I.G.C.S.E.

Probability

Index:

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Question 1 Question 2

Question 3 Question 4

Question 5 Question 6

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Question 1

A fair die is thrown once. Find the probability of obtaining a

a. a one
b. an odd number
c. number less than three
d. a prime number

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Solution to question 1

a. The possibility space is {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

1
p ( a one ) =
6
b. The odd numbers are {1, 3, 5}
3 1
p ( an odd number ) = =
6 2

c. The numbers less than three are {1, 2}

2 1
p ( a number less than three ) = =
6 3

d. The prime numbers are {2, 3, 5} . Note: 1 is not a prime number.

3 1
p ( a prime number ) = =
6 2

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Question 2

One letter is selected from the word ‘MATHEMATICS’. Find the probability of
selecting
a. an A
b. a M
c. a M or a T
d. a vowel
e. aK

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Solution to question 2

Considering the word ‘MATHEMATICS’, there are eleven letters.

2
a. There are two A’s, therefore p ( an A ) =
11
2
b. There are two M’s, therefore p ( a M) =
11

c. The event picking a M or a T are mutually exclusive, (they cannot

happen at the same time). Therefore we must add the corresponding
probabilities.
p ( a M or a T ) = p ( a M) + p ( a T )
2 2
= +
11 11
4
=
11

d. The vowels are {a, e, i, o, u} . The word MATHEMATICS contains two

A’s, one E, and one I, which makes four in total.
4
p ( a vowel ) =
11

e. There are no K’s in the word MATHEMATICS.

p (a K ) = 0

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Question 3

A red die and a blue die are both thrown.

Display all the possible outcomes on a probability space diagram
Find the probability of scoring
a. a total of 7,
b. more than 8,
c. less than 5.

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Solution to question 3

Displaying all the possible outcomes on a probability space diagram

6 7 8 9 10 11 12
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
blue
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
die
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 2 3 4 5 6

red die

a. From the diagram we can see that there are 36 possible outcomes.
There are six ways that we can get a 7 shown in red on the diagram.
6 1
p ( a total of 7 ) = =
36 6

b. The numbers more than 8 are marked in green on the diagram.

6 7 8 9 10 11 12
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 There are 10 possible
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 outcomes.
10 5
p ( more than 8 ) =
blue
die
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 =
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 36 18
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 2 3 4 5 6

red die

c. The numbers less than 5 are marked in orange in the diagram.

6 7 8 9 10 11 12
There are 10 possible
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
outcomes.
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
6 1
p ( less than 5 ) =
blue
die
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 =
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 36 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 2 3 4 5 6

red die

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Question 4

A coin and a die are thrown. Write down the probability of obtaining
a. a head and an even number on the die
b. a tail and 3 or 4 on the die.

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Solution to question 4

A coin and a die are thrown. Write down the probability of obtaining

a. The events a head and an even number on the die are independent i.e
one event does not affect the other.

Either
1 3 1
p ( a head on a coin ) =and the p ( an even number on a die ) = =
2 6 2
p ( a head and an even number ) = p ( a head ) × p ( an even number )
1 1
= ×
2 2
1
=
4

or drawing a possibility space diagram we can see that the possibility

space is 12. There are three possible outcomes of getting a head and a
even number.

coin
H H,1 H,2 H,3 H,4 H,5 H,6
T T,1 T,2 T,3 T,4 T,5 T,6
1 2 3 4 5 6
die
3 1
p ( a head and an even number ) = =
12 4

b. The events of getting a tail and 3 or 4 on the die are mutually exclusive ie
cannot happen at the same time. The two outcomes are marked on the
possibility space in green.

coin
H H,1 H,2 H,3 H,4 H,5 H,6
T T,1 T,2 T,3 T,4 T,5 T,6
1 2 3 4 5 6
die
2 1
p ( a tail and 3 or 4 on the die ) = =
12 6

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Question 5

A bag contains 5 green balls and 3 blue balls. A ball is drawn and is not
replaced. A second ball is drawn. Draw a tree diagram to show all the possible
outcomes.
Find the probability of drawing,
a. two green balls,
b. one green ball and one blue ball.
c. at least one blue ball.

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Solution to question 5

Drawing a tree diagram to show all the possible outcomes.

p(G2 ) =
4
 5   4  20
7 p(G1 and G2 ) =     =
 8   7  56

 5   3  15
p(G1 ) =
5
p(B2 ) =
3 p(G1 and B2 ) =     =
8 7  8   7  56

 3   5  15
p(G2 ) =
5
p(B1 and G2 ) =     =
7
 8   7  56
3
p(B1 ) =
8
3 2 6
2
p(B1 and B2 ) =     =
p(B2 ) =
7
 8   7  56

 5   4  20 5
a. p(two green balls) = p(G1 and G2 ) =     = =
 8   7  56 14

b. Considering the tree diagram

p(one green ball and one blue ball) = p(G1 and B2 ) + p(B1 and G2 )
 5  3   3  5 
=    +   
 8  7   8  7 
15 15
= +
56 56
30
=
56
15
=
28

c. p(at least one blue ball) = 1 − p(two green balls)

5
= 1−
14
9
=
14

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Question 6

A study is made of a group of students. In the group there are 14 boys and 16
girls. Of the boys it is found 8 of them like Mathematics and of the girls 10 like
Mathematics. Draw a tree diagram and find the probability that a student
chosen at random
a. is a boy and likes Mathematics.
b. is a girl and does not like Mathematics
c. likes Mathematics.

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Solution to question 6

Drawing the tree diagram

p(M ) =
8
 14   8  8
14 p(B and M ) =     =
 30   14  30

 14   6  6
p(B ) =
14
p(M ') =
6 p(B and M ') =     =
30 14  30   14  30

 16   10  10
p(M ) =
10
p(G and M ) =     =
16
 30   16  30
16
p(G ) =
30
 16   6  6
6
p(G and M ') =     =
p(M ') =
16
 30   16  30

 14   8  8 4
a. p(a boy and likes Mathematics) = p(B and M ) =     = =
 30   14  30 15

b. p(a girl and does not like Mathematics)

 16   6  6 1
= p(G and M ') =     = =
 30   16  30 5

c. p(likes Mathematics) = p(B and M ) + p(G and M )

 14   8   16   10 
=   +   
 30   14   30   16 
10 8
= +
30 30
18
=
30
3
=
5

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