Probability of

Mutually Exclusive
Events
Remember:

If A and B are mutually exclusive events then

the probability of A happening OR the probability
of B happening is P(A) + P(B).

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

Example:

What is the probability of a die showing a 2 or a

5?

Solution:
A box contains 20 red, 10 blue and 30 yellow beads. What is
the probability of a bead drawn at random being: 

Let A be the event of ‘getting a red’ P (A) = 20/60

B be the event of ‘getting a blue’  P (B) = 10/60
C be the event of ‘getting a yellow’ P (C) = 30/60

a) red or blue? P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B)

P(A or B) = 20/60 + 10/60
P(A or B) = 30/60 or 1/2

b) yellow or blue? P(B or C) = P(B) + P(C)

P(B or C) = 10/60 + 30/60
P(B or C) = 40/60 or 2/3

c) red, blue or yellow? P(AUBUC) = P(A) + P(B) + P(C)

P(AUBUC) = 20/60 + 10/60 + 30/60
P(AUBUC) = 60/60 or 1
 Example:
The probabilities of three teams A, B and C winning a
badminton competition are
Calculate the probability that

a) either A or B will win

b) either A or B or C will win

c) none of these teams will win

P(none will win) = 1 – P(A or B or C will win) 

d) neither A nor B will win

P(neither A nor B will win) = 1 – P(either A or B will win) 
Definition of Mutually Non-Exclusive Events

Two events A and B are said to be mutually non

exclusive events if both the events A and B have
at least one common outcome between them.

P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B) - P(A ∩ B)

 Example

1. What is the probability of getting a diamond

or a queen from a well-shuffled deck of 52 cards?
Solution: Let A be the event of ‘getting a diamond’
B be the event of ‘getting a queen’ 
P(A) = 13/52 P(B) = 4/52 
P(A ∩ B) = 1/52

P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B) - P(A ∩ B)

13/52 + 4/52 – 1/52 Hence, probability of

getting a diamond or
16/52 or 4/13 a queen from a well-
shuffled deck of 52
cards = 4/13
2. A lottery box contains 50 lottery tickets numbered
1 to 50. If a lottery ticket is drawn at random, what
is the probability that the number drawn is a multiple
of 3 or 5?

Solution: Let A be the event of ‘getting a multiple of 3’

B be the event of ‘getting a multiple of 5’
The events of getting a multiple of 3: A = {3,6,9,12,15,18,21,
24,27,30, 33,36,39,42,45,48}

The events of getting a multiple of 5: B = {5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 

30, 35, 40, 45, 50}

P(A) = 16/50  P(B) = 10/50  P(A ∩ B) = 3/50

P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B) - P(A ∩ B)

16/50 + 10/50 – 3/50 Hence, probability

of getting multiple
23/50 of 3 or 5 = 23/50