Question:medium

An unbiased six sided die, with faces marked \(1\), \(2\), \(3\), \(4\), \(5\), and \(6\), is rolled twice in succession, and the number on the top face is recorded each time. The probability that the sum of the two recorded numbers is a prime number is ________

Show Hint

List the pairs of die faces that add up to each prime number between 2 and 12, then divide the count of favorable pairs by 36.
Updated On: Jul 20, 2026
  • \(\dfrac{3}{36}\)
  • \(\dfrac{13}{36}\)
  • \(\dfrac{15}{36}\)
  • \(\dfrac{19}{36}\)
Show Solution

The Correct Option is C

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Set up the sample space.
Rolling a fair die twice gives $6\times6=36$ equally likely pairs $(a,b)$, where $a$ is the first roll and $b$ is the second.

Step 2: Work out how many pairs give each sum.
The number of pairs adding to a sum $s$ rises from $1$ at $s=2$ up to $6$ at $s=7$ and then falls back to $1$ at $s=12$, moving by $1$ each step. So the counts for sums $2$ through $12$ are $1,2,3,4,5,6,5,4,3,2,1$.

Step 3: Pick out the prime sums.
Among $2$ to $12$, the primes are $2,3,5,7,11$. Reading off their counts from the list above: sum $2$ gives $1$, sum $3$ gives $2$, sum $5$ gives $4$, sum $7$ gives $6$, and sum $11$ gives $2$, using the symmetric count for $11$, which mirrors sum $3$.

Step 4: Add these counts.
\[ 1+2+4+6+2=15 \]

Step 5: Divide by the total outcomes.
\[ P=\frac{15}{36} \]
So out of every $36$ equally likely rolls, $15$ give a prime sum.
\[ \boxed{\dfrac{15}{36}} \]
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