Question

Which of the following arguments are correct and which are not correct ? Give reasons for your answer. (i) If two coins are tossed simultaneously there are three possible outcomes – two heads, two tails or one of each. Therefore, for each of these outcomes, the probability is 1 3 . (ii) If a die is thrown, there are two possible outcomes — an odd number or an even number. Therefore, the probability of getting an odd number is 1 2 . Select the correct answer from above options

Answer 1

(i) Possible outcomes, if two coins are tossed simultaneously: HH, TT, HT, TH. ∴ n(S) = 4 Out of these possibility of getting 2 heads : 1 ➝ HH ∴ n(A) = 1 Out of these possibility of getting Tail : 1 ➝ TT ∴ n(B) = 1 n(B) = 1 Out of these possibility of getting Head or Tail : 2 ➝ HT, TH ∴ n(C) = 2 ∴ This Argument (i) is not correct. (ii) Outcomes when one die is thrown: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ∴ n(S) = 6 Out of these, one is odd number ➝ 1, 3, 5 ∴ n(E) = 3 Out of these, one is even number ➝ 2, 4, 6 ∴ n(E) = 3 ∴ This Argument (ii) is correct.