Skip to main content

The Rule of Addition

This video presents the same text shown beside it, spoken and on screen. It adds nothing the text does not say.

State

The rule of addition, also called the sum rule, gives the probability of either of two mutually exclusive events by summing their probabilities.

Show

A coin toss's chance of landing heads or tails is one half plus one half, or a certainty.

Watch for

The rule of addition applies only to mutually exclusive outcomes — it is the wrong rule for combined, independent events.