Recall of Probability Concepts

RECALL OF PROBABILITY
CONCEPTS:
 Experiment – any procedure that: (1) can be repeated, theoretically, an infinite number
of times; and (2) has a well-defined set of possible outcomes.
 Outcome – a possible result of an experiment.
 Sample Space (S) – the set of all possible outcomes of an experiment.
 Event (E) – subset of the sample space.
 Probability of an Event – the numerical value that describes the likelihood that an
event will occur. It is calculated by finding the quotient of the number of favorable
outcomes and the total number of possible outcomes. In symbols, .
Example 1: Consider the first experiment in the “Getting Ready Activity”.

Experiment: “tossing a coin twice”

Outcomes: There are four possible outcomes which are: HH, HT, TH, and TT.
Sample Space: S = {HH, HT, TH,
TT}
Some Possible Events: A = {HT, – the event of getting only one (1) head in the outcome.
TH}
B = {HH} – the event of getting two (2) heads in the outcome.
Probability of an Event:
𝑛( 𝐴) 𝑛 ( 𝐵)
𝑃 ( 𝐴)= 𝑃 ( 𝐵 )=
𝑛 ( 𝑆) 𝑛 ( 𝑆)
2( 𝑛𝑜 .𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡h𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐴 ) 1( 𝑛𝑜 .𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡h𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐵 )
¿ ¿
4 (𝑛𝑜.𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡h𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑆) 4 (𝑛𝑜.𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡h𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑆)
1 1
𝑃 ( 𝐴)=𝑜𝑟 0.5 𝑜𝑟 50 % 𝑃 ( 𝐴)= 𝑜𝑟 0.25 𝑜𝑟 25 %
2 4
Example 2: Consider the second experiment in the “Getting Ready Activity”.

Experiment: “tossing a coin thrice”

Outcomes: There are eight possible outcomes which are: HHH, HHT, HTH, HTT, THH, THT,
Sample Space: S = {HHH, HHT, HTH, HTT, THH, THT, TTH, TTH, and TTT.
TTT} C = {HTT, THT, TTH}– the event of getting only one (1) head in the outcome.
Some Possible Events:

D = {HHT, HTH, THH}– the event of getting two (2) heads in the outcome.
Probability of an Event:
𝑛 (𝐶 ) 𝑛 ( 𝐷)
𝑃 ( 𝐶 )= 𝑃 ( 𝐷 )=
𝑛 ( 𝑆) 𝑛 ( 𝑆)
3( 𝑛𝑜 .𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡h𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐶 ) 3( 𝑛𝑜 .𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡h𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐷 )
¿ ¿
8 (𝑛𝑜.𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡h𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑆) 8 (𝑛𝑜.𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡h𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑆)
3 3
𝑃 (C )= 𝑃 ( D )=
8 8
Example 3:
Experiment: “spinning the spinner”
Outcomes: There are six possible outcomes which are: 10, 25, 50, 100,
Sample Space: S = {10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500} 250, and 500
Some Possible Events: E = {250, 500} – the event of getting a number more than
100
F = {10, 25, 50} – the event of getting number less than 100
Probability of an Event:
𝑛( 𝐸) 𝑛( 𝐹 )
𝑃 ( 𝐸 )= 𝑃 ( 𝐹 )=
𝑛 (𝑆) 𝑛 (𝑆 )
2( 𝑛𝑜 .𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡h𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐸 ) 3( 𝑛𝑜 .𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡h𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐹 )
¿ ¿
6 (𝑛𝑜.𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡h𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑆) 6 (𝑛𝑜.𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡h𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑆)
1 1
𝑃 ( E )= 𝑃 ( F )=
3 2
Example 4:
Experiment: “rolling the number cube”
Outcomes: There are six possible outcomes which are: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6
Sample Space: S = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
Some Possible Events: G = {2, 4, 6} – the event of getting an even number

H = {1, 3, 5, 6} – the event of getting an odd number or a “6”.

Probability of an Event:
𝑛 (𝐺) 𝑛(𝐻)
𝑃 ( 𝐺 )= 𝑃 ( 𝐻 )=
𝑛(𝑆 ) 𝑛(𝑆 )
3( 𝑛𝑜 .𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡h𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐸 ) 4( 𝑛𝑜 .𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡h𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐹 )
¿ ¿
6 (𝑛𝑜.𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡h𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑆) 6 (𝑛𝑜.𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡h𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑆)
1 2
𝑃 (G)= 𝑃 ( H )=
2 3
 Example 5:
A box contains 5 blue balls, 3 green balls, 4 yellow balls and 8 red
balls. A ball is drawn at random from the box:
(a) what is the probability that a blue or green ball is drawn?
𝑛 𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠
𝑃 ( 𝑏𝑙𝑢𝑒 )=
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑜 . 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠
5 +3 −𝑡 h𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒5𝑏𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑑3𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠 ,𝑠𝑜 𝑡h𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒8 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 .
¿
5 + 3 +4 +8 −𝑡 h𝑒𝑟𝑒 5+3+ 4+ 8=20 𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡h𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑥
8
¿
20
𝟐 𝟐
¿ Therefore , there is ∨𝟒𝟎 % chance that a blue ∨ green ball is drawn¿ the box .
𝟓 𝟓
 Example 5:
A box contains 5 blue balls, 3 green balls, 4 yellow balls and 8 red
balls. A ball is drawn at random from the box:
(b) what is the probability the ball drawn is NOT red?
𝑛 𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠
𝑃 ( 𝑏𝑙𝑢𝑒 )=
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑜 . 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠
5 +3 + 4 −𝑁𝑂𝑇 𝑅𝐸𝐷:𝑡 h𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒 5𝑏𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠,3𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠,𝑎𝑛𝑑 4 𝑦𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠.
¿
5 + 3 +4 +8 −𝑡 h𝑒𝑟𝑒 5+3+ 4+ 8=20 𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡h𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑥
12
¿
20
𝟑 𝟑
¿ Therefore , there is ∨ 𝟔𝟎 % chance that the ball drawn ¿ the box is NOT red .
𝟓 𝟓