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Exercise 12.3 · Q1

Q.Can two events be mutually exclusive and independent simultaneously?

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✓ Free question

Step 1. What each property requires. Independence requires P(A∩B)=P(A)⋅P(B)P(A\cap B)=P(A)\cdot P(B). Mutual exclusivity requires A∩B=∅A\cap B=\varnothing, i.e. P(A∩B)=0P(A\cap B)=0.

Step 2. Combine the two requirements. If both held simultaneously for events with P(A)≠0P(A)\ne0 and P(B)≠0P(B)\ne0, then P(A)⋅P(B)=0P(A)\cdot P(B)=0 would be forced -- but a product of two strictly positive numbers can never be 00. This is a direct contradiction.

Step 3. Conclusion (Theorem 12.9). So, as long as neither event is essentially impossible (P(A)≠0,P(B)≠0P(A)\ne0,P(B)\ne0), mutual exclusivity and independence CANNOT hold at the same time. (The only escape is the trivial/degenerate case where one of the events has probability exactly 0 -- then P(A∩B)=0=P(A)P(B)P(A\cap B)=0=P(A)P(B) holds vacuously, but this is not a meaningful case in practice.)

✓Final answer

No. For events of non-zero probability, mutually exclusive events can never be independent, and independent events can never be mutually exclusive.

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