Example Organized List:
lcl
M,5 & & T,5 [0.25em]
M,6 & & T,6
Example Table:
Outcomes
5
6
Monday
M, 5
M, 6
Thursday
T, 5
T, 6
Example Tree Diagram:
Practice makes perfect
We are given an experiment and want to represent the sample space by making an organized list, a table, and a tree diagram. The sample space of an experiment is the set of all possible outcomes. In this case, the sample space is the result of two choices.
Day — Monday or Thursday
Hour — 5:00PM or 6:00PM
Keep in mind that there are several ways to make a list, a table, and a tree diagram. The part that matters most is that the sample space ends up with all of the possible combinations. We will make the list, the table, and the tree diagram one at a time.
Organized List
The two possible outcomes for the choice of the day are Monday (M) or Thursday (T). There are also two possible outcomes for the choice of the hour, 5:00PM or 6:00PM. We will pair each possible outcome from the choice of the day with the possible outcomes from the choice of the hour.
lcl
M,5 & & T,5 [0.25em]
M,6 & & T,6
Table
To make the table, we will list the outcomes of the choice of the day in the left column and the outcomes of the choice of the hour in the top row.
Outcomes
5
6
Monday
M, 5
M, 6
Thursday
T, 5
T, 6
Tree Diagram
Let's now draw a tree diagram to represent the situation.
