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Complementary & Mutually Exclusive Events Examples

Example 1

Using the images below, determine if each event is complementary, mutually exclusive, both, or neither.

Note: the piggy bank contains a quarter (25 cents), dime (10 cents), nickel (5 cents), and penny (1 cent).

a. Picking one coin from the piggy bank and getting a dime or a nickel.

b. Picking one coin from the piggy bank and getting a quarter or a coin divisible by 5.

c. Choosing one marble from the bag and getting a blue or a green one.

Example 2

A bag has 8 neon green gumballs and 12 yellow gumballs. What is the probability of randomly picking out a neon green gumball, and is this event complementary?

Example 3

The probability of pulling a blue marble randomly from the bag is or . What is the probability of picking a marble that is not blue?