Question

Two dice are thrown simultaneously. The probability of obtaining a total score of 5 is
(a) 1/18
(b) 1/12
(c) 1/9
(d) none of these

Answer 1

(c) 1/9

When two dice are thrown, there are (6 × 6) = 36 outcomes.
The set of all these outcomes is the sample space given by
S = (1, 1) , (1, 2), (1, 3), (1, 4), (1, 5), (1, 6)
(2, 1) , (2, 2), (2, 3), (2, 4), (2, 5), (2, 6)
(3, 1) , (3, 2), (3, 3), (3, 4), (3, 5), (3, 6)
(4, 1) , (4, 2), (4, 3), (4, 4), (4, 5), (4, 6)
(5, 1) , (5, 2), (5, 3), (5, 4), (5, 5), (5, 6)
(6, 1) , (6, 2), (6, 3), (6, 4), (6, 5), (6, 6)
i.e. n(S) = 36
Let E be the event of getting a total score of 5.
Then E = {(1, 4), (2, 3), (3, 2), (4, 1)}
∴ n(E) = 4
Hence, required probability = $\frac{n\left(E\right)}{n\left(S\right)}=\frac{4}{36}=\frac{1}{9}$