PROBABILITY

 Random Experiment:- If all possible outcomes of an experiment are known but the exact
outcome is unknown, then that experiment is called a random experiment,
that is, random experiment is performed many times under similar
conditions and the outcome in each time is not the same.
 Sample Space:- The set containing the all possible outcomes of a random experiment is
called the sample space connected to the random experiment.
For example, Let us consider the random experiment tossing a coin for two times.
It is a random experiment as all four possible outcomes are known to us,
which are:
i) 1st time result is head and 2nd time it’s also a head, say HH
ii) 1st time result is head and 2nd time it’s a tail, say HT
iii) 1st time result is tail and 2nd time it’s a head, say TH
iv) both the times the result is tail, say TT

Hence the sample space is S   HH , HT , TH , TT 

 Event:- Any subset of sample space of a random experiment, can be considered as an event.
For the above example, if we consider getting at least one head after tossing a coin for two
times, then this can be considered as an event E   HH , HT , TH   S .

Different types of events:-

i) Complementary Event:- If A is any event associated to the sample space S

connected to the random experiment E. Then the
complementary event of A means “not A” and it’s
denoted by Ac .
ii) The event A or B :- Let A and B are two events associated to the sample
space S connected to the random experiment E. Then,
A  B  Either A or B .
iii) The event A and B :- Let A and B are two events associated to the sample
space S connected to the random experiment E. Then,
A  B  Both A and B .
iv) The event A but not B :- Let A and B are two events associated to the
sample space S connected to the random experiment E.
Then, A  B c  A  B  A but not B .
v) Exhaustive Events:- Let A1 , A2 , A3 , ......., An be n events associated to the
sample space S connected to the random experiment E.
Then A1 , A2 , A3 , ......., An are called exhaustive events if
n

A
i 1
i S.

That is, at least any of the Ai will necessarily occur if the

experiment is performed.
vi) Mutually Exclusive Events- Let A1 , A2 , A3 , ......., An be n events associated to
the sample space S connected to the random
experiment E. Then A1 , A2 , A3 , ......., An are called

mutually exclusive events if Ai  A j   i  j .

Note:-
i)  being a subset of the sample space, can also be considered as an event, known as
impossible event.
 ii) The sample space is also a subset of itself hence it can also be considered as an event,
known as sure event or certain event.

 Classical Definition Of Probability:-

Let A is any event associated to the sample space S connected to the random
experiment E.
Then the probability of A is defined as:
Number of elements in A n  A 
P  A   .
Number of elements in S n  S 

Properties of probability of occurrence of an event:-

Let A is any event associated to the sample space S connected to the random
experiment E. Then,
i) 0  P  A  1 .
ii) P  A   P  Ac   1 .
iii) Let A and B are two events associated to the sample space S connected to the
random experiment E. Then,
P  A  B   P  A  P  B   P  A  B  .
iv) Let A1 , A2 , A3 , ......., An be n mutually exclusive events associated to the sample
space S connected to the random experiment E. Then,
P  A1  A2  .......  An   P  A1   P  A2   ......  P  An  .
v) P    0 .
vi) Let the sample space S is connected to the random experiment E. Then,
n S 
PS   1.
n S

Odds In Favour and Odds Against An Event:-

Let A is any event associated to the sample space S connected to the random experiment E.
Then,
i) Odds in favour of event A 
n  A number of cases favourable to A P  A 
  .
n A c
 number of cases against A P  Ac 
ii) Odds against event A 
n  Ac  number of cases against A P  Ac 
 
n  A  number of cases favourable to A P  A 

 Conditional Probability:-
Let A and B  where B    are two events associated to the sample space S connected to the
random experiment E. Then the conditional probability of occurrence of event A , when B has
already occurred, is
n A  B P  A  B
P  A / B   .
n B P  B

Properties of Conditional Probability:

Let A, B and C are three events associated to the sample space S connected to the random
experiment E. Then,
 i) P  S / A  P  A / A   1
ii) P   A  B  / C   P  A / C   P  B / C   P   A  B  / C  ;  if P  C   0 
iii) P  Ac / B   1  P  A / B  ;  if P  B   0 

Example:-
Q. A box contains 10 mangoes out of which 4 are rotten. Two mangoes are taken out
together. If one of them is found to be good, then find the probability that the other
is also good.
Ans:-

Let A  The event that the 1st mango is good

B  The event that the 2nd mango is good

P  A  B
Required probability= P  B / A  
P  A
6
C2 6
C 2 6C 1  4 C 1
Now, P  A  B   10
and P  A   10
 10
C2 C2 C2

6
C2 15 5
 P  B / A    .
C 2  C1  C1 15  24 13
6 6 4

 Multiplication Theorem Of Probability:-

Let A and B are two events associated to the sample space S connected to the random experiment
E. Then,

P  A  B   P  A . P  B / A ; P  A   0
 P  B  .P  A / B  ; P  B   0

Example:-
Q. Find the probability of drawing a diamond card in each of the two consecutive
Draws from a well shuffled pack of cards, if the card drawn is not replaced after
the first draw.
Ans:-

Let A  The event of drawing a diamond card in 1st draw

B  The event of drawing a diamond card in 2 nd draw

13 12
C1 1 C1 4
So, P  A   52
 and P  B / A   52

C1 4 C1 17

1 4 1
Hence, required probability= P  A  B   P  A  . P  B / A   . 
4 7 7
 Independent Events:-

Let A and B are two events associated to the sample space S connected to the random experiment E.
Then, A and B are independent events iff
P  B / A  P  B  & P  A / B   P  A
i.e, P  A  B   P  A  . P  B  iff A and B are independent

Properties of Independent Events:

Let A and B are two independent events associated to the sample space S connected to the
random experiment E. Then,

i) Ac and B are independent events.

ii) A and B c are independent events.
iii) Ac and B c are independent events.
iv) P  A  B   1  P  Ac  P  B c  .

Example:-
Q. Three persons work independently to solve a problem. If the probabilities of

1 1 1
Solving the problem are , and respectively, then find the probability that
3 4 5
None can solve the problem.
Ans:-

Let A  The event of solving the problem by the 1st person

B  The event of solving the problem by the 2 nd person

C  The event of solving the problem by the 3 rd person

1 1 1
 P  A  , P  B   and P  C  
3 4 5
Let X  The event of solving the problem by none

 X  Ac  B c  C c

 P  X   P  Ac  . P  B c  . P  C c 

 1  1  1 2 3 4 2
 P  X    1   . 1   . 1    . . 
 3   4   5 3 4 5 5
 Partition of A Sample Space:-
Let A1 , A2 , A3 , ......., An be n events associated to the sample space S connected to the random
experiment E. Then,  A1 , A2 , ......., An  is said to represent a partition of S if

i) Ai  Aj   i  j
n
ii) A
i 1
i S

iii) P  Ai   0 i  1, 2, ....., n
 Total Probability Theorem :-
Let  A1 , A2 , ......., An  be a partition of the sample space S .

n
Let A be any event associated to S . Then P  Ai    P  A  .P  A / A  .
i i
i 1

Example:-
Q. Let X speaks truth in 60% and Y speaks in 50% of cases. Find the probability
they contradict each other narrating the same incident.
Ans:-
Let X  The event of speaking truth by X

Y  The event of speaking truth by Y

 P  X   0.6  P  X c   1  0.6  0.4 and P  Y   0.5  P  Y c   1  0.5  0.5

Let A  The event of contradiction

 P  A  P  X  Y c   P  X c  Y 

 P  A   P  X  . P  Y c   P  X c  . P Y 

 P  A   0.6  0.5  0.4  0.5  0.5

 Baye’s Theorem:-
Let  A1 , A2 , ......., An  be a partition of the sample space S . Let A be any event associated to S with
P  Ai  . P  A / Ai 
non-zero probability. Then P  Ai / A   n
.
 P  A  .P  A / A 
j 1
j j

Example:-
Q. In an entrance test, there are MCQs. There are four possible answers to each
question of which only one is correct. The probability that a student knows the
answer to a question is 90%. If he gets the correct answer to a question, then find
the probability that he was guessing.
Ans:-

Let, A1  The event that he knows the answer A2  The event that he does not know the answer

X  The event that he gets the correct answer

9 9 1
 P  A1   , P  A2   1  
10 10 10
1
 P  X / A1   1, P  X / A2  
4
1 1
P  A2  . P  X / A2  
1
 P  A2 / X    10 4  .
P  A1  . P  X / A1   P  A2  . P  X / A2  9 1 1 37
1  
10 10 4
  Random Variable :- Its Probability Distribution and Mean-
Let the sample space S is connected to the random experiment E.

The real function X : S   0,1 defined by X  xi   pi xi  S , is called a random

variable connected to the random experiment E.
The probability distribution of the random variable X is given by

X x1 x2 x3 ……….. ………… ………. …… …….. xn

PX p1 p2 p3 ……….. ………… ………. ……. ……… pn

The mean of the above random variable is defined by

n
X   xi pi i  1, 2, 3, .........., n
i 1

Properties of Mean of Random Variables:

Let X and Y are two random variables associated to a random experiment E and a be any
constant. Then,

i) X Y  X Y
ii) X .Y  X .Y
iii) aX  a X
iv) a X a X
v) aa

***********************************************************************************************
 MCQ’s

1. If P  A   0.6, P  B   0.7 and P  A / B   0.3 , then P  A  B  is

(a) 0.18 (b) 0.021 (c) 0.21 (d) 0.09

5 2
2. If 2 P  A   P  B   , P  A / B   , then P  A  B  is
13 5
11 11 2 2
(a) (b) (c) (d)
26 13 13 15
3. A pair of fair dice is thrown. Find the probability that the sum of the outcomes is 10 :

1 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d) None
9 10 12
4. A coin is tossed twice and the four possible outcomes are assumed to be equally likely. If E is the event:
‘both head and tail have occurred’ and F is the event ‘at most one tail is observed’, find P  F / E 

1 1
(a) (b) (c) 1 (d) None
2 3
5. A card is drawn from a pack of 52 cards and then a second card is drawn without replacement. The
probability that both the cards drawn are queens, is:

2 3 1 5
(a) (b) (c) (d)
221 221 221 221
6. From a bag containing 4 red and 2 white balls, two balls are drawn. The probability that both the balls are
red is:

1 2 3
(a) (b) (c) (d) None
5 5 5
7. If tossing of a pair of dice, the probability of getting an odd number greater than 2 on each die is:

1 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d) None
3 9 6

8. A fair die is rolled. The events are E  1, 2, 3 , F   3, 5 , then the probability P  E / F  =

1 1 1 2
(a) (b) (c) (d)
6 3 2 3
9. An urn contains 10 black and 5 white balls. If two balls are drawn one by one without replacing the ball,
then the probability of getting both black balls is:

3 4 2
(a) (b) (c) (d) None
7 9 21
10. If out of 52 playing cards two cards are drawn at random without replacement, then the probability of both
cards are kings is

1 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d) None
221 169 2
11. If a four-digit number is formed by using the digit 1, 2, 3 and 5 with no repetition, then the probability that
the number is divisible by 5 is:

1 1 3 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
2 3 4 4
12. A die is thrown 6 Getting an odd number is a success. What is the probability of at least 5 successes?

1 5 7 3
(a) (b) (c) (d)
32 32 32 32

13. If A and B are two events such that P  A   P  B   P  A  B   P  A  , then which of the following
is true?

(a) P  B / A   1 (b) P  A / B   1 (c) P  B / A   0 (d) P  A / B   0

14. Probability distribution of X is given below, then the value of K is:

X 0 1 2 3

PX 2K 3K 0.2 0.3

(a) 1 (b) 0.1 (c) 0 (d) None

 15. If A and B are two events such that P  A   0 and P  B / A   1 , then

(a) A  B (b) B  A (c) B   (d) A  

16. A die is thrown. Consider two events A  1, 2, 3, 4 , B  4, 5, 6 . Then the events A and B are:

(a) Independent (b) Dependent (c) Mutually exclusive(d) Exhaustive

17. A and B are two events such that P  A   0 and P  B   1 , then P A / B   

P  A 1  P  A  B
(a)
P  B
(b)
P  B
(c) 1  P  A / B  
(d) 1  P A / B 
18. A speaks truth 60% times and B speaks 70% times. The probability that they say same thing while
describing a single event is:
(a) 0.42 (b) 0.46 (c) 0.54 (d) 0.12

19. One ticket is selected at random from 50 tickets mentioned 00, 01, 02, ...., 49 . Then the probability that
the sum of the digits on the selected ticket is 8 , given that the product of these digits is zero, equals:

5 1 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
14 50 14 7
20. The probability that a person will hit a v target in a shooting practice is 0.3 . If he shoots 10 times, the
probability that he hits the target is:

(b) 1   0.7  (c)  0.7  (d)  0.3 

10 10 10
(a) 1

Ans:-
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
c c c c c b b c a a
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
d a b b a d b c c b

 ASSERTION-REASON TYPE QUESTIONS

In the following questions, a statement of Assertion (A) is followed by a statement of Reason
(R). Choose the correct answer out of the following choices.
(a) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) is true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
(b) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) is true and (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
(c) Assertion (A) is true but Reason (R) is false.
(d) Assertion (A) is false but Reason (R) is true.
2 1 1
1. Assertion (A): If A, B, C are three events such that P  A   , P  B   , P  C   , then
3 4 6
A, B, C are mutually exclusive events.

Reason (R): If P  A  B  C   P  A   P  B   P  C  , then A, B, C are exclusive events.

1 1
2. Assertion (A): The probability that A and B can solve a problem is and respectively.
3 4
 7
Then the probability that the problem will be solved is .
12
Reason (R): Above mentioned events are independent events.

3. Assertion (A): If A and B are mutually exclusive events in a sample space such that P  A   0.3

 
and P  B   0.6 , then P A  B  0.28 .

Reason (R): If A and B are mutually exclusive events, then P  A  B   0 .

4. Assertion (A): If 12 coins are thrown simultaneously then probability of appearing exactly five
heads is equal to probability of appearing exactly 7 heads.

Reason (R): n C r  n C s , implies that either r  s or r  s  n and P  H   P  T  in a single trial.

1 2
5. Assertion (A): If A and B are two events, such that P  A   and P  B   , then
2 3
1 1
 P  A  B 
6 2

  
Reason (R): P  A  B   max P  A  , P  B  and P  A  B   min P  A  , P  B  
6. Assertion (A): A number is chosen at random from the numbers 1, 2, 3, ...,6n  3 . Let A and B be

defined as follows:
A : number is divisible by 2
B : number is divisible by 3
Then A and B are independent.

Reason (R): If events A and B are independent, then P  A  B   P  A  . P  B  .

7. Assertion (A): A coin is tossed 31 times. If the probability of getting number of heads more than the
number of tails is equal to the probability of getting tails more than the number of
heads, then the coin must be unbiased.
Reason (R): If p  q and p  q  1 , then coin is unbiased.

2
8. Assertion (A): If a leap year is selected at random, the chance it will contain 53 Sundays is .
7
Reason (R): A leap year has 366 days.

9. Assertion (A): If the probability of an event A is 0.4 and that of B is 0.3 , then the probability of
neither A nor B occurring depends upon the fact that A and B , are mutually
exclusive or not.
Reason (R): Two events are mutually exclusive, if they do not occur simultaneously.

10. Assertion (A): If P  A / B   P  A  , then P  B / A   P  B 

 P  A  B
Reason (R): P  A / B 
P  B

Ans:-

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
d d d a c d a d b a

 2 Marks Questions:-
15
1. An unbiased coin is tossed 4 times. Find the probability of getting at least one head. (Ans: )
16
2. . A die which is marked with 1, 2, 3 in red and 4, 5, 6 in green is tossed. Let A be the event 'number is even'
and B be the event 'number is red' , Are A and B independent? (Ans: independent)
3. Probability of A and B solving a specific problem are 2/3 and 3/5 respectively, If both of them try
13
independently to solve the problem, then find the probability that the problem is solved. ( Ans: )
15
4. A pair of dice is thrown. It is given that the sum of numbers appearing on both dice is an even number. Find
5
the probability that the number appearing on at least one die is 3. (Ans : )
18
5. A black and a red die are rolled together. Find the conditional probability of obtaining the sum 8, given that
the red die resulted in a number less than 4. (Ans: 1/9)
6. Consider a random experiment in which a coin is tossed and if it shows head it is tossed again but if it shows
tail then a die is tossed. If 8 possible outcomes are equally likely, find the probability that the die shows a
1
number greater than 4 if it is known that the first throw of the coin results in a tail. (Ans: )
3
7. A company follows a model of bifurcating the task into the category shown below.
URGENT NOT URGENT
IMPORTANT

Urgent and important Not urgent but important

NOT- IMP.

Urgent but not important Not urgent and not important

At the beginning of a financial year it was noticed that :

a. 40% of the total task was urgent and the rest were not.
b. half of the urgent tasks were important, and
c. 30% of the task that were not urgent were not important
What is the probability that a randomly selected task that is not important but urgent? Use Bayes’theorem.
10
(Ans: or 52.63%)
19
8. The random variable X has a probability distribution P(X) of the following form where ‘K’ is some real
number
  k , if x  0
 2k , if x = 1

P( X )   (Sample Paper:- 23/24)
3k , if x  2
 0, otherwise

1 1
a. Determine the value of k. b. Find P  X  2  c. Find P  X  2  . (Ans: a. k  b. c. 0.)
6 2
9. Three friends go for coffee. They decide who will pay the bill, by each tossing a coin and then letting the
“odd person” pay. There is no odd person if all three tosses produce the same result. If there is no odd person
in the first round, they make a 2nd round of tosses and they continue to do so until there is an odd person.
3
What is the probability that exactly three rounds of tosses are made? (Ans : )
64
10. A pair of dice thrown simultaneously. If X denotes the absolute difference of numbers obtained on the pair
of dice, then find the probability distribution of X.
Ans:
X 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 5 2 1 1 1 1
P(X)
6 18 9 6 9 8 36

 3 Marks Questions:
Subtopic 1:- CONDITIONAL PROBABILITY:
1. In a school there are 1000 students, out of which 430 are girls. It is known that out of 430 only 10% of the
girls study in class-xii. What is the probability that a student chosen randomly studies in class-xii given that
the chosen student is a girl? (Ans: 1/10)
2. A committee of 4 persons has to be chosen from 8 boys and 6 girls, consisting of at least 1 girl. Find the
probability that the committee consists of more girls than boys. (Ans: 25/133)
3. In a certain school, 20% of the students failed in English, 15% of the students failed in Maths and 10% of
the students failed in both. A student is selected at random. If he passed in English, then what is the
probability that he also passed in Maths? (Ans: 15/16)
4. A family has two children. Then
(i) What is the probability that both children are boys given that at least one of them is a boy?
(ii) What is the probability that both children are boys given that elder child is a boy?
(iii) What is the probability that both children are girls given that elder child is a girl?
(Ans: 1/3, 1/2, 1/2)
5. A pair of dice is thrown and the sum of the numbers appearing on the dice is observed to be 7. Find the
probability that the number 5 has appeared atleast at one die. (CBSE-2022) (Ans:- 1/3)
Subtopic 2:- MULTIPLICATION THEOREM AND INDEPENDENT EVENTS:
1. “A” speaks truth in 60% of the cases and “B” speaks truth in 40% of the cases. Find the probability that
they likely to contradict each other in stating the same fact. (Ans: 13/25)
1 1
2. Probabilities of solving a maths problem independently by A and B are and respectively. If both try
2 3
to solve the problem independently, then find the probability that
(i) the problem is solved. (Ans: 2/3)
(ii) exactly one of them solves the problem (Ans: 1/2)
3. A and B throw a pair of dice alternatively till one of them gets the sum of numbers as multiples of 6 and wins
the game. If A starts first, then find the probability of B winning the game. (Ans: 5/11)
4. Three boys and two girls are standing in a queue. Find the probability that the number of boys ahead of every
girl is at least one more than the number of girls ahead of her. (Ans:1/2)
5. Consider the experiment of tossing a coin. If the coin shows “Head” then toss it again, but if it shows “Tail”,
then throw a die. Find the conditional probability of the event “the die shows a number greater than 4 given
that there is at least one tail. (Ans: 2/9)
 6. A and B throw a die alternatively till one of them gets a ‘6’ and wins the game. Find their respective
probabilities of winning the game if A starts the game first. (CBSE-2023) (Ans: P(A)=6/11, P(B)=5/11)
7. Three friends go for coffee. They decide who will pay the bill, by each tossing a coin and then letting the
“odd person” pay. There is no “odd person” if all three tosses produce the same result. If there is no “odd
person” in the first round, they make a second round of tosses and they continue to do so until there is an odd
person. What is the probability that exactly three round of tosses are made? (Sample Paper:22-23) (Ans: 3/64)
Subtopic 3: TOTAL PROBABILITY THEOREM:
1. Bag P contains 4 white and 5 black balls and bag Q contains 9 white and 7 black balls. A ball is transferred
from bag P to bag Q and then a ball is drawn from bag Q. What is the probability that the ball drawn is white?
(Ans: 85/153).
2. A box has 5 blue and 4 red balls. One ball is drawn at random and not replaced. Its colour is not noted. Then
another ball is drawn at random. What is the probability of second ball being Blue. (Ans: 5/9)
3. An urn contains 10 white and 3 black balls while another urn contains 3 white and 5 black balls. Two balls
are drawn from the first urn and put into the second urn and then a ball is drawn from the second urn. Find
the probability that the ball drawn from the second urn is a white ball. (Ans: 59/130)
4. There are two bags, one of which contains 3 black and 4 white balls while the other contains 4 black and 3
white balls. A die is thrown. If it shows up 1or 3, a ball is taken from the first bag, but if shows up any other
number, then a ball is chosen from second bag. Find the probability of choosing a black ball. (Ans: 11/21)
Subtopic 4: BAYE’S THEOREM:
1. Given three identical boxes I, II and III each containing two coins. In box I, both coins are gold coins, in box
II, both are silver coins and in box III, there is one gold coin and one silver coin. A person chooses a box at
random and takes out a coin. If the coin is gold, then what is the probability that the other coin in the box is
also gold. (Ans: 2/3)
2. A man is known to speak the truth 3 times out of 5 times. He throws a die and reports that it is a number
greater than 4. Find the probability that it is actually a number greater than 4. (Ans: 3/7)
3. A card from a pack of 52 cards is lost. From the remaining cards of the pack, two cards are drawn and are
found to be both clubs. Find the probability of the lost card being a club. (Ans: 11/50)
4. Bag A contains 2 white, 1 black and 3 red balls; Bag B contains 3 white, 2 black and 4 red balls; Bag C
contains 4 white, 3 black and 2 red balls. One bag is chosen at random and 2 balls are drawn at random from
this bag. If the balls happened to be red and black, then find the probability that the balls come from Bag B.
(Ans:20/53)
5. There are three coins. One is a two-headed coin, another is a biased coin that comes up heads 75% of the
time and third is an unbiased coin. One of the three coins is chosen at random and tossed. If it shows heads,
then what is the probability that it was the two-headed coin? (Ans: 4/9)
3
6. In answering a question, a student either knows the answer or he guesses. Let be the probability that he
5
2
knows the answer and is the probability that he guesses. Assuming that a student who guesses the answer
5
1
will be correct with probability .What is the probability that student knows the answer when given that he
3
answers it correctly? (Delhi- 2023) (Ans:- 9/11)
Subtopic 5: RANDOM VARIABLES, PROBABILTY DISTRIBUTION & MEAN:
1. What is the mean of the numbers obtained on throwing a die having written 1 on three faces, 2 on two faces
and 5 on one face. (Ans: 2)
2. Four bad oranges are accidentally mixed with sixteen good oranges. Find the probability distribution and
mean of the distribution of the number of bad oranges in the draw of two oranges. (Ans: 2/5)
3. In a game, a man wins Rs. 5 for getting a number greater than 4 and losses Rs. 1 otherwise, when a fair die is
thrown. The man decided to throw a die thrice but to quit as and when he gets a number greater than 4. Find
the expected value of the amount he wins/losses. (Ans: Rs. 19/9)
4. From a lot of 30 bulbs which include 6 defective bulbs, a sample of 2 bulbs is drawn at random one by one
with replacement. Find the probability distribution of the number of defective bulbs and hence the mean
number of defective bulbs. (CBSE:- 2023) (Ans:- Mean= 2/5)
5. Two balls are drawn at random one by one with replacement from an urn containing equal number of red
balls and green balls. Find the probability distribution of the number of red balls and also find the mean of
the random variable. (CBSE:- 2023) (Ans:- Mean= 1)
 6. A box contains 10 tickets, 2 of which carry a prize of Rs. 8 each, 5 of which carry a prize of Rs. 4 each, and
remaining 3 carry a prize of Rs. 2 each. If one ticket is drawn at random then find the mean value of the
prize? (Delhi:- 2023) (Ans:- Mean= 4.2)

 Case Study Based Questions:

Q1. Three friends A, B and C are playing a dice game. The numbers rolled up by them in their first three chances
were noted and given by A  1, 5 , B   2 , 4 , 5 andC  1, 2 , 5 as A reaches the cell

'SKIP YOUR NEXT TURN' in second throw.

Based on the above information, answer the following questions.

(i) Find the probability P ( A / B ) .

(ii) Find the probability P ( B / C ) .
(iii) (a) Find the probability P  A  B / C  .
OR,

(iii) (b) Find the probability P  A  B / C  . 1

(Ans: (i)
3
(ii)
2
3
1
(iii) (a) OR(b)
3
2
3
)

Q2. In a family there are 4 children. All of them have to work in their family business to earn their livelihood at
the age of 18 .

Based on the above information, answer the following questions.

(i) Find the probability that all children are girls, if it is given that the elder child is a boy.

(ii) Find the probability that two middle children are boys, if it is given that the eldest child is a girl.

(iii) (a) Find the probability that all children are boys, if it is given that at most one of the children is a

girl.

OR,

(iii) (b) Find the probability that all children are boys, if it is given that at least three of the children are

1 1 1
boys. (Ans: (i) 0 (ii) (iii) OR )
4 5 5
Q3. There are two antiaircraft guns, named as A and B. The probabilities that the shell fired from them hits an

airplane are 0.3 and 0.2 respectively. Both of them fired one shell at an airplane at the same time.

Based on the above information, answer the following questions.

(i) What is the probability that the shell fired from exactly one of them hit the plane? (ans: 0.38)
(ii) If it is known that the shell fired from exactly one of them hit the plane, then what is the
probability that it was fired from B? (ans: 7/19)
(Sample Paper:- 22-23)
4. Self study helps student to build confidence in learning it boosts the self-esteem of the learners. Recent
surveys suggested that close to 50% learners were self taught using internet resources and upskilled themselves
A student may spend 1 hour to 6 hours in a day in upskilling self.
The probability distribution of the number of hours spent by a student is given below

 kx ², for x  1, 2, 3

P  X  x    2 kx , for x  4, 5, 6
 0, otherwise

(where x denotes the number of hours.)
Based on the above information, answer the following questions:
(i) Express the probability distribution given above in the form of a probability distribution table.
(ii) Find the value of k.
(iii) (a) Find the mean number of hours spent by the student.
OR,

(iii) (b) Find P 1  X  6  .

Ans : (i)
X 1 2 3 4 5 6
P(X) k 4k 9k 8k 10k 12k
(ii) 1 (iii) (a) 95 or (iii) (b) 31
k
44 22 44
5. At the start of a cricket match, a coin is tossed and the team winning the toss has the opportunity to
choose to bat or bowl. Such a coin is unbiased with equal probabilities of getting head and tail.

Based on the above information, answer the following questions:

(i) If such a coin is tossed 2 times, then find the probability distribution of number of tails.
(ii) Find the probability of getting at least one head in three tosses of such a coin.
Ans: (i)
X 0 1 2

P(X) 1/4 1/2 1/4

(ii) 7/8
6. An octagonal prism is a three-dimensional polyhedron bounded by two octagonal base and eight
rectangular side faces. It has 24 edges and 16 vertices.

The prism is rolled along the rectangular faces and number on the bottom face (touching the ground) is
noted. Let X denote the number obtained on the bottom face and the following table gives the probability
distribution of X.

X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
P(X) p 2p 2p p 2p p2 2 p2 7 p2  p

Based on the above information, answer the following questions:

(i) Find the value of p.
(ii) Find P(X > 6).
(iii) (a) Find P(X=3m), where m is a natural number.
OR,
(iii) (b) Find the mean E(X)
1 19 21
Ans: (i) (ii) (iii) (a) OR (iii) (b) 4.06
10 100 100
7. In an office three employees Jayant, Sonia and Oliver process informing copies of a certain form. Jayant
processes 50% of the forms, Sonia processes 20% of the forms and remaining 30% forms are processed
by Oliver. Jayant has error rate of 0.06, Sophia has an error rate of 0.04 and Oliver has an error rate of 0.03.
Based on the above information answer the following questions:-
(i) Find the probability that Sonia processed the form and committed an error. (Ans:- 0.008)
 (ii) Find the total probability of committing an error in processing the form. (Ans:- 0.047)
(iii) (a) The manager of the company wants a quality check. During Inspection, he selects a processed
form at random and finds an error. Find the probability that the form is not processed by Jayant.
(Ans:- 17/47)
OR,
(b) Let E be the event of committing an error in processing the form and let E1 , E2 and E3 be
3
the events that Jayant, Sonia, Oliver processed the form. Then find  PE
i 1
i / E . (Ans:- 1)

(Sample Paper:- 23-24)

8. Recent studies suggest that 12% of the world population is left handed. Depending upon the parents, the
chances of having a left handed child are as follows:
A: When both father and mother are left handed; chance of left handed child is 24%
B: When father is right handed and mother is left handed; chance of left handed child is 22%
C: When father is left handed and mother is right handed; chance of left handed child is 17%
D: When both father and mother are right handed; chance of left handed child is 09%
1
Assuming that P  A   P  B   P  C   P  D   and L denotes the event that the child is left handed.
4
Based on the above information answer the following questions:-
(i) Find P  L / C  (Ans:- 17/25)
 

(ii) Find P  L/ A  (Ans:- 1/25)
 
(iii) (a) Find P  A / L  (Ans:- 1/3)
OR,
(b) Find the probability that a randomly selected child is left handed given that exactly one of the
parents is left handed. (Ans:- 13/24)
(CBSE:- 2023)
9. A building contractor undertakes a job to construct 4 flats on a plot along with parking area. Due to strike,
the probability of many construction workers not being present for the job is 0.65. The probability that
many are not present and still the work gets completed on time when all workers is present is 0.80.
Let : The event when many workers were not present for the job
: The event when all workers were present for the job
: The event of completing the construction work on time
Based on the above information answer the following questions:-
(i) What is the probability that all the workers are present for the job? (Ans:- 0.35)
(ii) What is the probability that the construction will be completed on time? (Ans:- 0.51)
(iii) (a) What is the probability that many workers are not present given that the construction work is
completed on time? (Ans:- 0.45)
OR,
(b) What is the probability that all workers were present given that the construction job was
completed on time? (Ans:- 0.55)
(CBSE:- 2023)
10. Arka bought two cages of birds. Cage-I contains 5 parrots & 1 owl and Cage-II contains 6 parrots. One day
Arka forgot to lock both the cages and two birds flew from Cage-I to Cage-II simultaneously. Then two
birds flew back from Cage-II to Cage-I simultaneously. Assume that all birds have equal chance of flying.
Based on the above information answer the following questions:-
(i) When two birds flew from Cage-I to Cage-II and two birds flew back from Cage-II to Cage-I then
find the probability that the owl was still in Cage-I. (Ans:- 3/4)
(ii) When two birds flew from Cage-I to Cage-II and two birds flew back from Cage-II to Cage-I then
if the owl is still seen in Cage-I, what is the probability that one parrot and the owl flew from
Cage-I to Cage-II? (Ans:- 1/9)
(Sample Paper: 24-25)
11. A school conducted a survey of their staffs to find their beverage preferences. Each of them picked either tea
or coffee as their first preference and the with sugar and without sugar as their second preference. It is seen
 that 60% of the staffs prefer coffee, 90% of those who prefer coffee, prefer it with sugar and 20% of those
who prefer tea, prefer it without sugar.
Based on the above information answer the following questions:-
(i) What is the probability that a staff selected randomly, prefers a beverage with sugar? (Ans:- 0.86)
(ii) What is the probability that a staff selected randomly, prefers coffee given that it is without sugar?
(Ans:- 3/7)

 Competitive Exam Corner:

1. Let E1 and E2 be two independent events. Let P ( E ) denotes the probability of the occurrence of the event E.
2 1
further E '1 , E '2 denotes the complements of E1 , E2 respectively. If P ( E '1  E 2 )  and P ( E1  E '2 )  ,
15 6
then P ( E1 ) is

2 13 2 1
a) b) c) d)
15 15 13 5
2. A card is drawn at random from a pack of 52 cards. What is the probability that the card is drawn is either Ace
or King

4 1 2
a) b) c) d) none of these
13 13 13
3. A player holds 13 cards of four suits, of which 7 are black and 6 are red. There are twice as many diamonds as
spades and twice as many hearts as diamonds. How many clubs does he hold ?
a) 4 b) 5 c) 6 d) 7
4. A dice is rolled thrice. What is the probability of getting a number greater that 4 in first and the second throw
of a dice and number less than 4 in the third throw ?

1 1 1 1
a) b) c) d)
3 6 9 18
5. There are two bags, Bag-1 contains 4 white and 6 black balls and Bag-2 contains 5 white and 5 black balls. A
die is rolled , if it shows a number divisible with 3, a ball is drawn from bag 1 else from Bag 2. If the drawn ball is
not black in color, the probability it was not drawn from bag 2 is

4 3 2 4
a) b) c) d)
9 8 7 19
6. Three urns contain 6 red, 4 black; 4 red,6 black and 5 red 5 black marbles respectively. One of the urns is
selected at random and a marble is drawn is red, then the probability that it is drawn from the first urn is

6 4 5 2
a) b) c) d)
10 10 10 5
1 1 1
7. Three persons A,B , C, were given a task, whose probabilities of completion of their task on time are , ,
3 4 5
respectively. They were asked to complete the task independently. The probability that exactly one of them
completed the task on time is

2 2 3 13
a) b) c) d)
15 5 20 30
8. The minimum number of times one has to toss a fair coin so that the probability of observing at least one head
is at least 90% is
a) 5 (B) 3 c) 4 d) 2
9. If two switches S1 and S 2 have respectively 90% and 80% chances of working. If the probabilities that the
p
following circuit works is find p  q where hcf  p, q   1
q

(a) 50 (b) 99 (c) 20 (d) 30

10. 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 first marble is red?

25 25 25 23
(a) (b) (c) (d)
27 26 28 24
11. What is the probability that a leap year has 53 Sundays?

2 3 4 5
(a) (b) (c) (d)
7 7 7 9
1
12. If X follows a binomial distribution with parameters n  8, p  , then P ( x  4  2) is equal to
2
121 117 119 115
(a) (b) (c) (d)
128 128 128 128
13.Three dice are thrown. the probability of getting a sum which is a perfect square is

2 9 1
(a) (b) (c) (d) None of these
5 20 4
14. A quadratic equation is chosen from set of all quadratic equations which are unchanged by squaring their
roots. The chance that the chosen equation has real roots is

1 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d) None of these
2 3 4
15. Three digit numbers are formed using the digits 0,1,2,3,4,5 without repetition. If a number is chosen at
random, then the probability that the digits either increase or decrease is

1 2 3 4
(a) (b) (c) (d)
10 11 10 11
16. Two numbers b and c are chosen at random with replacement from the numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. The
p
probability that x 2  bx  c  0 is , then find p  q where hcf  p, q   1
q
(a) 111 (b) 112 (c) 113 (d) 114
17. A four-digit number (from 0000 to 9999) is said to be lucky if sum of its first t digits is equal to some f last
two digits. If a four-digit number is picked at random, find the probability that it is a lucky number.
(a) 0.67 (b) 0.65 (c) 0.065 (d) 0.067
18. Three distinct integers are selected at random from 1,2, 3,…,20 . If the probability that the sum is divisible by
5 is p then 19p is___________.
 19. Consider 5 independent Bernoulli’s trials each with probability of success p. If the probability of at least one
31
failure is greater than or equal to , then p lies in the interval
32

 3 11   1  11   1 3
(a)  ,  (b)  0,  (c)  ,1 (d)  , 
 4 12   2  12   2 4
20. A multiple choice examination has 5 questions. Each question has three alternative answers of which exactly
one is correct. The probability that a student will get 4 or more correct answers just by guessing Is:

17 13 11 10
(a) (b) (c) (d)
35 35 35 35
Ans:-
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
d c c d c d d c b b
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
a d a c c c d 3 b c

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