Probability is a measure of likelihood that an event will occur.

Example: 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
landing H is ½. And the probability of the coin landing T is ½

Random Experiment: Experiments whose outcomes are unpredictable is

known as Random Experiments. For
Example: Tossing a coin

Sample Space(S): It is the collection of all possible outcome of an experiment.

Example: In tossing a coin one time S={H,T}

Event: The outcome of an experiment is known as Event. Mathematically we can

say that event is a subset of sample space.
Example: Getting a head while tossing a coin one time is an event.
Types of Events:
Complementary events
Complementary events are two occurrences that occur only if and only if the
other does not occur. Two events must be mutually exclusive and exhaustive in
order to be characterized as complimentary. The sum of complimentary
occurrences’ probabilities must equal one.
P(A) + P(A’) = 1
P(A) = 1 – P(A’)
P(A’) = 1 – P(A)

Example-A bag contains ten balls, two of which are black, three of which are
red, one of which is blue, three of which are pink, and one of which is purple. Let
X represent the occurrence of choosing the main color. Determine P(X’).
Solution: X = 3 red and 1 blue, 10 total balls

P(X) = 4 / 10 number of good outcomes

P(A’) = 1 – P(A) , P(X’) = 1 – (4/ 10) = 6 / 10
Using the complementary events rule
P(X’) = 6 / 10 is the correct answer.
MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE EVENTS

In mutually exclusive events, the occurrence of one event indicates the non-
occurrence of the other event
OR
When two events cannot occur at the same time, they are considered mutually
exclusive.
Note: For a mutually exclusive event, P(A and B) = 0.

Example: What is the probability of getting a 2 or a 5 when a die is rolled?

Solution: Taking the individual probabilities of each number, getting a 2 is 1/6 and
so is getting a 5.

Applying the formula of compound probability,

Probability of getting a 2 or a 5,
P(2 or 5) = P(2) + P(5) – P(2 and 5)
==> 1/6 + 1/6 – 0
==> 2/6 = 1/3.
Collective Exhaustive Events: If E and F are two events and both events gives
complete sample space then these are called Exhaustive events.
EUF=S

INDEPENDENT EVENT
In the case of multiple events that happen, when the outcome of one event DOES
NOT affect the outcome of the other events, they are called independent events.
Consider a die is rolled twice. The outcome of the first roll doesn’t affect the
second outcome. These two are independent events.

Example 1: If a coin is tossed twice, what is the probability of getting two

consecutive tails?
Probability of getting a tail in one toss = 1/2
The coin is tossed twice. So 1/2 * 1/2 = 1/4 is the answer.
Here’s the verification of the above answer with the help of sample space.
When a coin is tossed twice, the sample space is {(H,H), (H,T), (T,H), (T,T)}.
Our desired event is (T,T) whose occurrence is only once out of four possible
outcomes and hence, our answer is 1/4.
DEPENDENT EVENTS
When the outcome of one event affects the outcome of another event, they are called
dependent events.
Consider the same example of drawing a sock from a box, but with a slight difference.

Example 1: A box contains 4 blue, 2 red and 3 black socks. If 2 socks are drawn at
random from the box, NOT replaced and then another sock is drawn. What is the
probability of drawing 2 blue socks and 1 black sock?

Solution:
Probability of drawing 1 blue sock = 4/9
Probability of drawing another blue sock = 3/8
Probability of drawing 1 black sock = 3/7
Probability of drawing 2 blue socks and 1 black sock = 4/9 * 3/8 * 3/7 = 1/14
CONDITIONAL PROBABILITY
Conditional probability is calculating the probability of an event occurring given that
another event has already occurred.
The formula for conditional probability P(A|B), read as P(A given B) is
P(A|B) = P (A and B) / P(B)

Consider the following example:

Example: In a class, 40% of the students study biology and chemistry. 60% of the
students study biology. What is the probability of a student studying chemistry given
he/she is already studying biology?
Solution

P(B and C) = 0.40

P(B) = 0.60
P(C|B) = P(B and C)/P(C) = 0.40/0.60 = 2/3 = 0.67
COMPOUND PROBABILITY

Compound probability relates to the likelihood of the occurrence of two independent

events.

The formula for the compound probability

P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B) – P(A and B)

where A and B are any two events.

P(A or B) is the probability of the occurrence of at least one of the events.

P(A and B) is the probability of the occurrence of both events, A and B at the same
time.
Rules of Probability

1. 0 <P (E) <1

2. P(S) = 1 (Definite event)
3. P(Φ) = 0 (Impossible event)
4. If A’ denotes (not-A), then P(A’) = 1 - P(A).
5. For any events A and B we have :
P(AUB) = P(A) + P(B) - P(A∩B)
But for mutually exclusive event P(A∩B)=0
For mutually exclusive events
P(AUB) = P(A) + P(B)
6. P(A∩B)= P(A). P(B/A) = P(B). P(A/B)

7. P(AUBUC)=P(A)+P(B)+P(C)-P(A∩B)-P(B∩C)-P(C∩A)+P(A∩B∩C)
Rules of Probability
1. 0 <P (E) <1
2. P(S) = 1 (Definite event)
3. P(Φ) = 0 (Impossible event)
4. If A’ denotes (not-A), then P(A’) = 1 -
P(A).
5. For any events A and B we have :
P(AUB) = P(A) + P(B) - P(A∩B)
But for mutually exclusive event P(A∩B)=0
For mutually exclusive events
P(AUB) = P(A) + P(B)
Coins
One coin {H,T}= 2
Two coins={HH,HT,TH,TT}= 4
Three Coin={HHH,TTT,HHT,TTH,HTH,THT,THH,HTT}= 8
Solved Examples

Question: Two fair coins are tossed simultaneously. What is the probability of
getting only one head?
Solution:
When 2 coins are tossed, the possible outcomes can be {HH, TT, HT, TH}.
Thus, the total number of possible outcomes = 4
Getting only one head includes {HT, TH} outcomes.
So number of desired outcomes = 2
Therefore, probability of getting only one head=2/4=1/2

Question: Three fair coins are tossed simultaneously. What is the probability of
getting at least 2 tails?
Solution:
When 3 coins are tossed, the possible outcomes can be {HHH, HHT, HTH, HTT,
THH, THT, TTH, TTT}.
Thus, total number of possible outcomes = 8
Getting at least 2 tails includes {HTT, THT, TTH, TTT} outcomes.
So number of desired outcomes = 4
Therefore, probability of getting at least 2 tails =2/4=1/2
Question 1: In a simultaneous toss of 2 coins find the probability of 2 Tails?
[A] 1/2
[B] 1/4
[C] 2/3
[D] 3/4

Question 2: In a simultaneous toss of 2 coins find the probability of Exactly 1 Tail?

[A] 1/3
[B] 2/3
[C] 3/4
[D] 1/2
Question 3: In a simultaneous toss of 2 coins find the probability of No Tail?

[A] 1/3
[B] 1/4
[C] 1/2
[D] 2/3

Question 4: In a simultaneous toss of 2 coins find the probability of No head?

[A] 1/2
[B] 1/4
[C] 1/3
[D] 2/3
Question 5: Three coins are tossed simultaneously. Find the probability of all are
heads.

[A] 1/4
[B] 1/8
[C] 2/3
[D] 5/8

Question 6: Three coins are tossed simultaneously. Find the probability of exactly
two heads.

[A] 1/4
[B] 1/8
[C] 3/8
[D] 5/8
Question 7: Three coins are tossed simultaneously. Find the probability of at least
two heads.

[A] 1/2
[B] 1/8
[C] 1/8
[D] 3/8
Question 8: Three coins are tossed simultaneously. Find the probability of no heads.

[A] 1/8
[B] 1/4
[C] 1/2
[D] 5/8

Question 9: Three coins are tossed simultaneously. Find the probability of at least
1 head and 1 tail.

[A] 1/8
[B] 1/4
[C] 3/4
[D] 5/8
Question 10: 4 coins are tossed simultaneously. Find the probability exactly 3 tails

[A] 1/8
[B] 1/4
[C] 1/2
[D] 5/8

Question 11: 4 coins are tossed simultaneously. Find the probability at least 1 tail.

[A] 1/16
[B] 1/4
[C] 1/2
[D] 15/16
DICE
When a dice is thrown= {1, 2 , 3, 4, 5, 6}
Total Outcomes=6
When two dice are thrown,

S = {(1,1),(1,2),(1,3),(1,4),(1,5),(1,6)
(2,1),(2,2),(2,3),(2,4),(2,5),(2,6)
(3,1),(3,2),(3,3),(3,4),(3,5),(3,6)
(4,1),(4,2),(4,3),(4,4),(4,5),(4,6)
(5,1),(5,2),(5,3),(5,4),(5,5),(5,6)
(6,1),(6,2),(6,3),(6,4),(6,5),(6,6)} = 36
Example : What is the probability of getting a sum of 7 when two dice are thrown?
Sol: Probability math - Total number of ways = 6 × 6 = 36 ways.
Favorable cases = (1, 6) (6, 1) (2, 5) (5, 2) (3, 4) (4, 3) --- 6 ways.
P (A) = 6/36 = 1/6

Example : Three dice are rolled together. What is the probability as getting at
least one '4'?
Sol: Total number of ways = 6 × 6 × 6 = 216. Probability of getting number ‘4’ at
least one time
= 1 – (Probability of getting no number 4) = 1 – (5/6) x (5/6) x (5/6) = 91/216
Example : What is the probability of getting a sum of 22 or more when four dice are
thrown?
Sol: Total number of ways = 64 = 1296. Number of ways of getting a sum 22 are
6,6,6,4 = 4! / 3! = 4
6,6,5,5 = 4! / 2!2! = 6.
Number of ways of getting a sum 23 is 6,6,6,5 = 4! / 3! = 4.
Number of ways of getting a sum 24 is 6,6,6,6 = 1.
Fav. Number of cases = 4 + 6 + 4 + 1 = 15 ways.
P (getting a sum of 22 or more) = 15/1296 = 5/432

Example : Two dice are thrown together. What is the probability that the number
obtained on one of the dice is multiple of number obtained on the other dice?
Sol: Total number of cases = 62 = 36
Since the number on a die should be multiple of the other, the possibilities are
(1, 1) (2, 2) (3, 3) ------ (6, 6) --- 6 ways
(2, 1) (1, 2) (1, 4) (4, 1) (1, 3) (3, 1) (1, 5) (5, 1) (6, 1) (1, 6) --- 10 ways
(2, 4) (4, 2) (2, 6) (6, 2) (3, 6) (6, 3) -- 6 ways
Favorable cases are = 6 + 10 + 6 = 22. So,
P (A) = 22/36 = 11/18
Question 1: In a single throw of 2 Dice, What is the probability of a doublet?

[A] 1/3
[B] 1/36
[C] 1/6
[D] 1/12

Question 2: In a single throw of 2 Dice, What is the probability of getting sum

equals to:

I.5
II.Multiple of 5
III.7
IV.Multiple of 3
V.Greater than 9
Question 3: In a simultaneous throw of 3 Dice find the probability of getting a total
of 5.

[A] 1/6
[B] 1/36
[C] 1/216
[D] 5/216

Question 4: What is the probability of rolling the same number exactly three times
with five six-sided dice?

A.1/5
B.5/18
C.35/216
D.125/648
E.225/1296
Question 5. What is the probability of rolling three six-sided dice, and getting a
different number on each die?

A.1/12
B.1/3
C.4/9
D.5/9
E.7/18

Question 6. A magician holds one six-sided die in his left hand and two in his right.
What is the probability the number on the dice in his left hand is greater than the
sum of the dice in his right?

A.7/108
B.5/54
C.1/9
D.2/17
E.1/4
Probability of Cards

 The number of cards in a pack of playing cards is 52.

 It consists of 4 suits of 13 cards.
 They are spades, hearts, clubs, and diamonds.
 Spades and clubs are black while hearts and diamonds are red.
 Each suit contains an ace, king, queen, jack or knaves, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3,
and 2.
 King, Queen, and Jack (or Knaves) are called the face cards.
 Note: When ace is included in Face cards the combination is called Honored
card.
 In the deck of 52 playing cards, there are 12 face cards.
Solved Examples

Example 1: A card is drawn at random from a pack of 52 playing cards. Find the
probability that the card drawn is

(i) a king

Solution: Total no. of cards = 52

So total no. of possible outcomes, n(S) = 52
(i) Let E1 denotes the event of getting a king.
No. of kings in the pack = 4, n(E1) = 4
P(getting a king) = no. of favorable outcomes / total no. of possible outcomes of E
= n(E1)/ n(S)
= 4/52= 1/13
Hence the required probability is 1/13.
Example 2: A card is drawn from a well-shuffled pack of 52 cards. Find the
probability of getting:

(i) ‘2’ of spades

No. of ‘2’ of spades = 1

n(E1) = 1

P (getting 2 of spades) = no. of favorable outcomes/total no. of possible

outcomes of E

= n(E1)/ n(S)

= 1/52
Question 1: One card is drawn at random from the well shuffled pack of 52 cards.
What is the probability of picking a black card?

[A] 1/3
[B] 1/2
[C] 1/4
[D] 1/13

Question 2: One card is drawn at random from the well shuffled pack of 52
cards. What is the probability of picking a Ace of spades or the jack of
diamonds?

[A] 1/52
[B] 1/26
[C] 1/13
[D] 1/4
Question 3: One card is drawn at random from the well shuffled pack of 52 cards.
What is the probability of picking an ace?

[A] 1/13
[B] 1/52
[C] 1/26
[D] 1/4

Question 4: One card is drawn at random from the well shuffled pack of 52
cards. What is the probability that the card is either a red card or a King?

[A] 5/13
[B] 7/13
[C] 9/13
[D] 1/52
Question 5 : A card is drawn at random from a well-shuffled deck of playing cards.
Find the probability that the card drawn is-

i. a card of spade or an ace.

ii. a black king.
iii. neither a jack nor a king.
iv. either a king or a queen.

Question 6: One card is drawn at random from the well shuffled pack of 52 cards.
What is the probability that it is neither club nor queen?

[A] 4/13
[B] 5/13
[C] 7/13
[D] 9/13
Question 7: A card is drawn from a well shuffled pack of 52 cards. What is the
probability of getting queen or club card?

A.17/52
B.15/52
C.4/13
D.3/13
E.None of these

Question 8: Two cards are drawn from pack of 52 cards. What is the probability
that both are kings, when first drawn card is replaced?

A.1/169
B.3/13
C.3/676
D.4/676
E.None of these
Balls in a Bag OR marbles in a Bag
Question 1: There are seven black marbles and nine white marbles in a bag. What
is the approximate probability of drawing two black marbles and then a white
marble without replacement?
A.0.2
B.0.15
C.0.21
D.0.11

Question 2: There is a bag of 28 red balls and a bag of 12 blue balls.

Quantity A: The total number of red and blue balls.
Quantity B: The number of blue balls that you can pair with one red ball.

A. The two quantities are equal

B. The relationship cannot be determined from the information given
C. Quantity B is greater
D. Quantity A is greater
Questions 3: . A urn contains 4 red balls, 5 green balls and 6 white balls, if one ball
is drawn at random, find the probability that it is neither red nor white.

[A] 1/3
[B] 1/4
[C] 1/5
[D] 2/3

Questions 4: . A bag contains 6 red balls and 7 white balls. Another bag contains 5
red balls and 3 white balls. One ball is selected from each. Find the probability that
one ball is red and one is white?

[A] 53/104
[B] 47/104
[C] 63/104
[D] 51/104
Questions 5: In a bag there are 4 white, 4 red and 2 green balls. Two balls are
drawn at random. What is the probability that at least one ball is of red color?

[A] 4/3
[B] 7/3
[C] 1/3
[D] 2/3

Questions 6: A bag contains 2 red caps, 4 blue caps, 3 yellow caps and 5
green caps. If three caps are picked at random, what is the probability that
none is green?

[A] 2/13
[B] 3/13
[C] 1/13
[D] 5/13
Questions 7: A basket contains 5 red 4 blue 3 green marbles. If three marbles
picked up random, What is the probability that either all are green or all are red?

[A] 1/20
[B] 7/20
[C] 3/20
[D] 9/20

Questions 8: A bag contains 3 red balls and 8 blacks ball and another bag
contains 5 red balls and 7 blacks balls, one ball is drawn at random from either of
the bag, find the probability that the ball is red.

[A] 93/264
[B] 95/264
[C] 91/264
[D] 97/264
Miscellaneous Questions:

Questions 1: A fair dice is rolled twice. The probability that an odd number will
follow on even number is?
[A] 1/2
[B] 1/6
[C] 1/3
[D] 1/4

Questions 2: An examination consists of two papers, Paper1 and 2. The

probability of failing in Paper1 is 0.3 and that in paper2 is 0.2. Given that a student
has failed in paper2, the probability of failing in paper1 is 0.6. the probability of
failing in both the papers is?
[A] 0.5
[B] 0.18
[C] 0.12
[D] 0.06
Question 3: Six letters and Six addressed envelops are given to a dispatching
clerk to dispatch. If he inserts the letters into envelops randomly, find the
probability that all the letters are inserted into corresponding addressed envelops
A] 1
B] 3/4
C] 5/7
D] 0

Question 4: When a letter is selected at random from the Last 13 English alphabet
the probability that is a Vowel is
A] 5/26
B] 2/13
C] 21/26
D] 7/13
Question 5: In a race where 11 cars are running, the chance that car X will win is
1/5, that Y will win is 1/6 and that Z will win is 1/12. Assuming that a dead heat is
impossible. Find the chance that either X or Y or Z will win.

A] 47/120
B] 1/480
C] 1/160
D] 119/360
Question 6: There are five hotels in a town. If 4 Ladies check into the hotels in a
day, then what is the probability that each checks into a different hotel?

A] 46/145
B] 1/8
C] 24/125
D] 57/625
Comparing Quantities Questions:

Question 1: A problem is given to three students whose chances of solving it are

1/2, 1/3 and 1/4 respectively.
Quantity A: is the probability that the problem will be solved
Quantity B: is the probability that the problem will not be solved
A. The two quantities are equal
B. The relationship cannot be determined from the information given
C. Quantity B is greater
D. Quantity A is greater

Question 2: Tickets numbered 1 to 20 are mixed up and then a ticket is drawn

at random. What is the probability.
Quantity A: that the ticket drawn has a number which is a multiple of 3
Quantity B: that the ticket drawn has a number which is a multiple of 5
A. The two quantities are equal
B. The relationship cannot be determined from the information given
C. Quantity B is greater
D. Quantity A is greater
Refer to the given figure, which shows a target. Each of the squares is of equal size. If a
dart is thrown at the target, what are the odds against hitting a red region?
You may assume that the dart hits the target, and you may disregard any skill factor.
A. 7 to 2

B. 3 to 1

C. 10 to 3

D. 20 to 3

E. 4 to 1
Fill in the blank questions:

Question 1: Two dice are tossed. The probability that the total score is a prime
number is_______________.

Question 2: 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
_______________________.

Question 3: A basket contains 10 apples and 20 oranges out of which 3 apples

and 5 oranges are defective. If we choose two fruits at random, what is the
probability that either both are oranges or both are non defective___________.

Question 4: 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_____________________.
Data Sufficiency Questions

Question 1: A monster is holding a brown paper bag filled with cookies. Inside the
bag there are two types of cookies, chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin. If the
monster pulls one cookie out at random, what is the probability that he pulls out a
chocolate chip cookie.
1. There are a total of 24 cookies in the bag.
2. There are 8 more chocolate chip cookies in the bag than oatmeal raisin cookies.

A. EACH statement ALONE is sufficient.

B. Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient.

C. Statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) alone is not sufficient.

D. Statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient.

E. BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient, but NEITHER statement ALONE

is sufficient.
Question 2: Find the probability.

Statement 1): Given that the last 10 flips of a coin were heads, the next coin flip is
heads.

Statement 2): Given that the last 10 days were sunny skies, the next day is sunny.

A. EACH statement ALONE is sufficient.

B. Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient.

C. Statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) alone is not sufficient.

D. Statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient.

E. BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient, but NEITHER statement ALONE is

sufficient.
Numeric Entry Questions:

Question 1: I forgot the last digit of a 7-digit telephone number. If 1 randomly dial
the final 3 digits after correctly dialing the first four, then what is the chance of
dialing the correct number?

= ______________

Question 2: 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.

= ______________