Chap 16 Probability PDF

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Chapter
Australian Curriculum
content descriptions:
ACMSP246
ACMSP247
Statistics and Probability
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125
Probability
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In this chapter we continue our study of probability. In particular, we introduce
the important ideas of sampling with and without replacement. The other
9
important new idea in this chapter is the concept of conditional probability.
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ISBN 978-1-107-64845-6
5 The University of Melbourne / AMSI 2011
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C h a pt e r 1 6 P r o b a b i l it y 187
Cambridge University Press
16A Review of probability
We first review the basic ideas of probability that we introduced in Chapter 12 of ICE-EM
Mathematics Year 9 Book 2.
Sample spaces with equally likely outcomes

In ICE-EM Mathematics Year 9 Book 2, we looked at the experiment of throwing two dice
and recording the values on the uppermost faces. The results can be displayed in an array, as
shown here.
Die 2
Die 1 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 (1, 1) (1, 2) (1, 3) (1, 4) (1, 5) (1, 6)

2 (2, 1) (2, 2) (2, 3) (2, 4) (2, 5) (2, 6)
3 (3, 1) (3, 2) (3, 3) (3, 4) (3, 5) (3, 6)
4 (4, 1) (4, 2) (4, 3) (4, 4) (4, 5) (4, 6)
5 (5, 1) (5, 2) (5, 3) (5, 4) (5, 5) (5, 6)
6 (6, 1) (6, 2) (6, 3) (6, 4) (6, 5) (6, 6)
The sample space, X, for this experiment is the set of ordered pairs displayed in the array.
That is, X = {(1, 1), (1, 2), , (6, 6)}. The 36 outcomes of this experiment are equally likely
1
and each outcome has probability .
36
Example 1
Two dice are thrown and the value on each die is recorded. Find the probability that:
a the sum of the two values is 5
b the sum of the two values is less than or equal to 3
Solution
The sample space X is as described as above. The size of X is 36.

a Let A be the event that the sum is 5.
A = {(1, 4), (2, 3), (3, 2), (4, 1)}
4 1
P(A) = =
36 9
b Let B be the event that the sum is less than or equal to 3.
B = {(1, 1), (1, 2), (2, 1)}
3 1
P(B) = =
36 12
188 I C E - E M M a t h e m a tic s y e a r 1 0 B o o k 2
ISBN 978-1-107-64845-6 The University of Melbourne / AMSI 2011 Cambridge University Press
Sample spaces with non-equally likely outcomes
We can change the experiment to: Two dice are thrown and the sum of the values on the
uppermost faces is recorded.
This leads to a different sample space:
X = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}
The outcomes are no longer equally likely, since, for example, we can only obtain a total
of 2 by throwing a 1 and a 1, but there are 5 ways to obtain a sum of 6.
We can determine the probability of each of these outcomes from the array on the
previous page.
The probabilities are listed in the table below.
Outcome 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1 2 3 4 5 6 5 4 3 2 1
P (outcome)
36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36
The sum of the probabilities of the outcomes is 1.
Events
An event is a subset of the sample space. For example, in the experiment of throwing
twodice and recording the sum of the uppermost faces, an event is a subset of
X = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}
For example, the event B = {outcomes whose sum is divisible by 3} is the subset
B = {3, 6, 9, 12}
We will often use a more colloquial description of such events.
For example, we will say B is the event the sum is divisible by 3.
An outcome is favourable to an event if it is a X
member of that event. For example, 6 B and 5 B. B
2
4
5
The event B can be illustrated with a Venn diagram. 3 8
6 10
9
12
7 11
Probability of an event
The probability p of an outcome is a number between 0 and 1 inclusive.
Probabilities are assigned to outcomes in such a way that the sum of the probabilities of all
the outcomes in the sample space X is 1.
The probability of the event A is written as P(A). Thus, P(A) is the sum of the probabilities of
the outcomes that are favourable to the event A.
Hence, 0 P(A) 1, for each event A. That is, the probability of an event is a number
between 0 and 1 inclusive. In particular, P(X) = 1.
For the event B = {outcomes whose sum is divisible by 3} in the previous example
P(B) = P(3) + P(6) + P(9) + P(12)
2 5 4 1
= + + +
36 36 36 36
1
=
3
For an experiment in which all of the outcomes are equally likely:
number of outcomes favourable to that event
Probability of an event =
total number of outcomes
This is not the case for the experiment of throwing two dice and recording the sum, as we
learned that such an event had non-equally likely outcomes.
Example 2
If a die is rolled, what is the probability that a number greater than 4 is obtained?
Solution
When a die is rolled once, there are six equally likely outcomes
X = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
Let A be the event a number greater than four is obtained.
Then A = {5, 6}
2 1
Hence, P(A) = =
6 3
Example 3
A standard pack of playing cards consists of four suits: Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs and
Spades. Each suit has 13 cards consisting of an Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack,
Queen and King.
The pack is shuffled and a card is drawn at random.
For this experiment the size of X is 52.
a What is the probability that it is a King?
b What is the probability that it is a Heart?
Solution
a Let K be the event drawing a King.

There are four Kings in the pack of 52 cards.
4 1
P(K) = =
52 13
b Let H be the event drawing a Heart
There are 13 Hearts in the pack of 52 cards
13 1
P(H) = =
52 4
Example 4
One box contains 4 discs labelled as shown.

1 3 6 8
A second box contains 5 discs labelled as as shown.

2 4 5 7 9
A disc is taken from each of the boxes and the larger of the two numbers is recorded.
a What is a sample space for the experiment?
b Find the probability of each outcome.
c Find the probability that the number obtained is less than 5.
Solution
There are 20 different pairs that can be drawn from the two boxes. Each of these pairs
is equally likely to occur. The larger of the two numbers is recorded in the array.
Box 2
2 4 5 7 9
Box 1
1 2 4 5 7 9
3 3 4 5 7 9
6 6 6 6 7 9
8 8 8 8 8 9
(continued on next page)
a The sample space is X = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}
b From the array:
1 1 2 2
P(2) = , P(3) = , P(4) = , P(5) = ,
20 20 20 20
3 3 4 4
P(6) = , P(7) = , P(8) = , P(9) =
20 20 20 20
c P({2, 3, 4}) = P(2) + P(3) + P(4)
1 1 2
= + +
20 20 20
1
=
5
Review of probability
A sample space, X, consists of all possible outcomes of an experiment.
Each outcome has a probability p between 0 and 1. That is, 0 p 1.
The sum of the probabilities of all outcomes is 1.
An event, A, is a subset of X. A member of A is called an outcome favourable to A.
P(A) is the sum of the probabilities of all outcomes favourable to A.
For an experiment in which all the outcomes are equally likely:
number of outcomes favourable to that event
Probability of an event =
umber of outcomes
total nu
Exercise 16A
Examples 1, 2 1 David has 13 marbles. Five of them are pink, three are blue, three are green and two are
black. If he chooses a marble at random, what is the probability that it is green?
Example 3 2 A debating team consists of five boys and seven girls. If one of the team is chosen at
random to be the leader, what is the probability that the leader is a girl?
3 A basketball team consists of five players: Adams, Brown, Cattogio, OLeary and
Nguyen. If a player is chosen at random, what is the probability that his name starts
with a consonant?
4 Slips of paper numbered 1, 2, 3, ..., 10 are placed in a hat and one is drawn at random.
What is the probability that the number on the slip of paper is not a multiple of four?
5 A bag contains 11 balls. Three of these are black and eight are blue. A ball is taken from
the bag at random. What is the probability that it is blue?
6 A small aircraft has 14 passengers in it. There are 8 female passengers and
6male passengers. The air hostess randomly selects a passenger and gives them
acomplimentary drink. What is the probability that the selected passenger is female?
Example 4 7 One box contains 4 discs labelled as shown.
2 3 7 8

A second box contains 5 discs labelled as shown.
5 6 7 8 9

A disc is taken from each of the boxes and the larger of the two numbers is recorded.
a List the sample space for the experiment.
c Find the probability that the number obtained is greater than 6.
8 A box contains 3 discs labelled as shown.
1 2 3

2 4 7

A disc is taken randomly from each box and the result is recorded as an ordered pair; for
example, (1, 7).
c Find the probability that there is an even number on both of the selected discs.
9 A box contains 4 discs labelled as shown.
1 2 3 4

1 2 3

A disc is taken randomly from each box and the sum of the numbers on the two
discs is recorded.
c Find the probability that the sum is less than 5.
10 Two dice are thrown and the values on the uppermost faces recorded. What is the
probability of:
a obtaining an even number on both dice
b obtaining exactly one 6
c obtaining a 3 on one die and an even number on the other?
11 Two dice are thrown and the difference of the values on the uppermost faces is recorded:
outcome = value on die 1 value on die 2.
a List the sample space for this experiment.
b What is the probability of obtaining a negative number?
c What is the probability of obtaining a difference of 0?
d What is the probability of obtaining a difference of 1?
e What is the probability of obtaining a difference that is exactly divisible by 3?
12 A bag contains six balls: three red balls numbered 1 to 3, two white balls numbered
1and 2 and one yellow ball. Two balls are selected one after the other, at random, and
the first is replaced before the second is withdrawn.
a List the sample space.
b Find the probability that:
i both balls are the same colour
ii the two balls selected are different colours.
13 The surnames of 800 male students on a school roll vary in length from 3 letters to
11letters as follows:
Number of letters 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Number of boys 16 100 171 206 144 97 51 13 2

If a boy is selected at random from those in this school, what is the probability that his
surname contains:
a four letters
b more than eight letters
c less than five letters?
16B
The complement of A
The complement, union
and intersection
In some problems, the outcomes in the event A can be difficult to count; whereas the event
not A may be easier to deal with.
The event not A consists of every possible outcome in the sample space X that it is not in A.
The set not A is called the complement of A and is denoted by Ac.
Every outcome in the sample space X is contained in exactly one of A or Ac.
Therefore P(A) + P(Ac) = 1 and so P(Ac) = 1 P(A).
This can be illustrated with a Venn diagram.
X
Ac A
Example 5
A card is drawn from a standard pack. What is the probability that it is not the King
of Hearts?
Solution
Let A be the event the King of Hearts is drawn.

Then Ac is the event the King of Hearts is not drawn.
1
Pr(A) =
52
Pr(Ac) = 1 Pr(A)
1
= 1
52
51
=
52 51
The probability that the card drawn is not the King of Hearts is .
52
Union and intersection

Sometimes, rather than just considering a single event, we want to look at two or more events.
We return to our example of throwing two dice and taking the sum of the numbers on the
uppermost faces.
Recall that X = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}.
Let A be the event a number divisible by 3 is obtained.
Let B be the event a number greater than 5 is obtained.
The events A and B are:
A = {3, 6, 9, 12}
B = {6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}
and A B = {6, 9, 12}
Here is the Venn diagram illustrating these events.
X
A B
6 7 8
3 9 10
12 11
2 4 5
The outcomes favourable to the event the number is divisible by 3 and greater than 5 is the
intersection of the sets A and B, that is A B. The event A B is often called A and B.
The outcomes favourable to the event the number is divisible by 3 or greater than 5 is the
union of the sets A and B; that is, A B. The event A B is often called A or B.
X X
A B A B
A B is shaded A B is shaded
For an outcome to be in the event A B, it must be in either the set of outcomes for A or the
set of outcomes for B. Of course, it could be in both sets.
For an outcome to be in the event A B, it must be in both the set of outcomes for A and the
set of outcomes for B.
We recall the addition rule for probability. X
For any two events, A and B: A B
P(A B) = P(A) + P(B) P(A B)

This is clear from the Venn diagram.
Two events are mutually exclusive if they have no outcomes in common. That is,
A B = , where is the empty set.
X
A B
In this case, when A and B are mutually exclusive, the addition rule becomes
P(A B) = P(A) + P(B).
Here are some examples using these ideas.
Example 6
Two dice are thrown and the sum of the numbers on the uppermost faces is recorded.
What is the probability that the sum is:
a even b greater than 7
c less than 5 d greater than 7 or less than 5
e even and greater than 7 f even or greater than 7?
Solution
Recall that X = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}
Outcome 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1 2 3 4 5 6 5 4 3 2 1
P (outcome)
36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36
Let A be the event the sum is even

B be the event the sum is greater than 7
C be the event the sum is less than 5
Then A = {2, 4, 6, 8 10, 12}
B = {8, 9, 10, 11, 12}
C = {2, 3, 4}
a Using the table:
P(A) = P(2) + P(4) + P(6) + P(8) + P(10) + P(12)
1 3 5 5 3 1
= + + + + +
36 36 36 36 36 36
1
=
2
1
That is, the probability that the sum is even is .
2
b P(B) = P(8) + P(9) + P(10) + P(11) + P(12)
5 4 3 2 1
= + + + +
36 36 36 36 36
5
=
12
5
That is, the probability that the sum is greater than 7 is .
12
c P(C) = P(2) + P(3) + P(4)
1 2 3
= + +
36 36 36
1
=
6
1
That is, the probability that the sum is less than 5 is .
6
d P(the sum is greater than 7 or less than 5) = P(B C)
Now B C = , so B and C are mutually exclusive events.
P(B C) = P(B) + P(C)
7
=
12
e P(the sum is even and greater than 7) = P(A B)
P(A B) = P(8) + P(10) + P(12)
5 3 1
= + +
36 36 36
1
=
4
f P(the sum is even or greater than 7) = P(A B)
P(A B) = P(A) + P(B) P(A B)
1 5 1
= +
2 12 4
2
=
3
Example 7
The eye colour and gender of 150 people were recorded. The results are shown in the
table below.
Eye colour
Blue Brown Green Grey
Gender
Male 20 25 5 10
Female 40 35 5 10
What is the probability that a person chosen at random from the sample:
a has blue eyes
b is male
c is male and has green eyes
d is female and does not have blue eyes
e has blue eyes or is female
f is male or does not have green eyes?
Solution
Let A be the event has blue eyes

B be the event has brown eyes
G be the event has green eyes
M be the event is male
F be the event is female
a The probability that a person has blue eyes is:
60 2
P(A) = =
150 5
b The probability that a person is male is:
60 2
P(M ) = =
150 5
c The probability that a person is male and has green eyes is:
5 1
P(M G) = =
150 30
d The probability that a person is female and does not have blue eyes is:
35 + 5 + 10
P(F Ac) =
150
50
=
150
1
=
3
e The probability that a person has blue eyes or is female is:
20 + 40 + 35 + 5 + 10
P(A F ) =
150
110
=
150
11
=
15
f The probability that a person is male or does not have green eyes is:
c 20 + 25 + 5 + 10 + 40 + 35 + 10
P(M G ) =
150
145
=
150
29
=
30
Note: This can also be calculated by noting that this is the complement of the event
The person has green eyes and is female.
Complement, or, and

The event not A includes every outcome of the sample space X that is not in A. The
event not A is called the complement of A and is denoted by Ac.
P (Ac) = 1 P (A)
An outcome in the event A B, is either in A or B, or both.
An outcome in the event A B, is in both A and B.
For any two events A and B
P(A B) = P(A) + P(B) P(A B)
Two events A and B are mutually exclusive if A B = and in this case P(A B) =
P(A) + P(B).
Exercise 16B
Example 5 1 A number is chosen at random from the first 15 positive whole numbers. What is the
probability that it is not a prime number?
2 A card is drawn at random from an ordinary pack of 52 playing cards. What is the
probability that it is not a King?
3 One letter is chosen at random from the letters of the alphabet. What is the probability
that it is not a consonant?
4 A box of 60 coloured crayons contains a mixture of colours, 12 of which are blue. If one
crayon is removed at random, what is the probability that it is not blue?
5 A number is chosen at random from the first 30 positive whole numbers. What is the
probability that it is not divisible by 7?
6 In a raffle, 1000 tickets are sold. If you buy 50 tickets, what is the probability that you
will not win first prize?
7 A letter is chosen at random from the 10 letters of the word COMMISSION. What is the
probability that the letter is:
a N b S c a vowel d not S?
Example 6 8 A card is drawn at random from a pack of playing cards. Find the probability that the
card chosen:
a is a Club
b is a court card (i.e. an Ace, King, Queen or Jack)
c has a face value between 2 and 9 inclusive
d is a Club and a court card
e is a Club or a court card
f has a face value between 2 and 5 inclusive and is a court card
g has a face value between 2 and 5 inclusive or is a court card.
9 A standard die is thrown and the uppermost number is noted. Find the probability that
the number is:
a even and a six
b even or a six
c less than or equal to four and a six
d less than or equal to three or a six
e even and less than or equal to four
f odd or less than or equal to three.
Example 7 10 A survey of 200 people was carried out to determine hair and eye colour. The results are
shown in the table below.
Hair colour
Fair Brown Red Black
Eye colour
Blue 25 9 6 18
Brown 16 16 18 22
Green 15 17 22 16

What is the probability that a person chosen at random from this group has:
a blue eyes b red hair
c fair or brown hair d blue or brown eyes
e red hair and green eyes f eyes that are not green
g hair that is not red h fair hair and blue eyes
i eyes that are not blue or hair that is not fair?
In the following questions, use an appropriate Venn diagram.

11 In a group of 100 students, 60 study mathematics, 70 study physics and 30 study both
mathematics and physics.
a Represent this information on a Venn diagram.
b One student is selected at random from the group. What is the probability that the
student studies:
i mathematics but not physics
ii physics but not mathematics
iii neither physics nor mathematics?
12 In a group of 40 students, 26 play tennis and 19 play soccer. Assuming that each of the
40 students plays at least one of these sports, find the probability that a student chosen at
random from this group:
a plays both tennis and soccer b plays only tennis
c plays only one sport d plays only soccer.
13 In a group of 65 students, 30 students study geography, 42 study history and 20study
both history and geography. If a student is chosen at random from the group of
65students, find the probability that the student studies:
a history or geography b neither history nor geography
c history but not geography d exactly one of history or geography.
14 A number is selected at random from the integers 1 to 1000 inclusive. Find the
probability the number is:
a divisible by 5 b divisible by 9
c divisible by 11 d divisible by 5 and 9
e divisible by 5 and 11 f divisible by 9 and 11
g divisible by 5, 9 and 11.
15 In a group of 200 students, 60 study history, 80 study English literature and
30 study both.
a Represent this information on a Venn diagram.
b If a student is selected at random from the group, what is the probability that the
student studies:
i at least one of these subjects
ii history but not English literature?
16 In a group of 85 people, 33 own a microwave, 28 own a DVD player and 38 own a
computer. In addition, 6 people own both a microwave and a DVD player, 9 own both a
DVD player and a computer, 7 own both a computer and a microwave and 2 people own
all three items. Draw a Venn diagram representing this information. If a person is chosen
at random from the group, what is the probability that the person:
a does not own a microwave, a computer or a DVD player
b owns exactly one of the three items
c owns exactly two of the three items
d owns only a DVD player
e owns only a microwave?
17 If a card is drawn at random from a pack of 52 playing cards, what is the probability that
it will be:
a a Heart or the Ace of Clubs
b a Heart or an Ace
c a Heart or a Diamond?
18 From a set of 15 cards whose faces are numbered 1 to 15, one card is drawn at random.
What is the probability that it is a multiple of 3 or 5 or both?
16C Conditional probability
The probability of an event, A, occurring when it is known that some event, B, has occurred
is called the probability of A given B and is written P(A | B). This is the idea of conditional
probability.
Suppose that two buildings, A and B, have five fuses numbered as shown below.
1 2 3 4 5
A B
Suppose that only one of the fuses has blown. Without further information we can only
assume:
P(Fuse 1 blown) = P(Fuse 2 blown) = P(Fuse 3 blown) = P(Fuse 4 blown)
1
= P(Fuse 5 blown) =
5
But suppose that we can see that only building A is affected. Then it is natural to assume:
1
P(Fuse 1 blown) = P(Fuse 2 blown) = P(Fuse 3 blown) = and P (Fuse 4 blown)
= P (Fuse 5 blown) = 0 3
We shall write this:

1
P(Fuse 1 blown only building A affected) =
3
In words, this is
1
The probability that fuse 1 is blown, given that only building A is affected, is equal to .
3
This is an example of conditional probability. Restricting our attention to a fuse blowing in
building A changes the sample space.
We illustrate this through the following example.
Example 8
In a group of 200 students, 42 study French only, 25 study German only and 8 study
both. Find the probability that a student studies French given that they study German.
Solution
The sample space X is the set of 200 students.

Let F be the event a student studies French.
Let G be the event a student studies German.
This information can be represented in a Venn diagram.
X
F G
(42) (8) (25)
125
P(a student studies French given that they study German) is written as P(F | G).
To find this, we consider G as a new sample space. The corresponding Venn diagram
is as shown.
G
F G
(8) (25)
8
|G| = 33 and | F G | = 8. Hence, P(F | G) = .
33
In this problem, we are regarding G as a sample space in its own right and calculating the
probability of F G as an event in the sample space G.
| F G |
Thus, we have P(F | G) = .
|G|
Conditional probability
Suppose that A and B are two subsets of a sample space X.
Then for the events A and B
P( A B)
P(A given B) = P(A | B) =
P( B)
Example 9
Suppose that we roll a fair die and define event A as rolling a 4 and event B as
rolling an even number. What is the probability that a four was rolled given that the
number rolled was even?
Solution
The sample space for rolling a die and observing the score on the top face is
X = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
We let A = {4} and B = {2, 4, 6}
This is shown in the Venn diagram.
X
B
6
A
2
4
1 3 5
In this case, A B = A
| AB|
P(A | B) =
|B|
1
=
3
Example 10
A bowl contains blue and black marbles. Some of the marbles have A marked on
themand others have B marked on them. The number of each type is given in the
table below.
Black marble Blue marble

Marked A 50 27
Marked B 22 13
A marble is randomly taken out of the bowl. Find the probability that:
a it is a marble marked A
b it is a marble marked A given that it is blue
c it is a blue marble
d it is a blue marble given that it is marked B.
Solution
There are 112 marbles.

77 11
a P(a marble marked A) = =
112 16
27
b P(a marble marked A | it is blue) =
40
40 5
c P(a blue marble) = =
112 14
13
d P(a blue marble | it is marked B) =
35
Exercise 16C
Example 8 1 A bowl contains green and red normal jelly beans and green and red double-flavoured
jelly beans. The number of each type is given in the following table.
Green Red
Normal jelly bean 13 18
Double-flavoured jelly bean 9 8
A jelly bean is randomly taken out of the bowl. Find the probability that:
a it is a double-flavoured jelly bean b it is a green jelly bean
c it is a green normal jelly bean
d it is a green jelly bean given that it is a normal jelly bean
e it is a double-flavoured jelly bean given that it is a red jelly bean
f it is a double-flavoured jelly bean given that it is a green jelly bean.
Example 9 2 A die is tossed. What is the probability that an outcome greater than 4 is obtained, given that:
a an even number is obtained b a number greater than 2 is obtained?
3 Two coins are tossed. What is the probability of obtaining two heads given that at least
one head is obtained?
4 A card is drawn from a standard pack of cards. What is the probability that:
a a court card is drawn given that it is known that the card is a Heart
b the 8 or 9 of Clubs is drawn given that it is known that a black card is drawn?
5 In a traffic survey during a 30-minute period, the number of people in each passing car
was noted, and the results tabulated as follows.
Number of people in a car 1 2 3 4 5
Number of cars 60 50 40 10 5
Total: 165
a What is the probability that there was 1 person in a car during this period?
b What is the probability that there was more than 1 person in a car during this period?
c What is the probability that there were less than 2 people in a car during this period
given that there were less than 4 people in the car?
d What is the probability that there were 5 people in a car during this period given that
there were more than 3 people in the car?
6 A group of 2000 people, eligible to vote, were asked their age and candidate preference
in an upcoming election, with the following results.
1825 years 2640 years Over 40 years Total
Candidate A 400 200 170 770
Candidate B 500 460 100 1060
No preference 100 40 30 170
Total 1000 700 300 2000
What is the probability that a person chosen at random from this group:
a is from the 2640 age group? b prefers Candidate B?
c is from 2640 age group given that they prefer Candidate A?
d prefers Candidate B given that they are in the 1825 years age group?
7 A prize is going to be awarded at the end of a concert. It is announced that the winner
will be chosen randomly.
The number of people at the concert in different age groups is given in the following table.

Age group 05 611 1218 1929 3040 Older than 40
Number of people
10 150 350 420 125 85
in age group
What is the probability that the prize winner is:

a 40 or less? b between 12 and 29?
c older than 5? d older than 18 given they are older than 11?
e 29 or less given that they are 40 or less?
8 A game is devised by two friends, Aalia and Rachael. They roll two dice and take the
smaller number from the larger, or they write 0 if the numbers are the same. Aalia wins if
the difference is less than 3.
a Copy and complete the table of differences.
Die 2
1 2 3 4 5 6
Die 1
1 0 1 2 3 4 5
2 1 0 1 2 3 4
3 2
4 3
5 4
6 5
b Draw up a table giving the outcomes of the experiment and their probabilities.
c Find the probability that Aalia wins.
d Find the probability that Rachael wins.
e Find the probability that Aalia wins given that the difference is less than 4.
f Find the probability of Rachael winning given that the difference is less than 4.
9 An urn contains 25 marbles numbered from 1 to 25. A marble is drawn from the urn.
What is the probability that:
a the marble numbered 3 is drawn given that it is odd
b a marble with a number less than 10 is drawn given that it is less than 20
c a marble with a number greater than 10 is drawn given that it is greater than 5
d a marble with a number greater than 10 is drawn given that it is less than 20
e a marble with a number divisible by 10 is drawn given that it is divisible by 5?
10 In a group of 85 people, 33 own a microwave, 28 own a DVD player and 38 own a
computer. In addition, 6 people own both a microwave and a DVD player, 9 own both a
DVD player and a computer, 7 own both a computer and a microwave and 2 people own
all three items. If a person is chosen at random from the group, what is the probability
that the person:
a owns a microwave given that they own a DVD player
b owns a computer given that they own a DVD player
c owns a computer given that they own a DVD player and a microwave?
Sampling with
16D replacement and

without replacement
Multi-stage sampling with replacement and independent events
A bag contains three red balls, R1, R2 and R3, and two black balls, B1 and B2. A ball is drawn
atrandom and its colour recorded. It is then put back in the bag, the balls are mixed
thoroughly and a second ball is drawn. Its colour is also noted. The sample space is shown
inthe array below.
Second ball
R1 R2 R3 B1 B2
First ball
R1 (R1, R1) (R1, R2) (R1, R3) (R1, B1) (R1, B2)
R2 (R2, R1) (R2, R2) (R2, R3) (R2, B1) (R2, B2)
R3 (R3, R1) (R3, R2) (R3, R3) (R3, B1) (R3, B2)
B1 (B1, R1) (B1, R2) (B1, R3) (B1, B1) (B1, B2)
B2 (B2, R1) (B2, R2) (B2, R3) (B2, B1) (B2, B2)
The sample space X contains the 25 pairs listed above. They are equally likely and each
1
outcome has probability of occurring.
25
Let A be the event both balls are red.
9
From the array, P(A) = .
25
Let B be the event the first ball is red.
15 3
From the array, P(B) = = .
25 5
Let C be the event the second ball is red.
15 3
From the array, P(C) = = .
25 5
The event B C is the first and second balls are red, which is the same as event A.
That is, A = B C.
9 9
We note that P(A) = and P(B) P(C) = .
25 25
We can see why this is true from the multiplication principle discussed in Chapter 13.
The number of ways that two balls can be chosen is 5 5 = 25.
R1 R1
R2 R2
R3 R3
B1 B1
B2 B2
There are 3 3 ways of obtaining 2 red balls.
33 3 3
Therefore, P(A) = = = P(B) P(C)
5 5 5 5
That is, P(B C) = P(B) P(C). The events B and C are said to be independent. When we
replace the first ball drawn, the second draw is not influenced by the first. The result of the
second draw is independent of the result of the first.
Definition
Let A and B be subsets of the sample space X. The events A and B are independent if
P(A B) = P(A)P(B).
Multi-stage sampling without replacement

We start with the same bag of coloured balls as previously described. A ball is drawn at random
and its colour recorded. The ball is not put back in the bag. A second ball is drawn at random
from the remaining balls and its colour recorded.
The sample space X is listed in the array below. There are the 5 4 = 20 outcomes in the
sample space X.
Second ball
R1 R2 R3 B1 B2
First ball
R1 (R1, R2) (R1, R3) (R1, B1) (R1, B2)

R2 (R2, R1) (R2, R3) (R2, B1) (R2, B2)
R3 (R3, R1) (R3, R2) (R3, B1) (R3, B2)
B1 (B1, R1) (B1, R2) (B1, R3) (B1, B2)
B2 (B2, R1) (B2, R2) (B1, R3) (B2, B1)
The indicates that the pair cannot occur.

Let A be the event both balls are red.
6 3
From the array, P(A) = = .
20 10
Let B be the event the first ball is red.
12 3
From the array, P(B) = = .
20 5
Let C be the event the second ball is red.
12 3
From the array, P(C) = = .
20 5
Again, the event B C is the first and second balls are red, which is the same as event A.
That is, A = B C.
3 9
We note that P(A) = and P(B) P(C) = .
10 25
So in this case P(B C) P(B) P(C).
Hence, the events B and C are not independent. The result of the second draw is not
independent of the result of the first. This should not be a surprise since, if the first ball drawn
is red, there are two reds and two blacks left. On the other hand, if the first ball drawn is
black, there are three reds and one black left.
Sampling and conditional probability

From the previous section we know that, in general,
P(B C )
P(C | B) = and so P(B C) = P(B)P(C | B)
P ( B)
We will continue to use the sample space X of the previous page.
We want to calculate P(C | B). We note that if B has occurred then there are four balls left;
two of them are red and two black.
2 1
Therefore, P(C | B) = =
4 2
P(B C) = P(B) P(C | B)
3 1
=
5 2
3
=
10
= P(A), as expected
Independent events
For any two events B and C
P(B C) = P(B) P(C | B)
Two events B and C are said to be independent if P(B C) = P(B) P(C).
If C and B are independent, then P(C | B) = P(C).
Tree diagrams and probability
Drawing an array containing all possibilities is only sensible for small cases such as those
dealt with earlier in this section. For example, if one draws two cards from a pack of cards
without replacement then there are 52 51 possibilities.
Another useful method for calculating probabilities is a tree diagram.
Consider again the experiment of drawing two balls from a bag containing 3 red and 2 black balls
without replacement. As discussed earlier, there are 20 equally likely outcomes in the sample space.
We look at the experiment through the sample space X with only four outcomes:
(R, R) is the outcome that both balls drawn are red.
(R, B) is the outcome that the first ball drawn is red and the second ball drawn is black.
(B, R) is the outcome that the first ball drawn is black and the second ball drawn is red.
(B, B) is the event that both balls drawn are black.
3 3 3
From the array on page 211, P ((R, R)) = , P ((R, B)) = , P((B, R1)) = ,and
1 10 10 10
P ((B, B)) = .
10
We now show how to calculate these probabilities using a tree diagram.
On the first arm of the branches, we write the probability of obtaining red in the first draw
3 2
and the probability of obtaining black in the first draw; that is, and respectively.
5 5
2
If a red is drawn first, then the probability of drawing a second red is and the probability of
2 4
drawing a black in the second draw is , since there are now two blacks and two reds in the
4
bag. These two numbers are written on the second arms in the top half of the tree diagram.
If a black is the first drawn, then there are three reds and one black left in the bag,
3 1
so and are written on the other second arms.
4 4
First draw Second draw Probability
3
1
R (R, R) 10
2
R
3
5
1 3
B (R, B) 10
2
3 3
4
R (B, R) 10
2
5
B
1
4 1
B (B, B) 10
To calculate the probabilities of each of the outcomes, we multiply the probabilities along the
branches. We can think of the numbers on the second arms as being conditional probabilities.
So P((R, R)) = P(first is red) P(second is red | first is red)
3 1 3
P((R, R)) = =
5 2 10
3 1 3
Similarly, P((R, B)) = =
5 2 10
2 3 3
P((B, R)) = =
5 4 10
2 1 1
P((B, B)) = =
5 4 10
in agreement with our earlier discussion.
Example 11
A coin is tossed three times and the uppermost face is recorded each time.
a List the sample space.
b Find the probability of obtaining two heads.
Solution
a X = {HHH, HHT, HTH, THH, TTH, THT, HTT, TTT}

b Method 1
Let A be the event two heads are obtained.
A = {HHT, HTH, THH}
3
P(A) =
8
Method 2
We draw a tree diagram. It is clear in this case that each throw
is independent of each of the others.
Probability
1
1 H HHH 8
2
H
1
2
1 1
H 2
T HHT 8
1
1 H HTH 8
1 2
2 1
2
T
1 1
2 T HTT 8
1
1 H THH 8
2
H
1
1 2
2 1 1
2 T THT 8
1
T 1 H TTH 8
2
1
2
T
1 1
2 T TTT 8
1
The probability of a head or a tail at each stage is .
2
The three required arms of the tree are HHT, HTH and THH with two heads.
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P(two heads) = + +
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
3
=
8
Note: The above example is simply sampling with replacement and the tree diagram method
is not needed.
Cards
A deck of cards consists of 52 cards 13 Hearts, 13 Diamonds, 13 Spades and 13 Clubs.
Each suit consists of a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K and A.
If one card is drawn, then the probabilities are easy to calculate. For example:
1 13 1
P(King of Hearts is drawn) = , P(a Heart is drawn) = =
52 52 4
4 1
P(a King is drawn) = =
52 13
If two cards are drawn with replacement then, for example,
1 1 1
P(two Hearts are drawn) = =
4 4 16
On the other hand, if two cards are drawn without replacement, then the conditional
probabilities vary depending on the first drawn card. For example, if the King of Hearts is
drawn, then on the second draw:
12 13 13 13
P(Heart) = , P(Club) = , P(Spade) = and P(Diamond) =
51 51 51 51
In this type of situation, a tree diagram is useful.
Example 12
A card is taken at random from a pack and not replaced. A second card is then taken
from the pack and the result noted.
a What is the probability that the two cards are Aces?
b What is the probability that the two cards are Hearts?
c What is the probability of obtaining one Heart and one Club?
Solution
a 3 Ace
51
4
Ace
52
48
51 not Ace
48
52
not Ace
4 3 1
P(two aces) = =
52 51 221
12 H
13 12 1 51
b P(two Hearts) = =
52 51 17 13 H
52
39
51 not Heart
39 not Heart
52
c P(one heart and one club)

13
= P(the first card is a Heart and the second card 51 C
a Club) + P(the first card is a Club and the second H
13
card a Heart) 52 38 not Club
51
13 13 13 13 13 H
= + 51
52 51 52 51 13 C
52 38 not Heart
13 51
= 26
102 52
D or S
Exercise 16D
Example 11 1 A card is drawn at random from a pack of 52 playing cards. It is replaced and the pack is
shuffled. A second card is then drawn. What is the probability of the event:
a both cards are Diamonds
b neither card is a Diamond
c only one of the cards is a Diamond
d only the first card is a Diamond
e only the second card is a Diamond
f at least one of the cards is a Diamond?
Example 12 2 A bag contains 8 red balls and 5 blue balls. A ball is taken and its colour noted. It is not
replaced. A second ball is taken and its colour noted. Find the probability of obtaining:
a a red ball and a blue ball
b two red balls
c two blue balls.
3 One card is drawn at random from a pack of 52 playing cards. It is not replaced. A
second card is then drawn. What is the probability of the event:
a both cards are Diamonds
b neither card is a Diamond
c only one of the cards is a Diamond
d only the first card is a Diamond
e only the second card is a Diamond
f at least one of the cards is a Diamond?
4 A bag contains 8 red balls and 5 black balls. A ball is taken and its colour noted. It is not
replaced. A second ball is taken and its colour noted. Find the probability of obtaining:
a a red ball followed by a black ball
b a red and a black ball
c two red balls.
5 Giorgia has 5 red ribbons, 3 blue ribbons and 6 green ribbons in a drawer. Giorgia
randomly takes one ribbon out and then a second (no replacement). What is the
probability that she obtains:
a 2 red ribbons
b a red and a blue ribbon
c a green and a red ribbon
d 2 blue ribbons?
6 Cube A has 5 red faces and 1 white face, cube B has 3 red faces and 3 white faces and cube
C has 2 red faces and 4 white faces. The 3 cubes are tossed. What is the probability of:
a 3 red faces uppermost
b 3 white faces uppermost
c red with A and B and white with C
d red with A and white with B and C
e at least 1 red face uppermost?
7 A bag of confectionary has 27 chocolates and 35 toffees in it.
Sanjesh takes out one item from the bag and then a second without replacing the first.
What is the probability of obtaining:
a two chocolates
b two toffees
c a chocolate and a toffee?
8 A bag contains 15 blue balls and 10 green balls. A ball is taken out and its colour noted. It is
replaced. A second ball is taken out and its colour noted. Find the probability of obtaining:
a a green ball followed by a blue ball
b a green and a blue ball
c two green balls.
9 A bag contains 10 blue balls and 3 green balls. A ball is taken out and its colour noted.
It is not replaced. A second ball is taken out and its colour noted. Find the probability of
obtaining:
a a green ball followed by a blue ball
b a green and a blue ball
c two green balls.
10 A coin is tossed four times. What is the probability of:
a four heads
b four tails
c head, tail, head, tail, in that order
d heads in the first three tosses but not in the fourth
e a head in at least one of the four tosses?
11 A die is tossed three times. What is the probability of obtaining:
a three 6s b no 6s
c three odd numbers d three even numbers
e a 6 in the first two tosses only f a 6, not a 6, and a 6 in that order?
12 A box contains chocolates and toffees with green and red wrapping. The number of each
type of confectionary and its wrapping colour is given below. One item is removed from
the box.

Green wrapping Red wrapping
Chocolate 48 60
Toffee 20 25
Find the probability of obtaining an item with green wrapping and the probability of
obtaining an item with green wrapping given that it is a chocolate.
Review exercise
1 a A bag contains 2 red marbles and 3 black marbles. Two marbles are drawn from
the bag. Each marble is replaced after it is drawn and the bag is shaken. Find the
probability of selecting:
i two black marbles ii two red marbles
iii a red and a black marble iv at least one red marble.
b From the same bag of marbles as in part a, two marbles are selected without replacing
the first marble. Find the probability that the selection contains:
i two red marbles
ii a black and a red marble
iii two marbles of the same colour.
2 From the set {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, how many 4-digit numbers can be formed (each digit may
be used only once) that are:
a even
b greater than 4000
c less than 3000 or even?
3 Discs with the digits 0 to 9 are placed in a box. A disc is drawn at random, its digit
is recorded, then it is replaced in the box. A second disc is then drawn and its digit is
recorded. Find the probability:
a that the two digits are the same
b of drawing an even digit and an odd digit
c that the first digit is a 6 and the second digit is odd.
4 A number is chosen by throwing a die in the shape of a regular tetrahedron with the
numbers 2, 4, 6, 8 on the faces, and noting the number that is face down. A second
number is obtained by throwing a fair six-sided die and noting the number on its
uppermost face. These two numbers are then added together.
a Copy and complete the table, showing all possible outcomes.

Roll of the six-sided die
1 2 3 4 5 6
2 3
four-sided die
Roll of the
4
6 9
8 13
b Find the probability of:
i A:the event in which the total score exceeds 8
ii B:the event in which the total score is 10
c If C is the event in which the total score is less than 13, find A C and P(A C).
5 In a group of 100 students, 60 study mathematics, 50 study physics and 20 study both
mathematics and physics. One of the mathematics students is selected at random.
What is the probability that he also studies physics?
6 An odd digit is selected at random and then a second odd digit is chosen at random (they
may be equal). What is the probability that the sum of the two digits is greater than 10?
7 An urn contains 8 red marbles, 7 white marbles and 5 black marbles. One marble is
drawn at random from the urn. What is the probability that it is:
a red or black
b not white
c neither black nor white?
8 A cube has 4 red faces and 2 white faces; another has 3 red and 3 white; another 2 red
and 4 white. The 3 cubes are tossed. What is the probability that there are at least 2 red
faces uppermost?
9 A number is selected at random from the integers 1 to 100 inclusive. What is the
probability it is:
a divisible by 3
b divisible by 7
c divisible by both 3 and 7
d divisible by 3 but not by 7
e divisible by 7 but not by 3?
Challenge exercise
1 A tennis team consists of 4 players who must be chosen from a group of 6 boys
and 5 girls.
a Find the number of ways the team can be picked:
i without restriction
ii with 2 boys and 2 girls in the team
iii if at least 2 girls must be in the team
iv if no more than 2 boys are to be in the team.
b If the team consists of 2 girls (Joanne and Freda) and two boys (Peter and Stuart) from
which two pairs of mixed doubles must be selected, how many ways can the mixed
doubles pairs be selected?
c During a particular tournament, the probability of the first mixed doubles pair winning
each match it plays is 0.4 and the probability of the second pair winning each match it
plays is 0.7.
i Find the probability that both pairs win their first match.
ii Find the probability that the first pair wins 2 and loses 1 of their first 3 matches.
iii Find the probability that the second pair wins their second and third match, given
that they won their first match.
2 A box contains 35 apples, of which 25 are red and 10 are green. Of the red apples,
five contain an insect and of the green apples, one contains an insect. Two apples are
chosen at random from the box. Find the probability that:
a both apples are red and at least one contains an insect
b at least one apple contains an insect given that both apples are red
c both apples are red given that at least one is red
3 Four-digit numbers are to be formed from the digits 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
a For each of the cases below, find how many 4-digit numbers can be formed if:
i any digit may appear up to four times in the number
ii no digit may appear more than once in the number
iii there is at least one repeated digit, but no digit appears more than twice in a number.
b Find the probability that a four-digit number chosen at random from the set of
numbers in part a i contains at least one six.
4 Each of three boxes has two drawers. One box contains a diamond in each drawer,
another contains a pearl in each drawer, and the third contains a diamond in one drawer
and a pearl in the other. A box is chosen, a drawer is opened and found to contain a
diamond. What is the probability that there is a diamond in the other drawer of that box?
5 If you hold two tickets in a lottery for which n tickets were sold and 5 prizes are
to be given, what is the probability that you will win at least one prize?
6 If A and B are mutually exclusive events, show that
P( A)
P(A | A B) = .
P( A) + P( B)
7 a In the diagram shown, in how many different B
ways can you get from A to B if you are only
D
allowed to move to the right and upwards?
b What is the probability that a random journey
from A to B passes through the point D? (Only
moves to the right and up are allowed.)

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4242

Statistics and Probability

Sample spaces with equally likely outcomes

1 (1, 1) (1, 2) (1, 3) (1, 4) (1, 5) (1, 6)

The sample space X is as described as above. The size of X is 36.

The sum of the probabilities of the outcomes is 1.

a Let K be the event drawing a King.

One box contains 4 discs labelled as shown.

A second box contains 5 discs labelled as as shown.

(continued on next page)

Number of boys 16 100 171 206 144 97 51 13 2

Let A be the event the King of Hearts is drawn.

Union and intersection

P(A B) = P(A) + P(B) P(A B)

Recall that X = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}

Let A be the event the sum is even

Let A be the event has blue eyes

Complement, or, and

In the following questions, use an appropriate Venn diagram.

We shall write this:

The sample space X is the set of 200 students.

(42) (8) (25)

(continued on next page)

Black marble Blue marble

There are 112 marbles.

Number of people in a car 1 2 3 4 5

Total 1000 700 300 2000

What is the probability that the prize winner is:

16D replacement and

Multi-stage sampling without replacement

R1 (R1, R2) (R1, R3) (R1, B1) (R1, B2)

The indicates that the pair cannot occur.

Sampling and conditional probability

in agreement with our earlier discussion.

a X = {HHH, HHT, HTH, THH, TTH, THT, HTT, TTT}

c P(one heart and one club)

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