Sum of Two Dice

Date: 12/05/2001 at 00:30:05
From: Emily Sharp
Subject: Probability of dice

I know I learned the probability of rolling certain numbers with two 
dice last year, but I don't have my book any more and I need the 
figures for a project I'm doing. Is there any way you could hook me 
up with those numbers?  Thanks

Coding in College

Date: 12/05/2001 at 00:36:56
From: Doctor Jeremiah
Subject: Re: Probability of dice

Hi Emily,

Here is how you would figure that out:

The sum of two dice:

      1  2  3  4  5  6
    +-------------------
  1 | 2  3  4  5  6  7
  2 | 3  4  5  6  7  8
  3 | 4  5  6  7  8  9
  4 | 5  6  7  8  9 10
  5 | 6  7  8  9 10 11
  6 | 7  8  9 10 11 12

Notice that there are 36 different combinations for the sum of the two 
dice in that table.

Probability is the number of times something happens divided by the 
number of times it could happen.

Take the sum of 7. It appears in the table six times, but there are 
36 spots it could have been in, so the probability is the number of 
time it happened (6) divided by the number of times it could happen 
(36), or a probability of 6/36.

To find probabilities for different sums, find the number of times a 
sum appears divided by the number of spots where it could have 
appeared (36).

- Doctor Jeremiah, The Math Forum
  http://mathforum.org/dr.math/