PROBABILITY

SYNOPSIS
• Random Experiment: An experiment where all possible outcomes are known but the exact
outcome is not predictable. E.g. – tossing a coin, throwing a die etc.
• Sample Space: A set containing all possible outcomes of a random experiment is called Sample
Space. E.g. When a coin is tossed once, sample space S =  H , T .
• Event: Every subset of a sample space, is an event.
• Types of Events:
➢ Whole space S  S and it represents an event, which is called sure event or certain
event. E.g. “getting a number less than 7 when a die is thrown”
➢ Empty set   S and it represents an impossible event. E.g. - “getting a number 7 when a
die is thrown”
➢ An event having more than one sample point of S, is called as a simple or elementary
event.
➢ An event having more than one sample point, is called a compound event.
➢ Events are called equally likely, if none of them is expected to occur in preference to the
other.
➢ A set of events ( E1 , E2 , E3 ,....., En ) is said to be exhaustive, if one of them necessarily
occurs when the experiment is performed i.e. E1  E2  E3  .....  En = S .
➢ Two or more events are said to be mutually exclusive, if no two of them can occur
together i.e. for events E1 and E 2 , E1  E2 = 
• Algebra of events:
➢ E ' or not E , is called the complementary event to E. i.e. Not E = S – E.
➢ Let A and B be two events associated with S, then
a. The event “either A or B or both” or “at least one of A, B” = A  B .
b. The event “A and B” = A  B .
c. The event “A but not B” or the event “only A” = A − B or A  B ' .
d. The event “neither A nor B” = ( A  B ) = S − ( A  B )
'

• Axiomatic Approach to probability:

Let S be the sample space containing outcomes ( E1 , E2 , E3 ,....., En ) . Then from axiomatic
definition of probability, we have
➢ 0  P ( Ei )  1,  Ei  S
➢ P ( E1 ) + P ( E2 ) + P ( E3 ) + .... + P ( En ) = 1
n( E ) no. of favourable outcomes
• Probability of event E = P ( E ) = = .
n( S ) total no. of outcomes
• Probability of non-occurrence of A = P ( A') = 1 − P ( A)
• Probability of occurrence of A or B = P ( A  B ) = P ( A) + P ( B ) − P ( A  B )
• Probability of occurrence of only A = P ( A − B ) = P ( A) − P ( A  B )
• Probability of occurrence of neither A nor B = 1 − P ( A  B )
 MCQ
1. The sum of the probability of all elementary events of an experiment is p, then
a. 0  p  1 b. 0  p  1 c. p = 1 d. p = 0

2. ( )
For any event E, P ( E ) + P E = q , then

a. 0  q  1 b. 0  q  1 c. 0  q  1 d. none of these

3. If P ( E ) = 0.05 , then the probability of “not E” is

a. 0.85 b. 0.95 c. 0.25 d. none of these

4. If an event cannot occur, then its probability is

3 1
a. 1 b. c. d. 0
4 2
5. Which of the following cannot be probability of an event?

3
a. 1.5 b. c. 25% d. 0.3
5
6. An event is unlikely to happen. Its probability is closest to
a. 0.0001 b. 0.001 c. 0.01 d. 0.1

7. A number x is chosen at random from the numbers −4, −3, −2, −1,0,1, 2, 3,4 . What is the
probability that x  1?

1 2
a. 1 b. 0 c. d.
9 9
8. The probability that an ordinary year contains 53 Sundays is

2 1 3
a. b. c. d. none of these
7 7 7
9. A letter is chosen at random from the letters of the word “ASSASSINATION”. If the probability
x
that “the chosen letter is a vowel” is in the form of , x equals
12
a. 5 b. 6 c. 7 d. 8
10. A coin is tossed twice. The probability of getting both the heads is

1 1 1
a. b. c. d. 1
2 3 4
11. If three different coins are tossed together, then then probability of getting exactly one head is

1 3 5
a. b. c. d. none of these
8 8 8
Answer Key: 1. c 2. d 3. b 4. d 5. a 6. a 7. c 8. b 9. b 10. c 11. b
 ASSERTION- REASON BASED 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 (A) and (R) are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
b) Both (A) and (R) are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
c) (A) is true but (R) is false.
d) (A) is false but (R) is true.

1. (A): The probability of winning a game is 0.4, then probability of losing it is 0.6.

( )
(R): P ( E ) + P E = 1

2. (A): If the probability of an event is P, then the probability of its complimentary event will be 1- P.

( )
(R): P ( E ) + P E = 1

3. (A): An event is very unlikely to happen. Its probability is closest to 0.00001

(R): If P ( A) denotes the probability of event A, then 0  P ( A)  1 .

1
4. (A): When two coins are tossed simultaneously, then the probability of getting no tail is .
4
1
(R): The probability of getting a head in one toss of a coin is .
2
5. (A): In rolling a dice, the probability of getting number 8 is zero.
(R): Probability of an impossible event is zero.
6. (A): If a die is thrown, the probability of getting a number less than 3 and greater than 2 is zero.
(R): Probability of an impossible event is zero.

2
7. (A): The probability of getting a prime number, when a die is thrown once, is .
3
(R): Prime numbers on a die are 2, 3, 5.
1
8. (A): In a simultaneous throw of a pair of dice, the probability of getting a doublet is .
6
(R): Probability of an event can be negative.
9. (A): Card numbered as 1, 2, 3,….,15 are put in a box and mixed thoroughly, one card is then

1
drawn at random. The probability of getting an even number is .
2

(R): For any event E, we have 0  P ( E )  1.

5
10. (A): If a box contains 5 white, 2 red, 4 black marbles, then P ( not drawing a white marble ) = .
11
 ( )
(R): P E = 1 − P ( E )

Answer Key: 1. a 2. a 3. b 4. b 5. a 6. a 7. d 8. c 9. d 10. d

CASE STUDY BASED QUESTIONS

1. On a weekend Rita was playing cards with her family. The deck has 52 cards. She drew one card.
(i) Find the probability of getting a king of red colour.
(ii) Find the probability of getting a face card.
(iii) Find the probability of getting a jack or spades.
(iv) Find the probability of getting a red face card.
2. In a play zone, Sujaya is playing arcade game which consists of 50 teddy bears, 40 Pokémon, 30
tigers and 60 monkeys. She picks a puppet at random. Find the probability of getting
(i) a tiger.
(ii) a monkey.
(iii) a teddy-bear.
(iv) neither a tiger nor a monkey.

3. Alex is playing with a die and he was observing the outcomes after rolling that. Find the
probability of getting
(i) a prime number.
(ii) a number less than 7.
(iii) a multiple of 2 or 3.
(iv) not a factor of 36.

Answer Key:
1 3 4 3
1. (i) (ii) (iii) (iv)
26 13 13 26
1 1 5 1
2. (i) (ii) (iii) (iv)
6 3 18 2
1 2 1
2. (i) (ii) 1 (iii) (iv)
2 3 6