compound event that “U and V occur”: the outcomes 4 and 6 are favourable to U and to V.
On any trial of the experiment, if the outcome is 4 or 6, then both U and V have occurred.
The area outside of both the sets representing U and V, ie. the set {1}, represents the
compound event that “neither U nor V occurs”: the outcome 1 is not favourable to U and it is
not favourable to V. On any trial of the experiment, if the outcome is 1, then U has not
occurred and V has not occurred.
The event that “either U or V occurs”, ie. “exactly one of the events U and V has
occurred”, is representing by the set {2, 3, 5}. On any trial of the experiment, if the outcome
is 2, then U has occurred but V has not; if the outcome is 3 or 5, then V has occurred but U
has not.
The complement of an event, A, is the event that happens whenever A does not
happen, and vice versa (ie. it is the “opposite” of A). It is often denoted by A .
Example 6.5.3: When tossing a die, if A is the event that 1 or 2 appears, then A is the
event that 3, 4, 5 or 6 appears.

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6.6 Conditional probability

On a particular trial of an experiment where two events (A and B) can occur, one may
know that B has occurred but one may not know whether A has occurred. In this case, one
may be interested to know what is the probability that “A has occurred, given that B has
occurred”. This is called “the conditional probability of A given B”.
If we know that B has occurred, we need consider only
the outcomes that are favourable to B, ie. the universe in this
situation consists of just the outcomes favourable to B. Within
this restricted universe, we want to know the probability that A
occurs, ie. the relative frequency of A.

The conditional probability of A given B, which is written Pr[ A/B ], can be

calculated as
Pr[ A/B ] = Number of equally likely outcomes favourable to A and B
Number of equally likely outcomes favourable to B
Notice that this definition applies only to a situation where a set of equally likely outcomes
has been defined.
Example 6.6.1: For the experiment described in Example 6.5.2,
Pr[ Z ] = Number of equally likely outcomes favourable to Z = 1/6 = 0.167
Total number of equally likely outcomes
but Pr[ Z/V ] = Number of equally likely outcomes favourable to Z & V = 1/4 = 0.25
Number of equally likely outcomes favourable to V
Thus if one throws a die, the probability of getting 5 is 1/6, but if one throws a die and one is
told that the outcome is greater than 2, then the probability that the number is 5 is 1/4.

6.7 Probability of joint occurrence

Theorem 6.1: For any two events, A and B, Pr[ A and B ] = Pr[ A/B ]*Pr[ B ].
Proof: Let n = total number of equally likely outcomes of the experiment,
b = number of equally likely outcomes favourable to B,
c = number of equally likely outcomes favourable to both A and B.
By definition, Pr[ A/B ] = c/b
so c = Pr[ A/B ]*b
hence c/n = Pr[ A/B ]*b/n
ie. Pr[ A and B ] = Pr[ A/B ]*Pr[ B ]
The following example illustrates this theorem for an experiment relating to a pack of
playing cards, but the theorem is useful for calculating the probability of the joint occurrence
of two events in more complex situations. A pack of playing cards consists of 52 cards in
four suits: hearts, clubs, spades and diamonds; hearts and diamonds are red and spades and
clubs are black; within each suit, the cards are numbered from 1 to 10, followed by three
picture cards: jack, queen and king; the “one” card is called the ace.
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Example 6.7.1: A card is drawn at random from a pack. What is the probability that it
is a picture card (A) and a heart (B)?
Pr[ Picture card and heart ] = Pr[ A and B ]
= Pr[ A/B ]*Pr[ B ]
= Pr[ Picture card/Heart ]*Pr[ Heart ]
= (3/13)(13/52), since each card is equally
likely to be drawn.
= 3/52 (or 0.058 or 5.8 %)

6.8 Independent events

If the probability of occurrence of event A does not depend on whether or not event B
occurs and vice versa, then A and B are independent (of each other).
In this case, Pr[ A/B ] = Pr[ A/B ] = Pr[ A ] and Pr[ B/A ] = Pr[ B/A ] = Pr[ B ].
Theorem 6.2: For any two events, A and B, that are independent of each other
Pr[ A and B ] = Pr[ A ]*Pr[ B ].
Proof: From Theorem 6.1, Pr[ A and B ] = Pr[ A/B ]*Pr [ B ]
but in this case Pr[ A/B ] = Pr[ A ],
so Pr[ A and B ] = Pr[ A ]*Pr[ B ].
Example 6.8.1: For the experiment of tossing a coin and throwing a die at the same
time, what is the probability that the coin shows a crest and the die shows 4?
Pr[ Coin shows crest and die shows 4 ] = Pr[ Coin shows crest ]*Pr[ Die shows 4 ]
because these events are independent.
= (1/2)(1/6), assuming that the coin and die are
fair.
= 1/12 = 0.083 = 8.3 %

6.9 Probability at least one of several events occurs

For any two events, A and B, the event “A or B occurs” is represented by the union of
the sets representing A and B. In order to calculate the probability of this event by using the
theoretical definition given in Section 6.3, one needs to count the number of outcomes in the
union (assuming that the outcomes have been defined so that they are equally likely).
There are several ways of counting the number of outcomes in the union of two sets,
A and B. One thing which must be avoided is double-counting: if A and B have some
outcomes in common and you add the number of outcomes in A to the number in B, the
common outcomes will be double-counted.

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One way to avoid this problem is to count the outcomes

in the set A and then add on the number of outcomes in B that
are not also in A, ie. add the number of outcomes in the shaded
area of the diagram to the number of outcomes in A. Another
way is to add the number of outcomes in A and in B and then
adjust the total by subtracting from it the number of common
outcomes (which have been double-counted). The latter way is
used in the proof of the following theorem.
Theorem 6.3: For any two events, A and B, Pr[ A or B ] = Pr[ A ] + Pr[ B ] - Pr[ A and B ].
Proof: Let n denote the total number of equally likely outcomes, and let a and b denote the
number of equally likely outcomes favourable to A and B respectively.
Pr[ A or B ] = Number of equally likely outcomes favourable to A or B
n
= a + b - Number of equally likely outcomes favourable to A & B
n
= a/n + b/n - Number of equally likely outcomes favourable to A & B
n
= Pr[ A ] + Pr[ B ] - Pr[ A and B ]
This is a very useful theorem for calculating the probability of a union of two events
and can be extended to cover more than two events. In particular, for three events,
Pr[ A or B or C ]
= Pr[A] + Pr[B] + Pr[C] - Pr[A & B] - Pr[A & C] - Pr[B & C] + Pr[A & B & C]
It is important to bear in mind that the event “A or B occurs” means “at least one of A
and B occurs”. Similarly “A, B or C occurs” means “at least one of A, B and C occurs”.
Thus the above theorem and its extensions provide formulas for calculating the probability
that at least one of several events occurs.

6.10 Mutually exclusive events

If two events, A and B, cannot possibly occur at the same time (ie. on any one trial of
an experiment), they are called disjoint, or mutually exclusive, events. Since two such
events have no outcomes in common, Pr[ A and B ] = 0.
Theorem 6.4: If events A, B, C, D, … are mutually exclusive, then
Pr[ A or B or C or D or … ] = Pr[ A ] + Pr[ B ] + Pr[ C ] + Pr[ D ] + …
Proof: From Theorem 6.3, Pr[ A or B ] = Pr[ A ] + Pr[ B ] - Pr[ A and B ]
Since A and B are mutually exclusive events, Pr[ A and B ] = 0,
so Pr[ A or B ] = Pr[ A ] + Pr[ B ].
Similarly, Pr[ A or B or C ] = Pr[ A or B ] + Pr[ C ], since the events “A or B” and C are
mutually exclusive.
= Pr[ A ]+ Pr[ B ] + Pr[ C ]

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In the same way, this proof may be extended to cover any number of mutually exclusive
events.

6.11 Complementary events

Theorem 6.5: For any event, A, Pr[ ] = 1 - Pr[ A ].
A
Proof: Since A and A are mutually exclusive, Theorem 6.4 shows that
Pr[ A or A ] = Pr[ A ] + Pr[ A ]
Since either A or A occurs every time the experiment is conducted, it is certain that one of
them will always occur, ie. Pr[ A or A ] = 1.
Hence Pr[ A ] + Pr[ A ] = 1
so Pr[ A ] = 1 - Pr[ A ].

6.12 Calculating probabilities of complex events

By using the definitions and results given in earlier sections (especially Theorems 6.1
to 6.5), one can calculate the probabilities of quite complex events.
Example 6.12.1:
(i) The table below summarizes the region of birth and highest education level of the
employees of a company.

Birthplace Highest education level

(region) Grade 10 Grade 12 Diploma Degree Total
Northern 152 49 25 74 300
Central 73 12 9 6 100
Southern 96 46 19 39 200
Total 321 107 53 119 600
One employee is selected at random from the group, ie. each employee is equally
likely to be chosen. Thus there are 600 possible outcomes and each of them is equally likely
to occur. Compute the following probabilities.
(a) Pr[ Grade 10 leaver from Northern is selected ] = 152/600 (Section 6.3)
(b) Pr[ Grade 10 leaver is selected ] = 321/600 (Section 6.3)
(c) Pr[Grade 10 leaver or from Northern]
= Pr[Grade 10 leaver] + Pr[From Northern] - Pr[Grade 10 leaver from Northern]
(Theorem 6.3)
= 321/600 + 300/600 - 152/600 = 469/600
(d) Pr[ From Central or Southern ]
= Pr[ Central ] + Pr[ Southern ] (Theorem 6.4)
= 100/600 + 200/600 = 300/600
(e) Pr[ From Central / Grade 10 leaver ] = 73/321 (Section 6.6)

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(f) Pr[From Central and Grade 10 leaver]

= Pr[From Central / Grade 10 leaver]*Pr[Grade 10 leaver] (Theorem 6.1)
= (73/321)*(321/600) = 73/600
(g) Pr[ Not from Central] = 1 - Pr[From Central] (Theorem 6.5)
= 1 - 100/600 = 500/600
(ii) Are the events “Selected employee is from Northern” and “Selected employee has
diploma” independent?
Pr[ Has diploma ] = 53/600
Pr[Has diploma / From Northern] = 25/300 = 50/600
Since these two probabilities are not equal, the two events are not independent. (Section 6.8)
Example 6.12.2: Two cards are drawn at random from a pack with replacement, ie. the
first card drawn is replaced in the pack before the second card is drawn. What is the
probability that a red 7 will appear? (Note: This is not the same question as “What
is the probability that one red 7 will appear?”)
The phrase “at random” means that every possible outcome is equally likely to occur, so here
every card in the pack at each draw is equally likely to be selected.
Let R7 denote the event that a red 7 is selected on a single draw. Let (A, B) denote the event
that event A occurs on the first draw and event B occurs on the second draw.
Then Pr[ a red 7 in sample ]
 Pr[ (R7, R7) or (R7, R7) or (R7, R7) ]

 Pr[ (R7, R7) ]  Pr[ (R7, R7) ]  Pr[ (R7, R7) ] ,

because these events are mutually exclusive (Theorem 6.4)
 Pr[ R7 1st ] * Pr[ R7 2nd ]  Pr[ R7 1st ] * Pr[ R7 2nd ]  Pr[ R7 1st ] * Pr[ R7 2nd ] ,
because the outcome of the first draw and the outcome of the second draw are
independent (Theorem 6.2)
= (2/52)(50/52) + (50/52)(2/52) + (2/52)(2/52)
= 204/(52)(52) = 0.075
Example 6.12.3: Two cards are drawn at random from a pack without replacement, ie.
selected cards are not replaced in the pack. What is the probability that a red 7 will
appear?
Pr[ a red 7 in sample ]
 Pr[ (R7, R7) or (R7, R7) or (R7, R7) ]

 Pr[ (R7, R7) ]  Pr[ (R7, R7) ]  Pr[ (R7, R7) ]

because these events are mutually exclusive (Theorem 6.4)
 Pr[ R7 1st ] * Pr[ R7 2nd / R7 1st ]  Pr[ R7 1st ] * Pr[ R7 2nd / R7 1st ]
 Pr[ R7 1st ] * Pr[ R7 2nd / R7 1st ] (Theorem 6.1)

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= (2/52)(50/51) + (50/52)(2/51) + (2/52)(1/51)

= 202/(52)(51) = 0.076
Although the answers for the last two examples are almost the same, they are clearly
not exactly the same. If the number of cards drawn were greater than two, the difference
between the answers would be greater. In general, sampling with replacement and without
replacement yield significantly different probabilities. The usual sampling method is without
replacement, which should always be presumed unless the contrary is stated.

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Tutorial exercises

1. In a survey of 180 motorists, 24 said that they had had a driving accident in the first
two years after getting their driving licences. Use this information to find the
empirical probability that a motorist who has just received his licence will have an
accident within the next two years.

2. The sides of a 12-sided die (a dodecahedron) are marked A, B, C, D, …, K, L. The

die is rolled and the outcome is the letter on the side facing upwards.
(a) What is the probability of each outcome occurring?
(b) What is the probability that the letter is a vowel?
(c) What is the probability that the letter is made up of straight lines (eg. E is made up of
four straight lines, but B uses some curves)?

3. Each letter of the alphabet is written on a separate card and the 26 cards are placed in
a bag. One card is drawn at random and the letter on the card is noted. Determine
which of the following two events is more likely to happen: (i) the letter is a vowel;
(ii) the letter is in the word “cross”.

4. A university shop has kept records of its customers. Over a month it found that it had
served 3,245 male students, 643 female students, 548 male staff, 435 female staff,
1,253 other males and 2,256 other females. By using this information and calculating
empirical probabilities, determine which of the following two events is more likely to
happen: (i) the next customer is a female; (ii) the next customer is a male student.

5. The wheel of fortune illustrated here is spun and the

outcome is the number on the sector under the arrowhead
when the wheel comes to rest.
(a) What are the probabilities of each outcome?
(b) What is the probability that the number is odd?

6. A bag contains 24 marbles. Of these 6 are red, 5 green, 4 blue, 3 white, and the
remainder multi-coloured. You select one marble at random from the bag.
(a) What is the probability that it is multi-coloured?
(b) What is the probability that it is red?
(c) Suppose that you keep drawing until you get one that is a single colour. What is the
probability that it is red?
(d) Given that the marble selected is not red, blue or white, what is the probability that it
is multi-coloured?

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7. Suppose that we roll a regular die twice.

(a) What is the probability that we roll two sixes?
(b) What is the probability that the first roll is a six and the second is not a six?
(c) What is the probability that neither roll produces a six?

8. Alan, Betty and Carol are applying for three different jobs in a company. The
probability that Alan gets his job is 0.5; the probability that Betty gets her job is 0.75;
the probability that Carol gets her job is 0.3. What is the probability that jobs will be
obtained by:
(a) None of them? (e) Two of them?
(b) Only one of them? (f) At least two of them?
(c) At least one of them? (g) At most two of them?
(d) At most one of them? (h) All three of them?

9. Three cards are drawn at random from a pack of playing cards. Calculate the
probability of the following events occurring.
(a) All three cards are hearts.
(b) All three cards are of the same suit.
(c) Two cards are hearts and one is a spade.

49