Final answer:
The given problem specifies a sample space related to an electronic system with four components, accounting for the independent failure probabilities. It can be described with combinations representing the status (working or failing) of each component.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question at hand involves specifying an appropriate sample space for an electronic system with four components, where the system fails if component 1 fails, or at least two of the other components fail. The sample space is a set of all possible outcomes of the given situation. Since the failures of the components are physically independent, we can use the independence of events to enumerate the combinations of working (W) and failing (F) for each component, resembling a binary sequence.
Let's denote 'W' as the component working and 'F' as the component failing during the given time period. For each component (1, 2, 3, 4), there are two possible states: W or F. The sample space, S, can be represented as a set of these possible states. For example, (W, W, W, W) indicates that all components worked and (F, W, W, W) indicates that only the first component failed.
However, only certain combinations of these states lead to system failure. The sample space for system failure can be represented as the set of all combinations where component 1 has failed, i.e., starts with F, or any combination where at least two among components 2, 3, and 4 have failed.