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Worksheet

Probability review
1  What is Buckley’s chance? Give an example of an event that has Buckley’s chance.

2 A letter is selected at random from the alphabet. What is the probability that this letter can be found in
the word MATHEMATICS?
3  What is the probability that this spinner lands on:

a  cerise? b  beige or violet? c  a colour that is not orange?

ce
ris
e
gen
ora

let

be
vio

ige

4  From a normal deck of cards one is selected at random. What is the probability that it is:

a  a black four? b  a picture card? c  an even number? d  an Ace or a red card?

5  What is the probability of an event that has a 50–50 chance?

6 A packet of lollies contains 12 red, 15 green, 5 purple and 8 yellow lollies. If one is selected at random,
what is the probability that it is:
a  red? b  yellow or blue? c  neither green nor red?
7  A sample of matchboxes was taken and the number of matches in each box counted.

No. of matches 47 48 49 50 51 52
Frequency  5 13 26 45 10  1

  What is the probability that a box selected at random from this sample contains:
a  exactly 50 matches? b  more than 50 matches? c  48 or fewer matches?
8 The weather report said that there is a 35% chance of rain tomorrow. What is the probability that it will
not rain? Express the answer as a simplified fraction.
9  a  How many different outcomes are possible when a coin is tossed twice?
b  What is the probability of a head, then a tail?
c  What is the probability of getting a head and a tail in any order?
10  A raffle has 250 tickets and four prizes. Li buys one ticket. What is the probability he wins a prize?

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11  What is the probability that a person chosen at random has a birthday in a month beginning with A?

12 Each letter of the word MILLENNIUM is written on a card. If one is drawn randomly, what is the
probability that it is:
a  M? b  a consonant? c  not L or N?
13  A coin is tossed and a die is rolled.

a  How many different outcomes are possible? List them.

b  What is the probability of a head and a five?

c  What is the probability of a getting a head and an even number?

14  Two dice are rolled and the difference between the higher and lower numbers is calculated.

a  Use this table to calculate all possible differences.

2nd die
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 3
1st 2 0
die 3
4 2 2
5
6

b  What is the probability of rolling a difference of 3?

c  Which difference has the lowest probability and what is that probability?
15  A study of three-child families counted the number of girls in each.

No. of girls Frequency

0 62
1 144
2 152
3 42

  What is the experimental probability (as a %) that a family selected at random from this sample has:
a  exactly 1 girl? b  more girls than boys?
16  a  List all possible arrangements of boys and girls for a three-child family.
b  Hence, what is the theoretical probability that a three-child family has exactly 1 girl? Express the
answer as a percentage.
17 A die is biased so that a six is twice as likely to occur as the other numbers. What is the probability of
rolling an odd number on this die?

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Answers
4 1 5 2
1  no chance at all 2  3  a  b  c 
13 4 12 3
1 5 2 7 1 3 1 13
4  a  b  c  d  5  6  a  b  c 
26 12 3 13 2 10 5 40
9 11 9 13 1 1
7  a  b  c  8  9  a  4 b  c 
20 100 50 20 4 2
2 1 1 3 3
10  11  12  a  b  c 
125 6 5 5 5
1 1
13  a  12: H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6, T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6 b  c 
12 4
14  a 2nd
die

1 2 3 4 5 6

1 0 1 2 3 4 5

1st
2 1 0 1 2 3 4
die

3 2 1 0 1 2 3

4 3 2 1 0 1 2

5 4 3 2 1 0 1

6 5 4 3 2 1 0

1 1
b  c  5,
6 18
1
15  a  36% b  482 %
16  a  BBB, BBG, BGB, GBB, BGG, GBG, GGB, GGG b  3712 %
3
17 
7

© Cengage Learning Australia Pty Ltd 2012        MAT08SPWK10085        Statistics and Probability: Chance        www.nelsonnet.com.au