Chapter – 13

Probability

Topic : Conditional probability

Q. If ( ) ( ) and ( ) then find ( ) ALL INDIA 2019

Q. Evaluate ( ) if ( ) ( ) and ( ) CBSE 2018C

Q. A black and a red die are rolled together. Find the conditional probability of obtaining the
sum , given that the red die resulted in a number less than . CBSE 2018

Q. Consider the experiment of tossing a coin. If the coin shows heads, toss it again, but if the
coin shows tails, then throw a die. How do you find the conditional probability of the event
that 'the die shows a number greater than 4' given that 'there is at least one tail'? DELHI
2014C

Q. A committee of 4 students is selected at random from a group consisting 8 boys and 4

girls. Given that there is at least one girl on the committee, calculate the probability that
there are exactly 2 girls on the committee. NCERT EXAMPLAR

Q. Three dice are thrown at the same time. Find the probability of getting three two’s, if it is
known that the sum of the numbers on the dice was six. NCERT EXAMPLAR (HOTS)

QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICE

Q. Assume that each born child is equally likely to be a boy or a girl. If a family has two children,
what is the conditional probability that both are girls? Given that :
(i) the youngest is a girl.
𝟏 𝟏
(ii) at least one is a girl. DELHI 2014 Ans : 𝟐 𝟑

Q. A couple has 2 children. Find the probability that both are boys, if it is known that
(i) one of them is a boy.
𝟏 𝟏
(ii) the older child is a boy. DELHI 2014C, ALL INDIA 2014, 2010 Ans : 𝟑 𝟐

Q. 10% of the bulbs produced in a factory are of red colour and 2% are red and defective. If
one bulb is picked up at random, determine the probability of its being defective if it is red
NCERT EXAMPLAR Ans :

Topic : Independent events

Q. If and are independent events such that ( ̅ ) and ( ̅) , then find
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( ) and ( ). DELHI 2015

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Q. A die, whose faces are marked 1, 2, 3 in red and 4, 5, 6 in green is tossed. Let A be the
event "number obtained is even" and B be the event "number obtained is red". Find if and
are independent events. ALL INDIA 2017, DELHI 2019

Q. The probability of solving a specific problem independently by A and B are 1/2 and 1/3
respectively. If both try to solve the problem independently, find the probability that (i) The
problem is solved (ii) Exactly one of them solves the problem. ALL INDIA
2015C, DELHI 2011

Q. Prove that if and are independent events, then so are the events and DELHI
2017

Topic : Algebra Of Events

Q. A and B are two candidates seeking admission in a college. The probability that A is
selected is 0.7 and the probability that exactly one of them is selected is 0.6. Find the
probability that B is selected. NCERT EXAMPLAR

Q. If and are independent events such that ( ) ( ) and

( ) , then find the value of . NCERT EXAMPLAR

Q. The probability of simultaneously occurrence of at least one of two events and is . If

the probability that exactly one of occurs is , then prove that ( ) ( )
NCERT EXAMPLAR

Topic : MULTIPLICATION THEOREM ON PROBABILITY

Q. Three machines E1, E2 and E3 in a certain factory producing electric bulbs, produce 50%,
25% and 25% respectively, of the total daily output of electric bulbs. It is known that 4% of
the bulbs produced by each of machines E1 and E2 are defective and that 5% of those
produced by machine E3 are defective. If one bulb is picked up at random from a day's
production, calculate the probability that it is defective. NCERT EXAMPLAR

Q. A bag contains 5 red marbles and 3 black marbles. Three marbles are drawn one by one
without replacement. What is the probability that at least one of the three marbles drawn
be black, if the first marble is red? NCERT EXAMPLAR

Q. A bag A contains 4 black and 6 red balls and bag B contains 7 black and 3 red balls. A die
is thrown. If 1 or 2 appears on it, then bag A is chosen, otherwise bag B. It two balls are
drawn at random (without replacement) from the selected bag, find the probability of one
of them being red and another black DELHI 2015

Q. Three bags contain a number of red and white balls as follows: Bag 1 : 3 red balls, Bag 2 :
2

2 red balls and 1 white ball Bag 3 : 3 white balls. The probability that bag i will be chosen
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and a ball is selected from it is , . What is the probability that (i) a red ball will be
selected? (ii) a white ball is selected? NCERT EXAMPLAR

Q. A bag contains ( ) coins. It is known that n of these coins have a head on both sides
where as the rest of the coins are fair. A coin is picked up at random from the bag and is
tossed. If the probability that the toss results in a head is , determine the value of .
NCERT EXAMPLAR (HOTS)

Q. An urn contains m white and n black balls. A ball is drawn at random and is put back into
the um along with k additional balls of the same colour as that of the ball drawn. A ball is
again drawn at random. Show that the probability of drawing a white ball now does not
depend on k. NCERT EXAMPLAR (HOTS)

Topic : Probability Distribution

Q. Find the probability distribution of the number of heads in a simultaneous toss of two
coins. ALL INDIA 2019

Q. Let denote the number of colleges where you will apply after your results and
( ) denotes your probability of getting admission in number of colleges.
It is given that

( ) {
( )

where is some positive constant. Find the value of . Also, find the probability that you
will get admission in (i) exactly one college (ii) at most 2 colleges (iii) at least 2 colleges.
FOREIGN 2016

Q. Two cards are drawn successively with replacement from a well shuffled deck of 52 cards.
Find the probability distribution of the number of aces. DELHI2011C

Q. Two cards are drawn simultaneously (or successively without replacement) from a well
shuffled pack of 52 cards. Find the probability distribution of number of aces. ALL INDIA
2010C

Q. Three cards are drawn at random (without replacement) from a well shuffled pack of 52
cards. Find the probability distribution of number of red cards. FOREIGN 2014

Q. Two numbers are selected at random (without replacement) from positive integers 2, 3,
4, 5, 6 and 7. Let X denote the larger of the two numbers obtained. Find the probability
distribution of X. FOREIGN 2015
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Q. Three numbers are selected at random (without replacement) from first six positive
integers. Let X denotes the largest of the three numbers obtained. Find the probability
distribution of X. ALL INDIA 2016

Q. Find the probability distribution of number of doublets in three throws of a pair of dice.
ALL INDIA 2011C

Q. Two biased dice are thrown together. For the first die ( ) , the other scores being
equally likely while for the second die, ( ) and the other scores are equally likely. Find
the probability distribution of ‘the number of ones seen’. NCERT EXAMPLAR (HOTS)

QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICE

Q. The random variable has a probability distribution ( ) of the following form where
is some number

( ) {

Determine the value of . DELHI 2019 Ans :

Q. From a lot of 15 bulbs which include 5 defectives, a sample of 2 bulbs is drawn at random
(without replacement). Find the probability distribution of number of defective bulbs.
DELHI 2015C

Q. A class has 15 students whose ages are 14, 17, 15, 14, 21, 17, 19, 20, 16, 18, 20, 17, 16, 19
and 20 years. One student is selected in such a manner that each has the same chance of
being chosen and the age X of the selected student is recorded. What is the probability
distribution of the random variable X ? ALL INDIA 2014C

Q. Three numbers are selected at random (without replacement) from first six positive
integers. Let X denote the largest of the two numbers obtained. Find the probability
distribution of the random variable X. ALL INDIA 2014

Topic : Baye’s Theorem

Q. Bag -I contains 3 red and 4 black balls while another Bag -II contains 5 red and 6 black
balls . One ball is drawn at random from one of the bags and it is found to be red . Find the
probability that it was drawn from Bag -II. DELHI 2011

Q. Bag I contains 3 red and 4 black balls and Bag II contains 4 red and 5 black balls. Two balls
are transferred at random from Bag I to Bag II and then a ball is drawn from Bag II. The ball
so drawn is found to be red in colour. Find the probability that the transferred balls were
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both black. DELHI 2012

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Q. A bag contains 4 balls. Two balls are drawn at random (without replacement) and are
found to be white. What is the probability that all the balls in the bag are white? ALL INDIA
2016, 2014C

Q. There are 3 identical boxes I,II and III each containing two coins. In box I both are gold
coins, in box II both are silver coins and in box III one is gold and 1 is silver. A coin is drawn
from one of the boxes. A person chooses a box at random and take out a coin. If the coin is
of gold, what is the probability that the other coin is the box is also of gold. ALL INDIA 2011

Q. A card form a pack of 52 cards is lost. From the remaining cards of the pack, two cards
are drawn at random and are found to be both clubs. Find the probability of the lost card
being of clubs. DELHI 2010

Q. A card from a pack of 52 playing cards is lost. From the remaining cards of the pack three
cards are drawn at random (without replacement) and are found to be all spades. Find the
probability of the lost card being a spade. DELHI2014

Q. Suppose a girl throws a die. If she gets a 5 or 6, she tosses a coin three times and notes
the number of heads. If she gets 1,2,3 or 4, she tosses a coin once and notes whether a head
or tail is obtained. If she obtained exactly one head, what is the probability that she threw
1,2,3 or 4 with the die? ALL INDIA 2012

Q. A girl throws a die. If she gets a 5 or 6, she tosses a coin three times and notes the
number of heads. If she gets 1,2,3 or 4, she tosses a coin once and notes whether a head or
tail is obtained. If she obtained exactly two heads, what is the probability that she threw
1,2,3 or 4 with the die ? DELHI 2012

Q. A man is known to speak the truth 3 out of 4 times. He throws a die and reports that it is
a six. Find the probability that it is actually a six. DELHI 2011

Q. Assume that the chances of a patient having a heart attack is 40%. It is also assumed that
a meditation and yoga course reduce the risk of heart attack by 30% and prescription of
certain drug reduces its chances by 25%. At a time a patient can choose any one of the two
options with equal probabilities. It is given that after going through one of the two options
the patient selected at random suffers a heart attack. Find the probability that the patient
followed a course of meditation and yoga? DELHI 2013

Q. A factory has two machines A and B. Past record shows that machine A produced 60% of
the items of output and machine B produced 40% of the items. Further, 2% of the items
produced by machine A were defective and 1% produced by machine B were defective. All
the items are put into one stockpile and then one item is chosen at random from this and is
found to be defective. What is the probability that it was produced by machine B?
FOREIGN 2011
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Q. There are three coins . One is two tailed coin (having tail on both the faces ) another is
biased coin that comes up head 60% of the time and third is an unbiased coin . One of the
three coins is chosen at random and tossed and it shows tail. What is the probability of that
is a two tailed coin? ALL INDIA 2011C

Q. A letter is known to have come either from TATA NAGAR or from CALCUTTA. On the
envelope, just two consecutive letter TA are visible. What is the probability that the letter
came from TATA NAGAR. NCERT EXAMPLAR

Q. Suppose you have two coins which appear identical in your pocket. You know that one is
fair and one is 2-headed. If you take one out, toss it and get a head, what is the probability
that it was a fair coin? NCERT EXAMPLAR

QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICE

Q. Suppose 5% of men and 0.25% of women have grey hair. A grey haired person is selected
at random. What is the probability of this person being male? Assume that there are equal
number of males and females. DELHI 2011 Ans.

Q. In a class 5% of boys and 10% of girls have an I.Q of more than 150.In this class 60% of
students are boys. If a student is selected at random and found to have an I.Q. of more than
150. Find the probability that the student is a boy. ALL INDIA 2010C Ans.

Q. An insurance company insured 2000 scooter drivers, 4000 car drivers and 6000 truck
drivers. The probability of an accident involving a scooter, a car and a truck are 0.01, 0.03
and 0.15 respectively. One of the insured persons meets with an accident. What is the
probability that he is a car driver? ALL INDIA 2012C Ans :

Q. Among the students in a college, it is known that 60% reside in hostel and 40% are day
scholars (not residing in hostel). Previous year results report that 30% of all students who
reside in hostel attain A grade and 20% of day scholar attain A grade in their annual
examination. At the end of the year, one student is chosen at random from the college and
he has an A grade, what is the probability that the student is a hostile? DELHI 2012,2011C
Ans.

Q. A man is known to speak truth 3 out of 5 times. He throws a die and reports that it is a
one. Find the probability that it is actually a one. DELHI 2014C Ans.

Q. In a bolt factory, machines A, B and C manufacture 25%, 35%, 40% respectively. Of the
total of their output 5%, 4% and 2% are defective. A bolt is drawn and is found to be
defective. What are the probabilities that it was manufactured by machine B? DELHI 2010C
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Ans.
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Q. A car manufacturing factory has two plants, X and Y. Plant X manufactures 70% of cars
and plant Y manufactures 30%. 80% of the cars at plant X and 90% of the cars at plant Y are
rated of standard quality. A car is chosen at random and is found to be of standard quality.
What is the probability that it has come from plant X? NCERT EXAMPLAR Ans :

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