0
$\begingroup$

I'm given:$$x = .95 = P(A|B) = P(A^C|B^C)$$ $$P(B)=.05 \space \text{and} \space P(B^C)=.95$$

I want to find $\bf{P(B^C|A)}$

I know that: $$P(B^C|A) = \frac{P(B^C\cap A)}{P(A)}$$

I can find $P(A)$, but not sure what I can do do get me $P(B^C\cap A)$.

Is $P(A|B^C)=1-P(A^C|B^C)$ a valid argument?

$\endgroup$
1
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ You can use, for example, $A = (A \cap B) \cup (A \cap B^c)$. $\endgroup$
    – Michael
    Commented Feb 4, 2022 at 21:05

1 Answer 1

1
$\begingroup$

Yes, apparently the complement rule holds for conditional probabilities as was previously noted on this very forum by Graham Kemp, to quote the proof:

$$\begin{align}\Pr(B) & = \Pr((A\cap B) \cup (A^\prime\cap B)) & \text{by total probability law} \\ & = \Pr(A\cap B)+\Pr(A^\prime\cap B) & \text{because of mutual exclusion} \\ \implies \Pr(A\cap B) & = \Pr(B)-\Pr(A^\prime\cap B) & \text{by rearangement}\\\therefore \Pr(A\mid B)&=1 - \Pr(A^\prime\mid B) & \text{by division by }\Pr(B)\end{align}$$

where the first step was also noted above by Michael.

$\endgroup$

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .