There are 6 possible outcomes when rolling a single die, with each outcome having an equal probability of 1/6. Since there are two dice, there are 6 x 6 = 36 possible outcomes.
To find the probability of getting a sum of 7, we need to count the number of ways that the two dice can add up to 7. These are:
1 + 6, 2 + 5, 3 + 4, 4 + 3, 5 + 2, 6 + 1
There are six possible ways to get a sum of 7, so the probability is 6/36, which simplifies to 1/6.
To find the probability of getting a sum of 8, we need to count the number of ways that the two dice can add up to 8. These are:
2 + 6, 3 + 5, 4 + 4, 5 + 3, 6 + 2
There are five possible ways to get a sum of 8, so the probability is 5/36.
The probability of getting a sum of 7 or 8 is the sum of the individual probabilities, which is:
1/6 + 5/36 = 6/36 + 5/36 = 11/36
So the probability of getting a sum of 7 or 8 is 11/36.