Probability

1. Suppose you spin three coins at the same time. one of the next two matches is double the probability
Describe the likelihood of getting: that my will win tomorrow.”
a. three heads Arun must be incorrect. Explain why.
b. at least one head
c. three tails or fewer
8. Marcus’ sister is taking a driving test. He says:
2. Write these probabilities in order, with the smallest “There are two outcomes. Either she will pass or she
first. will fail. It is like flipping a coin. The probability
5 17 1
60 % 0.9 46.7 % that she will pass is .”
8 20 2
Do you agree with Marcus?
3. Here’s the probability scale. If not, how would you convince him that he is
incorrect?

9. Five cards have letters on them as shown:

X X X Y Y
Which event has a probability of: A card is taken without looking.
a. about 23%? Find the probability that the letter is
3 a. X
b. just over ?
4 b. Y
c. 0.55? c. Z

4. The probability of rain tomorrow is 30%. 10. Here is a spinner with

a. The likelihood of sunshine is half the likelihood seven equal sectors.
of rain. What is the probability of sunshine? Work out the probability
b. The likelihood of strong winds is twice the that the spinner lands on:
likelihood of rain. Show that strong winds have a a. 2
more than even chance. b. a number that is more
than 2
5. Show these events on a probability scale. c. an even number
2 d. an odd number
A The probability of the team will wean is .
3 e. a number that is less than 10
B The probability the train will be late is 15%. f. a prime number
C Harry will definitely be late.
D The chance I will win the game is 0.2. 11. There are 10 balls in a bag.
1 There are 4 red balls, 3 blue balls, 2 green balls and 1
E Getting three heads is .
8 yellow ball. A ball is taken without looking.
7 a. Work out the probability that the ball taken is
F Not getting three heads is . i. Blue
8
G Getting two or three heads has an even chance. ii. Red
iii. Green
6. The probabilities of when you spin a coin three times iv. Yellow
are as follow: v. Purple
1
A Getting three heads b. Work out the probability that the ball taken is not
8
red.
7
B Not getting three heads
8
c. The yellow ball is removed.
C Getting two or three heads even chance
Find the probability now for taking each of the
Show these probabilities on a probability scale.
remaining 3 colors.
7. Arun says:
12. The probability that a train will be late is 10%.
“The probability that my team will win tomorrow is
What is the probability that the train will not be late?
60%. The probability that my team will win at least
 Work out the experimental probability that a baby
13. The probability that a basketball team will win a has a mass of:
game is 60%. a. less than 3 kg
What can you say about the probability that the team b. at least 3 kg
will not win?

14. Aaron throws a fair 6-sided dice.

Find an outcome that has a probability of:
a. 50%
1
b.
6 20. A woman travels to work on a bus each morning.
5 The bus is late 9 times in 30 days.
c. a. Work out the experimental probability that the
6
1 bus will be
d. i) late
3
ii) on time
b. In next 20 days, the bus is late 3 times.
Use all the results to find the experimental
15. A teacher has a class of 20 students.
probability that the bus will be
Of these students, 12 are boys.
i) late
a. How can the teacher choose one name at
ii) on time
random?
c. The woman predicts that the bus will be late 24
b. Find the probability that the student chosen is a
times in the next 100 days.
girl.
How did she work out this number?
16. There are some colored counters in a bag.
21. The heights of 234 young men, aged 20 to 29 years
One counter is removed without looking.
are measured. Here are the results.
The probability that the counter is red is 60%.
The probability that the counter is blue is 30%. Height (cm) < 165 165-180 > 180
a. How do you know that there are other colored Frequency 28 160 46
counters in the bag? Work out the experimental probability that the height
b. If the other colored counter is green, what can of a man aged 20 to 29 years is:
you say about the probability that the counter is a. less than 165 cm
green? b. 180 cm or less
c. 165 cm or more
17. A gardener plants 45 seeds and 31 of the seeds grow
successfully. Workout the experimental probability 22. The lights of 20 cars are tested. The car could pass
that a seed will: (P) or fail (F). Here are the results:
a. grow successfully PPPPP PPPPF PFPPP PPPPP
b. not grow successfully. a. Work out the experimental probabilities that:
i) a car will pass
18. A fair dice has 20 faces, which ii) a car will fail
are numbered from 1 to 20. Here are the results for another 20 cars.
The dice is thrown once. PPFPP FPPPP PPPPF FPPPP
Find the probability that the b. Recalculate the experimental probabilities based
outcome is: on 40 cars that:
a. a multiple of 3 i) a car will pass
b. a multiple of 8 ii) a car will fail
c. a prime number c. Why are the second experimental probabilities
d. a square number more reliable?
e. a two-digit number
f. not 20 23. Students are asked if they want to be engineers,
g. not less than 5 lawyers or doctors. The results are shown below.

19. A total of 378 babies are weight when they are born. total engineer lawyer doctor
female 80 12 20 16
Of these 125 babies have a mass of less than 3 kg.
male 120 48 21 19
Find the probability that
a. a female student wants to be an engineer
b. a male student wants to be a lawyer
c. a female student does not want to be a doctor