Two dice are thrown simultaneously. What is the probability that the sum of the two numbers is 4?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → \(\frac{1}{12}\)
Each die has 6 faces, so two dice give \(6\times6=36\) equally likely outcomes. The probability is the number of favourable outcomes divided by 36.
Sum 4: (1, 3), (2, 2), (3, 1), that is, 3 outcomes
Probability \(\displaystyle =\frac{3}{36}=\frac{1}{12}\)
Tip: (1, 3) and (3, 1) are different outcomes, since the dice are two separate dice; counting them once gives the wrong \(\frac{2}{36}\).