Venn Diagram

Venn Diagrams
Venn Diagrams allow us to combine events, e.g. “ happened and happened”.

𝑆 𝑆
𝐴 𝐵 𝐴 𝐵

The event “ and ” ( ) The event “ or ” ( )

Known as the intersection of and . Known as the union of and .

𝑆 𝑆
𝐴 𝐵 𝐴 𝐵

The event “not ” (A’) These can be combined,

. e.g. “ and not ”.
Example involving probabilities
We can either put frequencies or probabilities into the Venn Diagram.

Given that and , find the probability of:

a)
b)

𝑆 0.15 ?
𝐴 𝐵
0.6 ? 0.25
?
0.85
Example involving frequencies
A vet surveys 100 of her clients. She finds that
25 own dogs, 15 own dogs and cats, 11 own dogs and tropical fish, 53 own cats, 10 own
cats and tropical fish, 7 own dogs, cats and tropical fish, 40 own tropical fish.

Fill in this Venn Diagram, and hence answer the following questions:
a)
b)
c)
Tip: Start from the
𝑺
𝑪 centre frequency
and work your way
35 11 outwards using
? ? subtraction.

8
? 3
?
𝑫 7 a) ?
b)
26 𝑭 c) ?
6
? 4
? ? ?
Example

Define the sets

Find the intersection

Draw the Venn diagram
Continuation…

Calculate the probability

Example

?
? ?

?
?
Conditional Probability

P ? 𝐵 𝑃 ( 𝐴∩
? 𝐵)
𝑃 ( 𝐴) 𝐴 Read the ‘|’ symbol
as “given that”. i.e.
𝐵′ “B occurred given
that A occurred”.
𝐵

𝐴′
𝐵′
Alternatively (and more commonly):
Memory Tip: You’re
! ?
dividing by the event
you’re conditioning on.
 Example
1 A child is selected at random from a group of 11 boys and nine
girls, and one of the girls is called Rose. Find the probability that
Rose is selected, given that a girl is selected.
P(Rose is selected | a girl is selected)
? ?

2 I have 2 children. One of them is a boy. What’s the probability the

other is a boy?
If (at least) one is a boy, restricted sample space is BB, BG, GB.
Of these, only in one case is the ? other a boy.
 Full Laws of Probability
! If events and are independent.

P ?
?
If events and are mutually exclusive:
?
?
In general:

P ? This is known as the Addition Law.

Informal Proof: If we added the
probabilities in the and sets in the

P Venn Diagram, we’d be double

counting the intersection, so subtract
? so that it’s only counted once.
 Sampling with Replacement
Rathulan has a bag of 5 red marbles and 2 yellow marbles. He takes one marble, notes
the colours, puts it back in the bag, and then take a second marble.
(a) Complete the following probability tree.
(b) Determine the probability that the marble chosen in the second pick was red given
that in the first pick it was red.
2nd pick
The implication of
5 5
5 𝑅2
b
( 𝑅 2 | 𝑅1 ) =
7
×
7
=
5 ? ‘puts it back’ is
that the bag will
5 7 1st pick 7 be the same for
7 the second pick,
5 𝑅1 meaning the

7?
probabilities don’t
2? 𝑌2 change. We call
7 this sampling with
replacement.
5 𝑅2
7?
2
?
7
𝑌1
2
𝑌
2
×
5 ?
7 2

7 7 5
c
𝑃 ( 𝑅 2 | 𝑌 1) =
2
=
(c) Determine the probability that the marble chosen in the
7
7 second pick was red given that in the first pick it was yellow.
Probability Tree

Example: You have two bags, the first with 5 red balls and 5 blue balls, and the second with 3
red balls and 6 blue balls. You first pick a ball from the first bag, and place it in the second. You
then pick a ball from the second bag. Complete the tree diagram.

Hence find the probability that:

a) You pick a red ball on your second

4 𝑅2 pick.
?
10
1
?
2
𝑅1 ?
6
? 𝐵2 b) Given that your second pick was
10 red, the first pick was also red.
3
?
10 𝑅2
1 𝐵1
?
2 7 𝐵2
?
10 ? It’s vitally important that
you use good notation,
Tip: Use variable subscripting to indicate making use of the | symbol.
what pick you’re referring to.
Probability Tree
Example: Two children are randomly selected from 11 boys (B) and 14 girls (G).
Find the probability that the selection
consists of:

1) two boys

?
10 𝐵2
?
24 2) a boy and a girl, in any order
11
? 𝐵1
25 14
? 𝐺2
24
11
?
24 𝐵2 ?
14 𝐺1
?5
2 13 𝐺2
?
24 It’s vitally important that
you use good notation,
Tip: Use variable subscripting to indicate making use of the | symbol.
what pick you’re referring to.
Examples
1. On a randomly chosen day the probability that Bill travels to school
by car, by bicycle or on foot is and respectively. The probability of
being late when using these methods of travels is and respectively.
a. Draw the tree diagram
b. Given that Bill is late, find the probability that he did not travel on
foot.

2. Ever Saturday, a man invites his sister to the theater or to the

cinema. 70% of his invitation are to the theater and 90% of these are
accepted. His sister rejects 40% of his invitation to the cinema.
a. Draw the tree diagram
b. Find the probability that the brother’s invitation is accepted on any
particular Saturday.