PROBABILITY

[GATE 2023]
Q] The probability of occurrences of two independent events A and B are
0.5 and 0.8 respectively. What is the probability of occurrence of atleast
A or B (rounded off to one decimal place) ? _________
[GATE 2023 CE-1] (NAT)
Q] Which of the following probability distribution functions (PDFs) has
the mean greater than the median ?

(A) Function 1
(B) Function 2
(C) Function 3
(D) Function 4
[GATE 2023 CE-2] (MCQ)
Q] A remote village has exactly 1000 vehicles with sequential registration
numbers starting from 1000. Out of the total vehicles, 30% are without
pollution clearance certificate. Further even and odd numbered vehicles
are operated on even and odd numbered dates respectively. If 100
vehicles are chosen at random on an even numbered date , the number
of vehicles are expected without pollution clearance certificate is _____

(A) 15
(B) 30
(C) 50
(D) 70
[GATE 2023 CE-2] (MCQ)
Q] Consider a random experiment where two fair coins are tossed. Let A
be the event that denotes HEAD on both the throws, B be the event that
denotes HEAD on the first throw, and C be the event that denotes HEAD
on the second throw. Which of the following statements is/are TRUE ?

(A) A and B are independent

(B) A and C are independent
(C) B and C are independent
(D) Prob(B/C) = Prob(B)
[GATE 2023 CS] (MSQ)
Q] One million random numbers are generated from a statistically
stationary process with a Gaussian distribution with mean zero and
standard deviation 𝜎0 . The 𝜎0 is estimated by randomly drawing out
10,000 numbers of samples (𝑥𝑛 ). The estimates 𝜎ො1 , 𝜎ො𝟐 are computed in
the following two ways
10000 10000
1 1
𝜎ො12 = ෍ 𝑥𝑛2 , 𝜎ො𝟐2 = ෍ 𝑥𝑛2
10000 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗
𝑛=1 𝑛=1
(A) E(𝜎ො𝟐2 ) = 𝜎02
(B) E(𝜎ො𝟐 ) = 𝜎0
(C) E(𝜎ො12 ) = 𝜎02
(D) E(𝜎ො1 ) =E(𝜎ො𝟐 )
[GATE 2023 EE] (MCQ)
Q] Three points in the x-y plane are (-1,0.8) , (0,2.2) and (1,2.8) . The
value of the slope of the best fit straight line in the least square sense is
________ (Rounded off to 2 decimal places)
[GATE 2023 EE] (NAT)
Q] The expected number of trials for first occurrence of a “ head ” in a
biased coin is known to be 4. The probability of first occurrence of a “
head” in the second trial is _______
(rounded off to 3 decimal places)
[GATE 2023 EE] (NAT)
Q] The expected number of trials for first occurrence of a “ head ” in a
biased coin is known to be 4. The probability of first occurrence of a “
head” in the second trial is _______
(rounded off to 3 decimal places)
[GATE 2023 EE] (NAT)
Q] X is a discrete random variable which takes value 0,1 and 2. The
probabilities are P(X=0) = 0.25 and P(X=1) = 0.5 with E[.] denoting the
expectation operator, the value of 𝐸 𝑿 − 𝐸 𝑿2 is ______
(rounded off to one decimal place)
[GATE 2023 IN] (NAT)
Q] Five measurements are made using a weighing machine and the
readings are 80kg, 79kg, 81kg, 79 kg and 81 kg. The sample standard
deviation of the measurement is ______ kg (rounded off to two decimal
places)
[GATE 2023 IN] (NAT)
Q] A machine produces a defective component with a probability of
0.015. The number of defective components in a packed box containing
200 components produced by the machine follows a Poisson distribution.
The mean and the variance of the distribution are
(A) 3 and 3 respectively
(B) 3 𝒂𝒏𝒅 3 respectively
(C) 0.015 and 0.015 respectively
(D) 3 and 9 respectively
[GATE 2023 ME] (MCQ)
An operator manufactures 10 identical spur gears in a lot.
One spur gear is defective in the lot. Three spur gears are
drawn at random without replacement. The probability of
getting all three gears as non-defective is _____
(round off to two decimal places)

[GATE 2022 PI]

A bag contains six red balls and four blue balls. If three
balls are drawn in succession without replacement, the
probability that the second and third balls drawn are red
is _____
(round off to two decimal places)

[GATE 2022 IN]

The probability density function of a random variable x be
given as f(x)=𝑎ⅇ−2 𝑥 . The value of a is _____

[GATE 2022 EE]

The bar graph shows the frequency of the number of
wickets taken in a match by a bowler in her career. For
example, in 17 of her matches, the bowler has taken 5
wickets each. The median number of wickets taken by the
bowler in a match is _____
(rounded off to one decimal places)
[GATE 2022 ECE]
A pair of six- faced dice is rolled thrice . The probability
that the sum of the outcomes in each roll equals 4 in
exactly two of the three attempts is _____
(round off to three decimal places)

[GATE 2022 CE-SET 2]

Let a random variable X follow Poisson distribution such
that Prob(X=1)=Prob(X=2). The value of Prob(X=3) is
(round off to 2 decimal places)

[GATE 2022 ME]

For a given biased coin, the probability that the
outcome of a toss is a head is 0.4 . This coin is
tossed 1,000 times, Let X denote the random
variable whose value is the number of times that
head appeared in these 1,000 tosses. The standard
deviation of X (rounded to 2 decimal places) is
_________.
[GATE-21-CS-SET2]
The lifetime of a component of a certain type is a
random variable whose probability density function
is exponentially distributed with parameter 2. For a
randomly picked component of this type, the
probability that its lifetime exceeds the expected
lifetime (rounded to 2 decimal places) is ________.

[GATE-21-CS-SET1]
A sender (S) transmit a signal, which can be one of
the two kinds: H and L with probabilities 0.1 and 0.9
respectively, to a receiver (R). In the graph below,
the weight of edge (u,v) is the probability of
receiving v when u is transmitted, where u,v ∈
{H,L}. For example, the probability that the received
signal is L given the transmitted signal was H, is 0.7
 0.3
H H
0.8
S 0.7 R

L L
0.2
If the received signal is H, the probability that the
transmitted signal was H (rounded to 2 decimal
places) is ________.
[GATE-21-CS-SET1]
The mean and variance, respectively, of a binomial
distribution for n independent trials with the
probability of success as p, are
a) 𝐧𝐩, 𝐧𝐩(𝟏 − 𝐩)
b) 𝐧𝐩 , 𝐧𝐩(𝟏 − 𝐩)
c) 𝐧𝐩 , 𝐧𝐩
d) 𝐧𝐩 , 𝐧𝐩(𝟏 − 𝟐𝐩)

[GATE-21-ME-SET2]
Vehicular arrival at an isolated intersection follows
the Poisson distribution. The mean vehicular arrival
rate is 2 vehicle per minute. The probability (round
off to 2 decimal places) that at least 2 vehicles will
arrive in any given 1-minute interval is _________.
[GATE-21-CE-SET1]
The shape of the cumulative distribution function of
Gaussian distribution is
a) Straight line at 45 degree angle
b) Bell-shaped
c) S-shaped
d) Horizontal line

[GATE-21-CE-SET1]
Suppose the probability that a coin toss shows
‘head’ is p , where 0<p<1. The coin is tossed
repeatedly until the first “head” appears. The
expected number of tosses required is
a) 𝟏Τ𝐩
b) (𝟏 − 𝐩)Τ𝐩
c) 𝐩Τ(𝟏 − 𝐩)
d) 𝟏Τ𝐩𝟐

[GATE-21-EE]
Suppose the probability that a coin toss shows
‘head’ is p , where 0<p<1. The coin is tossed
repeatedly until the first “head” appears. The
expected number of tosses required is
a) 𝟏Τ𝐩
b) (𝟏 − 𝐩)Τ𝐩
c) 𝐩Τ(𝟏 − 𝐩)
d) 𝟏Τ𝐩𝟐

[GATE-21-EE]
The probability mass function P(x) of a discrete
𝟏
random variable X is given by P(x) = 𝐱 ,
𝟐
where x = 1, 2, ……, ∞. The expected value of X is
_________ [ in integer ]
(GATE-21-PI)
Two continuous random variables X and Y are
related as
𝐘 = 𝟐𝐗 + 𝟑
Let 𝛔𝟐𝐱 and 𝛔𝟐𝐘 denote the variances of X and Y ,
respectively. The variances are related as

a) 𝛔𝟐𝐘 = 𝟐𝛔𝟐𝐱
b) 𝛔𝟐𝐘 = 𝟒𝛔𝟐𝐱
c) 𝛔𝟐𝐘 = 𝟓𝛔𝟐𝐱
d) 𝛔𝟐𝐘 = 𝟐𝟓𝛔𝟐𝐱

[GATE-21-EC]
If the probability density function of a random
variable x is given by
𝐤𝐱 𝟐
𝐟 𝐱 = ቐ 𝟐 , −𝟏 ≤ 𝐱 ≤ 𝟏
𝟎 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞,
the value of k is _________.

[GATE-20-PI]
A box contains the following three coins.
I. A fair coin with head on one face and tail on the
other face.
II. A coin with heads on both the faces.
III. A coin with tails on both the faces.
A coin is picked randomly from the box and tossed.
Out of the two remaining coins in the box, one coin
is then picked randomly and tossed. If the first toss
results in a head, the probability of getting a head in
the second toss is
a) 𝟐Τ𝟓
b) 𝟐Τ𝟑
c) 𝟏Τ𝟑
d) 𝟏Τ𝟐 [GATE-21-EC]
A box contains the following three coins.
I. A fair coin with head on one face and tail on the
other face.
II. A coin with heads on both the faces.
III. A coin with tails on both the faces.
A coin is picked randomly from the box and tossed.
Out of the two remaining coins in the box, one coin
is then picked randomly and tossed. If the first toss
results in a head, the probability of getting a head in
the second toss is
a) 𝟐Τ𝟓
b) 𝟐Τ𝟑
c) 𝟏Τ𝟑
d) 𝟏Τ𝟐 [GATE-21-EC]
Consider that X and Y are independent continuous
valued random variables with uniform PDF given by
X~U[2,3] and Y~U[1,4]. Then P(Y ≤ X) is equal to
_________ (rounded off to 2 decimal places).
[GATE-21-IN]
If X is a random variable with the expected value of 5
and the variance of 1, then the expected value of 𝐗 𝟐
is
a) 24
b) 26
c) 25
d) 36

[GATE-20-PI]
A fair coin is tossed 20 times. The probability that
‘head’ will appear exactly 4 times in the first ten
tosses, and ‘tail’ will appear exactly 4 times in the
next ten tosses is _______ (rounded off to 3 decimal
places).

[GATE-20-ME-SET2]
A fair (unbiased) coin is tossed 15 times. The
probability of getting exactly 8 heads (rounded off to
3 decimal places), is _______.

[GATE-20-CE-SET2]
Consider two identical bags 𝐁𝟏 and 𝐁𝟐 each
containing 10 balls of identical shapes and sizes.
Bag 𝐁𝟏 contains 7 Red and 3 Green balls, while bag
𝐁𝟐 contains 3 Red and 7 Green balls. A bag is picked
at random and a ball is drawn from it, which was
found to be Red. The probability that the Red ball
came from bag 𝐁𝟏 (rounded off to 1 decimal place) is
_________.

[GATE-20-IN]
A player throws a ball at a basket kept at a distance.
The probability that the ball falls into the basket in a
single attempt is 0.1 . The player attempts to throw
the ball twice. Considering each attempt to be
independent, the probability that this player puts the
ball into the basket only in the second attempt
(rounded off to 2 decimal places) is ______.

[GATE-20-IN]
A company is hiring to fill four managerial
vacancies. The candidates are five men and three
women. If every candidate is equally likely to be
chosen then the probability that at least one woman
will be selected is ______ (rounded off to 2 decimal
places).

[GATE-20-ME-SET1]
 In an examination, a student can choose the order in which
two questions (Ques A and Ques B) must be attempted.
• If the first question is answered wrong, the student gets zero marks.
• If the first question is answered correctly and the second question is
not answered correctly, the student gets the marks only for the first
question.
• If both the questions are answered correctly, the student gets the
sum of the marks of the two questions.
The following table shows the probability of correctly answering
a question and the marks of the question respectively.

Question probability of answering correctly marks

Ques A 0.8 10
Ques B 0.5 20
Assuming the student always wants to maximize her
expected marks in the examination, in which order
should she attempt the questions and what is the
expected marks for that order (assume that the
questions are independent)?
[GATE-21-CS-SET2]

a) First Ques B and then Ques A. Expected marks 22.

b) First Ques A and then Ques B. Expected marks 16.
c) First Ques A and then Ques B. Expected marks 14.
d) First Ques B and then Ques A. Expected marks 14.
 In an examination, a student can choose the order in which
two questions (Ques A and Ques B) must be attempted.
• If the first question is answered wrong, the student gets zero marks.
• If the first question is answered correctly and the second question is
not answered correctly, the student gets the marks only for the first
question.
• If both the questions are answered correctly, the student gets the
sum of the marks of the two questions.
The following table shows the probability of correctly answering
a question and the marks of the question respectively.

Question probability of answering correctly marks

Ques A 0.8 10
Ques B 0.5 20
Assuming the student always wants to maximize her
expected marks in the examination, in which order
should she attempt the questions and what is the
expected marks for that order (assume that the
questions are independent)?
[GATE-21-CS-SET2]

a) First Ques B and then Ques A. Expected marks 22.

b) First Ques A and then Ques B. Expected marks 16.
c) First Ques A and then Ques B. Expected marks 14.
d) First Ques B and then Ques A. Expected marks 14.
If X is a random variable with uniform probability
density function in the interval [-2 , 10]. For
Y = 2X – 6 , the conditional probability
P(Y ≤ 7 | X ≥ 5) (rounded off to 3 decimal places) is
________.

[GATE-20-EC]
The two sides of a fair coin are labeled as 0 and 1.
The coin is tossed two times independently. Let M
and N denote the labels corresponding to the
outcomes of those tosses. For a random variable X,
defined as X = min(M,N), the expected value E(X)
(rounded off to 2 decimal places) is _______.
[GATE-20-EC]
The probability density function of a continuous
random variable distributed uniformly between x and
y ( for y > x) is
𝟏
a) 𝐲−𝐱
𝟏
b) 𝐱−𝐲
c) x – y
d) y - x

[GATE-19-CE-SET2]
The probability that a part manufactured by a
company will be defective is 0.05. If 15 such parts
are selected randomly and inspected, then the
probability that at least two parts will be defective is
_________ (rounded off to two decimal places) .
[GATE-19-ME-SET2]
If x is the mean of data 3, x, 2 and 4, then the mode
is __________.
[GATE-19-ME-SET2]
The variable x takes a value between 0 and 10 with
uniform probability distribution. The variable y takes
a value between 0 and 20 with uniform probability
distribution. The probability of the sum of variables
(x + y) being greater than 20 is
a) 0.50
b) 0
c) 0.33
d) 0.25

[GATE-19-ME-SET1]
The length of a large stock of titanium rods follow a
normal distribution with a mean (μ) of 440 mm and a
standard deviation (σ) of 1 mm. What is the
percentage of rods whose lengths lie between 438
mm and 441 mm?
a) 81.85%
b) 68.4%
c) 99.75%
d) 86.64%

[GATE-19-ME-SET1]
The probability of a resistor being defective is 0.02.
There are 50 such resistors in a circuit. The
probability of two or more defective resistors in the
circuit (rounded off to 2 decimal places) is ______.
[GATE-19-EE]
If X and Y are random variables such that
E [ 2X + Y ] = 0 and E [ X + 2Y ] = 33,
Then E [X] +E [Y] = _________.
[GATE-19-EC]
Let Z be an exponential random variable with mean
1. The cumulative distribution function of Z is given
by
𝟏 − 𝐞−𝐱 , 𝐢𝐟 𝐱 ≥ 𝟎
𝐅𝐙 𝐱 = ቊ
𝟎, 𝐢𝐟 𝐱 < 𝟎
Then Pr (Z > 2 |Z > 1), rounded off to 2 decimal
places, is equal to ___________.

[GATE-19-EC]
A box has 8 red balls and 8 green balls. Two balls
are drawn randomly in succession from the box
without replacement. The probability that the first
ball drawn is red and the second ball drawn is green
is
a) 𝟒Τ𝟏𝟓
b) 𝟕Τ𝟏𝟔
c) 𝟏Τ𝟐
d) 𝟖Τ𝟏𝟓

[GATE-19-INST]
Suppose Y is distributed uniformly in the open
interval (1,6). The probability that the polynomial
𝟑𝐱 𝟐 + 𝟔𝐱𝐲 + 𝟑𝐲 + 𝟔 has only real roots is (rounded
off to 1 decimal place) __________.
[GATE-19-CSIT]
𝟑𝐱 𝟐 + 𝟔𝐱𝐲 + 𝟑𝐲 + 𝟔 has only real roots
The function p(x) is given by 𝐩 𝐱 = 𝐀Τ𝐱 𝛍 where A
and μ are constants with μ > 1 and 1 ≤ x <∞ and
p(x) = 0 for -∞ < x < 1. For p(x) to be a probability
density function , the value of A should be equal to
a) μ – 1
b) μ + 1
c) 𝟏Τ(μ – 1)
d) 𝟏Τ μ + 1

[GATE-19-INST]
The probabilities of occurrence of events F and G
are P(F) = 0.3 and P(G) = 0.4, respectively. The
probability that both events occur simultaneously is
P(FՈG) = 0.2. The probability of occurrence of at
least one event P(FՍG) is __________.
[GATE-18-PI]
Weights (in kg) of six products are 3, 7, 6, 2, 3 and 4.
The median weights (in kg, up to one decimal place)
is _______.
[GATE-18-PI]
An unbiased coin is tossed six times in a row and
four different such trials are conducted.
One trial implies six tosses of the coin. If H stands
for head and T stands for tail, the following are the
observations from the four trials:
(1) HTHTHT (2) TTHHHT
(3) HTTHHT (4) HHHT_ _.
Which statement describing the last two coin tosses
of the fourth trial has the highest probability of being
correct? [GATE-18-ME-SET2]
a) Two T will occur.
b) One H and one T will occur.
c) Two H will occur.
d) One H will be followed by one T.
a) Two T will occur.
b) One H and one T will occur.
c) Two H will occur.
d) One H will be followed by one T.
Let 𝐗 𝟏 and 𝐗 𝟐 be two independent normal random
variables with means 𝛍𝟏 , 𝛍𝟐 and standard deviations
𝛔𝟏 , 𝛔𝟐 respectively.
Consider Y = 𝐗 𝟏 − 𝐗 𝟐 ; 𝛍𝟏 = 𝛍𝟐 = 𝟏 , 𝛔𝟏 = 𝟏, 𝛔𝟐 = 𝟐
then,
a) Y is normally distributed with mean 0 and variance 1
b) Y is normally distributed with mean 0 and variance 5
c) Y has mean 0 and variance 5, but is NOT normally
distributed
d) Y has mean 0 and variance 1, but is NOT normally
distributed

[GATE-18-ME-SET1]
A six-faced fair dice is rolled five times. The
probability (in %) of obtaining “ONE” at least four
times is
a) 33.3
b) 3.33
c) 0.33
d) 0.0033

[GATE-18-ME-SET1]
Four red balls, four green balls and four blue balls
are put in a box. Three balls are pulled out of the box
at random one after the another without
replacement. The probability that all the three balls
are red is
a) 𝟏Τ𝟕𝟐
b) 𝟏Τ𝟓𝟓
c) 𝟏Τ𝟑𝟔
d) 𝟏Τ𝟐𝟕

[GATE-18-ME-SET1]
Let 𝐗 𝟏 and 𝐗 𝟐 be two independent exponentially
distributed random variables with means 0.5 and
0.25, respectively. Then Y = min(𝐗 𝟏 , 𝐗 𝟐 ) is
a) exponentially distributed with mean 𝟏Τ𝟔
b) exponentially distributed with mean 2
c) Normally distributed with mean 𝟑Τ𝟒
d) Normally distributed with mean 𝟏Τ𝟔

[GATE-18-ME-SET2]
Consider a sequence of tossing of a fair coin where
the outcomes of tosses are independent. The
probability of getting the head for the third time in
the fifth toss is
a) 𝟓Τ𝟏𝟔
b) 𝟑Τ𝟏𝟔
c) 𝟑Τ𝟓
d) 𝟗Τ𝟏𝟔

[GATE-18-IN]
X and Y are two independent random variables with
variance 1 and 2 , respectively. Let Z = X – Y.
The variance of Z is
a) 0
b) 1
c) 2
d) 3

[GATE-18-IN]
A probability distribution with right skew is shown in
the figure.
The correct statement for the probability distribution
is

a) Mean is equal to mode

b) Means is greater than median but less than mode
c) Means is greater than median and mode
d) Mode is greater than median
[GATE-18-CE-SET2]
The graph of a function f(x) is shown in figure

For f(x) to be a valid probability density function, the

value of h is
a) 𝟏Τ𝟑
b) 𝟐Τ𝟑
c) 𝟏
d) 𝟑
[GATE-18-CE-SET2]
Two bags A and B have equal number of balls. Bag A
has 20% red balls and 80% green balls. . Bag B has
30% red balls , 60% green balls and 10% yellow
balls. Contents of Bag A and Bag B are mixed
thoroughly and a ball is randomly picked from the
mixture. What is the chance that the ball picked is
red?
a) 20%
b) 25%
c) 30%
d) 40%

[GATE-18-IN]
Probability (up to decimal place) of consecutively
picking 3 red balls without replacement from a box
containing 5 red balls and 1 white ball is______.
[GATE-18-CE-SET2]
Let 𝐗 𝟏 , 𝐗 𝟐 , 𝐗 𝟑 and 𝐗 𝟒 be independent normal
random variables with zero mean and unit variance.
The probability that 𝐗 𝟒 is the smallest among the
four is __________.

[GATE-18-EC]
A six sided unbiased dice with four green faces and
two red faces is rolled seven times. Which of the
following combinations is the most likely outcome of
the experiment?
a) Three green faces and four red faces
b) Four green faces and Three red faces
c) Five green faces and two red faces
d) Six green faces and one red faces

[GATE-18-CSIT]
A cab was involved in a hit and run accident at night. You are
given the following data about the cabs in the city and the
accident.
i. 85% of the cabs in the city are green and the remaining
cabs are blue.
ii. A witness is identified the cab involved in the accident as
blue.
iii. It is known that a witness can correctly identify the cab
colour only 80% of the time.
Which of the following options is closest to the probability
that the accident was caused by a blue cab?

a) 12%
b) 15%
c) 41% [GATE-18-EC]
d) 80%
A cab was involved in a hit and run accident at night. You are
given the following data about the cabs in the city and the
accident.
i. 85% of the cabs in the city are green and the remaining
cabs are blue.
ii. A witness is identified the cab involved in the accident as
blue.
iii. It is known that a witness can correctly identify the cab
colour only 80% of the time.
Which of the following options is closest to the probability
that the accident was caused by a blue cab?

a) 12%
b) 15%
c) 41% [GATE-18-EC]
d) 80%
If a random variable X has a Poisson distribution
with mean 5, then the expectation 𝐄[ 𝐗 + 𝟐 𝟐 ] equals
__________.
[GATE-17-CSIT]
For the function f(x) = a + bx, 0 ≤ x ≤ 1, to be a valid
probability density function , which one of the
following statements is correct?
a) a = 1, b = 4
b) a = 0.5, b = 1
c) a = 0, b = 1
d) a = 1, b = -1

[GATE-17-CE]
The number of parameters in the univariant
exponential and Gaussian distributions,
respectively, are
a) 2 and 2
b) 1 and 2
c) 2 and 1
d) 1 and 1

[GATE-17-CE]
A two-faced fair coin has its faces designated as
head (H) and tail (T). This coin is tossed three times
in succession to record the following outcomes: H,
H, H. If the coin is tossed one more time, the
probability (up to 1 decimal place) of obtaining H
again, given the previous realization of H, H and H,
would be _________.
[GATE-17-CE]
A sample of 15 data is as follows;
17,18,17,17,13,18,5,5,6,7,8,9,20,17,3. The mode of the
data is
a) 4
b) 13
c) 17
d) 20

[GATE-17-ME]
Two coins are tossed simultaneously. The
probability (up to 2 decimal points accuracy) of
getting at least one head is _________.
[GATE-17-ME]
A six-face fair dice is rolled a large number of times.
The mean value of the outcomes is _________.
[GATE-17-ME]
A person decides to toss a fair coin repeatedly until
he gets a head. He will make at most 3 tosses. Let
the random variable Y denotes the number of heads.
The value of var{Y} , where var{.} denotes the
variance , equal
a) 𝟕Τ𝟖
b) 𝟒𝟗Τ𝟔𝟒
c) 𝟕Τ𝟔𝟒
d) 𝟏𝟎𝟓Τ𝟔𝟒

[GATE-17-EE]
An urn contains 5 red balls and 5 black balls. In the
first draw, one ball is picked at random and
discarded without noticing its colour. The probability
to get a red ball in the second draw is
a) 𝟏Τ𝟐
b) 𝟒Τ𝟗
c) 𝟓Τ𝟗
d) 𝟔Τ𝟗

[GATE-17-EE]
Three fair cubical dice are thrown simultaneously.
The probability that all three dice have the same
number of dots on the faces showing up is (up to 3
decimal places) _______.
[GATE-17-EC]
Passenger try repeatedly to get a seat reservation in
any train running between two stations until they are
successful. If there is 40% chance of getting
reservation in any attempt by a passenger, then the
average number of attempts that passengers need
to make to get a seat reserved is ________.
[GATE-17-EC]
The probability that a communication system will
have high fidelity is 0.81 . The probability that the
system will have both high fidelity and high
selectivity is 0.18 . The probability that a given
system with high fidelity will have high selectivity is
a) 0.181
b) 0.191
c) 0.222
d) 0.826

[GATE-17-IN]
Assume that in a traffic junction, the cycle of the
traffic signal lights is 2 minutes of green (vehicle
does not stop) and 3 minutes of red (vehicles stop).
Consider that the arrival time of vehicles at the
junction is uniformly distributed over 5 minute cycle.
The expected waiting time (in minutes) for the
vehicle at the junction is _______.

[GATE-17-EE]
Assume that in a traffic junction, the cycle of the
traffic signal lights is 2 minutes of green (vehicle
does not stop) and 3 minutes of red (vehicles stop).
Consider that the arrival time of vehicles at the
junction is uniformly distributed over 5 minute cycle.
The expected waiting time (in minutes) for the
vehicle at the junction is _______.

[GATE-17-EE]
Suppose that a shop has an equal number of LED
bulbs of two different types. The probability of an
LED bulb lasting more than 100 hours given that it
is of type 1 is 0.7 and given that it is of type 2 is 0.4 .
The probability that an LED bulb chosen uniformly at
random lasts more than 100 hours is ________.
[GATE-16-CSE-SET2]
A probability density function on the interval [a, 1] is
given by 𝟏Τ𝐱 𝟐 and outside this interval the value of
the function is zero. The value of a is ______.
[GATE-16-CSE-SET1]
X and Y are two random independent events. It is
known that P(X) = 0.40 and 𝐏 𝐗 ∪ 𝐘 𝐂 = 𝟎. 𝟕. Which
one of the following is the value of 𝐏 𝐗 ∪ 𝐘 ?
a) 0.7
b) 0.5
c) 0.4
d) 0.3

[GATE-16-CE-SET2]
The spot speeds (expressed in km/hr) observed at a
road section are 66, 62, 45, 79, 32, 51, 56, 60, 53, and
49. The median speed (expressed in km/hr) is
________.
(Note: answer with one decimal accuracy)
[GATE-16-CE-SET2]
A normal random variable X has the following
probability density function
𝐱−𝟏 𝟐
𝟏 −
𝐟𝐱 𝐱 = 𝐞 𝟖 , −∞ < 𝐱 < ∞
𝟖𝛑

∞
Then ‫𝒙𝒇 𝟏׬‬ 𝒙 ⅆ𝒙 =
a) 𝟎
b) 𝟏Τ𝟐
c) 𝟏 − 𝟏Τ𝐞
d) 𝟏

[GATE-16-PI-SET1]
A fair coin is tossed N times. The probability that
head does not turn up in any of the tosses is
𝟏 𝐍−𝟏
a) 𝟐
𝟏 𝐍−𝟏
b) 𝟏 −
𝟐
𝟏 𝐍
c) 𝟐
𝟏 𝐍
d) 𝟏 −
𝟐

[GATE-16-PI-SET1]
Three cards were drawn from a pack of 52 cards.
The probability that they are a king, a queen, and a
jack is
𝟏𝟔
a) 𝟓𝟓𝟐𝟓
𝟔𝟒
b) 𝟐𝟏𝟗𝟕
𝟑
c) 𝟏𝟑
𝟖
d) 𝟏𝟔𝟓𝟕𝟓

[GATE-16-ME-SET3]
The area (in %) under standard normal distribution
curve of variable Z within limits from -3 to +3 is
_______.

[GATE-16-ME-SET3]
The probability that a screw manufactured by a
company is defective is 0.1 . The company sells
screws in packets containing 5 screws and gives a
guarantee of replacement if one or more screws in
the packet are found to be defective. The probability
that a packet would have to be replaced is _______.
[GATE-16-ME-SET2]
Consider a Poisson distribution for the tossing of a
biased coin. The mean for this distribution is μ.
The standard deviation for this distribution is given
by
a) 𝛍
b) 𝛍𝟐
c) 𝛍
d) 𝟏Τ𝛍

[GATE-16-ME-SET1]
The probability of getting a “head” in a single toss of
a biased coin is 0.3 . The coin is tossed repeatedly
till a “head” is obtained. If the tosses are
independent, then the probability of getting “head”
for the first time in the fifth toss is __________.
[GATE-16-EC-SET3]
The second moment of a Poisson-distributed
random variables is 2. The mean of the random
variable is ______.
[GATE-16-EC-SET1]
An urn contains 5 red and 7 green balls. A ball is
drawn at random and its colour is noted. The ball is
placed back into the urn along with another ball of
the same colour. The probability of getting a red ball
in the next draw is
𝟔𝟓
a) 𝟏𝟓𝟔
𝟔𝟕
b) 𝟏𝟓𝟔
𝟕𝟗
c) 𝟏𝟓𝟔
𝟖𝟗
d) 𝟏𝟓𝟔

[GATE-16-IN]
Ram and Ramesh appeared in an interview for two
vacancies in the same department. The probability
of Ram’s selection is 1/6 and that of Ramesh is 1/8.
what is the probability that only one of them will be
selected ?
a) 47 / 48
b) 1 / 4
c) 13 / 48
d) 35 / 48

[GATE-15-EC-SET2, ME-SET1]
If P(X) = 1/4 , P(Y) = 1/3 , and P(X Ո Y) = 1/12 , the
value of P(Y/X) is
𝟏
a) 𝟒
𝟒
b) 𝟐𝟓
𝟏
c) 𝟑
𝟐𝟗
d) 𝟓𝟎

[GATE-15-ME-SET3]
The chance of a student passing an exam is 20% .
The chance of a student passing the exam and
getting above 90% marks in it is 5% . Given that a
student passes the examination , the probability that
the student gets above 90% marks is
𝟏
a) 𝟏𝟖
𝟏
b) 𝟒
𝟐
c) 𝟗
𝟓
d) 𝟏𝟖

[GATE-15-ME-SET2]
The probability of obtaining at least two ‘SIX’ in
throwing a fair dice 4 times is
a) 425/432
b) 19/144
c) 13/144
d) 125/432

[GATE-15-ME-SET1]
The probability density function of a random
variable, x is
𝐱
𝐟 𝐱 = 𝟒 − 𝐱𝟐 for 0 ≤ x ≤ 2
𝟒
=0 otherwise

The mean, 𝛍𝐱 of the random variable is _______.

[GATE-15-CE-SET2]
Consider the following probability mass function
(p.m.f) of a random variable X.

𝐪 𝐢𝐟 𝐗 = 𝟎
𝐩 𝐱, 𝐪 = ቐ 𝟏−𝐪 𝐢𝐟 𝐗 = 𝟏
𝟎 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞

If q = 0.4 , the variance of X is ________.

[GATE-15-CE-SET1]
The probability density function of a random
variable X is 𝐏𝐱 𝐱 = 𝐞−𝐱 for x ≥ 0 and 0 otherwise.
The expected value of the function 𝐠 𝐱 (𝐱) = 𝐞𝟑𝐱Τ𝟒 is
_______.

[GATE-15-IN]
The probability that a thermistor randomly picked up
from a production unit is defective is 0.1 . The
probability that out of 10 thermistors randomly
picked up, 3 are defective is
a) 0.001
b) 0.057
c) 0.107
d) 0.3

[GATE-15-IN]
A random variable X has probability density function
f(x) as given below:

𝐚 + 𝐛𝐱, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟎 < 𝐱 < 𝟏

𝐟 𝐱 =ቊ
𝟎, 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞.

If the expected value E[X] = 2/3,

then Pr[ X < 0.5 ] is ____________.
[GATE-15-EE-SET1]
The variance of the random variable X with
𝟏
probability density function 𝐟 𝐱 = |𝐱|𝐞−|𝐱| is
𝟐
________.

[GATE-15-EC-SET3]
A fair die with faces {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} is thrown
repeatedly till ‘3’ is observed for the first time. Let X
denote the number of times the dice is thrown. The
expected value of X is _______.
[GATE-15-EC-SET3]
Let X ∈ {0, 1} and Y ∈ {0, 1} be two independent
binary random variables.
If P(X = 0) = p and P(Y = 0) = q , then P(X + Y ≥ 1) is
equal to
a) pq + (1 - p)(1 - q)
b) pq
c) p(1 – q)
d) 1 – pq

[GATE-15-EC-SET2]
The input X to the Binary Symmetric Channel (BSC)
shown in the figure is ‘1’ with probability 0.8 . The
cross-over probability is 1/7 . If the received bit Y = 0
, the conditional probability that ‘1’ was transmitted
is ______.

X 6/7 Y

0 0
P[X = 0] = 0.2
P[X = 1] = 0.8 1/7 1/7

1 1
6/7
[GATE-15-EC-SET1]
Suppose A & B are two independent events with
ഥ&𝐁
probabilities P(A) ≠ 0 and P(B) ≠ 0. Let 𝐀 ഥ be
their complements. Which of the following
statements is FALSE?
a) 𝐏 𝐀 ∩ 𝐁 = 𝐏 𝐀 𝐏(𝐁)
b) 𝐏 𝐀/𝐁 = 𝐏 𝐀
c) 𝐏 𝐀 ∪ 𝐁 = 𝐏 𝐀 + 𝐏(𝐁)
d) 𝐏 ഥ∩𝐁
𝐀 ഥ =𝐏 𝐀ഥ . 𝐏(𝐁
ഥ)

[GATE-15-EC-SET1]
A product is an assembly of 5 different components.
The product can be sequentially assembled in two
possible ways. If the 5 components are placed in a
box and these are drawn at random from the box,
then the probability of getting a correct sequence is
𝟐
a) 𝟓!
𝟐
b) 𝟓
𝟐
c) 𝟓−𝟐 !
𝟐
d) 𝟓−𝟑 !

[GATE-15-PI]
Let S be a sample space and two mutually exclusive
events A and B be such that 𝐀 ∪ 𝐁 = 𝐒. If P(•) denotes
the probability of the event, the maximum value of
𝐏 𝐀 𝐏(𝐁) is ________.

[GATE-14-CS-SET3]
Two coins R and S tossed. The 4 joint events 𝐇𝐑 𝐇𝐒 ,
𝐓𝐑 𝐓𝐒 , 𝐇𝐑 𝐓𝐒 , 𝐓𝐑 𝐇𝐒 have probabilities 0.28, 0.18,
0.30, 0.24 respectively, where H represents head
and T represents tail. Which one of the following is
TRUE ?
a) The coin tosses are independent
b) R is fair, S is not
c) S is fair, R is not
d) The coin tosses are dependent

[GATE-15-EE-SET2]
Two players, A and B , alternately keep rolling a fair
dice. The person to get a six first wins the game.
Given that player A starts the game , the probability
that A wins the game is
a) 5/11
b) 1/2
c) 7/13
d) 6/11

[GATE-15-EE-SET1]
Two coins R and S tossed. The 4 joint events 𝐇𝐑 𝐇𝐒 ,
𝐓𝐑 𝐓𝐒 , 𝐇𝐑 𝐓𝐒 , 𝐓𝐑 𝐇𝐒 have probabilities 0.28, 0.18,
0.30, 0.24 respectively, where H represents head
and T represents tail. Which one of the following is
TRUE ?
a) The coin tosses are independent
b) R is fair, S is not
c) S is fair, R is not
d) The coin tosses are dependent

[GATE-15-EE-SET2]
Each of the nine words in the sentence “The Quick
brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” is written on a
separate piece of paper. These nine pieces of paper
are kept in a box. One of the pieces is drawn at
random from the box. The expected length of the
word drawn is ________.
(The answer should be rounded to one decimal
places.)

[GATE-14-CS-SET2]
Four fair six-sided dice are rolled. The probability
that the sum of the results being 22 is X/1296. The
value of X is _______.
[GATE-14-CS-SET1]
In a given day in the rainy season, it may rain 70% of
the time. If it rains, chance that a village fair will
make a loss on that day is 80%. However , if it does
not rain, chance that the fair will make a loss on that
day is only 10%. If the fair has not made a loss on a
given day in the rainy season, what is the probability
that it has not rained on that day?
a) 3/10
b) 9/11
c) 14/17
d) 27/41

[GATE-14-PI-SET1]
Marks obtained by 100 students in an examination
are given in the table
S. No. Marks Obtained Number Of Students
1 25 20
2 30 20
3 35 40
4 40 20

What would be the mean, median, and mode of the

marks obtained by the students?
a) Mean 33; Median 35; Mode 40
b) Mean 35; Median 32.5; Mode 40
c) Mean 33; Median 35; Mode 35 [GATE-14-PI-SET1]
d) Mean 35; Median 32.5; Mode 35
An observer counts 240veh/h at a specific highway
location. Assume that the vehicle arrival at the
location is Poisson distributed, the probability of
having one vehicle arriving over a 30-second time
interval is _______.
[GATE-14-CE-SET2]
If {x} is a continuous, real valued random variable
defined over the interval −∞, +∞ and its
occurrence is defined by the density function given
𝟏 𝐱−𝐚 𝟐
𝟏
as: 𝐟 𝐱 = 𝐞 𝟐 𝐛 where ‘a’ and ‘b’ are the
𝟐𝛑𝐛
statistical attributes of the random variable {x}. The
𝟏 𝐱−𝐚 𝟐
𝐚 𝟏
value of the integral ‫׬‬−∞ 𝟐𝛑𝐛 𝐞
𝟐 𝐛 ⅆ𝐱 is

a) 1
b) 0.5 [GATE-14-CE-SET2]
c) 𝛑
𝛑
d) 𝟐
A fair (unbiased) coin was tossed four times in
succession and resulted in the following outcomes;
(i) Head, (ii)Head, (iii)Head, (iv)Head. The probability
of obtaining a ‘Tail’ when the coin is tossed again is
a) 0
b) 1/2
c) 4/5
d) 1/5

[GATE-14-CE-SET2]
A traffic office imposes on an average 5 number of
penalties daily on traffic violators. Assume that the
number of penalties on different days is
independent and follows a Poisson distribution. The
probability that there will be less than 4 penalties in
a day is ________.
[GATE-14-CE-SET1]
The probability density function of evaporation E on
any day during a year in a watershed is given by
𝟏
𝐟 𝐄 = ቐ𝟓 , 𝟎 ≤ 𝐄 ≤ 𝟓 𝐦𝐦/ⅆ𝐚𝐲
𝟎, 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞
The probability that E lies in between 2 and 4
mm/day in the watershed is (in decimal) __________.
[GATE-14-CE-SET1]
The number of accidents occurring in a plant in a month
follows Poisson distribution with mean as 5.2 . The
probability of occurrence of less than 2 accidents in the
plant during a randomly selected month is

a) 0.029
b) 0.034
c) 0.039
d) 0.044

[GATE-14-ME-SET4]
A nationalized bank has found that the daily balance
available in its saving accounts follows a normal
distribution with a mean of Rs. 500 and a standard
deviation of Rs. 50. The percentage of savings
account holders, who maintain an average daily
balance more than Rs. 500 is
[GATE-14-ME-SET4]
A machine produces 0, 1 or 2 defective pieces in a
𝟏 𝟐 𝟏
day with associated probability of , and ,
𝟔 𝟑 𝟔
respectively. Then mean value and the variance of
the number of defective pieces produced by

a) 1 and 1/3
b) 1/3 and 1
c) 1 and 4/3
d) 1/3 and 4/3

[GATE-14-ME-SET3]
A group consists of equal number of men and
women. Of this group 20% of the men and 50% of
the women are unemployed. If a person is selected
at random from this group, the probability of the
selected person being employed is
[GATE-14-ME-SET3]
Consider an unbiased cubic die with opposite faces
coloured identically and each face coloured red,
blue or green such that each colour appears only
two times on the die. If the die is thrown thrice, the
probability of obtaining red colour on top face of the
die at least twice is
[GATE-14-ME-SET2]
A box contains 25 parts of which 10 are defective.
Two parts are being drawn simultaneously in a
random manner from the box. The probability of
both the parts being good is
a) 7/20
b) 42/125
c) 25/29
d) 5/9

[GATE-14-ME-SET2]
In the following table, x is a discrete random variable
and p(x) is the probability density. The standard
deviation of x is
x 1 2 3
p(x) 0.3 0.6 0.1

a) 0.18
b) 0.36
c) 0.54
d) 0.6

[GATE-14-ME-SET1]
The figure shown the schematic of a production
process with machines A, B and C. An input job
needs to be pre-processed either by A or by B before
it is fed to C, from which the final finished product
comes out. The probabilities of failure of the
machines are given as:
𝐏𝐀 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟓, 𝐏𝐁 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟓, 𝐏𝐂 = 𝟎. 𝟏
Input
A
job Finished
C product

B [GATE-14-IN-SET1]
Assuming independence of failures of the machines, the
probability that a given job is successfully processed
(up to the third decimal place) is
Two players, A and B , alternately keep rolling a fair
dice. The person to get a six first wins the game.
Given that player A starts the game , the probability
that A wins the game is
a) 5/11
b) 1/2
c) 7/13
d) 6/11

[GATE-15-EE-SET1]
Given that x is a random variable in the range [0, ∞]
𝐱
−
𝐞 𝟐
with a probability density function
𝐊
, the value of
the constant K is

[GATE-14-IN-SET1]
Lifetime of an electric bulb is a random variable with
density 𝐟 𝐱 = 𝐤𝐱 𝟐 , where x is measured in years. If
the minimum and maximum lifetimes of bulb are 1
and 2 years respectively, then the value of k is
_______.
[GATE-14-EE-SET3]
Let X be a random variable with probability density
function
𝟎. 𝟐 𝐟𝐨𝐫 |𝐱| ≤ 𝟏
𝐟 𝐱 = ቐ 𝟎. 𝟏 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟏 < |𝐱| ≤ 𝟒
𝟎 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞

The probability P( 0.5 < x < 5 ) is ______.

[GATE-14-EE-SET2]
Consider a die with the property that the probability
of a face with ‘n’ dots showing up is proportional to
‘n’ . The probability of the face with three dots
showing up is ________.

[GATE-14-EE-SET2]
Parcels from sender S to receiver R pass
sequentially through two post – offices. Each post –
office has a probability 1/5 of losing an incoming
parcel, independently of all other parcels. Given that
a parcel is lost, the probability that it was lost by the
second post – office is __________.

[GATE-14-EC-SET4]
If calls arrive at a telephone exchange such that the
time of arrival of any call is independent of the time
of arrival of earlier or future calls, the probability
distribution function of the total number of calls in a
fixed time interval will be
a) Poisson
b) Gaussian
c) Exponential
d) Gamma

[GATE-14-EC-SET4]
Let X be a zero mean unit variance Gaussian random
variable. E[ |X| ] is equal to _______.

[GATE-14-EC-SET4]
A fair coin is tossed repeatedly till both head and tail
appear at least once. The average number of tosses
required is _______.
[GATE-14-EC-SET3]
An unbiased coin is tossed an infinite number of
times. The probability that the fourth head appears
at the tenth toss is
a) 0.067
b) 0.073
c) 0.082
d) 0.091

[GATE-14-EC-SET3]
Let X be a random variable which is uniformly
chosen from the set of positive odd numbers less
than 100. the expectation, E[X] , is ________.
[GATE-14-EC-SET2]
Let X be a real – valued random variable with E[X]
and E[𝐗 𝟐 ] denoting the mean values of X and 𝐗 𝟐 ,
respectively. The relation which always holds true is
a) 𝐄[𝐗] 𝟐 > 𝐄[𝐗 𝟐 ]
b) 𝐄[𝐗 𝟐 ] ≥ 𝐄[𝐗] 𝟐
c) 𝐄[𝐗 𝟐 ] = 𝐄[𝐗] 𝟐
d) 𝐄[𝐗 𝟐 ] > 𝐄[𝐗] 𝟐

[GATE-14-EC-SET1]
Let 𝐗 𝟏 , 𝐗 𝟐 and 𝐗 𝟑 be independent and identically
distributed random variables with the uniform
distribution on [0, 1] . The probability p {𝐗 𝟏 is the
largest} is ___________.
[GATE-14-EC-SET1]
In a housing society, half of the families have a
single child per family, while the remaining half have
two children per family. The probability that a child
picked at random, has a sibling is ________.

[GATE-14-EC-SET1]
Suppose p is the number of cars per minute passing
through a certain road junction between 5 PM and
6 PM, and p has a Poisson distribution with mean 3.
what is the probability of observing fewer than 3
cars during any given minute in this interval?
a) 𝟖Τ 𝟐𝐞𝟑
b) 𝟗Τ 𝟐𝐞𝟑
c) 𝟏𝟕Τ 𝟐𝐞𝟑
d) 𝟐𝟔Τ 𝟐𝐞𝟑

[GATE- 2013 [CS]]

Find the value of 𝛌 such that the function f(x) is a
valid probability density function _________
𝐟 𝐱 =𝛌 𝐱−𝟏 𝟐−𝐱 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟏 ≤ 𝐱 ≤ 𝟐
=0 otherwise

[GATE- 2013 [CE]]

The probability that a student knows the correct
answer to a multiple choice question is 2/3. If the
student does not know the answer, then the student
guesses the answer. The probability of the guessed
answer being correct is 1/4. Given that the student
has answered the question correctly, the conditional
probability that the student knows the correct
answer is
a) 2/3
b) 3/4
c) 5/6
d) 8/9

[GATE- 2013 [ME]]

A fair coin is tossed n times. The probability that the
difference between the number of heads and tails is (n-3) is

(A)2−𝑛
(B)0
(C) 𝑛𝑐𝑛−3 2−𝑛
(D)2−𝑛+3
[GATE 2014 EE SET 1]
Let X be a normal random variable with mean 1 and
variance 4. The probability P{X < 0} is
a) 0.5
b) Greater than zero and less than 0.5
c) Greater than 0.5 and less than 1.0
d) 1.0

[GATE- 2013 [ME]]

Let U and V be two independent zero mean Gaussian
random variables of variances 1/4 and 1/9
respectively. The probability P(3V ≥ 2U) is
a) 4/9
b) 1/2
c) 2/3
d) 5/9

[GATE- 2013 [EC]]

A continuous random variable X has a probability
density function
𝐟 𝐱 = 𝐞−𝐱 , 𝟎 < 𝐱 < ∞.
Then P{X > 1} is
a) 0.368
b) 0.5
c) 0.632
d) 1.0

[GATE- 2013 [EE, IN]]

Consider two identically distributed zero – mean
random variables U and V. let the cumulative
distribution functions of U and 2V be F(x) and G(x)
respectively. Then, for all values of x
a) F(x) - G(x) ≤ 0
b) F(x) - G(x) ≥ 0
c) (F(x) - G(x)).x ≤ 0
d) (F(x) - G(x)).x ≥ 0

[GATE- 2013 [EC]]

In an experiment, positive and negative values are
equally likely to occur. The probability of obtaining
at most one negative value in five trials is
a) 1/32
b) 2/32
c) 3/32
d) 6/32

[GATE- 2012 [CE]]

The annual precipitation data of a city is normally
distributed with mean and standard deviation as
1000mm and 200mm, respectively. The probability
that the annual precipitation will be more than
1200mm is
a) < 50%
b) 50%
c) 75%
d) 100%

[GATE- 2012 [CE]]

An automobile plant contracted to buy shock
absorbers from two suppliers X and Y. X supplies
60% and Y supplies 40% of the shock absorbers. All
shock absorbers are subjected to a quality test. The
ones that pass the quality test are considered
reliable. Of X’s shock absorbers , 96% are reliable.
Of Y’s shock absorbers, 72% are reliable. The
probability that a randomly choosen shock
absorber, which is found to reliable , is made by Y is
a) 0.288
b) 0.334
c) 0.667
d) 0.720
[GATE- 2012 [ME, PI]]
A box contains 4 red balls and 6 black balls. Three
balls are selected randomly from the box one after
another, without replacement. The probability that
the selected set contains one red ball and two black
balls is
a) 1/20
b) 1/12
c) 3/10
d) 1/2

[GATE- 2012 [ME, PI]]

A fair coin is tossed till a head appears for the first
time. The probability that the number of required
tosses is odd, is
a) 1/3
b) 1/2
c) 2/3
d) 3/4

[GATE- 2012 [EE, IN, EC]]

Two independent random variables X and Y are
uniformly distributed in the interval [-1, 1]. The
probability that max[X, Y] is less than 1/2 is
a) 3/4
b) 9/16
c) 1/4
d) 2/3

[GATE- 2012 [EE, IN, EC]]

If the difference between the expectation of the
square of a random variable [𝐄 𝐗 𝟐 ] and the square
of the expectation of the random variable 𝐄[𝐗] 𝟐 is
denoted by R, then,

a) R=0
b) R<0
c) R≥0
d) R>0

[GATE-11[CS]]
If two fair coins are flipped and at least one of the
outcomes is known to be a head, what is the
probability that both outcomes are heads?
a) 1/3
b) 1/4
c) 1/2
d) 2/3

[GATE-11[CS]]
There are two containers with one containing 4 red
and 3 green balls and the other containing 3 blue
and 4 green balls. One ball is drawn at random from
each container. The probability that one of the balls
is red and the other is blue will be ______.
a) 1/7
b) 9/49
c) 12/49
d) 3/7

[GATE-11[CE]]
An unbiased coin is tossed five times. The outcome
of each toss is either a head or a tail. Probability of
getting at least one head is _________.
a) 1/32
b) 13/32
c) 16/32
d) 31/32

[GATE-11[ME]]
It is estimated that the average number of events
during a year is three. What is the probability of
occurrence of not more than two events over a two –
year duration ? Assume that the number of events
follow a Poisson distribution.
a) 0.052
b) 0.062
c) 0.072
d) 0.082

[GATE-11[PI]]
The box 1 contains chips numbered 3, 6, 9, 12 and
15. The box 2 contains chips numbered 6, 11, 16, 21
and 26. Two chips, one from each box are drawn at
random. The numbers written on these chips are
multiplied . The probability for the product to be an
even number is ______.
a) 6/25
b) 2/5
c) 3/5
d) 19/25

[GATE-11[IN]]
A fair dice is tossed two times . The probability that
the second toss results in a value that is higher than
the first toss is
a) 2/36
b) 2/6
c) 5/12
d) 1/2

[GATE-11[EC]]
Two white and two black balls, kept in two bins, are
arranged in four ways as shown below. In each
arrangement, a bin has to be chosen randomly and
only one ball needs to be picked randomly from the
chosen bin. Which one of the following
arrangements has the highest probability for getting
a white ball picked ?

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

[GATE-10[PI]]
If a random variable X satisfies the Poisson’s
distribution with a mean value of 2, then the
probability that X ≥ 2 is
a) 2𝐞−𝟐
b) 1 - 2𝒆−𝟐
c) 3𝒆−𝟐
d) 1 - 3𝒆−𝟐

[GATE-10[PI]]
Two coins are simultaneously tossed. The
probability of two heads simultaneously appearing
is
a) 1/8
b) 1/6
c) 1/4
d) 1/2

[GATE-10[CE]]
A box contains 2 washers, 3 nuts and 4 bolts. Items
are drawn from the box at random one at a time
without replacement. The probability of drawing 2
washers first followed by 3 nuts and subsequently
the 4 bolts is
a) 2/315
b) 1/630
c) 1/1260
d) 1/2520

[GATE-10[ME]]
Consider a company that assembles computers. The
probability of a faulty assembly of any computer is
p. The company therefore subjects each computer
to a testing process. This testing process gives the
correct result for any computer with a probability of
q. What is the probability of a computer being
declared faulty ?
a) pq + (1-p) (1-q)
b) (1-q) p
c) (1-p) q
d) pq

[GATE-10[CS]]
A fair coin is tossed independently four times. The
probability of the event “ The number of times heads
show up is more than the number of times tails
show up ” is
a) 1/16
b) 1/8
c) 1/4
d) 5/16

[GATE-10[EC]]
A box contains 4 white balls and 3 red balls. In
succession, two balls are randomly selected and
removed from the box. Given that first removed ball
is white, the probability that the second removed
ball is red is
a) 1/3
b) 3/7
c) 1/2
d) 4/7

[GATE-10[EE]]
The standard deviation of a uniformly distributed
random variable b/w 0 and 1 is
𝟏
a) 𝟏𝟐
𝟏
b) 𝟑
𝟓
c) 𝟏𝟐
𝟕
d) 𝟏𝟐

[GATE-09[ME]]
If three coins are tossed simultaneously , the
probability of getting at least one head is
a) 1/8
b) 3/8
c) 1/2
d) 7/8

[GATE-09[ME]]
A screening test is carried out to detect a certain
disease. It is found that 12% of the positive reports
and 15% of the negative reports are incorrect.
Assuming that the probability of a person getting
positive report is 0.01, the probability that a person
tested gets an incorrect report is
a) 0.0027
b) 0.0173
c) 0.1497
d) 0.2100

[GATE-09[IN]]
Assume for simplicity that N people, all born in April
( a month of 30 days) are collected in a room,
consider the event of at least two people in the room
being born on the same date of the month ( even if in
different years e.g. 1980 and 1985 ). What is the
smallest N so that the probability of this exceeds 0.5
is ?
a) 20
b) 7
c) 15
d) 16

[GATE-09[EE]]
A discrete random variable X takes value from 1 to 5
with probabilities as shown in the table. A student
calculates the mean of X as 3.5 and her teacher
calculates the variance to X as 1.5 . Which of the
following statements is true?
K 1 2 3 4 5
P(X = K) 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.1

a) Both the student and the teacher are right

b) Both the student and the teacher are wrong
c) The student is wrong but the teacher is right
d) The student is right but the teacher is wrong
[GATE-09[EC]]
Consider two independent random variables X and Y
with identical distributions. The variables X and Y
take values 0, 1 and 2 with probability 1/2, 1/4 and
1/4 respectively. What is the conditional probability
P( X + Y = 2/X – Y = 0 ) ?
a) 0
b) 1/16
c) 1/6
d) 1

[GATE-09[EC]]
A fair coin is tossed 10 times. What is the probability
that only the first two tosses will yield heads?

𝟏 𝟐
a) 𝟐
𝟏 𝟐
𝟏𝟎
b) 𝐂𝟐
𝟐
𝟏 𝟏𝟎
c) 𝟐
𝟏 𝟏𝟎
𝟏𝟎
d) 𝐂𝟐
𝟐

[GATE-09[EC]]
The standard normal probability function can be
approximated as
𝟏
𝐅 𝐗𝐍 = where 𝐗 𝐍 = standard
𝟏+𝐞𝐱𝐩(−𝟏.𝟕𝟐𝟓𝟓𝐗 𝐍 𝐗 𝐍 𝟎.𝟏𝟐 )
normal deviate. If mean and standard deviation of
annual precipitation are 102 cm and 27 cm
respectively, the probability that the annual
precipitation will be b/w 90 cm and 102 cm is
a) 66.7%
b) 50.0%
c) 33.3%
d) 16.7%

[GATE-09[CE]]
In a game, two players X and Y toss a coin
alternately. Whoever gets a ‘head’ first, wins the
game and the game is terminated. Assuming that
player X starts the game the probability of player X
winning the game is
a) 1/3
b) 1/2
c) 2/3
d) 3/4

[GATE-08[PI]]
From a random variable x (-∞ <x < ∞) following
normal distribution, the mean is 𝛍 = 100. If the
probability is P = 𝛂 for x ≥ 110. Then the probability
of x lying b/w 90 and 110 i.e., P( 90 ≤ x ≤ 110 ) equal
to
a) 1-2𝛂
b) 1-𝛂
c) 1-𝛂/2
d) 2𝛂

[GATE-08[PI]]
A coin is tossed 4 times. What is the probability of
getting heads exactly 3 times ?
a) 1/4
b) 3/8
c) 1/2
d) 3/4

[GATE-08[ME]]
Consider a Gaussian distributed random variable
with zero mean and standard deviation 𝛔. The value
of its cumulative distribution function at the origin
will be
a) 0
b) 0.5
c) 1
d) 10𝛔

[GATE-08[IN]]
A random variable is uniformly distributed over the
interval 2 to 10. Its variance will be
a) 16/3
b) 6
c) 256/9
d) 36

[GATE-08[IN]]
X is uniformly distributed random variable that take
values between 0 and 1. The value of 𝐄(𝐗 𝟑 ) will be
a) 0
b) 1/8
c) 1/4
d) 1/2

[GATE-08[EE]]
𝐏𝐱 𝐗 = 𝐌𝐞 −𝟐 𝐱 + 𝐍𝐞 −𝟑 𝐱 is the probability density
function for the real random variable X, over the
entire x-axis, M and N are both positive real
numbers. The equation relating M and N is
𝟐
a) M+ N=1
𝟑
𝟏
b) 2M + N = 1
𝟑
c) M + N = 1
d) M + N = 3

[GATE-08[IN]]
An examination consists of two paper 1 and paper 2.
The probability of failing in paper 1 is 0.3 and that in
paper 2 is 0.2. Given that a student has failed in
paper 2, the probability of failing in paper 1 is 0.6.
The probability of a student failing in both the
papers is
a) 0.5
b) 0.18
c) 0.12
d) 0.06

[GATE-EC-2007-2M]
If E denotes expectation, the variance of a randomly
variable X is given by
a) 𝐄 𝐗 𝟐 − 𝐄 𝟐 (𝐗)
b) 𝐄 𝐗 𝟐 + 𝐄 𝟐 (𝐗)
c) 𝐄 𝐗 𝟐
d) 𝐄𝟐 (𝐗)

[GATE-07[EC]]
If X is a continuous random variable whose
probability density function is given by
𝒌(𝟓𝒙 − 𝟐𝒙𝟐) , 𝟎≤𝒙≤𝟐
𝐟 𝐱 =ቊ
𝟎, 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒆
Then P( x > 1) is
a) 3/14
b) 4/5
c) 14/17
d) 17/28

[GATE-07[PI]]
The random variable X takes on the values 1, 2 (or) 3
𝟐+𝟓𝐏 𝟏+𝟑𝐏 𝟏.𝟓+𝟐𝐏
with probabilities , and
𝟓 𝟓 𝟓
respectively. The values of P and E(X) are
respectively
a) 0.05, 1.87
b) 1.90, 5.87
c) 0.05, 1.10
d) 0.25, 1.40

[GATE-07[PI]]
Two cards are drawn at random in succession with
replacement from a deck of 52 well shuffled cards.
Probability of getting both ‘Aces’ is
a) 1/169
b) 2/169
c) 1/13
d) 2/13

[GATE-07[PI]]
If the standard deviation of the speed of vehicles in
a highway is 8.8 kmph and the mean speed of the
vehicles is 33 kmph, the coefficient of variation in
speed is
a) 0.1517
b) 0.1867
c) 0.2666
d) 0.3646

[GATE-07[CE]]
Assume that the duration in minutes of a telephone
conversation follows the exponential distribution
𝟏 −𝐱Τ
𝐟 𝐱 = 𝐞 𝟓 , x ≥ 0. The probability that the
𝟓
conversation will exceed five minutes is
𝟏
a) 𝐞
𝟏
b) 1 -
𝐞
𝟏
c) 𝐞𝟐
𝟏
d) 1 -
𝐞𝟐

[GATE-07[IN]]
The life of a bulb (in hours) is a random variable with
an exponential distribution 𝐟 𝐭 = 𝛂𝐞−𝛂𝐭 , 0 ≤ t ≤ ∞.
The probability that its value lies b/w 100 and 200
hours is
a) 𝐞−𝟏𝟎𝟎𝛂 − 𝐞−𝟐𝟎𝟎𝛂
b) 𝐞−𝟏𝟎𝟎 − 𝐞−𝟐𝟎𝟎
c) 𝐞−𝟏𝟎𝟎𝛂 +𝐞−𝟐𝟎𝟎𝛂
d) 𝐞−𝟐𝟎𝟎𝛂 − 𝐞−𝟏𝟎𝟎𝛂

[GATE-05[PI]]
A fair dice is rolled twice. The probability that an odd
number will follow an even number is
a) 1/2
b) 1/6
c) 1/3
d) 1/4

[GATE-05[EC]]
A single die is thrown two times. What is the
probability that the sum is neither 8 nor 9 ?
a) 1/9
b) 5/36
c) 1/4
d) 3/4

[GATE-05[ME]]
A lot has 10% defective items. Ten items are chosen
randomly from this lot. The probability that exactly 2
of the chosen items are defective is
a) 0.0036
b) 0.1937
c) 0.2234
d) 0.3874

[GATE-05[ME]]
Two dice are thrown simultaneously. The probability
that the sum of numbers on both exceeds 8 is
a) 4/36
b) 7/36
c) 9/36
d) 10/36

[GATE-05[PI]]
A fair coin is tossed 3 times in succession. If the
first toss produces a head, then the probability of
getting exactly two heads in three tosses is
a) 1/8
b) 1/2
c) 3/8
d) 3/4

[GATE-05[EE]]
If P and Q are two random events, then which of the
following is true?
a) Independence of P and Q implies that probability
(P∩Q) = 0
b) Probability (P∩Q) ≥ probability (P) + probability
(Q)
c) If P and Q are mutually exclusive then they must
be independent
d) Probability (P∩Q) ≤ probability (P)

[GATE-05[EE]]
A bag contains 10 blue marbles, 20 black marbles
and 30 red marbles. A marble is drawn from the bag ,
its color recorded and it is put back in the bag. This
process is repeated 3 times. The probability that no
two of the marbles drawn have the same color is
a) 1/36
b) 1/6
c) 1/4
d) 1/3

[GATE-05[IT]]
The following data about the flow of liquid was observed in a
continuous chemical process plant
Flow rate (litres/sec) Frequency
7.5 to 7.7 1
7.7 to 7.9 5
7.9 to 8.1 35
8.1 to 8.3 13
8.3 to 8.5 12
8.5 to 8.7 10

Mean flow rate of the liquid is

a) 8.00 litres/sec
b) 8.06 litres/sec
c) 8.16 litres/sec [GATE-04]
d) 8.26 litres/sec
From a pack of regular playing cards, two cards are
drawn at random. What is the probability that both
cards will be kings, if the card is NOT replaced?
a) 1/26
b) 1/52
c) 1/169
d) 1/221

[GATE-04]
A hydraulic structure has four gates which operate
independently. The probability of failure of each gate
is 0.2 . Given that gate 1 has failed, the probability
that both gates 2 and 3 will fail is
a) 0.240
b) 0.200
c) 0.040
d) 0.008

[GATE-04]
In a class of 200 students , 125 students have taken
programming language course, 85 students have taken data
structure course, 65 students have taken computer
organization course, 50 students have taken both
programming language and data structure, 35 students have
taken both programming language and computer
organization, 30 students have taken both data structure and
computer organization, 15 students have taken all three
courses. How many students have not taken any of the three
courses?
a) 15
b) 20
c) 25
d) 35

[GATE-04[IT]]
An exam paper has 150 multiple choice questions of
1 mark each, with each question having four
choices. Each incorrect answer fetches -0.25 marks.
Suppose 1000 students choose all their answers
randomly with uniform probability. The sum total of
the expected marks obtained by all the students is
a) 0
b) 2550
c) 7525
d) 9375

[GATE-04[CS]]
If a fair coin is tossed four times, what is the
probability that two heads and two tails will result?
a) 3/8
b) 1/2
c) 5/8
d) 3/4

[GATE-04[CS]]
In a population of N families, 50% of the families
have three children, 30% of families have two
children and the remaining families have one child.
What is the probability that a randomly picked child
belongs to a family with two children?
a) 3/23
b) 6/23
c) 3/10
d) 3/5

[GATE-04[IT]]
A box contains 10 screws, 3 of which are defective.
Two screws are drawn at random with replacement.
The probability that none of the two screws is
defective will be
a) 100%
b) 50%
c) 49%
d) none

[GATE-03]
Let P(E) denote the probability of an event E. given
P(A) = 1, P(B) = 1/2 the values of P(A/B) and P(B/A)
respectively are
𝟏 𝟏
a) 𝟒
,
𝟐
𝟏 𝟏
b) 𝟐
,
𝟒
𝟏
c) 𝟐
, 1
𝟏
d) 1,
𝟐

[GATE-03]
Four fair coins are tossed simultaneously. The
probability that at least one heads and at least one
tails turn up is
a) 1/16
b) 1/8
c) 7/8
d) 15/16

[GATE-02]
Seven car accidents occurred in a week, what is the
probability that they all occurred on the same day?
𝟏
a) 𝟕𝟕
𝟏
b) 𝟕𝟔
𝟏
c) 𝟐𝟕
𝟕
d) 𝟐𝟕

[GATE-01]
In a manufacturing plant, the probability of making a
defective bolt is 0.1 . The mean and standard
deviation of defective bolts in a total of 900 bolts are
respectively
a) 90 and 9
b) 9 and 90
c) 81 and 9
d) 9 and 81

[GATE-2000]
𝐄𝟏 and 𝐄𝟐 are events in a probability space satisfying
the following constraints P(𝐄𝟏 ) = P(𝐄𝟐 );
P(𝐄𝟏 ∪ 𝐄𝟐 ) = 1; 𝐄𝟏 & 𝐄𝟐 are independent then P(𝐄𝟏 ) =
________.
a) 0
b) 1/4
c) 1/2
d) 1

[GATE-2000]
Consider two events 𝐄𝟏 and 𝐄𝟐 such that P(𝐄𝟏 )=1/2 ,
P(𝐄𝟐 )=1/3 and P(𝐄𝟏 ∩ 𝐄𝟐 )=1/5. Which of the following
statements is true?
a) P(𝐄𝟏 ∪ 𝐄𝟐 ) = 2/3
b) 𝐄𝟏 and 𝐄𝟐 are independent
c) 𝐄𝟏 and 𝐄𝟐 are not independent
d) P(𝐄𝟏 /𝐄𝟐 ) = 𝟒/𝟓

[GATE-99]
The probability that two friends share the same
birth-month is
a) 1/6
b) 1/12
c) 1/144
d) 1/24

[GATE-98]
A die is rolled three times. The probability that
exactly one odd number turns up among the three
outcomes is
a) 1/6
b) 3/8
c) 1/8
d) 1/2

[GATE-98[CS]]
The probability that it will rain today is 0.5 . The
probability that it will rain tomorrow is 0.6 . The
probability that it will rain either today or tomorrow
is 0.7 . What is the probability that it will rain today
and tomorrow?
a) 0.3
b) 0.25
c) 0.35
d) 0.4

[GATE-97[CS]]
The probability that a number selected at random
between 100 and 999 (both inclusive) will not
contain the digit 7 is
a) 16/25
𝟗 𝟑
b) 𝟏𝟎
c) 27/75
d) 18/25

[GATE-95[CS]]