When we say that two events are mutually exclusive, it means that they cannot happen at the same time. For instance, if you flip a coin, the outcome can either be heads or tails, but it cannot be both at the same time.
This characteristic of mutually exclusive events leads us to the conclusion that the probability of both events occurring simultaneously is zero. In mathematical terms, if we denote the two mutually exclusive events as A and B, the probability can be expressed as:
P(A and B) = 0
This is because the occurrence of one event inherently excludes the possibility of the other event happening. Therefore, if you’re working with mutually exclusive events, you can be sure that the probability of both occurring at the same time will always be zero.