Probability Examples

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1a. [4 marks]

There are 20 students in a classroom. Each student plays only one sport. The table below gives their
sport and gender.

One student is selected at random.

(i)     Calculate the probability that the student is a male or is a tennis player.

(ii)    Given that the student selected is female, calculate the probability that the student does not play
football.

1b. [3 marks]

Two students are selected at random. Calculate the probability that neither student plays football.

2a. [3 marks]
Consider the events A and B, where , and .

The Venn diagram below shows the events A and B, and the probabilities p, q and r.

Write down the value of

(i)     p ;

(ii)    q ;

(iii)   r.

2b. [2 marks]
Find the value of .

2c. [1 mark]
Hence, or otherwise, show that the events A and B are not independent.

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3.

4.

5a. [3 marks]

Bill and Andrea play two games of tennis. The probability that Bill wins the first game is .

If Bill wins the first game, the probability that he wins the second game is .

If Bill loses the first game, the probability that he wins the second game is .

Copy and complete the following tree diagram. (Do not write on this page.)

5b. [2 marks]
Find the probability that Bill wins the first game and Andrea wins the second game.

5c. [4 marks]
Find the probability that Bill wins at least one game.

5d. [5 marks]
Given that Bill wins at least one game, find the probability that he wins both games.

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6.

Probability P1 Questions

3a. [3 marks]

Pablo drives to work. The probability that he leaves home before 07:00 is .

If he leaves home before 07:00 the probability he will be late for work is .

If he leaves home at 07:00 or later the probability he will be late for work is .

Copy and complete the following tree diagram.

3b. [2 marks]

Find the probability that Pablo leaves home before 07:00 and is late for work.

3c. [3 marks]

Find the probability that Pablo is late for work.

3d. [3 marks]

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 Given that Pablo is late for work, find the probability that he left home before 07:00.

3e. [3 marks]

Two days next week Pablo will drive to work. Find the probability that he will be late at least once.

6a. [2 marks]

Events and are independent with and .

Find .

6b. [4 marks]

Find .

10. [6 marks]

Celeste wishes to hire a taxicab from a company which has a large number of taxicabs.

The taxicabs are randomly assigned by the company.

     The probability that a taxicab is yellow is 0.4.

     The probability that a taxicab is a Fiat is 0.3.

     The probability that a taxicab is yellow or a Fiat is 0.6.

 Find the probability that the taxicab hired by Celeste is not a yellow Fiat.

12a. [5 marks]

Jar A contains three red marbles and five green marbles. Two marbles are drawn from the jar, one after
the other, without replacement.

Find the probability that

  (i)     none of the marbles are green;

  (ii)     exactly one marble is green.

12b. [3 marks]

Find the expected number of green marbles drawn from the jar.

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12c. [2 marks]

Jar B contains six red marbles and two green marbles. A fair six-sided die is tossed. If the score is or ,
a marble is drawn from jar A. Otherwise, a marble is drawn from jar B.

(i)     Write down the probability that the marble is drawn from jar B.

(ii)     Given that the marble was drawn from jar B, write down the probability that it is red.

12d. [6 marks]

Given that the marble is red, find the probability that it was drawn from jar A.

25a. [1 mark]

Let A and B be independent events, where and .

Write down an expression for .

25b. [4 marks]

Given that ,

(i)     find x ;

(ii)    find  .

25c. [1 mark]

Hence, explain why A and B are not mutually exclusive.

Probability P2 Questions

10. [7 marks]

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 Consider the independent events A and B . Given that , and , find

Discrete Random Variables (DRV) Examples

1a. [3 marks]

The following diagram shows a board which is divided into three regions ,  and .

A game consists of a contestant throwing one dart at the board. The probability of hitting each region is
given in the following table.

Find the probability that the dart does not hit the board.

1b. [4 marks]

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 The contestant scores points as shown in the following table.

Given that the game is fair, find the value of .

2a. [2 marks]

The random variable X has the following probability distribution, with .

Find the value of r .

2b. [6 marks]

Given that , find the value of p and of q .

3a. [1 mark]

The probability distribution of a discrete random variable X is given by

Write down  .

3b. [4 marks]

Show that  .

3c. [2 marks]

Find  .

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DRV P1 Questions

2a. [1 mark]

A bag contains marbles, two of which are blue. Hayley plays a game in which she randomly draws
marbles out of the bag, one after another, without replacement. The game ends when Hayley draws a
blue marble.

Find the probability, in terms of , that the game will end on her first draw.

2b. [3 marks]

Find the probability, in terms of , that the game will end on her second draw.

2c. [2 marks]

Let = 5. Find the probability that the game will end on her

third draw.

2d. [2 marks]

fourth draw.

2e. [7 marks]

Hayley plays the game when = 5. She pays $20 to play and can earn money back depending on the
number of draws it takes to obtain a blue marble. She earns no money back if she obtains a blue marble
on her first draw. Let M be the amount of money that she earns back playing the game. This information
is shown in the following table.

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 Find the value of so that this is a fair game.

8. [6 marks]

The random variable X has the following probability distribution.

Given that , find q .

DRV P2 Questions

1a. [2 marks]

There are three fair six-sided dice. Each die has two green faces, two yellow faces and two red faces.

All three dice are rolled.

Find the probability of rolling exactly one red face.

1b. [3 marks]

Find the probability of rolling two or more red faces.

1c. [5 marks]

Ted plays a game using these dice. The rules are:

● Having a turn means to roll all three dice.

● He wins $10 for each green face rolled and adds this to his winnings.
● After a turn Ted can either:
○ end the game (and keep his winnings), or
○ have another turn (and try to increase his winnings).
● If two or more red faces are rolled in a turn, all winnings are lost and the game ends.

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 Show that, after a turn, the probability that Ted adds exactly $10 to his winnings is  .

1d. [1 mark]

The random variable  ($) represents how much is added to his winnings after a turn.

The following table shows the distribution for , where $ represents his winnings in the game so far.

Write down the value of .

1e. [2 marks]

Hence, find the value of .

1f. [3 marks]

Ted will always have another turn if he expects an increase to his winnings.

Find the least value of for which Ted should end the game instead of having another turn.

3a. [4 marks]

A discrete random variable has the following probability distribution.

Find the value of .

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3b. [1 mark]

Write down .

3c. [3 marks]

Find .

Binomial & Normal Distribution Examples

1a. [2 marks]
Let X be normally distributed with mean 100 cm and standard deviation 5 cm.

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 On the diagram below, shade the region representing .

1b. [2 marks]
Given that , find the value of .

1c. [2 marks]
Given that (correct to two significant figures), find .

2a. [2 marks]

A nationwide study on reaction time is conducted on participants in two age groups. The participants in
Group X are less than 40 years old. Their reaction times are normally distributed with mean 0.489
seconds and standard deviation 0.07 seconds.

A person is selected at random from Group X. Find the probability that their reaction time is greater
than 0.65 seconds.

2b. [4 marks]

The participants in Group Y are 40 years or older. Their reaction times are normally distributed with
mean 0.592 seconds and standard deviation σ seconds.

The probability that the reaction time of a person in Group Y is greater than 0.65 seconds is 0.396. Find
the value of σ.

2c. [6 marks]

In the study, 38 % of the participants are in Group X.

A randomly selected participant has a reaction time greater than 0.65 seconds. Find the probability that
the participant is in Group X.

2d. [3 marks]

Ten of the participants with reaction times greater than 0.65 are selected at random. Find the
probability that at least two of them are in Group X.

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Normal + Binomial Distribution P1 Questions

1a. [2 marks]

A random variable Z is normally distributed with mean 0 and standard deviation 1. It is known that P(
< −1.6) = and P( > 2.4) = . This is shown in the following diagram.

Find P(−1.6 < < 2.4). Write your answer in terms of and .

1b. [4 marks]

Given that > −1.6, find the probability that z < 2.4 . Write your answer in terms of and .

1c. [1 mark]

A second random variable is normally distributed with mean and standard deviation .

It is known that P( < 1) = .

Write down the standardized value for  .

1d. [6 marks]

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 It is also known that P( > 2) = .

Find  .

2a. [1 mark]

The random variable is normally distributed with a mean of 100. The following diagram shows the
normal curve for .

Let be the shaded region under the curve, to the right of 107. The area of is 0.24.

Write down .

2b. [3 marks]

Find .

2c. [2 marks]

Find .

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Normal + Binomial Distribution P2 Questions

3a. [2 marks]

The weights, in grams, of oranges grown in an orchard, are normally distributed with a mean of 297 g.
It is known that 79 % of the oranges weigh more than 289 g and 9.5 % of the oranges weigh more than
310 g.

Find the probability that an orange weighs between 289 g and 310 g.

3b. [2 marks]

The weights of the oranges have a standard deviation of σ.

Find the standardized value for 289 g.

3c. [3 marks]

Hence, find the value of σ.

3d. [3 marks]

The grocer at a local grocery store will buy the oranges whose weights exceed the 35th percentile.

To the nearest gram, find the minimum weight of an orange that the grocer will buy.

3e. [5 marks]

The orchard packs oranges in boxes of 36.

Find the probability that the grocer buys more than half the oranges in a box selected at random.

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3f. [2 marks]

The grocer selects two boxes at random.

Find the probability that the grocer buys more than half the oranges in each box.

4a. [2 marks]

The mass M of apples in grams is normally distributed with mean μ. The following table shows
probabilities for values of M.

Write down the value of k.

4b. [2 marks]

Show that μ = 106.

4c. [5 marks]

Find P(M < 95) .

4d. [3 marks]

The apples are packed in bags of ten.

Any apples with a mass less than 95 g are classified as small.

Find the expected number of bags in this crate that contain at most one small apple.

4e. [2 marks]

Find the probability that at least 48 bags in this crate contain at most one small apple.

5. [7 marks]

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 The heights of adult males in a country are normally distributed with a mean of 180 cm and a standard
deviation of . 17% of these men are shorter than 168 cm. 80% of them have heights between
and 192 cm.

Find the value of .

6a. [2 marks]

A random variable is normally distributed with mean, . In the following diagram, the shaded region
between 9 and represents 30% of the distribution.

Find .

6b. [3 marks]

The standard deviation of is 2.1.

Find the value of .

6c. [5 marks]

The random variable is normally distributed with mean and standard deviation 3.5. The events
and are independent, and .

Find .

6d. [5 marks]

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 Given that , find .

Statistics Examples
1a. [2 marks]
A group of 10 girls recorded the number of hours they spent watching television during a particular
week. Their results are summarized in the box-and-whisker plot below.

The range of the data is 16. Find the value of .

1b. [2 marks]
Find the value of the interquartile range.

1c. [2 marks]
The group of girls watched a total of 180 hours of television.

Find the mean number of hours that the girls in this group spent watching television that week.

1d. [2 marks]
A group of 20 boys also recorded the number of hours they spent watching television that same week.
Their results are summarized in the table below.

Find the total number of hours the group of boys spent watching television that week.
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1e. [3 marks]
Find the mean number of hours that all 30 girls and boys spent watching television that week.

1f. [2 marks]
The following week, the group of boys had exams. During this exam week, the boys spent half as much
time watching television compared to the previous week.

For this exam week, find the mean number of hours that the group of boys spent watching television.

1g. [3 marks]
the variance in the number of hours the group of boys spent watching television.

2a. [2 marks]
The following box-and-whisker plot shows the number of text messages sent by students in a school on
a particular day.

Find the value of the interquartile range.

2b. [4 marks]
One student sent k text messages, where k > 11 . Given that k is an outlier, find the least value of k.

3a. [1 mark]
The following is a cumulative frequency
diagram for the time t, in minutes, taken by 80
students to complete a task.
3c. [2 marks]

Complete the frequency table below.

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 Write down the median.

3b. [3 marks]
Find the interquartile range.

Statistics P1 Questions
3a. [2 marks]
A data set has n items. The sum of the items is 800 and the mean is 20. Find n.

3b. [1 mark]
The standard deviation of this data set is 3. Each value in the set is multiplied by 10.

Write down the value of the new mean.

3c. [3 marks]
Find the value of the new variance.

4a. [2 marks]
A city hired 160 employees to work at a festival. The following cumulative frequency curve shows the
number of hours employees worked during the festival.

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 Find the median number of hours worked by the employees.

4b. [1 mark]
Write down the number of employees who worked 50 hours or less.

4c. [1 mark]
The city paid each of the employees £8 per hour for the first 40 hours worked, and £10 per hour for
each hour they worked after the first 40 hours.

Find the amount of money an employee earned for working 40 hours;

4d. [3 marks]
Find the amount of money an employee earned for working 43 hours.

4e. [3 marks]
Find the number of employees who earned £200 or less.

4f. [4 marks]
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 Only 10 employees earned more than £ . Find the value of .

Statistics P2 Questions
3a. [2 marks]
Ten students were surveyed about the number of hours, , they spent browsing the Internet during
week 1 of the school year. The results of the survey are given below.

Find the mean number of hours spent browsing the Internet.

3b. [2 marks]
During week 2, the students worked on a major project and they each spent an additional five hours
browsing the Internet. For week 2, write down
(i)     the mean;

(ii)     the standard deviation.

3c. [6 marks]
During week 3 each student spent 5% less time browsing the Internet than during week 1. For week 3,
find
(i)     the median;

(ii)     the variance.

5a. [1 mark]

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 The weights in grams of 80 rats are shown in the following cumulative frequency diagram.

Write down the median weight of the rats.

5b. [3 marks]

Find the percentage of rats that weigh 70 grams or less.

5c. [2 marks]

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 The same data is presented in the following table.

Weights, grams

Frequency

Write down the value of .

5d. [2 marks]

 Find the value of .

5e. [3 marks]

 Use the values from the table to estimate the mean and standard deviation of the weights.

5f. [2 marks]

Assume that the weights of these rats are normally distributed with the mean and standard deviation
estimated in part (c).

Find the percentage of rats that weigh 70 grams or less.

5g. [3 marks]

Assume that the weights of these rats are normally distributed with the mean and standard deviation
estimated in part (c).

A sample of five rats is chosen at random. Find the probability that at most three rats weigh 70 grams
or less.

Probability Answers
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Discrete Random Variables Answers
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Normal & Binomial Distributions Answers

Statistics Answers

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