Probability

Probability
Probability is a measure of likelihood that an event will
occur.
Sometimes you can measure a probability with a
number: 10% chance of rain or you can use words
such as impossible, unlikely, possible, even chance,
likely and certain.
Examples: It is unlikely to rain tomorrow
Many events cant be predicted with total certainty.
The best we can say is howlikelythey are tohappen,
using the idea of probability.
Tossing a coin: When a coin is tossed, there are two
possible outcomes : either heads (H) or tails (T). We say
that the probability of the coin landingHis. And the
probability of the coin landingTis.

PROBABILITY LINE:
Probability is always between 0 and 1.

0 defines that an event can never happen. Example : the probability of

getting a number greater than 6, when a single dice is thrown.
1 defines that an event can certainly happen. Example: If today is Monday.
the probability that tomorrow is Tuesday is certain

Formula:
Probability is the measure of how likely an event is.
Probability of an Event
=NumberofFavorableOutcomes /
TotalNumberofPossibleOutcomes
Measures the likelihood of an event in the following
way:
- If P(A)>P(B) then event A is more likely to occur
than event B.
- If P(A) = P(B) then events A and B are equally
likely to occur.

TERMINOLOGY
Experiment: Any planned process of data
collection. It consists of a number of trials
(replications) under the same condition.
Random Experiment: An experiment in which
all possible outcomes are know and the exact
output cannot be predicted in advance, is called
a random experiment.
Examples:
Rolling an unbiased dice.
Tossing a fair coin.

Trail and Event : The performance of a random

experiment is called a trial and the outcome an
event. Example : Throwing of a dice is a trial and
the result is an outcome
Exhaustive Cases: All possible outcomes of an
event are known as exhaustive cases. Example: In
a throw of single dice, the exhaustive cases are 6
but if it is 2 dice the, exhaustive cases would be
36.
Favourable Cases : The number of outcomes
which result in the happening of a desired event
are called favourable cases. Example: In a single
throw of dice, the number of favourable cases of
getting a multiple of 3 is two i.e; 3, 6
Mutually Exclusive Events : Two or more events
are said to be mutually exclusive if both cannot
occur simultaneously in the same experiment.

Equally Likely Cases: Two or more events are

said to be equally likely if the possibility of their
happening are equal. Example: In a throw of a
unbiased dice , the coming up of head or dice is
equally likely.
Independent Events: Two events are said to be
independent of each other when the happening of
one event does not affect the happening of other
event and vice versa.
Example: 1. Choosing a 3 from a deck of cards,
replacing it,ANDthen choosing an ace as the
second card.
2. Rolling a 4 on a single 6-sided die,ANDthen
rolling a 1 on a second roll of the die.
When two events A and B are independent, the
probability of both occurring is:
P(A and B)= P(A). P(B)

Dependent Events:
Twoeventsaredependentif the outcome or
occurrence of the first affects the outcome or
occurrence of the second so that the probability is
changed.
When two events, A and B, are dependent, the
probability of both occurring is:
P(A and B) = P(A)P(B|A)
where P(B|A) is theconditional probability of
an event B in relationship to an event A is the
probability that event B occurs
given that event A has already occurred.
Example: The probability of choosing a jack on
the second pick given that a queen was chosen on
the first pick (without replacement) is called a
conditional probability.

Sample Space: Thesample spaceof

anexperimentor randomtrialis thesetof all
possibleoutcomesor results of that experiment.
Example: If the experiment is tossing a coin, the
sample space is typically the set {head, tail}.
For tossing two coins, the corresponding sample
space would be {( head, head), (head, tail), (tail,
head), ( tail, tail)}.
For tossing a single six-sideddie , the typical
sample space is {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} (in which the
result of interest is the number of pips facing up).

PROBABILITY:
Let S be the sample space and let E be the
event.
PROBABILITY= n(E)/n(S)
Results on Probability:
P(S) = 1
0<P (E)<1
For any events A and B we have : P(AUB) =
P(A) + P(B) - P(AB)
IfAdenotes (not-A), then P(A) = 1 - P(A).

Important Details
When we throw a coin, then either a Head (H) or a Tail (T)
appears
A dice is a solid cube, having 6 faces, marked 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
respectively. When we throw a die, the outcome is the number
that appears on its upper face.
A pack of cards has 52 cards.
It has 13 cards of each suit, name Spades, Clubs, Hearts and
Diamonds.
Cards of spades and clubs are black cards.
Cards of hearts and diamonds are red cards.
There are Kings, Queens and Jacks. These are all called face
cards.

Problem questions
Q1. An unbiased die is tossed .find the
probability of getting a multiple of 3.
A.1/6
B.1/3
C.0
D.NONE OF THE ABOVE
Ans: b)

Q2. Three unbiased coins are tossed. What is the

probability of getting at most two heads?
A.3/8
B. 5/8
C.1/8
D.7/8
Ans: d)

Q3. Two dice are thrown simultaneously. What is the

probability of getting two numbers whose product is
even.
A.3 /4
B.11/36
C.23/36
D.
Ans: a)

Q4. In a lottery, there are 10 prizes and 25 blanks. A

lottery is drawn at random. What is the probability of
getting a prize?
A. 1/7
B. 2/7
C. 3/7
D. 4/7
Ans: b)

Q5. From a pack of 52 cards, two cards are drawn

together at random. What is the probability of both the
cards being kings?
A.1/221
B.5/221
C.7/221
D.NONE OF THE ABOVE
Ans: a)

Q6. A bag contains 2 red, 3 green and 2 blue balls. Two

balls are drawn at random. What is the probability that
none of the balls drawn is blue?
A.13/21
B.11/21
C.10/21
D.NONE OF THE ABOVE

Q7. In a class, there are 15 boys and 10 girls. Three

students are selected at random. The probability that
1 girl and 2 boys are selected, is
A.25/117
B.1/50
C.21/46
D.3/25

Q8. Two cards are drawn at random from a pack of

52 cards. what is the probability that either both are
black or both are queen.
A.331/1326
B.55/221
C.11/1326
D.NONE OF THE ABOVE

Q9. A bag contains 6 white and 4 black

balls. 2 balls are drawn at random. Find
the probability that they are of same color.
A. 7/15
B. 8/15
C. 1/5
D. 4/5

Q10. A card is drawn from a pack of 52 cards. The

probability of getting a queen of club or a king of
heart is:
A.1/52
B.2/13
C.1/26
D.1/13

Q11. A card is chosen at random from a

standard deck of 52 playing cards. Without
replacing it, a second card is chosen. What
is the probability that the first card chosen
is a queen and the second card chosen is
a jack?
A.4/52
B.1/13
C.1/26
D.4/663

P(queen on first pick)=4/52

P(jack on 2nd pick given queen on 1st pick)=4/51
P(queen and jack)=(4/52)*(4/51)=4/663

Q12. Mr. Parietti needs two students to

help him with a science demonstration for
his class of 18 girls and 12 boys. He
randomly chooses one student who comes
to the front of the room. He then chooses
a second student from those still seated.
What is the probability that both students
chosen are girls?
A.18/30
B.18/870
C.51/145
D.29/340

P(Girl 1 and Girl 2)=P(Girl 1)andP(Girl 2|Girl 1)

=(18/30)(17/29)=51/145

Q13. In a shipment of 20 computers, 3 are

defective. Three computers are randomly
selected and tested. What is the
probability that all three are defective if
the first and second ones are not replaced
after being tested?
A.3/20
B.13/102
C.380/1140
D.1/1140

P(3 defectives) =(3/20).(2/19).(1/18) = 1/1140

Q14. A bag contains 12 white and 18 black

balls. Two balls are drawn in succession
without replacement.
What is the probability that first is white
and second is black?
A.2/5
B.2/15
C.36/145
D.29/40
Ans: c)

Q15. A die is rolled and a coin is tossed, find the

probability that the die shows an odd number and the
coin shows a head
A. 1/13
B. 3/13
C. 1/ 4
D. 4/9
Ans: c

Q16. One card is drawn at random from a pack of 52

cards. What is the probability that the card drawn is a
face card ?
A. 1/13
B. 3/13
C. 1/ 4
D. 4/9

Q17. A man and his wife appear in an interview for

two vacancies in the same post. The probability of
husband's selection is (1/7) and the probability of
wife's selection is (1/5). What is the probability that
only one of them is selected ?
A.3/ 4
B.2/7
C.4/5
D.1/7
Ans: b

Q18. Two brother X and Y appeared for an

exam. The probability of selection of X is
1/7 and that of B is 2/9. Find the
probability that both of them are selected.
A. 1/9
B. 2/9
C. 1/63
D. 2/63

Q19. In a class, 30% of the students offered English,

20% offered Hindi and 10% offered both. If a student
is selected at random, what is the probability that he.
has offered English or Hindi
A.
B.
C.2/5
D.4/5
Ans: c

Q20. If two letters are taken at random from

the word HOME, what is the probability
that none of the letters would be vowels?
A.
B.
C.1/3
D.1/6

Q21. The blood groups of 200 people is

distributed as follows: 50 have typeAblood,
65 haveBblood type,70 haveOblood type
and 15 have typeABblood. If a person from
this group is selected at random, what is the
probability that this person has O blood type?
A.0.5
B.0.35
C.0.25
D.0.45
Ans: b

Q22. What is the probability that the total of

two dice will be greater than 8given
thatthe first die is a 6?
A.1/4
B.1/3
C.2/3
D.2/5
Ans: c

Q23. The probability of finishing a test

on time by A is 1/2, by B is 2/3 and by
C is 3/5. If all of them write the test
independently, then what is the
probability that just two of them are
able to write the test on time?
(a)1/2
(b)3/10
(c)13/30
(d)1/3

Q24. In an off campus placement programme, a

software company recruiter interviewed 75
prospective candidates -- 10 from Civil engineering
department, 5 from Bio-chemical department and rest
from computer science department. If the software
company finally issued offer letter to 17 candidates,
what is the probability that all the selected candidates
belonged to only computer science department?

A.60C17/ 75C17
B.65C17/75C17
C.70C17/75C17
D.None of these
Ans: a

Q25. There is a school were 60% are girls and 35%

of the girls are poor. Students are selected at
random, what is the probability of selecting a
poor girl out of total strength?

A.60/100
B.21/100
C.21/60
D.None of these
Ans: b

Q26. One student to pass the subject as probability

1/4. another man to get driving licence and
student passed subject probability 1/6. find the
probability man get driving licence.

A.1/24
B.1/6
C.
D.2/3
Ans: d

Solution:
A , B are independent events so that
p(A intersection B) = p(A).P(B)
1/6 = 1/4 * x
x = 2/3

Q27. If 3 dices are rolled and a,b,c is obtained what

is the probability that a*b+c is even?

A.1/2
B.1/6
C.
D.1/6
Ans: a

Solution:
case 1: a,b,c is even
case 2: a is odd, b&c is even
case 3: a&c is even,b is odd
case 4:a,b,c is odd.
each case will have 27 outcomes
therefore, P=(27*4)/216
P=1/2

Q28. There is a set of 52 card.1 card fall down.

Then we take 2 cards from the rest. That 2 cards
are spade. What is the probability of that fallen
card is spade?

A.1/4
B.11/52
C.13/51
D.None of these

Q29. If two dice are rolled to obtain a sum or 5 or 7

what is the probability of getting 5 before 7?

A.1/4
B.2/5
C.5/36
D.None of these
Ans: b

SOLUTION:
At each throw we have:
Probability of 5 = 4/36 = 1/9 Probability of 7 = 6/36 = 1/6
Probability of no result = 1 - (1/9 + 1/6)
= 13/18
now probability for getting 5 or 7 as sum wd gtting 5 before is
p = 1/9 + (13/18)(1/9) + (13/18)^2(1/9) + (13/18)^3(1/9) + ...
= (1/9)[1 + 13/18 + (13/18)^2 + (13/18)^3 + ...... ]
This is a GP with common ratio 13/18
= (1/9)/[1 -13/18]
= (1/9)/(5/18)
= 2/5

Q30. A can hit a target 6 times in 7 shots. B can hit

the target 4 times in 5 shots, C can hit 3 times in
4 shots. What is the chance that the target is
damaged by exactly 2 shots?

A.18/140
B.30/140
C.40/140
D.54/140
Ans: d

Solution:

We are supposed to find prob of hitting target by exactly two shots out of 3
shots.
so desired combinations are
A...B....C
Hit hit miss
Hit miss hit
Miss hit hit
person A will hit the target six out of seven times, so his hit probability is
6/7, and his miss probability is 1/7.
B's hit probability is 4/5, and his miss probability is 1/5.
C's hit probability is 3/4, and his miss probability is 1/4.
So the probability that the target will be in (Miss hit hit)condition after the
shooting = (1/7) * (4/5) * (3/4) = 12/140.
prob of condition (hit miss hit) (6/7) * (1/5) * (3/4) = 18/140.
prob of condition (hit hit miss)= (6/7) * (4/5) * (1/4) = 24/140.
The sum of the three probabilities = prob of hitting target exactly twice
54/140