Joint Probability

Joint probability is the probability of two events happening together.

The two events are usually designated event A and event B. In probability terminology, it can be written as:

Example: The probability that a card is a five and black = p(five and black)

Here p(five|black) is the conditional probability of drawing a five given that the card is black, and p(black) is the probability of drawing a black card.

The probability of drawing a black card from a standard deck of 52 playing cards is:

p(black) = Number of black cards / Total number of cards

= 26 / 52

= 1/2

The probability of drawing a five given that the card is black is:

p(five|black) = Number of black fives / Number of black cards

= 2 / 26

= 1/13

Therefore, the joint probability of drawing a five and a black card is:

p(five and black) = p(five|black) * p(black)

= (1/13) * (1/2)

= 1/26

Another way

2/52 = 1/26 (There are two black fives in a deck of 52 cards, the five of spades and the five of clubs).

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