Basic Terminology in Probability:

Random Experiment:

Such an Experiment, Where We Know The Set Of All Possible Results But Find It Impossible
To Predict One At Any Particular Execution, Is A Random Experiment.

Example:

Let’s Say That You Toss A Fair Coin (Not A Prank Coin). There Are Only Two Possible
Outcomes – A Head or A Tail. Also, It Is Impossible to Accurately Predict the Outcome (A Head
or A Tail). 

Even If A Random Experiment Is Repeated Under Identical Conditions, The Outcomes or
Results May Fluctuate or Vary Randomly. Let’s Look At Another Example – You Take A Fair
Dice And Roll It Using A Box.

When the Dice Lands There Are Only Six Possible Outcomes – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Or 6. However,
Predicting Which One Will Occur At Any Roll Of The Dice Is Completely Unpredictable.

Further, In Any Experiment, There Are Certain Terms That You Need to Know:

Trial – A Trial Is the Performance Of An Experiment.

Each Trial Results in One Or More Outcomes.

Example: Tossing 4 Coins, picking 3 Balls From A Bag Containing 10 Balls, 4 Of Which Are
Red And 6 Are Blue.

Trial Vs Experiment:

Many A Times We Use the Words Trial and Experiment Synonymously.

Both Trial and Experiment Mean Something That Is Done In Anticipation Of A Result.

However, We Sometimes Use the Two Terms Together Attributing A Slightly Different Sense
to The Two Terms.

When You Are Required To Differentiate Between A Trial And Experiment, Consider The
Experiment To Be A Largely Entity Formed By The Combination Of A Number Of Trials.

Examples

In The Experiment Of Tossing 4 Coins, We May Consider Tossing Each Coin As A Trial And
Therefore Say That There Are 4 Trials In The Experiment.

In The Experiment Of Picking 3 Balls From A Bag Containing To Balls 4 Of Which Are Red
And 6 Blue, We Can Consider Picking Each Ball To Be An Event And Therefore Say That
There Are 3 Trials In The Experiment.
Outcomes – Whenever You Perform an Experiment, You Get an Outcome.

For Example, When You Flip A Coin, The Outcome Is Either Heads or Tails. Similarly,
When You Roll A Dice, The Outcome Is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Or 6.

What Is an Event?

In Probability, The Set of Outcomes From An Experiment Is Known As An Event.

So Say For Example You Conduct An Experiment By Tossing A Coin. The Outcome Of This
Experiment Is The Coin Landing ‘Heads’ Or ‘Tails’. These Can Be Said To Be The Events
Connected With The Experiment. So When The Coin Lands Tails, An Event Can Be Said To
Have Occurred.

Types Of Event:

Mutually Exclusive And Collectively Exhaustive Event:

Mutually Exclusive Events Are Those Events Which Cannot Happen At The Same Time.
Events Are Mutually Exclusive Or We Can Say That They Have No Element In common.

For Instance: The Set of Outcomes Of A Single Coin Toss, Which Can Result In Either
Heads Or Tails, But Not Both.

Collectively Exhaustive Events In Which at least One Of The Events Must occur. For
Example, When Rolling A Six-Sided Die, The Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, And 6 Are Collectively
Exhaustive, Because They Encompass the Entire Range of Possible Outcomes.

Consider As Another Example That You Have A Coin, The Two Events "Heads" And "Tails"

Are Both Mutually Exclusive Since You Can't Get Both "Heads" And "Tails" in one Throw.
In This Case The Two Events Are Also Collectively Exhaustive Since There Is No Possibility
To Get Anything Else Than "Heads" Or "Tails".

Mutually Non-Exclusive Events:

Two Events A and B Are Said To Be Mutually Non Exclusive Events If Both The Events A
And B Have At least One Common Outcome Between Them.

For Example, 

In The Case Of Rolling A Die The Event Of Getting An ‘Odd-Face’ And The Event Of
Getting ‘Less Than 4’ Are Not Mutually Exclusive And They Are Also Known As
Compatible Event.

The Event Of Getting An ‘Odd-Face’ And The Event Of Getting ‘Less Than 4’ Occur When
We Get Either 1 Or 3.

Let ‘X’ Is Denoted As Event Of Getting An ‘Odd-Face’ And

‘Y’ Is Denoted As Event Of Getting ‘Less Than 4’

The Events Of Getting An Odd Number (X) = {1, 3, 5}

The Events Of Getting Less Than 4 (Y) = {1, 2, 3}

Simple Event:

A Simple Event Is An Event Where All Possible Outcomes Are Equally Likely To Occur. So
The Probability Of Simple Events Will Have All Possible Outcomes Equally Likely To
Happen Or Occur.

For Example, When You Toss A Coin, There Are Two Possible Outcomes – Heads Or Tails,
And The Probability Of Heads Or Tails Is Equal.

Compound Event:

A Compound Event Is The Combination Of Two Or More Simple Events (With Two Or

More Outcomes).

Compound Probabilities (With More Than One Outcome (Desired Result) Within A Trial ):
• The Probability Of Rolling An Even Number Less Than 5 On A Die. (2/6)
    [Even Numbers {2,4,6}; Less Than 5 {1,2,3,4}; Both {2,4}]

Equally Likely Events:

These Are Those Events Which Are Random And Have Thus An Equal Likelihood Of
Occurrence. When The Outcomes Of An Experiment Are Equally Likely To Happen, They Are
Called Equally Likely Events.

Like During A Coin Toss You Are Equally Likely To Get Heads Or Tails.

Sure Or Certain Event:

A Sure Event Is An Event, Which Always Happen.

It's A Sure Event To Obtain A Number Between 1 N 6 When Rolling An Ordinary Die.
The Probability Of A Sure Event Has The Value Of 1.

Favourable Events:

The Outcomes Which Make Necessary The Happening Of An Event In A Trial Are

Called Favourable Events.

For Example; If Two Dice Are Thrown, The Number Of Favourable Events Of Getting A
Sum 5 Is Four, I.E., (1, 4), (2, 3), (3, 2) And (4, 1).

Impossible Event:

An Impossible Event Is An Event That Cannot Happen. E Is An Impossible Event If And

Only If P(E) = 0.
Example.

In Flipping A Coin Once, An Impossible Event Would Be Getting Both A Head And A Tail.

Example Of Impossible Event

The Probability Of Getting A Number Greater Than 6, When A Die Is Thrown Once, Is

An Impossible Event, As The Highest Number In A Die Is 6.

Independent Event:

In Probability, Two Events Are Independent If The Incidence Of One Event Does Not Affect

The Probability Of The Other Event.

Simple Examples Of Independent Events:

Buying A Lottery Ticket And Finding A Penny On The Floor (Your Odds Of Finding A
Penny Does Not Depend On You Buying A Lottery Ticket).

Taking A Cab Home And Finding Your Favourite Movie On Cable.

Winning The Lottery And Running Out Of Milk.

Dependent Event:

If The Incidence Of One Event Does Affect The Probability Of The Other Event, Then

The Events Are Dependent.

Simple Examples Of Dependent Events:

Robbing A Bank And Going To Jail.

Not Paying Your Power Bill On Time And Having Your Power Cut Off.

Boarding A Plane First And Finding A Good Seat.

Parking Illegally And Getting A Parking Ticket. Parking Illegally Increases Your Odds Of
Getting A Ticket.

Buying Ten Lottery Tickets And Winning The Lottery. The More Tickets You Buy, The
Greater Your Odds Of Winning.

Driving A Car And Getting In A Traffic Accident.