Question

If two fair dice are tossed once, what is the probability of not getting a sum of 6?

Answer 1

Step 1

Draw the table of total possible outcomes when 2 dice are tossed

Step 2

From the table, find all entries that sum up to six from the toss of the 2 dice

From the marked area on the table, we can see all entries that sum up to 6 as required. There are 5 of them

Step 3

Write an expression for the probability of an event occurring

`\text{Probability of an event occurring = }\frac{\text{number of required events}}{Total\text{number of events}}`

Number of required events = 5

Total number of events = 36

Step 4

Substitute into the formula and get the final answer

`Pr(\text{obtaining a sum of 6) =}(5)/(36)`

Hence, the probability of obtaining a sum of 6 when two fair dice are tossed = 5/36