PROBABILITY
Ashra Sindhikkaa M
PROBABILITY
Terms Definition
Experiment An operation that produces some well defined outcomes. E.g. – Tossing a coin, rolling a dice.
Outcome The possible result of an experiment.
Trial Action that results in one or several outcomes. E.g. Tossing a coin for 30 times.
Event Collection of outcomes of an experiment (E). E.g. Getting an odd number on a rolled dice.
Sample space The set of all possible outcomes in a trial (S).
Elementary event Only one outcome.
Compound event Two or more outcomes (combined elementary events)
Equally likely Each outcome has equal probability of occurring. E.g. six outcomes of rolling a dice.
outcomes
TYPES OF PROBABILITY
• Experimental probability:
• Theoretical probability:
• P(A) + P(B) + P(C) = 1
PROBLEMS
1. Find the probability of getting a head when a coin is tossed once. Also find the probability
of getting a tail.
Soln: Possible outcomes – 2 {H, T}
• Favourable outcomes n(E) = 1
• All possible outcomes n(S)= 2
=
n(H) = & n(T) =
PROBLEMS
2. A bag contains a red ball, a blue ball and a yellow ball, all the balls being of the same size.
Kritika takes out a ball from the bag without looking into it. What is the probability that she
takes out the
(i) yellow ball?
(ii) red ball?
(iii) blue ball?
Soln: n(S) = 3; n(E) = 1
=
P(Y) = ; P(R) = ; P(B) =
PROBLEMS
3. Suppose we throw a die once.
(i) What is the probability of getting a number greater than 4?
Soln: n(S) = {1,2,3,4,5,6} = 6; n(E) = {5,6} = 2
= =
(ii) What is the probability of getting a number less than or equal to 4?
Soln: n(S) = {1,2,3,4,5,6} = 6; n(F) = {1,2,3,4} = 4
= =
PROBLEMS
4. Suppose we throw a die once.
(i) What is the probability of getting a number 8 in a single throw of a die?
Soln: n(S) = {1,2,3,4,5,6} = 6; n(E) = 0
= = 0 (Impossible event)
(ii) What is the probability of getting a number less than 7 in a single throw of a die?
Soln: n(S) = {1,2,3,4,5,6} = 6; n(F) = {1,2,3,4,5,6} = 6
= = 0 (Certain/sure event)
PROBLEMS
5. One card is drawn from a well-shuffled deck of 52 cards. Calculate the
probability that the card will
(i) be an ace
Soln: n(S) = {13x4} = 52; n(A) = 4
= =
(ii) not be an ace
Soln: n(S) = {13x4} = 52; n(E) = {52-4} = 48
= =
PROBLEMS
5. One card is drawn from a well-shuffled deck of 52 cards. Calculate the
probability that the card will
(iii) a king of black color
Soln: n(S) = {13x4} = 52; n(K) = 2
= =
(ii) a face card
Soln: n(S) = {13x4} = 52; n(F) = {4+4+4} = 12
= =
PROBLEMS
6. Two players, Sangeeta and Reshma, play a tennis match. It is known that the probability of
Sangeeta winning the match is 0.62. What is the probability of Reshma winning the match?
Soln: P(S) = 0.62; P(R) = ?
0.62 +
– 0.62 = 0.38
PROBLEMS
7. There are 40 students in Class X of a school of whom 25 are girls and 15 are boys. The class
teacher has to select one student as a class representative. She writes the name of each student
on a separate card, the cards being identical. Then she puts cards in a bag and stirs them
thoroughly. She then draws one card from the bag. What is the probability that the name
written on the card is the name of
(i) a girl?
Soln: n(S) = {25+15} = 40; n(G) = 25
= =
(ii) a boy?
Soln: n(S) = {25+15} = 40; n(B) = 15
= =
PROBLEMS
8. A box contains 3 blue, 2 white, and 4 red marbles. If a marble is drawn at random from the
box, what is the probability that it will be
(i) a white?
Soln: n(S) = {3+2+4} = 9; n(W) = 2
=
(ii) a blue?
Soln: n(S) = {3+2+4} = 9; n(B) = 3
= =
(ii) a red?
Soln: n(S) = {3+2+4} = 9; n(R) = 4
=
PROBLEMS
9. Harpreet tosses two different coins simultaneously (say, one is of ₹1 and other of ₹2). What
is the probability that she gets at least one head?
Soln: n(S) = {HH,HT,TH,TT} = 4;
n(E) = {HH,HT,TH} = 3
=
PROBLEMS
10. A carton consists of 100 shirts of which 88 are good, 8 have minor defects and 4 have
major defects. Jimmy, a trader, will only accept the shirts which are good, but Sujatha, another
trader, will only reject the shirts which have major defects. One shirt is drawn at random from
the carton. What is the probability that
(i) it is acceptable to Jimmy?
Soln: n(S) = {88+8+4} = 100; n(J) = 88
= = (or) 0.88
(ii) it is acceptable to Sujatha?
Soln: n(S) = {88+8+4} = 100; n(E) = 96
= = (or) 0.96
PROBLEMS
11. Two dice, one blue and one grey, are thrown at the same time. Write down all the possible
outcomes. What is the probability that the sum of the two numbers appearing on the top of the
dice is
(i) 8?
1 2 3 4 5 6
Soln: n(S) = {6x6} = 36; n(8) = {(2,6),(3,5),(4,4),
1 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,4 1,5 1,6
(5,3),(6,2)} = 5
2 2,1 2,2 2,3 2,4 2,5 2,6
=
3 3,1 3,2 3,3 3,4 3,5 3,6
(ii) 13?
4 4,1 4,2 4,3 4,4 4,5 4,6
Soln: n(S) = {6x6} = 36; n(13) = 0
5 5,1 5,2 5,3 5,4 5,5 5,6
= =0
6 6,1 6,2 6,3 6,4 6,5 6,6
PROBLEMS
11. Two dice, one blue and one grey, are thrown at the same time. Write down all the possible
outcomes. What is the probability that the sum of the two numbers appearing on the top of the
dice is
(iii) less than or equal to 12?
1 2 3 4 5 6
Soln: n(S) = {6x6} = 36;
1 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,4 1,5 1,6
n(12) = 36
2 2,1 2,2 2,3 2,4 2,5 2,6
= =1
3 3,1 3,2 3,3 3,4 3,5 3,6
4 4,1 4,2 4,3 4,4 4,5 4,6
5 5,1 5,2 5,3 5,4 5,5 5,6
6 6,1 6,2 6,3 6,4 6,5 6,6
