EE3110 Problem Set-1

1. Let A, B, and C be events such that A ⊂ B ⊂ C. Sketch this situation in a Venn

diagram. In terms of A, B, C and their complements, write expressions for the
events D, E, F defined below.
(a) D = Exactly two of A, B, C occur
(b) E = At least two of A, B, C occur
(c) F = At most two of A, B, C occur

2. Suppose A and B are events such that P( AB) = 0.3 and P( A ∪ B) = 0.6. Find the
set of possible values of the pair (P( A), P( B)), and sketch this set as a subset of
the plane (whose x-axis is P( A) etc).

3. Let A and B be two events such that P( A) > P( B) > 0 and P( A) + P( B) ≥ 1.0.
Determine upper and lower bounds on P( AB) in terms of P( A) and P( B). When
P( A) ≥ 1 − δ and P( B) ≥ 1 − δ, express the lower bound in terms of δ.

4. Let P( A) = 0.4, P( B) = 0.3, P(C ) = 0.7, P( Ac B) = 0.1, and P( ABC c ) = 0.1.

Determine (a) P( ABc | A) (b) P( AB) (c) P( Bc ∪ C | A).

5. You are given that at least one of the events { Ai , 1 ≤ i ≤ n}, is certain to occur,
but certainly no more than two can (jointly) occur. Let P( Ai ) = p ∀i and
P( Ai A j ) = q ∀i, j, i 6= j. Derive (a) a lower bound on p in terms of n, (b) an exact
expression for q in terms of p and n using the inclusion-exclusion formula.

6. The event A is said to be attracted by the event B if P( A| B) > P( A) and repelled

by B if P( A| B) < P( A).
(a) Show that if B attracts A, then A attracts B and Bc repels A.
(b) If A attracts B and B attracts C, show that A does not necessarily attract C.
Come up with a example to substantiate this claim.

7. A, B, and C are three events. Show that P( A| B) = P( A| BC )α + P( A| BC c )(1 − α),

where α is a conditional probability. Determine α in terms of A, B, and C.

8. In a box, there are 4 red balls, 6 red cubes, 6 blue balls and an unknown number
of blue cubes. When an object from the box is selected at random, the shape and
colour of the object are (statistically) independent. Determine the number of blue
cubes.

9. If three events A, B, and C are independent, show that the events A and B ∪ C are
independent.

10. A die is rolled three times. Let Aij be the event that the ith and jth rolls produce
the same number, where 1 ≤ i < j ≤ 3. Determine whether the events { Aij } are
independent. Are they pairwise independent?
11. There are N urns of which the rth contains r − 1 red balls and N − r blue balls.
You pick an urn at random and remove two balls at random (one after the other)
without replacement. Find the probability that (a) the second ball is blue (b) the
second ball is blue, given that the first is blue.

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