Probability 921

Number of all possible outcomes = 8.

1
(i) P(getting 3 heads) = ⋅
8
(ii) At least 2 tails means 2 or 3 tails.
All such cases are HTT, THT, TTH, TTT. Their number is 4.
4 1
∴ P(getting at least 2 tails) = = ⋅
EDISON G AGORAM MEMORIAL 8 2 SCHOOL, MANALUR,
CHIDAMBARAM
25. A leap year has 366 days = 52 weeks and 2 days.
Now, 52 weeks contain 52 Sundays.
MATHEMATICS
The remaining 2 days can be:
(i) Sunday and Monday (ii) Monday and Tuesday
(iii) Tuesday and Wednesday (iv) Wednesday and Thursday
(v) Thursday and Friday (vi) Friday and Saturday
(vii) Saturday and Sunday
Out of these 7 cases, their are 2 cases favouring it to be Sunday.
2
∴ P(a leap year having 53 Sundays) = ⋅
7
................................................................

MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS (MCQ)

Choose the correct answer in each of the following questions:
1. If P(E) denotes the probability of an event E then [CBSE 2013C]

(a) P(E) < 0 (b) P(E) > 1 (c) 0 ≤ P(E) ≤ 1 (d) −1 ≤ P(E) ≤ 1
2. If the probability of occurrence of an event is p then the probability of
non-happening of this event is [CBSE 2013C]

⎛ 1⎞
(a) ( p − 1) (b) (1 − p) (c) p (d) ⎜ 1 − ⎟
⎝ p⎠
3. What is the probability of an impossible event?
1
(a) (b) 0 (c) 1 (d) More than 1
2
4. What is the probability of a sure event?
1
(a) 0 (b) (c) 1 (d) Less than 1
2
5. Which of the following cannot be the probability of an event? [CBSE 2011]
3
(a) 1.5 (b) (c) 25% (d) 0.3
5
6. A number is selected at random from the numbers 1 to 30. What is the
probability that the selected number is a prime number? [CBSE 2014]
2 1 1 11
(a) (b) (c) (d)
3 6 3 30
922 Secondary School Mathematics for Class 10

7. The probability that a number selected at random from the numbers

1, 2, 3, ..., 15 is a multiple of 4, is [CBSE 2014]
4 2 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
15 15 5 3
8. A box contains cards numbered 6 to 50. A card is drawn at random from
the box. The probability that the drawn card has a number which is a
perfect square is [CBSE 2013]
1 2 4 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
45 15 45 9
9. A box contains 90 discs, numbered from 1 to 90. If one disc is drawn at
random from the box, the probability that it bears prime number less
than 23 is [CBSE 2013]
7 1 4 8
(a) (b) (c) (d)
90 9 45 89
10. Cards bearing numbers 2, 3, 4, ..., 11 are kept in a bag. A card is drawn at
random from the bag. The probability of getting a card with a prime
number is [CBSE 2012]
1 2 3 5
(a) (b) (c) (d)
2 5 10 9
11. One ticket is drawn at random from a bag containing tickets numbered
1 to 40. The probability that the selected ticket has a number, which is a
multiple of 7, is [CBSE 2013C]
1 1 1 7
(a) (b) (c) (d)
7 8 5 40
12. Which of the following cannot be the probability of an event?
1 7
(a) (b) 0.3 (c) 33% (d)
3 6
13. If the probability of winning a game is 0.4 then the probability of losing
it, is
1
(a) 0.96 (b) (c) 0.6 (d) none of these
0.4
14. If an event cannot occur then its probability is
1 3
(a) 1 (b) (c) (d) 0
2 4
15. There are 20 tickets numbered as 1, 2, 3, ..., 20 respectively. One ticket is
drawn at random. What is the probability that the number on the ticket
drawn is a multiple of 5?
1 1 2 3
(a) (b) (c) (d)
4 5 5 10
 Probability 923

16. There are 25 tickets numbered as 1, 2, 3, 4, ..., 25 respectively. One ticket

is drawn at random. What is the probability that the number on the
ticket is a multiple of 3 or 5?
2 11 12 13
(a) (b) (c) (d)
5 25 25 25
17. Cards, each marked with one of the numbers 6, 7, 8, …, 15, are placed in
a box and mixed thoroughly. One card is drawn at random from the
box. What is the probability of getting a card with number less than 10?
[CBSE 2009C]
3 1 1 2
(a) (b) (c) (d)
5 3 2 5
18. A die is thrown once. The probability of getting an even number is
[CBSE 2013]
1 1 1 5
(a) (b) (c) (d)
2 3 6 6
19. The probability of throwing a number greater than 2 with a fair die is
[CBSE 2011]
2 5 1 2
(a) (b) (c) (d)
5 6 3 3
20. A die is thrown once. The probability of getting an odd number greater
than 3 is [CBSE 2013C]
1 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d) 0
3 6 2
21. A die is thrown once. The probability of getting a prime number is
[CBSE 2013]
2 1 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
3 3 2 6
22. Two dice are thrown together. The probability of getting the same
number on both dice is [CBSE 2012]
1 1 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
2 3 6 12
23. The probability of getting 2 heads, when two coins are tossed, is
[CBSE 2012]
3 1 1
(a) 1 (b) (c) (d)
4 2 4
24. Two dice are thrown together. The probability of getting a doublet is
[CBSE 2013]
1 1 1 2
(a) (b) (c) (d)
3 6 4 3
924 Secondary School Mathematics for Class 10

25. Two coins are tossed simultaneously. What is the probability of getting
at most one head?
1 1 2 3
(a) (b) (c) (d)
4 2 3 4
26. Three coins are tossed simultaneously. What is the probability of
getting exactly two heads?
1 1 3 3
(a) (b) (c) (d)
2 4 8 4
27. In a lottery, there are 8 prizes and 16 blanks. What is the probability of
getting a prize?
1 1 2
(a) (b) (c) (d) None of these
2 3 3
28. In a lottery, there are 6 prizes and 24 blanks. What is the probability of
not getting a prize?
3 3 4
(a) (b) (c) (d) None of these
4 5 5
29. A box contains 3 blue, 2 white and 4 red marbles. If a marble is drawn
at random from the box, what is the probability that it will not be a
white marble? [CBSE 2009C]
1 4 7 2
(a) (b) (c) (d)
3 9 9 9
30. A bag contains 4 red and 6 black balls. A ball is taken out of the bag at
random. What is the probability of getting a black ball? [CBSE 2008]
2 3 1
(a) (b) (c) (d) None of these
5 5 10
31. A bag contains 8 red, 2 black and 5 white balls. One ball is drawn at
random. What is the probability that the ball drawn is not black?
8 2 13 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
15 15 15 3
32. A bag contains 3 white, 4 red and 5 black balls. One ball is drawn at
random. What is the probability that the ball drawn is neither black
nor white?
1 1 1 3
(a) (b) (c) (d)
4 2 3 4
33. A card is drawn at random from a well-shuffled deck of 52 cards. What
is the probability of getting a black king? [CBSE 2009C]

1 1 2
(a) (b) (c) (d) None of these
13 26 39
 Probability 925

34. From a well-shuffled deck of 52 cards, one card is drawn at random.

What is the probability of getting a queen?
1 1 4
(a) (b) (c) (d) None of these
13 26 39
35. One card is drawn at random from a well-shuffled deck of 52 cards.
What is the probability of getting a face card?
1 3 3 4
(a) (b) (c) (d)
26 26 13 13
36. One card is drawn at random from a well-shuffled deck of 52 cards.
What is the probability of getting a black face card?
1 3 3 3
(a) (b) (c) (d)
26 26 13 14
37. One card is drawn at random from a well-shuffled deck of 52 cards.
What is the probability of getting a 6?
3 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d) None of these
26 52 13

ANSWERS (MCQ)

1. (c) 2. (b) 3. (b) 4. (c) 5. (a) 6. (c) 7. (c) 8. (d) 9. (c) 10. (a)
11. (b) 12. (d) 13. (c) 14. (d) 15. (b) 16. (c) 17. (d) 18. (a) 19. (d) 20. (b)
21. (c) 22. (c) 23. (d) 24. (b) 25. (d) 26. (c) 27. (b) 28. (c) 29. (c) 30. (b)
31. (c) 32. (c) 33. (b) 34. (a) 35. (c) 36. (b) 37. (c)

HINTS TO SOME SELECTED QUESTIONS

2. P(occurrent of an event) = p
⇒ P(non-occurence of this event) = ( 1 − p ).
5. The probability of an event cannot be greater than 1.
6. Prime numbers from 1 to 30 are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29.
Their number is 10.
10 1
∴ P(getting a prime number) == ⋅
30 3
7. Total number of given numbers = 15.
From given numbers, the multiples of 4 are 4, 8, 12.
They are 3 in number.
3 1
∴ P(getting a multiple of 4) = = ⋅
15 5
8. Given numbers are 6, 7, 8, 9, ..., 50.
Number of these numbers = 50 − 5 = 45.