Independent and Dependent Events

Raji and Kara must each choose a topic from a list of topics to research for their class. If Raji’s choice has no effect on Kara’s choice and vice versa, the events are independent. For independent events, the occurrence of one event has no effect on the probability that a second event will occur.

If once Raji chooses a topic, Kara must choose from the remaining topics, then the events are dependent. For dependent events, the occurrence of one event does have an effect on the probability that a second event will occur.

P(GREEN) 5/15 OR 1/3

P(TAILS) 1-2

P(GREEN AND TAILS) 1/3 * 1/2 = 1/6

P(HISTORICAL BOOK) 5/8

P (SCIENCE-FICTION) 3/7

P (HISTORICAL THEN SCI-FI) 5/8*3/7=15/56