DR.

NOR AZAH SAMAT

Department of Mathematics
Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris
Representation of the Sample Space

Example 1.1: Draw the Venn and Tree diagrams for the
experiment of tossing a coin twice.

Venn Diagram Tree Diagram

Example 1.2:
Probability of an event
-given an experiment and sample space S, the objective of
probability is to assign to each event A a number P(A), called the
probability of the event A, which will give a precise measure of the
chance that A will occur.

-Probability: is a numerical measure of a likelihood that a specific

event will occur.

Basic properties of probability

1)For any event A, P( A) 0 .

2) P( S ) 1.

3)If A1 , A2 , A3 ,is
, a finite or infinite sequence of mutually
exclusive events of S, then
P( A1 A2 A3 ) P A1 P( A2 ) P( A3 )
Example 1.3:

An experiment has four possible outcomes: A, B, C, D, that are

mutually exclusive. Explain why the following assignments of
probabilities are not permissable.

(a)P(A)=0.23, P(B)=0.46, P(C)=0.35, P(D)=0.10

(b)P(A)=2/11, P(B)=6/11, P(C)=3/11, P(D)=1/11

Probabilities of individual outcomes

If A is an event in a discrete sample space S, then P(A) equals the

sum of the probabilities of the individual outcomes comprising A.

Example 1.4
If we flip a coin twice, what is the probability of getting at most one
head?
If an experiment can result in any one of N different equally likely
outcomes, and if n of these outcomes together constitute event A,
then the probability of event A:

n
P( A)
N
Example 1.5: Find the probability of obtaining an even number in
one roll of a die.

Solution:
Exercises 1.1:
(1)

(2)

(3)
Example 1.6:
Example 1.7:
Example 1.8:
Example 1.9:
Example 1.10:
Example 1.11:
Exercises 1.2:
(1)

(2)

(3)
Exercises 1.2 (continue):
(4)
Example 1.12:
Example 1.13:
Example 4.15:
Example 4.16:
Exercises 1.3:
(1)

(2)
Exercises 1.3 (continue):
(3)