Probability

Soumaya El-Toutongy

Summary

--n(S)

sample space is the total no. of possible outcomes in an event

--Probability of event occurring:

-- Probability of an event happening

0P(E)1

--Complementary events
The complement of an event happening is the event not happening. So the
complement of P(E) is P(not E) written as P(E~)
--General formula
P(E)+P(E~)=1
--Probability questions can be solved using tree, lattice or venn diagram to make
It more easier

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

26 letters in alphabet

10 digits

5 vowels
21 consonant

52 in a deck of cards

4 suits( diamond, clubs, spade, heart)

Court cards are picture cards

Spot cards are number cards

Prime number can be divided by itself and 1

Biased dice means has 2 outcomes out of 6

BOS Questions

2012----Q

13
c)Two buckets each contain red marbles and white marbles.
Bucket A contains 3 red and 2 white marbles. Bucket B contains
3 red and 4 white marbles. Chris randomly chooses one marble
from each bucket.
(i) What is the probability that both marbles are red?
(ii) What is the probability that at least one of the marbles is
white?
(iii) What is the probability that both marbles are the same
colour?
solution

(i) P (2 red)+ P (2 white)

2011

Q1
g) A batch of 800 items is examined. The
probability that an item from this batch is
defective is 0.02. How many items from this
batch are defective?
solution
Exp. No. = 0.02 800 = 16

 2011----Q5
b) Kim has three red shirts and two yellow shirts. On
each of the three days, Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday, she selects one shirt at random to wear. Kim
wears each shirt that she selects only once
(i)What is the probability that Kim wears a red shirt on
Monday?
(ii) What is the probability that Kim wears a shirt of the
same colour on all three days?
(iii)What is the probability that Kim does not wear a shirt
of the same colour on consecutive days?

2011-Q5 b)
Solution

i) p(R)=
ii)YYY is not possible
Thus answer is P(RRR)=

iii)

P (RYR) or (YRY)=


2010--Q4
c)
There are twelve chocolates in a box. Four of the chocolates
have mint centres, four have caramel centres and four have
strawberry centres. Ali randomly selects two chocolates and
eats them. What is the probability that
(i) two chocolates have mint centres?
(ii) two chocolates have the same centre?
(iii) two chocolates have different centres?
Solution

i) 1-

2010
---Q8(b)
Two identical biased coins are tossed together, and the
outcome is recorded. After a large number of trials it is
observed that the probability that both coins land showing
heads is 0.36.
i)What is the probability that both coins land showing tails?
solution

Let p = probability that coin shows a head

p2 = 0.36
p = 0.6 Probability that coin shows a tail = 1 p = 0.4
Probability that both coins show a tail = = 0.16

2009---Q5

b) On each working day James parks his car in a parking station

which has three levels. He parks his car on a randomly chosen
level. He always forgets where he has parked, so when he leaves
work he chooses a level at random and searches for his car. If his
car is not on that level, he chooses a different level and
continues in this way until he finds his car.what is the probability
that:
(i) his car is on the first level he searches?
(ii) he must search all three levels before he finds his car?
(iii) on every one of the five working days in a week, his car is
not on the first level he searches?
solution

i)

ii)
iii) (

2009Q9

a) Each week Van and Marie take part in a raffle at their
respective workplaces. The probability that Van wins a prize in
his raffle is . The probability that Marie wins a prize in her
raffle is
What is the probability that, during the next three weeks, at
least one of them wins a prize?
Solution

1996----Q8
a) students studying at least one of the language French, and Japanese attend a
meeting. Of the 28 students presnt,18 study French and 22 study Japanese. what is
the probability that
i) a randomly chosen student studies French.
ii) two randomly chosen students both study French.
iii) a randomly chosen student studies both language.
Solution
i)P(F)=18/28=9/14
ii)P(FF)=18/28 x 17/27
=17/42
iii)P(Both)=12/28=3/7

F
6
18-x

12
X

J
10
22-x

18-x+x+22-x=28
40-x=28
X=12

Other resources

Q1-

Which of these numbers cannot be a probability?

a) -0.00001
d) 0

b) 0.5
e) 1

c) 1.001
f) 20%

Solution
A probability is always greater than or equal to 0 and less than or
equal to 1, hence only a) and c) above cannot represent
probabilities: -0.00010 is less than 0 and 1.001 is greater than 1

Q2- A spinner has 4 equal sectors colored yellow, blue,

green and red.
What are the chances of landing on blue after spinning the
spinner? What are the chances of landing on red?
Solution:
The chances of landing on blue are 1 in 4, or one fourth.
The chances of landing on red are 1 in 4, or one fourth

Q3: The blood groups of 200 people is distributed as follows: 50

have type A blood, 65 have B blood type, 70 have O blood type and
15 have type AB blood. If a person from this group is selected at
random, what is the probability that this person has O blood type?
a
50
B
65
O
70
AB 15
Solution
P(E)=70 / 200 = 0.35
Q4)A card is drawn at random from a deck of cards. Find the
probability of getting the 3 of diamond.
P(E) = 1 / 52
1994-Q6
a)A bag contains green,black and red jellybeans.if one jellybean was
choosen at random from the bag.the probability that it is black is
1/3.
Explain if this statement is true or false in no more than one
sentence
---The statement is false unless there are equal numbers of
green,black and red jelly beans.

Q5)
A die is rolled, find the probability that the number
obtained is greater than 4.
a) =
Q6) Two coins are tossed, find the probability that one head
only is obtained.
b) =
Q7) Two dice are rolled, find the probability that the sum is
equal to 5.
c) =
Q8) A card is drawn at random from a deck of cards. Find the
probability of getting the King of heart.
d)

K.Kourasias pg 234
In a large school 45% of the students are boys and 55% are girls.
Three students are selected at random. What is the probability that
a)all three are boys
b)there are two boys and one girl
c)there are more girls than boys
d)there are at least one boy

Solution
a) P(BBB)=45/100 x45/100 x45/100 =729/8000
b)P(GBB+BGB+BBG)=

c)

1992Q4 (b
Pat and Chris each throw a die. find the probability that
i) they throw the same number
ii)the number thrown by Chris is greater than the number thrown by pat
Solution
ii) P(same no.)=6/36=1/6
ii) 15/36=5/12

93Q7 c)
The die used in a new game has 20 faces. Each face has a different letter of
the alphabet marked on it. However the letters Q,U,V,X,Y have yet not been
used what is the probability if
i) The die is rolled twice that the same letter appears on the upper face twice?
ii) The die is rolled 3 times that the letter E appears on the upper face exactly
twice ?
Solution
i) P(of rolling a letter twice)=1/20 x1/20=1/400
P of rolling any 20 letters twice=1/400 x 20=1/20
ii)
P(E appearing twice)=
P(EEE~)+P(EE~E)+P(E~EE)
=(1/20 x1/20 x19/20)+(1/20 x 19/20 x 1/20)+(19/20 x 1/20 x 1/20)
=19/8000 +19/8000 +19/8000
=57/8000

1995-Q7 a )
A factory assembles torches. torch requires one battery and one bulb.it is known
that 6% of all batteries and 4% of all bulbs are defective.
Find the probability that in a torch selected at random both the battery and the
bulb are not defective in exact form
Solution
P(both NOT defective)=0.94x0.96
=0.9024

Coroneous pg 687

Ex 4 --In a heap of cards there are 7 black and 5 red cards what is the probability
of choosing in succession without replacement
i)a black then a red card(two draws)
ii)three black cards(three draws)
Solution
i)A black on the first draw is 7/12
A red card on the second is 5/11
By product theorem P(BR)=P(B)XP(R)
=7/12 x 5/11=35/132
ii)A black card on first draw is 7/12
Second draw is 6/11
Third draw is 5/11
P(BBB)=P(B)XP(B)XP(B)
=7/12 x 6/11 x 5/10 =7/44

Cambridge- pg. 37
Q6--A coin is biased so that on any roll the number 6 is twice
as likely as any other number. The die is rolled twice .find the
probability that
i)a double 6 occurs
Ii)a double occurs
Solution
i)2/7 x2/7=4/49
ii)4/49 + 5 x1/7 x 1/7=9/49

Cambridge pg 38
Q14--Two students A and B sit a test. Their probabilities of
passing are 0.8 and 0.6 respectively. Find the probability that
i)exactly one of them passes
ii)at most one of them passes
Solution
i)0.8x0.4 + 0.2 x 0.6= 0.44
ii) 1-(0.8 x 0.6)=0.52

Cambridge pg. 39
Q16--In a certain region it rains on 40% of the days where it
rained the previous days, and on 10% of the days where it was
fine the previous day.it rained today. Find the probability that it
will rain in two days time
Solution

Cambridge pg 37
Q8--A bag contains four discs numbered 3,4,6 and
9.two discs are chosen at random from the bag without
replacement. A two digit number is formed with the first
chosen disc in the tens place and the second I the units
place. Find the probability that the number formed is
i) a perfect square
ii)a prime number
Solution
i)3/12=1/4
ii)1/12