Q.If E and F are two independent events such that , , then is equal to :
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
You're viewing a preview — the full solution, concept, methods & PYQ mapping are locked.
Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →For independent events, conditioning on the complement of one event does not change the probability of the other. Since and are independent, , which corresponds to option (C).
Why conditional probability and independence work together
The notation means — the probability that occurs, given that does not occur. The natural instinct is to reach for the conditional probability formula:
But here’s the key: independence between and tells us something deeper. If two events are independent, then knowing whether happened gives you zero information about . That intuition extends to the complement too — if doesn’t happen, it still tells you nothing about .
So before doing any heavy algebra, we can already guess: the answer should be exactly , unchanged.
Step-by-step reasoning
- State what independence means mathematically. For independent events and :
This is the definition. But independence also implies that is independent of — because if gives no information about , then not- also gives no information. We can prove this quickly.
- Find using the complement relationship. Any event can be split into two disjoint parts: when happens and when does not happen.
Since these two are mutually exclusive:
Substitute :
- Find . …
Unlock everything free for 14 days
- Full step-by-step solutions
- Concept-first explanations
- Methods, shortcuts & mistakes
- PYQ mapping + timed mock tests
Full access for 14 days. No credit card required.