[Math] Basic probability problem

probability

Problem states:

Consider two events $A$ and $B$, with $P(A) = 0.4$ and $Pr(B) = 0.7$. Determine the maximum and the minimum possible values for $P(A \& B)$ and the conditions under which each of these values is attained.

To solve, I considered the event with the lowest probability $A$ to be a subset of the other, so maximum value is attained under that circumstance giving a probability of $0.4$.
But the book states that the minimum is $0.1$, if $P(A \cup B) = 1$.

I don't understand why! Because I thought that the minimum value is get when the two events are disjoint… So the minimum value must be $0$…

Best Answer

Use the fact that $$P(A\cup B) = P(A) + P(B) - P(A\cap B).$$ This gives you $$P(A\cup B) = 1.1 - P(A\cap B).$$ Since $P(A\cup B) \le 1$ we have $$1\ge 1.1 - P(A\cap B),$$ yielding $P(A\cap B)\ge .1$. If $A\subseteq B$, then $P(A\cap B) = P(A) = .4.$ This represents the largest possible value for $P(A\cap B)$. so $.1\le P(A\cap B) \le .4$

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