Dicey Coordinates :P

Two dice are thrown simultaneously to get the coordinates of a point on the x y xy - plane. Then the probability that the point lies inside or on the region bounded by x + y = 3 |x| + |y|= 3 is of the form a b \frac { \ { a } }{ b } , where a a and b b are co- prime integers . Find a + b a+b

This question is part of the set Best of Me


The answer is 13.

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1 solution

Dan Ni
Apr 26, 2015

The equation x + y = 3 |x| + |y| =3 is just a square with vertices at 3 3 and 3 -3 on the x x and y y axes. Since we are dealing with dice, the coordinates must both be positive. That gives us only three possible coordinates: ( 1 , 1 ) (1,1) , ( 1 , 2 ) (1,2) and ( 2 , 1 ) (2,1) . There is only one way to roll each of these coordinates, so our final fraction is 3 36 \frac {3}{36} where 3 3 is the number of possible coordinates that lie inside our region, and 36 36 is the number of total possible coordinates. Finally, we simplify our fraction since the numerator and denominator of our fraction must be co-prime. The result should be 1 12 \frac {1}{12} . 1 + 12 = 13 1 + 12 = 13 . So our answer is 13 \boxed{13}

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