What is the probability of getting different numbers as outcomes when two dice and rolled?

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Question 311952: what is the probability of rolling 2 different numbers when rolling 2 dice at the same time?
Answer by Fombitz(32382)
What is the probability of getting different numbers as outcomes when two dice and rolled?
 
What is the probability of getting different numbers as outcomes when two dice and rolled?
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Rolling two dice gives you 36 possible outcomes (6^2).
Of those 36, only 6 pair have the same number (1-1,2-2,3-3,4-4,5-5,6-6).
So the probability of rolling the same numbers is,
P(same numbers)=
You also know that,
P(same numbers)+P(different numbers)=
P(different numbers)=1-P(same numbers)==


What is the probability of getting different numbers as outcomes when two dice and rolled?

Contents:


  1. 6 Sided Dice probability (worked example for two dice).
  2. Two (6-sided) dice roll probability table
  3. Single die roll probability tables.

Watch the video for three examples:

Probability: Dice Rolling Examples

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It’s very common to find questions about dice rolling in probability and statistics. You might be asked the probability of rolling a variety of results for a 6 Sided Dice: five and a seven, a double twelve, or a double-six. While you *could* technically use a formula or two (like a combinations formula), you really have to understand each number that goes into the formula; and that’s not always simple. By far the easiest (visual) way to solve these types of problems (ones that involve finding the probability of rolling a certain combination or set of numbers) is by writing out a sample space.

Dice Roll Probability for 6 Sided Dice: Sample Spaces

A sample space is just the set of all possible results. In simple terms, you have to figure out every possibility for what might happen. With dice rolling, your sample space is going to be every possible dice roll.

Example question: What is the probability of rolling a 4 or 7 for two 6 sided dice?

In order to know what the odds are of rolling a 4 or a 7 from a set of two dice, you first need to find out all the possible combinations. You could roll a double one [1][1], or a one and a two [1][2]. In fact, there are 36 possible combinations.

Dice Rolling Probability: Steps

Step 1: Write out your sample space (i.e. all of the possible results). For two dice,  the 36 different possibilities are:

[1][1], [1][2], [1][3], [1][4], [1][5], [1][6],
[2][1], [2][2], [2][3], [2][4], [2][5], [2][6],
[3][1], [3][2], [3][3], [3][4], [3][5], [3][6],
[4][1], [4][2], [4][3], [4][4], [4][5], [4][6],
[5][1], [5][2], [5][3], [5][4], [5][5], [5][6],
[6][1], [6][2], [6][3], [6][4], [6][5], [6][6].

Step 2: Look at your sample space and find how many add up to 4 or 7 (because we’re looking for the probability of rolling one of those numbers). The rolls that add up to 4 or 7 are in bold:

[1][1], [1][2], [1][3], [1][4], [1][5], [1][6],
[2][1], [2][2], [2][3], [2][4],[2][5], [2][6],
[3][1], [3][2], [3][3], [3][4], [3][5], [3][6],
[4][1], [4][2], [4][3], [4][4], [4][5], [4][6],
[5][1], [5][2], [5][3], [5][4], [5][5], [5][6],
[6][1],
[6][2], [6][3], [6][4], [6][5], [6][6].

There are 9 possible combinations.

Step 3: Take the answer from step 2, and divide it by the size of your total sample space from step 1. What I mean by the “size of your sample space” is just all of the possible combinations you listed. In this case, Step 1 had 36 possibilities, so:

9 / 36 = .25

You’re done!
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Two (6-sided) dice roll probability table

The following table shows the probabilities for rolling a certain number with a two-dice roll. If you want the probabilities of rolling a set of numbers (e.g. a 4 and 7, or 5 and 6), add the probabilities from the table together. For example, if you wanted to know the probability of rolling a 4, or a 7:
3/36 + 6/36 = 9/36.

Roll a…Probability
2 1/36 (2.778%)
3 2/36 (5.556%)
4 3/36 (8.333%)
5 4/36 (11.111%)
6 5/36 (13.889%)
7 6/36 (16.667%)
8 5/36 (13.889%)
9 4/36 (11.111%)
10 3/36 (8.333%)
11 2/36 (5.556%)
12 1/36 (2.778%)

Probability of rolling a certain number or less for two 6-sided dice.

Roll a…Probability
2 1/36 (2.778%)
3 3/36 (8.333%)
4 6/36 (16.667%)
5 10/36 (27.778%)
6 15/36 (41.667%)
7 21/36 (58.333%)
8 26/36 (72.222%)
9 30/36 (83.333%)
10 33/36 (91.667%)
11 35/36 (97.222%)
12 36/36 (100%)

Dice Roll Probability Tables

Contents:
1. Probability of a certain number (e.g. roll a 5).
2. Probability of rolling a certain number or less (e.g. roll a 5 or less).
3. Probability of rolling less than a certain number (e.g. roll less than a 5).
4. Probability of rolling a certain number or more (e.g. roll a 5 or more).
5. Probability of rolling more than a certain number (e.g. roll more than a 5).

Probability of a certain number with a Single Die.

Roll a…Probability
1 1/6 (16.667%)
2 1/6 (16.667%)
3 1/6 (16.667%)
4 1/6 (16.667%)
5 1/6 (16.667%)
6 1/6 (16.667%)

Probability of rolling a certain number or less with one die

.

Roll a…or lessProbability
1 1/6 (16.667%)
2 2/6 (33.333%)
3 3/6 (50.000%)
4 4/6 (66.667%)
5 5/6 (83.333%)
6 6/6 (100%)

Probability of rolling less than certain number with one die

.

Roll less than a…Probability
1 0/6 (0%)
2 1/6 (16.667%)
3 2/6 (33.33%)
4 3/6 (50%)
5 4/6 (66.667%)
6 5/6 (83.33%)

Probability of rolling a certain number or more.

Roll a…or moreProbability
1 6/6(100%)
2 5/6 (83.333%)
3 4/6 (66.667%)
4 3/6 (50%)
5 2/6 (33.333%)
6 1/6 (16.667%)

Probability of rolling more than a certain number (e.g. roll more than a 5).

Roll more than a…Probability
1 5/6(83.33%)
2 4/6 (66.67%)
3 3/6 (50%)
4 4/6 (66.667%)
5 1/6 (66.67%)
6 0/6 (0%)

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Like the explanation? Check out our Practically Cheating Statistics Handbook for hundreds more solved problems.

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References

Dodge, Y. (2008). The Concise Encyclopedia of Statistics. Springer.
Gonick, L. (1993). The Cartoon Guide to Statistics. HarperPerennial.
Salkind, N. (2016). Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics: Using Microsoft Excel 4th Edition.

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What is the probability of getting different numbers as outcomes when two dice and rolled?

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What is the probability of getting different outcomes when two dice are rolled?

The probability of getting any of the outcomes is 1/6. As the possibility of happening of an event is an equally likely event so there are same chances of getting any number in this case it is either 1/6 or 50/3%. Equally Likely Events: After rolling dice, the probability of getting any of the likely events is 1/6.

What is the probability that all the dice show different numbers?

Summary : If three dice are tossed, then the probability that the numbers shown will all be different is 5/9.