Which of the following arguments are correct and which are not correct? Give reasons for your answer. (i) If two coins are tossed simultaneously there are three possible outcomes—two heads, two tails or one of each. Therefore, for each of these outcomes, the probability is (ii) If a die is thrown, there are two possible outcomes—an odd number or an even number. Therefore, the probability of getting an odd number is

Question

Which of the following arguments are correct and which are not correct? Give reasons for your answer. (i) If two coins are tossed simultaneously there are three possible outcomes&#x2014;two heads, two tails or one of each. Therefore, for each of these outcomes, the probability is (ii) If a die is thrown, there are two possible outcomes&#x2014;an odd number or an even number. Therefore, the probability of getting an odd number is

Philoid · Accepted Answer

All possible outcomes = (H, H), (H, T), (T, H), (T, T)

Probability of an event =

Probability (2 heads) =

Probability (2 tails) =

(i) It is not correct.

If we want to get the probability of them we should categorize the outcomes like this but they are not equally likely because one of each can result in two ways from a head on first coin and tail on second or from tail on first and head on second

(ii) Correct as the two outcomes which are considered in this question are equally likely