Lecture 1
Lecture 1
Trial
Unit of an experiment is known as trial. This means that trial is a special case of
experiment. An experiment may be a trial or two or more trials.
Outcomes
The result of an experiment is known as outcomes.
Example: Throwing a die is a trial and getting 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 is an outcome.
Sample space: The collection of all possible outcomes of a random experiment is called
sample space. Sample space is usually denoted by S or Ω. Example:1) If we toss a coin,
the sample space is, Ω = {H, T}.
Where H and T denote the head and tail of the coin, respectively, 2) If a six–sided die is
thrown, the sample space is, Ω = {1,2,3,4,5,6}.
Probability
Subjective Objective
Empirical Classical
1. Classical probability: Each outcome in a sample space is equally likely. That is,
Solution: The number of different outcomes in S = {HH, HT, TH, TT} is 4. The
event of getting exactly two tails is A = {TT}. The number of ways A can occur is 1.
Thus P(A) = ¼.
Example: A die is rolled 100 times. The number 3 is rolled 12 times. The relative
frequency of rolling a 3 is 12/100.
Kolmogorov defined probability as a function P from a set of events to the real numbers,
satisfying three axioms:
i. Non-Negativity:
ii. Normalization: The probability of the entire sample space is 1.
iii. If , , , are mutually exclusive events (i.e., ; Then
Conditional Probability
Probability Rules
Additivity Rules
General Rule: If and are not mutually exclusive, subtract to avoid
double counting.
Multiplicative Rules: