What is the probability of rolling a five with a pair of dice?

Answer 1

There are 36 possible outcomes when we roll a pair of dice. Rolling a five can be done the following ways: 3-2, 4-1, 2-3 and 1-4. That's four ways to roll a five with one roll of the dice. The odds of rolling a five are 4 in 36, or 1 in 9. That makes the probability of rolling a five equal to 0.11111....

We know that the probability of something is a ratio of the number of times it can be done to the total number of things that are possible. Probabilities range from zero to one, inclusive. If something has a probability of zero, it cannot happen. Like rolling a 13. A 13 cannot be rolled with one roll of a pair of standard dice. Thus the probability of rolling a 13 is zero, as it cannot happen.

If something has a probability of one, it must happen. Like the probability of rolling an odd or an even number with one roll of a pair of dice. Since any number we roll must be either odd or even, then the probability of rolling an odd or an even number with one roll of a pair of dice is one. An odd or an even number must turn up, and that is why the probability of rolling an odd or an even number with one roll of the dice is one. Lastly, we've seen that the probability of rolling a given number with one roll of the dice is the number of times that number might appear divided by the total number of possibilities that might appear.