 The probability of an event is a value that describes the

chance or likelihood that the event will happen or the

chance or likelihood that the event will end with a
particular outcome.

 Probabilities are given a value between 0 (will not

happen) and 1 (will happen).

 The higher the probability of an event, the more certain

we are that the event will happen.
1.A random experiment :
A random experiment is any situation
whose outcome cannot be predicted with
certainty.
Examples :
i. rolling a die,
ii. flipping a coin, and
iii. choosing a card from a deck of playing
cards.
2. An outcome
Any result of the experiment is known as an
outcome.
Examples :
The experiment of rolling a die yields six
outcomes, namely, the outcomes 1,2,3,4,5, and
6.
3. An event
An event is a subset of the sample space.
Examples:
In the event of rolling, an odd number with a die
consists of three simple events {1, 3, 5}.
4. Sample space :
is the set of all possible outcomes for the
experiment.
Examples:
i. if you roll a die one time then the
experiment is the roll of the die. A sample
space for this experiment could be
S = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} where each digit represents
a face of the die.
5. Simple or elementary event:
A singleton subset of the sample space is
called a simple or elementary event.
6. Certain event:
U

Since S S, S is called a certain event.

Example :
If A denotes the occurrence of head or tail
in the toss of a coin, then A =S , is a certain
event .
7. Impossible event:
Since Ф S,the null set is an impossible set.
Example:
If A denotes getting a number greater than 6 when a die
is thrown then A is an impossible event.
8. Algebra of events:
If A and B are two events, then
i. A U B denotes the occurrence of either A or B or both
u
ii. A B denotes the occurrence of both A and B
iii. A – B denotes the occurrence of A, but not B
iv. B – A denotes the occurrence of B, but not A.
9. Equally likely events:
The events are said to be equally likely if
none of them occurs in preference to any
other of them.
10. Mutually exclusive events:
A set of events is said to be mutually
exclusive if the occurrence of one of them
means non occurrence of the rest of them.
11. Exhaustive system of events:
A set of events is said to be exhaustive if
at least one of them occurs whenever the
experiment takes place.
12. Mutually exclusive and exhaustive system of
events:
A system of events is said to be mutually
exclusive and exhaustive if the random
experiment results in the occurrence of any
one of them and only one of them.
Example:
Let S ={1,2,3,4,5,6} be the sample space for a throw of a
dice
Let A = {1,2}be the event of occurrence of a number less
than 3.
Let B = {3,4}be the event of occurrence of a number
greater than 2 but less than 5.
Let C = {5,6}be the event of occurrence of a number
greater than 4 but less than 7.
u u u u
Here, A U B U C = S & A B =ф, C A = ф,A B C = ф.
Thus the events A,B and C form a mutually exclusive and
exhaustive system.
13.Equally likely outcome:
When the outcome of an experiment is
just as likely as another, as in the example of
tossing a coin, the outcomes are said to be
equally likely.
14. Odds in favor and Odds against an event:
If ‘a’ is the number of outcomes favorable
to an event A and ‘b’ the number of outcomes
favorable to A ,then odds in favor of A are a:b
and odds against A are b:a.
I. A machine used for a lottery has 10 balls. Each
ball is marked with a different single digit from
0 to 9. One ball is randomly selected and the
digit is the winning number. Use this data for
questions 1 through 6.
1. What is the probability that the number is 3?
a. 1/10
b. 3/10
c. 1/3
2. What is the probability that the number is
greater than 6?
a. 1/10 b. 3/10 c. 2/5
3. What is the probability that the number is
less than or equal to 3?
a. 1/10 b. 3/10 c. 2/5
What is the probability that the number is odd?
a. 1/10 b. 2/5 c. 1/2
5. What is the probability that the number is not 8?
a. 1/10 b. 1/2 c. 9/10
6. What is the probability that the number is 4 or 7?
a. 1/10 b. 1/5 c. 2/5
Now it is time for the answers
1.a
2.b
3.c
4.c
5.c
6.b
II. Tickets numbered 1 to 20 are mixed up and
then a ticket is drawn at random. What is
the probability that the ticket drawn has a
number which is a multiple of 3 or 5?
A. 1 /2 B. 2 /5 C. 8 /15 D. 9/20
Ans D
III. What is the probability of getting a sum 9
from two throws of a dice?
A. 1/6 B. 1/8 C. 1/9 D. 1/12
Ans C
IV. Three unbiased coins are tossed. What is
the probability of getting at most two
heads?
A. 3/4 B. 1/4 C. 3/8 D. 7/8
Ans D
V. In a lottery, there are 10 prizes and 25
blanks. A lottery is drawn at random. What
is the probability of getting a prize?
A. 1/10 B. 2/5 C. 2/7 D. 5/7
Ans C
VI. Which of the following numbers can be the probability
of some event?
(a) 0.71 (b)−0.5 (c) 150% (d) 4/3
Ans (a)
VII. The probability that a college student without a flu shot
will get the flu is 0.45. What is the probability that a
college student without the flu shot will not get the flu?
Solution.
Let E denote the event with outcomes those students
without a flu shot.
Then P(E) = 0.45.
The probability that a student without the flu shot will
not get the flu is then P(E) = 1 − P(E) = 1 − 0.45 = 0.55.
VIII. A lot consists of 10 good articles, 4 with
minor defects and 2 with major defects.
One article is chosen at random. Find the
probability that:
(a) it has no defects,
(b) it has no major defects,
Ans
(a)4/10
(b)8/10