Lecture (Introduction To Probability)
Lecture (Introduction To Probability)
Introduction To Statistics,
Statistics And Probability
Dr. Shabbir Ahmad
Assistant Professor,
Department of Mathematics,
COMSATS University
Islamabad, Wah Campus
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❑A planned activity or process whose results yield a set of data (called
outcomes), is called and experiment.
❑An outcome is the result of a single trial of a probability experiment.
❑An event consists any collection of results or outcomes of a procedure.
❑A simple event is an outcome or an event that cannot be further broken down
into simpler components.
❑A sample space (S) is the set of all possible outcomes or simple events of a
probability experiment.
Head or Tail
Possible outcomes
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Thus the sample space is:
𝑆 = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
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When two dice are rolled
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Example 3: Simple Events and Sample Spaces:
In the following table, we use “b” to denote a baby boy and “g” to denote a baby
girl.
1 birth: The result of 1 girl is a simple event and so is the result of 1 boy.
3 births: The result of 2 girls followed by a boy (ggb) is a simple event.
3 births: The event of “2 girls and 1 boy” is not a simple event because it can occur with
these different simple events: ggb, gbg, bgg.
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Mutually Exclusive Events
❑ Two events A & B of a single experiment are said to be mutually
exclusive or disjoint if and only if they cannot both occur at same
time. For example,
❑ When we toss a coin, we get either a head or a tail, but not
both, the two events head and tail are therefore mutually
exclusive.
❑ When a die is rolled, the outcome are mutually exclusive as we
get one and only one of six possible outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
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Exhaustive Events:
❑Events are said to be collectively exhaustive, when the union of mutually
exclusive events is the entire sample space S.
❑Thus in our coin-tossing experiment, head and tail are collectively
exhaustive set of events.
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Equally Likely Events:
❑ Two events A & B are said to be equally likely, when one event is as likely to occur as the
other.
❑ In other words, each event should occur in equal number in repeated trials.
❑ For example, when a fair coin is tossed, the head is as likely to appear as tail, and the
1
proportion of times each side is expected to appear is .
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❑ Similarly, when a die is rolled, each possible outcome i.e., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ,6 are equal chance to
1
appear, and the proportion of times each side is expected to appear is .
6
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Counting Sample Points:
• The sample space S, is the set of all possible outcomes of a statistical experiment.
• Each outcome in a sample space is called a sample point. It is also called an element or a member of the
sample space.
• When the number of sample points in a sample space S is very large, it becomes very difficult to list
• In such cases, a probability problem may be solved by counting sample points in S, without actually
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Counting Sample Points:
The basic rules or method which helps us to count the number of sample points without
1. Rule of Multiplication
2. Rule of Permutation
3. Rule of Combination
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1. Rule of Multiplication:
• If a compound experiment consists of two experiment such that, the first has exactly 𝑛1 distinct
outcomes and corresponding to each outcome of the first there can be 𝑛2 distinct outcomes of the
• In general if there are k experiments, then total sample points of compound experiment are:
𝑛1 × 𝑛2 × 𝑛3 × ⋯ × 𝑛𝑘
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Example 1:
Statement: How many sample points are there if two coins are tossed together?
Solution: Total no. of outcomes the first coin has= 𝑛1 = 2, and Total no. of outcomes
the second coin has=𝑛2 = 2,
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Example 2:
Statement: How many sample points are there if the compound experiment consist of tossing a coin
and throwing a die together?
Solution: Total possible outcomes the first experiment (coin) has= 𝑛1 = 2, and Total possible outcomes
the second experiment (die) has=𝑛2 = 6,
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Example 4:
Three Coins: How many sample points are there if three coins are tossed at once?
Solution: Each of three coins can lend in 2 possible ways, i.e. Head and Tail, Thus,
𝑛1 = 𝑛2 = 𝑛3 = 2
The possible situations are:
One Coin
Two Coins
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Example 4 (Cont.,)
One Coin 2nd Coin 3rd Coin Combined Outcome
H HHH
T HHT
H
H HTH
H
T
T HTT
H THH
H
T T THT
H TTH
T
T TTT
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Example 5:
Two Coins and One Die:
Solution: Each of two coins has exactly two possible outcomes, i.e. 𝑛1 = 𝑛2 = 2, and
one die has exactly 6 possible outcomes, i.e. 𝑛3 = 6, thus the possible situations are:
Two Coins
One Die
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Practice Questions:
1. How many sample points are in the sample space, when a pair of dice and one
2. How many sample points are in the sample space when three dice are thrown
together?
3. How many sample points are in the sample space when four coins are thrown
together?
from the English alphabet, how many points are there in the sample space?
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2. Rule of Permutation:
• A permutation is any ordered subset of 𝑟 objects from a set of 𝑛 distinct objects.
OR
• A permutation is an arrangement of all or part of a set of objects.
• The number of permutations of 𝑛 objects is 𝑛! (𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙).
• The number of permutations of 𝑛 distinct objects taken 𝑟 at a time is denoted by symbol 𝒏𝑷𝒓 , is
defined as:
𝒏
𝒏!
𝑷𝒓 = , 𝑟≤𝑛
𝒏−𝒓 !
Where 𝑛! = 𝑛(𝑛 − 1)(𝑛 − 2) … 3 × 2 × 1, it is relevant to note that 1! = 1 and that we define 0! =
1.
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3. Rule of Combination:
• A combination is any subset of 𝑟 objects, selecting without regarding their order, from a set of 𝑛
distinct objects.
𝒏
• The number of combinations of 𝑛 distinct objects taken 𝑟 at a time is denoted by symbol 𝒏𝑪𝒓 or
𝒓
𝒏
𝒏!
𝑪𝒓 =
𝒓! 𝒏 − 𝒓 !
Where 𝑟 ≤ 𝑛.
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Example 1:
In one year, three awards (research, teaching, and service) will be given to a class of 25 graduate students
in a statistics department. If each student can receive at most one award, how many possible selections
are there?
Since the awards are distinguishable, it is a permutation problem. The total number of sample points is:
𝑛
𝑛! 25! 22! × 23 × 24 × 25
𝑃𝑟 = = = = (23) 24 25 = 13,800
𝑛−𝑟 ! 25 − 3 ! 22!
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Example 2:
A young boy asks his mother to get 5 Game-Boy cartridges from his collection of 10 cartridges and 5 sports
games. How many ways are there that his mother can get 3 cartridges and 2 sports games?
𝒏
𝒏!
𝑪𝒓 =
𝒓! 𝒏 − 𝒓 !
10
10! 7! × 8 × 9 × 10 (8)(9)(10)
𝐶3 = = = = 120
3! 10 − 3 ! 1 × 2 × 3 × 7! (1)(2)(3)
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Example 2 (cont.):
𝒏
𝒏!
𝑪𝒓 =
𝒓! 𝒏 − 𝒓 !
5
5! 3! × 4 × 5
𝐶2 = = = 10
2! 5 − 2 ! 1 × 2 × 3!
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Example 3:
• From a student club consisting of 50 people. How many different choices of officers are possible if :
50
50! 47! × 48 × 49 × 50 (48)(49)(50)
𝐶3 = = = = 19,600
3! 50 − 3 ! 1 × 2 × 3 × 47! (1)(2)(3)
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Example 3 (cont,):
Solution: Given 𝑛 = 50, 𝑟 = 2, since president and treasurer are distinguishable, it is permutation
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50! 48! × 49 × 50
𝑃2 = = = 49 50 = 2450
50 − 2 ! 48 !
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Practice Questions:
1. How many ways are there to select 3 candidates from 8 equally qualified recent graduates for
2. In how many different ways can a true-false test consisting of 9 questions be answered?
3. A drug for the relief of asthma can be purchased from 5 different manufacturers in liquid, tablet, or
capsule form, all of which come in regular and extra strength. How many different ways can a doctor
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ANY QUESTION
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