Two events are mutually exclusive if they can't both happen. Independent events are events where knowledge of the probability of one doesn't change the probability of the other. Are these definitions correct?

ghettoking6q

ghettoking6q

Open question

2022-08-18

What is the difference between independent and mutually exclusive events?
Two events are mutually exclusive if they can't both happen.
Independent events are events where knowledge of the probability of one doesn't change the probability of the other.
Are these definitions correct?

Answer & Explanation

vladinognm

vladinognm

Beginner2022-08-19Added 13 answers

Yes, that's fine.
Events are mutually exclusive if the occurrence of one event excludes the occurrence of the other(s). Mutually exclusive events cannot happen at the same time. For example: when tossing a coin, the result can either be heads or tails but cannot be both.
P ( A B ) = 0 P ( A B ) = P ( A ) + P ( B ) P ( A B ) = 0 P ( A ¬ B ) = P ( A ) 1 P ( B ) }  mutually exclusive  A , B
Events are independent if the occurrence of one event does not influence (and is not influenced by) the occurrence of the other(s). For example: when tossing two coins, the result of one flip does not affect the result of the other.
P ( A B ) = P ( A ) P ( B ) P ( A B ) = P ( A ) + P ( B ) P ( A ) P ( B ) P ( A B ) = P ( A ) P ( A ¬ B ) = P ( A ) }  independent  A , B
This of course means mutually exclusive events are not independent, and independent events cannot be mutually exclusive. (Events of measure zero excepted.)
traquealwm

traquealwm

Beginner2022-08-20Added 4 answers

Mutually exclusive event :- two events are mutually exclusive event when they cannot occur at the same time. e.g if we flip a coin it can only show a head OR a tail, not both.
Independent event :- the occurrence of one event does not affect the occurrence of the others e.g if we flip a coin two times, the first time may show a head, but this does not guarantee that the next time when we flip the coin the outcome will also be heads. From this example we can see the first event does not affect the occurrence of the next event.

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