MANSCI: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE

CHAPTER 2: Mutually and Not Mutually Exclusive Events

PROF. MARIA LIBERTY ISIP – DHVSU COLLEGE OF BUSINESS STUDIES
BS ACCOUNTANCY | 1ST SEMESTER A.Y. 2022-2023

MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE AND These events are both mutually exclusive (on any roll, only one
NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE EVENTS 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).

Example 3: 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:

Events are said to be mutually exclusive if only one of the P (drawing a 7) = 4/52 = 1/13 or 0.07 or 7%
events can occur on any one trial. P (drawing a heart) = 13/52 = 1/4 or 25%

Events are mutually exclusive if one and only one of them can We also see that these events (drawing a 7 and drawing a heart)
take place at a time. are not mutually exclusive since a 7 of hearts can be drawn.
They are also not collectively exhaustive since there are other
Consider again the example of the toss coin experiment. We cards in the deck besides 7s and hearts.
have two possible outcomes, heads and tails. On any single
toss, either heads or tails may turn up, but not both. The table below is especially useful in helping to understand the
difference between mutually exclusive and not mutually
Accordingly, the events heads and tails on a single toss are said exclusive events.
to be mutually exclusive.
MUTUALLY
DRAWS
VENN DIAGRAM FOR MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE AND NOT EXCLUSIVE?
MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE EVENTS 1. Draw a space and a club Yes
2. Draw a face card and a number card Yes
3. Draw an ace and a 3 Yes
4. Draw a club and a non-club Yes
5. Draw a 5 and a diamond No
6. Draw a red card and a diamond No

Standard Deck of Cards (52 Cards)

Spade 13 Black Cards
Hearts 13 Red Cards
Diamonds 13 Black Cards
They are called not mutually exclusive if the list of outcomes Clubs 13 Red Cards
includes every possible outcome. (2 or more possible outcomes)
According to Number:
Many common experiences involve events that have both of Even 5 (2,4,6,8,10)
these properties. Odd 4 (3,5,7,9)

Example 1: Face Cards

In tossing a coin, for example, the possible outcomes King 4
are a head or a tail. Since both of them cannot occur on any one Queen 4
toss, the outcome head and tail are mutually exclusive. Jack 4
Ace 4
Example 2: Rolling a Die.
Rolling a die is a simple experiment that has six Non-Face Cards 36
possible outcomes, each listed in the following table with the
corresponding probability: ADDING MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE EVENTS
OUTCOME OF ROLL PROBABILITY Often, we are interested in whether one event or a
1 1/6 second event will occur. This is often called the union of two
2 1/6 events. When these two events are mutually exclusive, the law
3 1/6 of addition is simply as follows:
4 1/6 P (event A or event B) = P (event A) + P (event B)
5 1/6 or, more briefly,
6 1/6 P (A or B) = P (A) + P (B)
TOTAL 6/6 or 1 Ex. P (head or Tail) = P(head) + P(tail)
Notes by: NALA, MARY JOY C. “Mind over matter.”
 MANSCI: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
CHAPTER 2: Mutually and Not Mutually Exclusive Events
PROF. MARIA LIBERTY ISIP – DHVSU COLLEGE OF BUSINESS STUDIES
BS ACCOUNTANCY | 1ST SEMESTER A.Y. 2022-2023

For example, we know that the events of drawing a spade or • The Addition Rule for Events That Are Not Mutually
drawing a club out of a deck of cards are mutually exclusive. Exclusive: If two events are not mutually exclusive, it is
Since P(spade) = 13/52 and P (club) = 13/52, the probability of possible for both events to occur together. In such cases,
drawing either a spade or a club is: the addition rule must be modified.
• Let us use the example of a deck of cards to introduce the
P (spade or club) = P (spade) + P (club) idea. What is the probability of drawing either an ace or
= 13/52 + 13/52 a spade from a deck of cards? Obviously, the events ace
= 26/52 = ½ = 0.50 = 50% and spade can occur together because we could draw the
ace of spades; thus, ace and spade are not mutually
Another example: Drawing a King or a Queen exclusive. The correct equation to use for the probability
P (King or Queen) = P (King) + P (Queen) of one or more of two events that are not mutually
= 4/52 + 4/52 exclusive is:
= 8/52 = .15 or 15%
P (A or B) = P (A) + P (B) - P (A and B)
LAW OF ADDITION FOR EVENTS THAT ARE NOT In the example:
MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
When two events are not mutually exclusive, the equation P (Ace or Spade) = P (Ace) + P (Spade) – P (Ace and Spade)
should be:
Example: The City Council of San Fernando is composed of
P (event A or event B) = P (event A) + P (event B) - P (event a
the following:
and event B both occurring)
In shorter form:
PERSON SEX AGE
P (A or B) = P (A) + P (B) - P (A and B)
1 Male 31
When events are not mutually exclusive, the area of overlap, 2 Male 33
called the intersection, is 0. 3 Female 46
Let us consider the events drawing a 5 and drawing a diamond 4 Female 29
out of a deck of cards. These events are not mutually exclusive, 5 Male 41
to compute for the probability of either a 5 or a diamond will be
drawn, the following is the solution: If the members of the council decide to elect a chairperson by
P (five or diamond) = P (five) + P (diamond) - P (five and random draw (say, by drawing the names from a hat), what is
diamond) the probability that the chairperson will be either a female
= 4/52 + 13/52 – 1/52 or over 35?
= 16/52
= 4/13 or 31% What is the probability that the chairperson will be either a
* There is 31% probability of drawing a five or a diamond female over 35?
from a deck of cards. Series of Possible Probabilities
P(Male) = 3/5 P(Female)= 2/5
Another example: Drawing a Jack and drawing a Club P (below 35) = 3/5 P (over 35) = 2/5
P (Jack or Club) = P(Jack) + P(Club) – P (Jack and Club) P (F & over 35) = 1/5 P (M & over 35) = 1/5
= 4/52 + 13/52 – 1/52 P (F & below 35) = 1/5 P (M & below 35) = 2/5
= 16/52 or 31%
P (female over 35) = P (female) + P (over 35) – P (female and
* There is 31% probability of drawing a Jack or a Club from
over 35)
a deck of cards.
= 2/5 + 2/5 – 1/5
= 3/5
EXAMPLE: These are the experience data of 50 welders in a
= 0.60 or 60%
fabrication shop.
YEARS OF
NUMBER PROBABILITY SUMMARY: KEY EQUATIONS
EXPERIENCE
0–2 5 5/50 = 0. 1 = 10%
3–5 10 10/50 = 0. 2 = 20% 1. A basic statement of probability
6–8 15 15/50 = 0. 3 = 30% 0 < P (event) < 1
More than 8 20 20/50 = 0. 4 =40%
TOTAL 50 50/50 = 1.00 = 100% 2. Law of addition for mutually exclusive events
What is the probability that a welder selected at random will P (A or B) = P (A) + P (B)
have 6 or more years of experience?
P (6 or more) = P (6-8) + P (more than 8) 3. Law of addition for events that are not mutually exclusive
= 0.30 + 0.40 P (A or B) = P (A) + P (B) - P (A and B)
= 0.70 or 70%
Notes by: NALA, MARY JOY C. “Mind over matter.”