P ROBABILITY
by
A N K I TA R O Y
Introduction
• Probability is the level of possibility that something will happen or is
true.
• Probability was originated from Latin word meaning approval.
• It is a branch of mathematics that deals with the occurrence of a
random event.
• Probability can be defined as the ratio of the number of favorable
outcomes to the total number of outcomes of an event.
Examples of probability
Some common terms related to
probability
• An experiment • The set of all
in which all possible
• An operation outcomes in a
possible
which can random
outcomes are
produce some experiment is
known and the
some well- called a sample
exact outcome
defined space and it
cannot be
outcomes is denoted by S.
predicted in
called an
advance is • Each element of
experiment
called a random a sample space
experiment is called a
sample point
Examples
Random Experiment Space Sample
• To s s i n g a f a i r c o i n • In tossing a fair coin, there
are t wo possible outcomes,
• Rolling an unbiased die n a m e l y, h e a d ( H ) a n d t a i l ( T ) .
• Drawing a card from a pack of S = { H ,T }
well- shuff led cards
• Pickling up a ball from a bag
of balls of different colours
Event
Every subset of a sample space is called event.
For examples : In a single throw of a dies, we have S={1,2,3,4,5,6}, The
event of getting a prime number is given by E={2,3,5).
Probability of an event :
P(E)=number of outcomes favourable to occurrence of E/ number of all possible
outcomes
P(E) = n(E)/n(S)
Example
Suppose we throw a die once.
What is the probability of getting a number greater than 4?
Total outcomes that can occur are 1,2,3,4,5,6
Total number of outcomes = 6
Number grater than 4= 5 & 6
Number of outcomes where number grater than 4 =2
P(E) = 2/4 = 1/3
THANK YOU
