A coin is tossed, and a number cube is rolled. What is the probability of tossing heads, and rolling a 3 or a 5?

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Answer 1 · 2016-09-04T08:07:10

#P_"total"=1/3 xx 1/2=1/6#

For this question, we have 2 independent events. The total probability will be the product of the two individual probabilities, so

#P_"total"=P_"die roll" xx P_"coin toss"#

With the coin toss, it's 50/50 to get heads, so we get:

#P_"coin toss"=1/2#

With the die roll (assuming a standard 6-sided die), we have two possible results we're looking for so we have:

#P_"die roll"=2/6=1/3#

And now we can find the total probability:

#P_"total"=P_"die roll" xx P_"coin toss"#

#P_"total"=1/3 xx 1/2=1/6#