Which of the following shows the correct calculation for finding the probability of rolling two number cubes and getting a sum of 6 or 11? (1 point)

5/36 • 2/36
5/36 + 2/36
6/36 • 2/36
6/36 + 2/36

1 answer

To find the probability of rolling two number cubes (or dice) and getting a sum of 6 or 11, we need to add the probabilities of each individual event.

  1. First, we need to determine the probabilities of getting a sum of 6 and a sum of 11 when rolling two dice.
  • The combinations that result in a sum of 6 are:

    • (1, 5)
    • (2, 4)
    • (3, 3)
    • (4, 2)
    • (5, 1)

    This gives us 5 combinations.

  • The combinations that result in a sum of 11 are:

    • (5, 6)
    • (6, 5)

    This gives us 2 combinations.

  1. The total number of outcomes when rolling two dice is 6 * 6 = 36.

  2. Now we calculate the probabilities:

    • The probability of rolling a sum of 6 is 5/36.
    • The probability of rolling a sum of 11 is 2/36.
  3. To find the probability of rolling a sum of either 6 or 11, we add these probabilities together: \[ P(6 \text{ or } 11) = P(6) + P(11) = \frac{5}{36} + \frac{2}{36} = \frac{7}{36} \]

Now we can identify the correct expression from the given options:

  • 5/36 • 2/36 (incorrect)
  • 5/36 + 2/36 (correct)
  • 6/36 • 2/36 (incorrect)
  • 6/36 + 2/36 (incorrect)

The correct calculation is 5/36 + 2/36.