2.1 Basic Probability and the Addition Rule

Fraction Review

  1. Simplify the fractions.
    1. \(\frac{12}{40}\)

      \(\frac{3}{10}\)

    2. \(3 \frac{5}{15}\)

      \(3 \frac13\)

    3. \(\frac{72}{48}\)

      \(\frac32\)

  2. Evaluate each of the following.
    1. \(\frac{3}{4} \times \frac{2}{7}\)

      \(\frac3{14}\)

    2. \(\frac{18}{25} \times \frac{17}{24}\times \frac{16}{23}\)

      \(\frac{204}{575}\)

  3. Calculating the Probability of an Event


    How do you calculate the probability of an event? \(P(E)\)=__________ \(P(E)=\frac{ \text {Number of Outcomes in Event E} }{ \text {Total number of outcomes in the sample space }}\)


    What is the probability of an impossible event? __________0


    What is the probability of a sure event? _________1


    What does this statement mean? \(0 \leq P(E) \leq 1\) The probability of any event is between 0 and 1.


    The complement of an event is the “opposite” of that event. If the event says that something will occur, then the complement of the event is that the thing will not occur.


    What is the complement of the event “it will rain today”?It will not rain today.


    What is the complement of the event “earned an A in the class”? did not earn an A in the class


    What is the complement of the event “at least one student was late for class”? No students were late for class.


    If an event is denoted by E, the complement is represented by any of the notations \(E',\;\overset-{E,}\;or\;E^c\),


    Complete this statement: \(P(E)+P(\overset-{E)}\)= __________1



  4. Voting by Age Group in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election
       
    Age Group   
       
    Voted (in thousands)   
       
    Did Not Vote (in thousands)   
       
    Total (in thousands)   
       
    18-34   
       
    37,868   
       
    35,662   
       
    73,530   
       
    45-64   
       
    53,653   
       
    28,260   
       
    81,913   
       
    65+   
       
    39,742   
       
    15,532   
       
    55,274   
       
    Total (in thousands)   
       
    131,263   
       
    79,454   
       
    210,717   

    One person is randomly selected from the observational study of voters in the 2020 U.S. Presidential election. Using the data in the table, what is the probability that the person chosen:

    1. is 18-34?\(\frac{73,530}{210,717}= 0.349\)
    2. is 65+?\(\frac{55,274}{210,717}= 0.2623\)
    3. is a 45-64-year-old voter?\(\frac{53,653}{210,717}= 0.2546\)
    4. is an 18-34-year-old non-voter? \(\frac{35,662}{210,717}= 0.1692\)
    5. did not vote?\(\frac{79,454}{210,717}= 0.3771\)
    6. did vote?\(\frac{131,263}{210,717}= 0.6229\) or \(1-0.3771=0.6229\)
  5. The Addition Rule: Probability of Event A OR Event B occurring.


    Complete this statement for the addition rule: P(A or B) =

    \(P(A \; \text {or} \; B)=P(A)\;+\;P(B)\;-\;P(A \; \text {and} \; B)\)

    \(P(A\; \text {or} \;B)=P(A)\;+\;P(B)\) if A and B are mutually exclusive

    Using the Addition Rule with a Contingency Table

  6. The following table gives the number of people with health insurance coverage in the U.S. in 2022. Note that the numbers are in millions of people.

    Source of data
    (In millions) Private insurance Public Insurance Uninsured Total Number
    Children age 0-17 44.6 27.5 4.1

    76.2

    Adults age 18-64 137.3 37.4 21.2

    195.9

    Adults age 65 and older 3.1 54.2 0.6

    57.9

    Total Number

    185

    119.1

    25.9

    330



    Find the probabilities if you randomly select one person:

    1. P(Child) =

      \(\frac{n(E)}{n(S)}=\frac{76.2}{330}=0.2309\)

    2. P(Public Insurance) =

      \(\frac{119.1}{330}=0.3609\)

    3. P(Child with Public Insurance) =

      \(\frac{27.5}{330}=.0833\)

    4. P(Child or Public Insurance) =

      \(P(\text {child})+P(\text {public})-P(\text { child AND public})=\frac{76.2}{330}+\frac{119.1}{330}-\frac{27.5}{330}=\frac{167.8}{330}=0.5085\)

    5. P(Public Insurance or Private Insurance) =

      These events are mutually exclusive. \(\frac{119.1}{330}+\frac{185}{330}=\frac{304.1}{330}=0.9215\)

    6. P(Adult Age 18-64 or Private Insurance) =

      \(\frac{195.9}{330}+\frac{185}{330}-\frac{137.3}{330}=\frac{243.6}{330}=0.7382\)

    7. P(Uninsured or not a Child)

      \(P(\text {uninsured}) + P(\text {not a child}) - P(\text {uninsured AND not a child}) =\frac{25.9}{330}+\frac{195.9}{330}+\frac{57.9}{330}-\frac{21.2}{330}-\frac{0.6}{330}=\frac{257.9}{330}=0.7815\)