Two fair six-sided dice are rolled. Given that the dice do not show the same number, what is the probability that the sum is a prime number?

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: C.

  1. Step 1: Rolling two dice produces total outcomes, of which are doubles. Removing doubles leaves outcomes with differing numbers.
  2. Step 2: The prime sums possible are , which occur across pairs in total: ; ; ; ; .
  3. Step 3: The outcome is a double and must be excluded, leaving valid outcomes. The conditional probability is .
Answer
.
Why not the others: divides without excluding the prime double ; divides by the unconditioned sample space of ; divides ; computes .

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Two fair six-sided dice are rolled.… | GRE Data analysis