PROBABILITY-1

1. A positive integer is selected at random. If A be the event that it is divisible by 5 and B be the
event that it has zero at the units place, then A  B is
1) An impossible event
2) a certain event
3) A  B
4) the event that the number has a non-zero digits at the units place
2. There are 7 seats in a row. Three persons take seats at random the probability that the
middle seat is always occupied and no two persons are consecutive is
9 9 4 6
1) 2) 3) 4)
70 35 35 35
3. If the letters of the word MISSISSIPPI are arranged at random, the probability that all the
4 S's appear consecutively is
8 4 84 6
1) 2) 3) 4)
11 11 11 11
4. If 10 persons are to sit around a round table, the odds against two specified persons sitting
together is
1 2
1) 2) 3) 7 to 2 4) 2 to 7
9 9
5. The probability that the birthdays of 6 girls will fall on 6 different calender months of a year
is
6 12
1 c6 p6 1
1) 2) 3) 4)
125 126 12 6 1211
6. Out of numbers 1 to 9, two numbers are chosen at random, so that their sum is even number.
The probability that the two chosen numbers are odd is
5 13 5 1
1) 2) 3) 4)
18 18 8 8
7. Three integers are chosen at random without replacement from the 1st 20 integers. The
probability that their product is odd is
3 2 1 4
1) 2) 3) 4)
19 19 19 19
8. There are m persons sitting in a row. Two of them are selected at random. The probability
that the two selected persons are together
m 1 m 1
c2 m 1 m3 c2
1) m
c2
2) m c 3) m c 4) 1  m
c2
2 2

9. Consider a lottery that sells n2 tickets and awards n prizes. If one buys n tickets the probability
of his winning is i.e., getting at least one prize is
 n  n
n  n
2
n cn
2
1
1) n 2
cn
2) 1  n2 3) 2
4) n2
cn
cn n
10. Dialling a telephone number to his daughter an old man forgets the last two digits and dialled
at random remembering only that they are different. The probability that the number dialled
is correct is
1 1 1 1
1) 2) 3) 4)
10 45 90 135
11. 12 balls are distributed among 3 boxes. The probability that the 1st box contains 3 balls is
10 10
2 100 110  2  100
1)   2) 3)    4)
3 9  310 9 3 9
12. Three houses are available in a locality. Three persons apply for the houses. Each applies for
one house without consulting others. The probability that all three apply for the same house
is
1) 1/9 2) 2/9 3) 7/9 4) 8/9
13. There are 2 locks on the door and the keys are among the six different ones you carry in your
pocket. In a hurry you dropped one somewhere. The probability that you can still open the
door is
1 1 2 1
1) 2) 3) 4)
2 3 3 4
14. Two friends A and B have equal number of sons. There are 3 cinema tickets which are to be
distributed among the sons of A and B. The probability that all the tickets go to sons of B is
1/20. The number of sons, each of them having is
1) 2 2) 4 3) 5 4) 3
15. Three groups of children contain respectively 3 girls & 1 boy; 2 girls & 2 boys; 1 girl & 3
boys. One child is selected at random from each group. The chance that the three selected
children consists of one girl and 2 boys is
9 11 13 7
1) 2) 3) 4)
32 32 32 32
16. A letter is taken out at random from the word ASSISTANT and an other from STATISTICS.
The probability that they are the same letters is
13 17 19 15
1) 2) 3) 4)
90 90 90 90
17. If a number x is selected from the 1st 100 natural numbers at random, then the probability
100
that x   50 is
x
9 1 11 5
1) 2) 3) 4)
20 2 20 20
18. Three newly wedded couples are dancing at a function. If the partner is selected at random
the chance that all the husbands are not dancing with their own wives is
1 1 5 2
1) 2) 3) 4)
3 6 6 3
19. 2n boys are randomly divided into two subgroups containing n boys each. The probability
that the two tallest boys are in different groups is
1 n  n  1 2n
1) 2) 3)  2n  1 4)
2 2n  1 2n  1
20. A bag contains apples and oranges, five in all and atleast one of each, all combinations being
equally likely. If one fruit is selected at random from the bag, assuming all fruits are
distinguishable, the probability that it is an orange is
1 1 1 1
1) 2) 3) 4)
20 10 5 2
21. There are 10 stations between A and B. A train is to stop at three of these 10 stations. The
probability that no two of these stations are consecutive is
8 9 7 10
c3 c3 c3 c3
1) 10
c3
2) 10
c3
3) 10
c3
4) 12
c3
22. If the papers of 4 students can be checked by any one of the seven teachers then the probability
that all the four papers are checked by exactly two teachers is
6 2 32 2
1) 2) 3) 4)
49 7 343 343
23. A box contains 100 tickets numbered 1, 2, ...., 100. Two tickets are chosen at random. It is
given that the maximum number on the two chosen tickets is not more than 10. The probability
that the minimum number on them is 5 is
1 2 3 4
1) 2) 3) 4)
9 9 9 9
24. Five horses are in a race. Mr. A selects two of the horses at random and bets on them. The
probability that Mr. A selected the winning horse is
3 1 2 4
1) 2) 3) 4)
5 5 5 5

25. Two integers x and y are chosen with replacement out of the set 0, 1, 2, 3, ......,10 . Then the

probability that x  y  5 is
81 30 25 20
1) 2) 3) 4)
121 121 121 121
26. A determinant is chosen at random from the set of all determinants of order 2 with elements
0 or 1 only. The probability that the determinant is positive is
3 3 5 7
1) 2) 3) 4)
16 8 8 8
27. A team of 8 couples (husband and wife) attend a lucky draw in which 4 persons picked up for
a prize. Then the probability that there is atleast one couple is
1) 11 39 2) 12 39 3) 14 39 4) 15 39
28. A subset A of X = {1, 2, 3, ...., 100} is chosen at random. The set X is reconstructed by replacing
the elements of A and another subset B of X is chosen at random. The probability that A  B
contains exactly 10 elements is
100 100
1 100 1 100 1 390
1) 2) c10   3) c10   4) 100
c10
10  2  4 4100
29. A has 3 tickets of a lottery containing 3 prizes and 9 blanks. B has two tickets of another
lottery containing 2 prizes and 6 blanks. The ratio of their chances of success is
32 15 32 13 34 13 34 15
1) : 2) : 3) : 4) :
55 28 55 28 55 28 55 28
30. S = {1, 2, 3, ..... 11} if 3 numbers are chosen at random from S, the probability for they are in
G.P.
7 9 5 4
1) 11
c3 2) 11
c3 3) 11
c3 4) 11
c3
31. If 10 identical apples are distributed among 6 persons at random then the probability that
atleast one of them will receive none is
14
6 c4 137 1
1) 2) 15
c5
3) 4)
143 143 143
32. In a game called ‘odd man out’, 4 persons toss a coin to decide who will buy refreshments for
the entire group. A person who gets an outcome different from that of the rest of the members
of the group is called the odd man out. The probability that there is a loser in any game is
1) 1/3 2) 1/4 3) 1/2 4) 1/5
33. Two numbers ‘a’ and ‘b’ are chosen at random from the numbers 1,2,3,....30. The chance
that a2 – b2 is divisible by ‘3’ is
9 12 15 47
1) 2) 3) 4)
87 87 87 87
34. Two numbers are selected at random from 1,2,3,.....,100 and are multiplied, then the
probability that the product thus obtained is divisible by 3 correct to two places of decimal is
1) 0.45 2) 0.55 3) 0.25 4) 0.35
35. Four digit numbers with different digits are formed using the digits 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. One
number from them is picked up at random. The chance that the selected number contains
the digit ’1’ is
1 1 1 1
1) 2) 3). 4)
2 4 8 16
36. Three numbers are chosen at random from the set {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}. The probability
that the smallest of the three numbers chosen is even is
5 7 5 1
1) 2) 3) 4)
12 12 6 6
37. Out of 5 digits 0, 3, 3, 4, 5 five digit numbers are formed. If one number is selected at random
out of them. The probability that it is divisible by 5 is
3 5 7 9
1) 2) 3) 4)
16 16 16 16
38. From the first 100 natural numbers a number is chosen at random, the probability for it to
be a composite number is
74 24 25 26
1) 2) 3) 4)
100 100 100 100
39. From 101 to 1000 natural numbers a number is taken at random. The probability that the
number is divisible by 17 is
58 58
1) 2)
900 100
53 53
3) 4)
900 1000
40. 3 coins are marked with a, b; b,c; c,a. All are tossed, probability that two of the faces shows
the same letter is
3 1 3 1
1) 2) 3) 4)
8 8 4 4
41. A magical die is so loaded that the probability of any face appearing is proportional to the
number of points on its face. The probability of an odd number appearing is
2 3 4 5
1) 2) 3) 4)
7 7 7 7
42. A die is loaded such that 6 turning upwards is twice as often as 1 and three times as any other
face. The chance that we get a face with one point when we throw such a die is
6 3 2 5
1) 2) 3) 4)
17 17 17 17
43. A fair die is thrown untill a face with less than 5 points is obtained. The probability of obtaining
not less than 2 points on the last throw is
1 1 3 1
1) 2) 3) 4)
4 2 4 8
44. An ordinary die has four blank faces. One face marked 2, an other marked 3) Then the
probability of obtaining a total of exactly 12 in 5 throws is
15 10 5 6
1) 2) 3) 4)
64 64 64 64
45. A and B throw a symmetrical die each. The odds against ‘ A’ not throwing a number greater
than B is
1) 1 to 5 2) 5 to 1 3) 7 to 5 4) 5 to 7
46. Three faces of a fair die are yellow, two faces red and one blue. The die is thrown twice. The
probability that 1st throw will give an yellow face and the second a blue face is
1 1 1 1
1) 2) 3) 4)
6 9 12 3
47. In a single throw with a pair of dice, the total score of occurrence for which the probability is
maximum is
1) 5 2) 6 3) 7 4) 8
48. If three dice are thrown, then the probability that they show the numbers in A.P. is
1 1 2 5
1) 2) 3) 4)
36 18 9 18
49. It is given that there are 52 Thursdays in a leap year. Then the probability that it will have 52
Fridays is
2 4 1 3
1) 2) 3) 4)
5 5 5 5
50. Two children were picked at random and found to have been born in 1992 then the probability
that exactly one of them is born on 29th February is
1 365 731
1) 0 2) 3) 4)
366  183 366  183 (366) 2
51. Five cards are drawn at random from a well shuffled pack of 52 playing cards. The probability
that four of them may have the same face value is
13
c1  4 c1  48 c1 13
c1  48 c1
1) 52
c5
2) 52
c5
13
c5 13
c4  4 c1
3) 52
c5
4) 52
c5
52. The probability of getting 9 cards of the same suit by a particular hand at a game of bridge
is
13
c9 13
c9  39 c4
1) 52
c13
2) 52
c13
4
c1  13 c9  39 c4 4
c1  13 c9
3) 52
c13
4) 52
c13
53. In a hand at which the probability that 4 queens are held by a specified player is
4  48 c9 48
c9 4  48 c13 2  48 c13
1) 52
c13
2) 52
c13
3) 52
c13
4) 52
c13
54. Two cards drawn one after another at random without replacement. The probability that
both of them may have the same face value is
1 1 1 1
1) 2) 3) 4)
221 169 17 19
55. Two cards are drawn at random from a pack of 52 cards. The probability of getting atleast a
spade and an ace is
1 8 1 2
1) 2) 3) 4)
34 221 26 51
56. The probability of getting different suit cards and different denomination cards when two
cards are drawn from a pack is
13 13 12 6
1) 2) 3) 4)
17 34 17 17
57. There are 3 cards. Each is painted red on one side and black on the other side. The cards are
randomly placed in a row. The probability that no two consecutive cards show red is
3 5 5 1
1) 2) 3) 4)
8 8 6 8
58. A bag contains 10 white and 3 black balls. Balls are drawn one by one without replacement
till all the black balls are drawn. The probability that the test will come to an end at the 7 th
draw is
10c ´ 3c 10c ´ 3c 10c ´ 3c 10c 5 ´ 3c
4 2´ 1 4 2´ 2 4 2 2
1) 13c 7 2) 13c 7 3) 13c 4) 13c
6 6 7 7
59. Four tickets numbered 00, 01, 10, 11 are placed in a bag. A ticket is drawn at random and
replaced. Again a ticket is drawn at random. The probability that the sum of the numbers on
the tickets drawn is 21
1 1 1 1
1) 2) 3) 4)
4 8 16 12
60. Two squares of a chess board having 8  8 squares are selected at random the probability
that they have a side in common is
56 112 168 268
1) 64
c2 2) 64
c2 3) 64
c2 4) 64
c2
61. If 16 squares of unit size are selected at random on a chess board, the probability that they
form a square of 4  4 is
25 25 36 36
1) 64
C16
2) 64
C4
3) 64
C16
4) 64
C4
62. Three numbers are chosen at random from {1,2,3,.....,10}. The probability that minimum of
chosen number is 3 or maximum is 7, is
1) 11/30 2) 11/40 3) 1/7 4) 1/8
63. Out of 15 persons 10 can speak Hindi and 8 can speak English. If two persons are chosen at
random, then the probability that one peron speaks Hindi only and the other speaks both
Hindi and English is
1) 3 5 2) 7 12 3) 1 5 4) 2 5
64. An electric bulb will last for 150 days or more with a probability 0.7 and it will last for at the
most 160 days with probability 0.8. The probability that the bulb will last between 150 and
160 days is
1) 0.1 2) 0.3 3) 0.5 4) 0.4
 KEY
1) 2 2) 3 3) 3 4) 3 5) 3 6) 3 7) 2 8) 2 9) 2 10) 3
11) 3 12) 1 13) 3 14) 415) 3 16) 3 17) 3 18) 3 19) 2 20) 4
21) 1 22) 1 23) 1 24) 3 25) 2 26) 1 27) 4 28) 4 29) 3 30) 4
31) 3 32) 3 33) 4 34) 2 35) 1 36) 1 37) 3 38) 1 39) 3 40) 3
41) 2 42) 2 43) 3 44) 3 45) 4 46) 3 47) 3 48) 2 49) 2 50) 3
51) 2 52) 3 53) 2 54) 3 55) 3 56) 3 57) 2 58)1 59) 2 60) 2
61) 1 62) 2 63) 3 64) 3
HINTS
1. A-unit place contains 5, 0; B-unit place contains 0
AB S
2. .n (S) = 7p3 = 210
4
n (E) = 2c12c1 1c13!, P(E) =
35
11! 8!
3. n(S) = 4!4!2! n(E) = 4! 2!

4. n(S) = 9! ; n(E) = 8!  2!

P E 
2
9
 
P E  1
2 7

9 9

 
P E :P  E  
7 2
:  7:2
9 9
5. n(S) = 126 ; n(E) = 12 P6
5
c2
6. Req. Prob. = 5 c  4 c
2 2

7. n  S  20 c3 n  E   10 c3

8. n S  m c2 n  E   m  1

 n2  n  
c
9. Req. Prob. = 1  2 n 
 n c 
 2

10. n(S) = 10 P2 n(E) = 1
11. n S  312 n  E   12 c3 . 29
12. Let the houses be A, B, C.
Each one can apply for any one of these. The number of ways they can apply is 3 3 = 27
3 1
All three may opt for A or B or C ; p  
27 9
13. n S  6 c2 n  E   5 c2
n
c3 1
14. 2n
 n3
c3 20
15. P(BBG) + P(BGB) + P(GBB) =
1 2 1 1 2 3 3 2 3 13
. .  . .  . . 
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 32
16. P  A   P  S  P  T   P  I 
2 1 3 3 2 3 1 2
       
9 10 9 10 9 10 9 10
17. n  S   100C1 , n  A  55 C1
{1, 2, 50, 51, .... 100, 49, 48}
18. P( all the husbands not dancing with their own wives) = 1- P( all husbands are dancing with their
1 5
own wives) =1- 
6 6
2n!  2n  2 ! 2!
19. n  S  n! n! ; n  A    n  1!  n  1!
20. Bag may contain (A, 0) = (1, 4) (4, 3) (3, 2) (4, 1)
1 4 3 2 1 1
Req. Prob 4  5  5  5  5   2
 
 n  r  1 8
cr c3
21. Req. Prob = n
cr
= 10
c3

6
22. n  S  7.7.7.7  74 , n( A)  7C  2  2   2114 P  A 
4
2 49
23. n(S) = 10 c 2  45
n(A) = 5 {(5, 6) (5, 7) (5, 8) (5, 9) (5, 10)}
4
c 2
24. Req. Prob. = 1  5 c  5
2

25. n S  1111; n(E) = 30 ; n(E) = 15 + 15

26. n(E) = 3 ; n(S) = 16
 16   14  12   10 
27. R.P  1        
 16   15  14   13 

28. n(S )  4
10

n( A)  100C10 .(3)90
9 6
C3 C2
29. Success means getting atleast one prize. p ( A)  1  12
: p ( B )  1  8
C3 C2

4
30. Favourable cases (1,2,4), (2,4,8), (1,3,9), (4,6,9) Required probability = 11
C3

10 1
c 6 1
31. Req. = 1 – prob. of each receiving atleast one  1  10  6 1
c 6 1
32. n (S) = 24 = 16
8 1
n (A) = 4c1 + 4c1 = 8, p (A) = 
16 2
33. a2 – b2 is divisible by ‘3’ if either both a and b are divisible by 3 or neither of them is divisible by
‘3’
47
n (S) = 30C2, n(E) = 10C2, P(E) =
87
34. n( S ) 100 C2 , n( E ) 33 C1 67 C1 33 C2 ;
913 83
P(E) =   0.55
1650 150
The product of two numbers is divisible by ‘3’ if atleast one of the numbers is divisible by 3
7 p4 7.6.5.4 1 1
35. P  E   8 p  8.7.6.4  2  P ( E )  2
4

36. n S  10 c3 n  E   8 c2  6 c 2  4 c2  2 c2  50

4! 4! 4! 3! 21 7
37. n(S) = 4   48 ; n(A) =   12  9  21 , P  A   
2! 2! 2! 48 16
38. n(S) = 100 n(E) = 74
39. n(S) = 900 n(E) = 53
6
40. R.P 
8
41. P  E k   E k ; P  E1   P  E 2   ....  P  E6  = 1
1 9 3
k ; P  E1  E3  E 5   
21 21 7
42. P  6   2 P 1 ; P  6   3 P  2   3 P  3  3 P  4   3 P  5
P 1  P  2   P  3  P  4   P  5  P  6   1

3
 P 1 
17

P 2  x  4 3
43. Req. Probability = 
P  x  5 4

4 5
1 4 1 30 5
44. (3 3 3 3) (2 2 2 3 3), Req. probability = 5       10    5  4
6 6 6 6 6
45. ‘A’not throwing a no > B  ‘A’ throwing a no  B
1  1 2 3 4 5 6  21 7
 P ( A)          
6  6 6 6 6 6 6  36 12
Odds against A is 5 to 7
3 1 1
46. P  Y  B    
6 6 12
47. n  S  6 2 n  E   1, 6  2,5  3, 4  4,3  5, 2  6,1
48. (1, 2, 3) : (2, 3, 4): (3, 4, 5): (4, 5, 6): (1, 3, 5):
12
(2, 4, 6), Required probability = 3
n( A)  6  6, n( s )  63
6
  A 4
49. P  B   5
 

365
50. n (S) = (366)2; n (E) = 2 (365); P(E) =
183(366)
13
c1  48 c1
51. P  E   52
c5
4
c1  13 c 9  39 c 4
52. P  E   52
c13
48
c9
53. P  E   52
c13

16 1
54. P  E   1  
17 17
55. n (S) = 52c2; n(E) = 13c1) 3c1 + 12c1) 1c1 = 51
1
P( E ) 
26
56. n S  52 c2 n  E   4 c2 13 12
3
57. R.P  1 
8
10c  3c 1
4 2
58. R.P  13c  7
6

1 1 1
59. (10, 11) (11, 10); Req. Prob = 2   
4 4 8
60. Both the squares selected must lie either in a row or column.
61. n(S)  64 c16 , n(A) = 25
62. A  minimum is 3, B  maximum is 7,
7
C2  6 C2 3 C1 11
P ( A  B )  P ( A)  P ( B )  P ( A  B )  10

40
C3

7c  3c
1 1
63. R.P  15c
2

64. P  A   P   150   0.7 ; P  B   P   160   0.8

P  A  B   P  A   P  B   P  A  B  0.5