A card is drawn from a pack of 52 cards. What is the probability that, card is either red or black?
Solution
One card can be drawn from the pack of 52 cards in 52C1 = 52 ways.
∴ n(S) = 52
Let A ≡ the event that card drawn is a red card.
1 red card can be drawn from 26 red cards in 26C1 = 26 ways
∴ n(A) = 26
P(A) = `("n"("A"))/("n"("S")) = 26/52`
Let B ≡ the event that card drawn is a black card.
1 black card can be drawn from 26 black cards in 26C1 = 26 ways.
∴ n(B) = 26
P(B) = `("n"("B"))/("n"("S")) = 26/52`
Since A and B are mutually exclusive events,
P(A ∩ B) = 0
∴ required probability = P(A ∪ B)
= P(A) + P(B)
= `26/52 + 26/52`
= `52/52`
= 1
Alternative Method:
A pack of cards contains 26 black cards and 26 red cards.
When a card is drawn, it is either a black or red card. Therefore, the event is a sure event and hence the required probability is 1.