Tell me more ×
Cross Validated is a question and answer site for statisticians, data analysts, data miners and data visualization experts. It's 100% free, no registration required.

Define the term "equivalent events". If $M$ is the event that the number rolled from a die is a prime number, which event can be equivalent to $M$?

share|improve this question
Unless you can give us some context even to understand what is meant by "equivalent events," Georgia, we will need to close this as an incomprehensible question. – whuber Aug 16 '12 at 15:20

2 Answers

The possible outcomes for the roll are $\{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6\}$. The primes in this set are $\{2, 3, 5\}$, so the event $M$ is in a single roll of a die a 2, 3, or 5 is rolled. I haven't seen a definition of "equivalent event", but if I were to hazard a guess, I would say that 2 events are "equivalent" if they have the same probability distribution. Since $M$ has a 50:50 probability distribution (assuming a fair die), it is equivalent to a coin flip.

share|improve this answer

Since 2, 3 and 5 are the primes in the set of integers from 1 to 6, rolling a 2 or 3 or a 5 is equivalent to rolling a prime.

share|improve this answer
1  
I understand an 'event' to be a measurable set, but obviously you cannot be asserting that $\{2,3,5\}$ is the same as $\{3\}$ or $\{5\}$, or even has the same probability. What, then, do you mean by equivalent? (The question probably comes down to the definition of "equivalent." I would argue that the question is ill-posed and cannot be answered as is because "equivalent" has so many common definitions.) – whuber Aug 15 '12 at 20:24
so how do we define 'equivalent events'? – Georgia Markadji Aug 15 '12 at 20:26
I am taking equivalent to me different ways of expressing identical events. So in the example occurrence of a prime is the same as saying a 3 or a 5 occurs. We have a very simple discrete probability measure here. A roll of the die will yield 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 with probabilities p$_1$ to P$_6$ summing to 1 and usually assuming a balanced die p$_i$ equals 1/6 for each i. – Michael Chernick Aug 15 '12 at 20:32
2 is prime. I agree that rolling a 3 is equivalent to rolling a 5 in this event space, but I don't think rolling a 3 is equivalent to $M$, because $M$ is 2 or 3 or 5. – shujaa Aug 15 '12 at 22:11
Sorry I forgot about the only even prime! I edited my answer accordingly. – Michael Chernick Aug 15 '12 at 22:14

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.