NAME: ____________________________________________ Date: _________

Introduction to Probability

OBJECTIVE: I can calculate probability and its complement.

WARM UP:

1. WHATS LUCK GOT TO DO WITH IT?

Directions: Answer each question below individually. Be prepared to share your answer.

Briefly describe one time when you were really lucky.

Why did you call yourself lucky? What made you think that you were lucky?

2. PROBABILITY OR NOT?

Directions: Write an informal definition of the word probability, as in, The probability
that this event will occur is 50%.

Directions: Mark those situations that represent a probability. Be prepared to defend

your answer.
There is a 40% chance it will rain today.
There are 15 LPS students applying for 7 available spots on the college tour. There
are 6435 different groups of 7 students that can be chosen to go.
In the upcoming Kentucky Derby, the horse named A Boy Named Em has 200 in
1 odds to win.
In 2009, those people who held college degrees made, on average, $15,100/year
more than those people who only held high school degrees.
A student who applies to Dartmouth College in the upcoming year has a 10%
chance of being accepted.
If youre born in the state of California, you have a 1 in 9 chance of graduating
from college.
Ryan can make 104 unique passwords using only numerical digits.
If you play the California state lottery, you have a 0.00000004% chance of winning.
The current interest rate for Lisas saving account is 1.4%
The best selling album of all time is Michael Jacksons Thriller.

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THREE WAYS TO REPRESENT PROBABILITY
Directions: Complete the chart below. Reduce if possible.

Situation # of # of total Probability Probabilit

desired outcomes in as a y as a
outcomes sample space fraction percentag
e
Ex You being cold-
called by the
teacher in a
room of 30
students
Ex Choosing a
blue M&M out
of a bag of 4
red M&Ms and
3 blue M&Ms
1 A particular
song coming
on shuffle on
your iPod from
a playlist of 12
songs
2 You winning a
lottery out of
100 people
3 You picking a
red sock out of
a bag with 4
red socks and 2
pink socks
4 You rolling a 5
with one die

5 Picking a green
marble out of a
bag of 4 yellow
marbles, 1
green marble,
and 11 blue
marbles

PROBABILITY PRACTICE
Directions: Calculate each probability. Be sure to show all work.

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Ex: There are five raffle tickets in a hat. Your name is on one of them. What is the
probability that your ticket is picked?

Ex: There are sixty raffle tickets in a hat. Your name is on twelve of them. What is the
probability that your ticket is picked?

1. A spinner has 4 equal sectors colored yellow, blue, green and red. If you spin the
spinner, what is the probability of landing on yellow?

2. A single 6-sided die is rolled. What is the probability of each outcome?

3. What is the probability of rolling an even number?

4. What is the probability of rolling an odd number?

5. What is the probability of rolling a multiple of 2?

6. What is the probability of rolling a prime number?

7. A glass jar contains six red, five green, eight blue and three yellow marbles. If a
single marble is chosen at random from the jar, what is the probability of choosing
a red marble?

8. If a single marble is chosen at random from the jar, what is the probability of
choosing a green marble?

9. If a single marble is chosen at random from the jar, what is the probability of
choosing a blue marble?

10. If a single marble is chosen at random from the jar, what is the probability of
choosing a yellow marble?

11. If a single marble is chosen at random from the jar, what is the probability of
choosing a green OR yellow marble?

12. If a single marble is chosen at random from the jar, what is the probability of
choosing a green, red OR yellow marble?

13. If a single marble is chosen at random from the jar, what is the probability of
choosing a purple marble?

14. If a letter is chosen from the alphabet at random, what is the probability of
choosing a vowel?

15. If a letter is chosen at random from the word SCHOOL, what is the probability
of choosing an O?

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COMPLEMENTARY PROBABILITY NOTES

Directions: Complete the chart.

Situation Probability Complement
E Chance of snow tomorrow in Boston, MA 5%
x
E Chance that Rip van Winkle waking up on a 6
x Sunday 7
1 Chance that Mary and Joes daughter will have 50%
blue eyes

2 The probability that you had eggs for breakfast 7%

3 Chance that you will be in a class with your best 3

friend at LPS next year 20
4 Probability that you make the basketball team 1
next year 14
5 Chance that you will be the first student to 4.67%
arrive to class tomorrow

6 Chance that you will correctly guess the answer 25%

to a multiple choice question with 4 answer
choices
7 Chance that you will correctly guess the answer 1
to a multiple choice question with 5 answer 5
choices
8 Probability that you walk to school if you are an 13%
LPS student.