a coin is tossed and a number cube is rolled. What is the probability of tossing heads and rolling a 3 or a 5
1/2 * 2/6
To find the probability of tossing heads and rolling a 3 or a 5, we need to determine the probability of each event separately and then multiply them together.
Step 1: Determine the probability of tossing heads.
When a fair coin is tossed, there are two possible outcomes: heads or tails. Since there is only one head on a coin, the probability of tossing heads is 1/2.
Step 2: Determine the probability of rolling a 3 or a 5.
When a fair number cube is rolled, there are six possible outcomes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. Out of these six outcomes, there are two that fulfill our condition, which is rolling a 3 or a 5. Therefore, the probability of rolling a 3 or a 5 is 2/6, which simplifies to 1/3.
Step 3: Multiply the probabilities together
To calculate the probability of both events occurring simultaneously, we multiply the probabilities of each event. So the probability of tossing heads and rolling a 3 or 5 is (1/2) * (1/3) = 1/6.
Therefore, the probability of tossing heads and rolling a 3 or a 5 is 1/6.