Axioms of probability
Axiom 1
For any event A, 0 <= P(A) <= 1
Axiom 2
P(S) = 1
Something in the sample space will occur.
Axiom 3
If A1, A2, …, An are a collection of n mutually exclusive events, then:
P(union of all events) = Sum(1, n)P(Ak)
In other words, the sum of all probabilities of these events is exactly equal to the probability of the event: union of all events.
More generally, if A1, A2, … is an infinite collection of mutually exclusive events, then the probability of the union of those events is the same as the sum of all probabilities of each event.
Consequences
Ac = "A complement"
A ∩ Ac = {} and A ∪ Ac = S, so
1 = P(S) = P(A ∪ Ac) = P(A) + P(Ac) which implies
P(Ac) = 1 - P(A)
If A ∩ B = {}, then P(A ∩ B) = 0 = P({})
P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B) - P(A ∩ B)
You can use these to calculate many probabilities.