Question

For the following exercises, determine whether to use the Addition Principle or the Multiplication Principle. Then perform the calculations.

How many ways are there to pick a red ace or a club from a standard card playing deck?

Answer 1

Consider a standard card playing deck. It has 2 red ace and 13 cards of club.

So, total number of ways to choose a red ace from the deck is 2 and total number of ways to choose a club from the deck is equal to 13.

 

As only one card has to be chosen from the deck, either a red ace or a club, “Addition Principle” will be used.

 

Addition Principle,

“If one event can occur in m ways and a second event with no common outcomes can occur in n ways, then the first or second event can occur in m + n ways.”

 

Use the addition principle,

The total number of ways to choose a red ace or a club from the deck of standard playing cards will be equal to the sum of total number of red ace and total number of clubs in the deck.

 

So, total number of ways to choose a red ace or a club from the deck will be,

2 + 13 = 15.

So, total number of ways to choose a red ace or a club from the deck will be,

2 + 13 = 15.