31/5/21 Chapter 15: Probability

 Probability: Probability is a quantitative measure of certainty.

 Experiment: A job which produces some outcomes.
 Trial: Performing an experiment.
 Event: The group of outcomes, denoted by capital letter of English alphabets like
A, B, E etc.
 The empirical (or experimental) probability P(E) of an event E is given by
Number of trials in which E has happend
P(E) 
Total no.of trial
 The probability of an event lies between 0 and 1 (0 and 1 are included)
 Impossible event: Event which never happen.
 Certain event: Event which definitely happen.
 The probability of sure event is 1.
 The probability of an impossible event is 0.
 The probability of an event E is a number P(E) such that 0  P(E)  1 .

Exercise 15.1
1. In a cricket match, a batswoman hits a boundary 6 times out of 30 balls she plays.
Find the probability that she did not hit a boundary.

Sol. Here, the total number of trials = 30

Number of times the ball touched boundary = 6

Number of times, the ball missed the boundary = 30 - 6 = 24

Let the event not hitting the boundary be represented by E, then

Thus, the required probability = 0.8

2. 1500 families with 2 children were selected randomly, and the following data were
recorded:

Number of girls in a family 2 1 0

Number of families 475 814 211

Compute the probability of a family, chosen at random, having

(i) 2 girls (ii) 1 girl (iii) No girl

Also check whether the sum of these probabilities is I.

Sol: Total number of families = 1500.

(i) Number of families having 2 girls in a family = 475

Probability of family having 2 girls in a family

(ii) Number of families having 1 girl = 814

Probability of family having 1 girl in a family

(iii) Number of families having no girl in a family = 211

Probability of a family having no girl in a family

Now, the sum of the obtained probabilities

i.e., Sum of the above probabilities is 1.

3. In a particular section of class IX, 40 students were asked about the month of their
birth and the following graph was prepared for the data so obtained. Find the probability
that a student of the class was born in August.
Sol. From the graph, we have:

Total number of students born in various months in a year = 40

Number of students born in August = 6

Probability of a student of the IX-Class who was born in August

4. Three coins are tossed simultaneously 200 times with the following frequencies of
derent outcomes:

Outcome 3 heads 2 heads 1 head No head

Frequency 23 72 77 28

If the three coins are simultaneously tossed again, compute the probability of 2
heads coming up.

Sol. Total number of times the three coins are tossed = 200

Number of outcomes in which 2 heads coming up = 72

Probability of 2 heads coming up

Thus, the required probability

If the three coins are simultaneously tossed again, then the probability is 25

5. An organisation selected 2400 families at random and surveyed them to determine a

relationship between income level and the number of vehicles in a family. The
information gathered is listed in the table below:
 Suppose a family is chosen. Find the probability that the family chosen is

(i) earning 10000-13000 per month and owning exactly 2 vehicles.

(ii) earning Rs. 16000 or more per month and owning exactly 1 vehicle.

(iii) earning less than Rs.7000 per month and does not own any vehicle. ,

(iv) earning Rs.13000-16000 per month and owning more than 2 vehicles.

(v) owning not more than 1 vehicle.

Sol. Here, total number of families = 2400

(i) No. of families having earning Rs. 10000 - Rs. 13000 per month and
2 vehicles = 29

Probability of a family (having earning Rs. 10000 - 13000 and 2 vehicles)

(ii) No. of families having earning Rs. 16000 or above and owning 1 vehicle = 579

Probability of a family (having earning Rs. 16000 and above and 1 vehicle)

(iii) No.of families having earning less than Rs. 7000 and does not own any vehicle = 10

Probability of a family (having earning less than Rs. 7000 and owning no
vehicle)

(iv) No. of families having earning Rs. 13000 -16000 and owing more than 2
vehicles = 25

Probability of a family (having earning Rs. 13000 - 10000 and owning no

vehicle)
(v) No. of families owning not more than 1 vehicle

= [Number of families having no vehicle] + [Number of families having only 1

vehicle]

=[10 + 1 + 2 + 1] + [160 + 305 + 535 + 469 + 579]

= 14 + 2048

= 2062

Probability of a family (owning not more than one vehicle) = 2062 = 1031
2400 1200

6. A teacher wanted to analyse the performance of two sections of students in a

mathematics test of 100 marks. Looking at their performances, she found that a few
students got under 20 marks and a few got 70 marks or above. So she decided to group
them into intervals of varying sizes as follows
0 – 20, 20 – 30, …, 60 – 70, 70 – 100. Then she formed the following table

(i) Find the probability that a student obtained less than 20% in Mathematics test.

(ii) Find the probability that a student obtained 60 marks or above.

.

Sol: Total number of students = 90

(i) From the given table number of students who have obtained less than 20%
marks = 7

Probability of a student (obtaining less than 20% marks)

(ii) From the given table, number of students who obtained marks 60% or above

= [Number of students in class-interval 60-70] + [Number of students in the

class interval 70 and above]

= 15 + 8 = 23

Probability of a student (who obtained 60 marks and above)

7. To know the opinion of the students about the subject statistics, a survey of 200
students was conducted. The data is recorded in the following table.

Opinion Number of students

Like 135
Dislike 65

Find the probability that a student chosen at random

(i) likes statistics, (ii) does not like it.

Sol. Total number of students whose opinion in obtained = 200

(1) Number of students who like statistics = 135

Probability of a student (who likes statistics)

(ii) Number of students who do not like statistics = 65

Probability of a student (who dislike statistics) = 65 = 13

200 40
8. The distance (in km) of 40 engineers from their residence to their place of work were
found as follows

What is the empirical probability that an engineer lives

(i) less than 7 km from her place of work?

(ii) More than or equal to 7 km from her place of work?

(iii) Within km from her place of work?

Sol. Total number of engineers = 40

(i) Number of engineers who are living widen less than 7 km from their work place = 9

Probability of an engineer living within 7 km from work place

(ii) Number of engineers living at a distance more than or equal to 7 km from their
work place = 31

Probability of an engineer living at a distance more than or equal to 7 km

(iii) The number of engineers living within km from their work place = 0

Probability of an engineer who is living within km from work place

9. Activity

10. Activity

11. Eleven bags of wheat flour, each marked 5 kg, actually contained the following
weights of flour (in kg):

4.97 5.05 5.08 5.03 5.00 5.06 5.08 4.98 5.04 5.07 5.00
 Find the probability that any of the bags chosen at random contains more than 5
kg of flour.

Sol. Total number of bags = 11

Number of bags having more than 5 kg of flour = 7

Probability of a bag (Having more than 5 kg wheat flour)

12. A study was conducted to find out the concentration of sulphur dioxide in the air in
parts per million (ppm) of a certain city. The data obtained for 30 days is as follows

,In the above you were asked to prepare a frequency distribution table, regarding the
concentration of sulphur dioxide in the air in parts per million of a certain city for 30
days. Using this table, find the probability of the concentration of sulphur dioxide in the
interval 0.12-0.16 on any of these days.

Sol.

Concentration of sulphur dioxide Frequency

0.00 - 0.04 4
0.04 – 0.08 9
0.08 – 0.12 9
0.12 – 0.16 2
0.16 – 0.20 4
0.20 – 0.24 2

Total number of days = 30

The number of days (on which the sulphur dioxide concentration is in the interval
0.12-0.16) = 2

Probability of a day (on which sulphur dioxide is in 0.12-0.16 interval)

13. The blood groups of 30 students of class VIII are recorded as follows
A, B, 0, 0, AB, 0, A, 0, B, A, 0, B, A, 0, 0, A, AB, 0, A, A, 0, 0, AB, B, A, B, 0

In this you were asked to prepare a frequency distribution table regarding the blood
groups of 30 students of a class. Use this table to determine the probability that a
student of this class, selected at random, has blood group AB.

Sol:

Blood group No. of students

A 9
B 6
O 12
AB 3
Total number of students = 30

Number of students having blood group as AB = 3

Probability of a student (whose blood group is AB)