CC DOMAIN MATH – 6

PROBABILITY
Probability means the chance or occurrence of an event.
P (Occurrence of an event) =
 If an event A is sure to occur, P(A) = 1
 If an event A is sure not to occur, P(A) = 0
 The probability of any event must be between 0 and 1, inclusively. That is: 0 ≤ P(A) ≤ 1 for any event A.
Sample Space: It is defined in the context of a random experiment and denotes the set representing all the possible
outcomes of the random experiment. For example: Sample space when a coin is tossed is (Head, Tail). Sample space
when a dice is thrown is (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Mutually Exclusive Events: A set of events is mutually exclusive when there is occurrence of any one of them
means that the other events cannot occur. (If head appears on a coin, tail will not appear and vice versa.)
Equally Likely Events: If two events have the same probability or chance of occurrence they are called equally likely
events. (In a throw of a dice, the chance of 1 showing on the dice is equal to 2 is equal to 3 is equal to 4 is equal to 5
is equal to 6 appearing on the dice.)
Exhaustive Set of Events: A set of events that includes all the possibilities of the sample space is said to be an
exhaustive set of events. (e.g. in a throw of a dice the number is less than three or more than or equal to three.)
Independent Events: An event is described as the occurrence of an event has no effect on the probability of the
occurrence of another event. (If the first child of a couple is a boy, there is no effect on the chances of the second
child being a boy.)
Expectation: The expectation of an individual is defined as Probability of winning × Reward of winning.

Properties:
1. Additional Law of Probability:
For two events A and B, P (A or B) = P (A) + P (B) – P (A and B)
If the events are mutually exclusive, P (A B) = 0
2. Multiplication Law of Probability:
If the events A and B are independent, P (A B) = P (A) × P (B)
3. Complement of an Event:
P(Ac) = 1 – P (A)
4. Collectively Exhaustive Events:
a. One of the events must occur
b. The set of events covers the entire sample space
The sum of the probabilities of all mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive events is 1 exhaustive. That is, if A,
B, and C are mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive event, then (the entire sample space)
P(A) + P(B) + P(C) = 1
5. A conditional probability is the probability of one event, given that another event has occurred:
( )
( | ) ( )
(The conditional probability of A given that B has occurred)
( )
( | ) ( )
(The conditional probability of B given that A has occurred)
Where P(A and B) = Joint probability of A and B
P(A) = Marginal probability of A
P(B) = Marginal probability of B
6. Two events A and B are statistically independent if the probability of one event is unchanged by the
knowledge that other event occurred. That is:

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P(A|B) = P(A) or P(B|A) = P(B)
7. Then the multiplication rule for two statistically independent events is: P(A and B) = P(A)P(B)

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 CC DOMAIN MATH – 6
(i) Mean =
(ii) Variance =
(iii) Standard deviation = √

Where number of trials

p=success
q = failure

Class Exercise
1. Six dice are thrown simultaneously. The probability that all of them show the same face, is
(a) (b) (c) (d) None of these
Sol. (b) The total number of elementary events associated to the random experiment of throwing six dice is

All dice show the same face means we are getting same number on all six dice. So, this number can be any one of
the six numbers 1, 2, ..., 6. The number of ways of selecting a number is .
 Favourable number of elementary events
Hence, required probability
2. Three different numbers are selected at random from the set A = {1, 2...., 10}. The probability that the product
of two of the numbers is equal to third is
(a) (b) (c) (d)
10
Sol. (b) Out of 10 numbers, three numbers can be chosen in C3 ways.
 Total number of elementary events = 10C3 The product of two numbers, out of the three chosen number will
be equal to the third number if the numbers are chosen one of the following ways:
(2, 3, 6), (2, 4, 8), (2, 5, 10)
 Favourable number of elementary events = 3
Hence, required probability

3. It is given that the events A and B are such that ( ) ( ) and ( )= then, ( ) is
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Sol. (d) We have,

4. Let A and B be two events such that ̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅

( ) ( ) and ̅̅̅̅̅
( ) , where ̅ stands for complement of
event A. Then events A and B are

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 CC DOMAIN MATH – 6
(a) Mutually exclusive and independent (b) Independent but not equally likely
(c) Equally likely but not independent (d) Equally likely and mutually exclusive
Sol. (b) We have, ( )
So, A and B are not mutually exclusive events.
Now,

5. If random variable X has the following probability distribution:

,then the value of a is

(a) (b) (c) (d)
Sol. (d) The given distribution is the probability distribution.
∑ ( )

6. The probability that a marksman will hit a target is given as 1/5. Then the probability that at least one hit in 10
shots is
(a) ( ) (b) (c) (d) None of these
Sol. (a) Let X denote the number of shots in which a marksman hit a target in 10 shots. Then, the probability of r
hits is given by

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7. Four persons independently solve a certain problem correctly with probabilities . Then the probability that
the problem is solved correctly by at least one of them is
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Sol. (a) Required probability,

8. A bag contains 4 red and 6 black balls. A ball is drawn at random from the bag, its colour is observed and this ball
along with two additional balls of the same colour are returned to the bag. Now a ball is drown at random from
the bag, If the ball drawn is red, find the probability that it is drawn from the first bag?
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Sol. (b) Consider the following events:

Then,

Let A denote the event that a ball drawn from the bag is red after transferring two additional balls in the bag.

( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

9. Let A and B be two events associated to a random experiment such that P (Exactly one occurs) , ( )
Then, ( ) is
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Sol. (a) It is given that

10. A die is thrown 100 times, getting an even number is considered a success. The variance of the number of
successes is
(a) 50 (b) 25 (c) 33 (d) 4
Sol. (b) Let denote the number of successes in 100 trials. Then, X follows binominal distribution with n=100 and

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 Variance of
11. The mean and variance of a binomial distribution are 4 and 3 respectively. Then the probability of getting exactly
six successes in his distribution, is
(a) 16C6( ) ( ) (b) 16C6( ) ( ) (c) 16C6( ) ( ) (d) 16C9 ( ) ( )
Sol. (a) Let ( ) be a binomial variate with mean 4 and variance 3. Then,

12. The probability of a man hitting a target is The least number of shots required so that the probability of his
hitting the target at least once is greater than is
(a) 2 (b) 5 (c) 4 (d) 3
Sol. (d) Let X denote the number of shots hitting the target in trials. =Then, X follows binomial distribution
with and .
It is given that
( ) ( ) ( )
( )
( )

13. If the mean and variance of a binomial variate X are 2 and 1 respectively, then the probability that X takes a value
greater than 1, is
(a) 2/3 (b) 4/5 (c) 7/8 (d) 15/16
Sol. (d) Let and be the parameters of the binomial distribution. Then,

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14. A coin is biased so that the head is three times as likely to occur as tail. If the coin is tossed twice, find the
probability distribution of number of tails. Hence, find the mean of the number of tails.
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Sol. (b) Let be probability of getting a tail in a single toss of a coin. Then, according to given, probability of
getting a head in a single toss of a coin is .
Since “Getting head” and “Getting tail” are mutually exclusive and exhaustive events in a single toss of a coin.

15. The probability of finding a green signal on a busy crossing X is 30%. What is the probability of finding a green
signal on X on two consecutive days out of three?
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Sol. (b) Let denote event of finding green signal on a busy crossing X on i-th day, where

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Directions for Questions 16 to 20: Read the following and answer the questions
Graphical method of solving a linear programming problem is a technique to find the optimum (maximum or
minimum) solution to a linear function (objective function) of two or more variables subject to some set of linear
inequations (linear constraints).
16. Objective function of an LLP is
(a) Relation between two variables. (b) A function to be optimized.
(c) A linear inequality. (d) Represented by set of some constraints.
Sol. (b) Objective function of an LPP is defined as a linear function of two or more variables which is to be
optimized under the given set of constraints.
17. If an LPP has two optimal solutions (the two vertices of the convex polygon), then the number of its solutions is
(a) A unique solution. (b) Two solutions.
(c) Empty set of solutions. (d) Infinite solutions.
Sol. (d) If the two vertices of the convex polygon give the same optimal value of the objective function, then all
the points on the line segment joining these two vertices give the optimal value of the objective function and thus
LPP is said to have infinite solutions.
18. The feasible solution for an LPP is shown in the figure. Let be the objective function then the
minimum value of Z occurs at

(a) (0, 0) (b) (0, 8) (c) (5, 0) (d) (4, 10)

Sol. (b)

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19. Corner points of the feasible region determined by the system of linear constraints are (0, 3), (1, 1) and (3, 0). Let
, where p, q>0, then the condition on p and q so that the minimum value of Z occurs at (3, 0) and (1,
1) is
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Sol. (b)

20. The set of points whose coordinates satisfy the constraints of a LPP is called the
(a) Feasible region. (b) Infeasible region. (c) LPP region.
(d) None of these.
Sol. (a) The feasible region of an LPP is defined as the set of coordinates of points satisfying all the constraints
(including the non-negative constraints) of LPP.

Home Assignment
1. A fair coin is tossed times. The probability of getting tails an odd number of times, is
(a) (b) (c) (d) None of these
Sol. (a) Let X denote the number of tails. Then, X is a binomial variate with parameters and
such that,

2. The maximum value of subject to the constraints and is

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(a) 7 (b) 4 (c) 3 (d) 10
Sol. (b)

3. The feasible region of an LPP is given in the following figure:

Then, the constraints of the LPP are and

(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Sol. (b) Line AB cuts off intercepts 52 and 104 on and axes respectively.
 Equation of line AB is
Clearly, ( ) satisfies
Clearly, the shaded area and O(0, 0) lie on the same side of the line

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Therefore, the corresponding constraint is
Line CD cuts off intercepts 76 and 38 on and axes respectively.
 Equation of line CD is
Clearly, O(0, 0) satisfies
Clearly, the shaded area and O(0, 0) lie on the same side of the line
Therefore, the corresponding constraint is
The required constraints are and
4. Based on the given shaded region as the feasible region in the graph, at which point(s) is the objective function
maximum?

(a) Point B (b) Point C (c) Point D (d) Every Point on the line segment CD
Sol. (d) The value of the objective function at these points are given in the following table:

As maximum value occurs at points C and D.

5. For an objective function where a, b>0; the corner points of the feasible region determined by a set
of constraints (linear inequalities) are (0, 20), (10, 10), (30, 30) and (0, 40). If it is given that this function gives
maximum values at ( ) and ( ). Then, find relation between a and b?
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Sol. (a) Given

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The maximum value of Z occurs at both the points (30, 30) and (0, 40).

6. A purse contains 3 silver and 6 copper coins and a second purse contains 4 silver and 3 copper coins. If a coin is
drawn at random from one of the two purse, find the probability that it is a silver coin.
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Sol. (c)

7. If each element of a second order determinant is either zero or one, what is the probability that the value of
determinant is negative?
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Sol. (d)

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8. If A, B and C are three independent events such that P(A)=P(B)=P(C)=p, then find the probability of occurrence
at least two of the events A, B and C.
(a) (b) ( ) (c) ( ) (d) ( )
Sol. (c)

9. The probability of two students A and B coming to school on time are and respectively. Assuming that the
events „A coming on time‟ and „B coming on time‟ are independent, find the probability of only one of them coming
to school on time.
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Sol. (a) Let E be the event that student A comes on time and F be the event that student B comes on time.
According to question,

10. Consider the probability distribution

The value of ( )
( )
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Sol. (d)

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