Probability - Example
A sport car manufacturer makes two car models, A
and B, in three distinct colors. The table below shows
the production volumes for last week:
Color
Model Blue Red Black
A 302 105 200
B 40 205 130
• What is the probability that a randomly selected car is red?
• P(red) = # red/Total = 310/982 = 0.3157
• What is the probability that a randomly selected car is a
model B?
• P(B) = #B/Total = 375/982 = 0.3819
Probability - Example
A sport car manufacturer makes two car models, A
and B, in three distinct colors. The table below shows
the production volumes for last week:
Color
Model Blue Red Black
A 302 105 200
B 40 205 130
• What is the probability that a randomly selected car is a
model B and red?
• P(B and red) = 205/982 = 0.2088
• What is the probability that a randomly selected car is a
model B or red?
• P(B or red) = P(B) + P(red) – P( B and red) =
= 0.3819 + 0.3157 - 0.2088 = 0.4888
Probability - Example
A sport car manufacturer makes two car models, A
and B, in three distinct colors. The table below shows
the production volumes for last week:
Color
Model Blue Red Black
A 302 105 200
B 40 205 130
• What is the probability that a car is black given that it is
a model A car?
• P(black | A) = 200/607 = 0.3294
• Are these events (model A is chosen and black car is
chosen) mutually exclusive?
(Two mutually exclusive events cannot occur at the same time)
• No they share outcomes (joint probability not null)
Probability - Example
A sport car manufacturer makes two car models, A
and B, in three distinct colors. The table below shows
the production volumes for last week:
Color
Model Blue Red Black
A 302 105 200
B 40 205 130
• Are these events (model A is chosen and black car
is chosen) independent?
• No because: P(black) = 330/982 = 0.2342 is not
equal to: P(black | A) = 0.3294
Mutually exclusive Vs. Independent
• Mutually exclusive events are not independent
• P(A and B) = 0
• P(A and B) = P(A) P(B)
• Or equivalently Independent events cannot be
mutually exclusive
• Because if A and B are mutually exclusive: if A
occurs, then B cannot also occur;
• Therefore, the occurrence of event A affects (or
prevents) the occurrence of event B
• See: Examples and detailed explanation