Department of Mathematics and Statistics
MAT 1120 Tutorial sheet ( Probability)
1. If A and B be are events such that P(A) = ½ , P (B) = 1/3 and P(A u B) = 2/3.
(a) Find (i) P(A ∩ B), (ii) P(A|B), (iii) P(B’|A).
(b) Are the events A and b (i) independent, (ii) mutually exclusive? Justify your answers.
2. Given that, for two events R and S.
P(R) = 0.3, P(R U S) = 0.6. Find P(S) and P(R ∩ S) when R and S are (i)
mutually exclusive events, (ii) Independent events.
3. The probability of a person catching a particular disease when exposed to it is o.2 if
the person has been inoculated against the disease. This probability rises to 0.9 if the
person has not been inoculated. If 70% of the population have been inoculated against
the disease, what is the probability that a person who caught the disease when
exposed to it had been inoculated against the disease?
4. A box contains 12 eggs of which one is bad. If three eggs are selected at random,
what is the probability that one of them will be bad?
5. A bag contains twenty chocolates, fifteen toffees, and twelve peppermints. If three
sweets are chosen at random what is the probability that they are
(a) all different, (b) all chocolates, (c) all the same (d) all toffees or
peppermints?
6. A class contains 30 children, 18 girls, and 12 boys. Four complimentary theatre
tickets distributed at random to the children in the class. Find the probability that all
tickets go to girls,
7. Bag A contains three white counters and two black counters whilst bag B contains
two white and three black. One counter is removed from bag A and placed in bag B
without its color being seen. What is the probability that a counter removed from bag B
will be white?
8. Two cards are chosen at random from 10 cards number 1 to 10. Find the probability p
the sum is odd if
(i) the two cards are drawn together?
(ii) the two cards are drawn one after another without replacement
(iii) the two cards are drawn one after another with replacement
1 1
9. Two events A and B are such that P(A) = and P(B) = . If A' stands for
3 2
complement of A calculate p ( B ) in each of the cases when
1
(a) p ( B )
8
(b) A and B are mutually exclusive
(c) A is a subset of B
10. A fair die is cast; then n fair coins are tossed, where n is the number shown on the die.
What is the probability of exactly two heads?
11. A fair die is thrown for as long as necessary for a 6 to turn up. Given that 6 does not
turn up at the first throw, what is the probability that more than four throws will be
necessary?
12. The probability that a brand of light bulb is faulty is 0.01. the light bulbs are packed in
boxes of 100. What is the probability that a box chosen at random contains (a) no
faulty light bulbs, (b) two faulty light bulbs, (c) at least four faulty light bulbs?
A buyer accepts a consignment of 50 boxes provided that when two boxes are chosen
at random they contain at most two faulty light bulbs altogether. What is the
probability that a consignment is accepted?
13. The number of accidents notified in a factory per day over a period of 200 days gave
rise to Table 6
(i) Calculate the mean number of accidents per day.
(ii) Assuming that this situation can be represented by a suitable Poisson distribution,
calculate the corresponding frequencies.
14. The number of emergency admissions each day to a hospital is found to have a
Poisson distribution with mean 2.
(a) Evaluate the probability that on a particular day there will be no emergency admission.
(b) At the beginning of one day the hospital has five beds available for emergencies.
(c) Calculate the probability that this will be an insufficient number for the day.
(d) Calculate the probability that there will be exactly three admissions altogether on two
consecutive days.
15. If Z - N(0,1) find
(a) P(Z<1) (b) P(Z < 2) (c) P(Z < - 1.3) (d) P(Z – 0.9) (e) P(Z < 1.96) (f)
P(Z < 0.54) (g) P(Z < - 2.92) (h) P(Z < 1.96) (i) P(Z < - 1.09) , (j) P(Z >
0.897 (k) P(Z < - 2.128 (l) P(Z < 0.543 (m) P(Z >- 1.824
16. If Z – N(0,1) find
(a) P(1.3 < Z < 2.3) (b) P(- 1.2 < Z< 0.9) (c) P( - 0.7 < Z < - 0.3) (d) P(- 3 < Z < 3)
(e) P( - 2 < Z < 2) (f) P( - 1 < Z < 1) (g) P(- 1.345 < Z < - 0.776) (h) P( - 0.074 < Z
< - 2.155)
17. For a Normal population with mean 10, standard deviation 5, find the probability that a
member chosen at random gives a value of the variate which is
(a) < 11 (b) > 11 (c) >5 (d) < 5 (e) between 5 and 11.
18. IQ scores are N(100, 225). Find the probability that a person chosen at random has an IQ
score of
(a) More than 140 (b) less than 90 (c) between 120 and 130) (d) between 80 and 120.
19. If IQ scores are N(100.225) what IQ is exceeded by (a) 5%. (b) 1%, of the population? Find
the upper and lower quartiles for IQ scores.
20. The marks of 500 candidates in an examination are normally distributed with a mean of 45
marks and a standard deviation of 20 marks.
(a) Given that the pass mark is 41, estimate the number of candidates who passed the
examination.
(b) If 5% of the candidates obtain a distinction by scoring x marks or more, estimate the value
of x.
(c) Estimate the interquartile range of the distribution.
21. In an examination 30% of the candidates fail and 10% achieve distinction. Last year the
pass mark (out of 200) was 84 and the minimum make required for a distinction was 154.
Assuming that the marks of the candidates were normally distributed estimate the mean
mark and the standard deviation.
22. In Zambia, selection for the first year students at UNZA is by means of an aptitude test
based on a week’s intensive Mathematics course. It is known that the scores of potential
student on this test follow a Normal distribution with mean 45 and standard deviation 10.
(a) What is the probability that a randomly chose students will score between 40 and 60?
(b) What percentage of the students is expected to score more than 30?
(c)In a particular year 100 students take the test. Assuming that the pass mark is 50, calculate
the probability that less than 35 student qualify for the admission
23. If A and B be are events such that P(A) = ½ , P (B) = 1/3 and P(A u B) = 2/3.
(a) Find (i) P(A ∩ B), (ii) P(A|B), (iii) P(B’|A).
(b) Are the events A and b (i) independent, (ii) mutually exclusive? Justify your
