Answer to Question #298242 in Statistics and Probability for Danu

Question

Explain the following concepts using examples:

i. Mutually exclusive events. (3 Marks)

ii. Independent events. (3 Marks)

Answer 1

Solution:

(i):

Mutually exclusive events are the events that cannot occur or happen at the same time. In other words, the probability of the events happening at the same time is zero.

Example:

A student wants to go to school. There are two paths; one that takes him to school and the other one that takes him home. Which path will he choose? He will choose one of the two paths. Obviously, he can't choose both at the same time. This is an example of a mutually exclusive events.

(ii):

The two events are said to be independent events if the outcome of one event does not affect the outcome of another. Or, we can say that if one event does not influence the probability of another event, it is called an independent event.

Example: scoring good marks in an exam has no effect on what the neighbors are up to