Example: Probability Is The Measure of How Likely An Event Is

PROBABILITY

Definition Example
An experiment is a situation involving chance or In the problem above, the
probability that leads to results called outcomes. experiment is spinning the spinner.
An outcome is the result of a single trial of an The possible outcomes are landing
experiment. on yellow, blue, green or red.
One event of this experiment is
An event is one or more outcomes of an experiment.
landing on blue.
The probability of landing on blue
Probability is the measure of how likely an event is.
is one fourth.

Probability Of An Event
The Number Of Ways Event A Can Occur
P(A) =
The total number Of Possible Outcomes

Experiment 1: A spinner has 4 equal sectors colored yellow, blue, green and red. After
spinning the spinner, what is the probability of landing on each color? What is the
probability of landing on purple after spinning the spinner?
The possible outcomes of this experiment are yellow, blue, green, and red.
Probabilities:
# of ways to land on
P(yellow 1
= yellow =
)
total # of colors 4

# of ways to land on blue 1
P(blue) = =
total # of colors 4

# of ways to land on green 1
P(green) = =
total # of colors 4

# of ways to land on red 1
P(red) = =
total # of colors 4
# of ways to land on purple 0

P(purple) = =
total # of colors 4
= 0
Experiment 2: A single 6-sided die is rolled. What is the probability of each outcome?
What is the probability of rolling an even number? of rolling an odd number?
Outcomes: The possible outcomes of this

experiment are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Probabilities:
# of ways to roll a 1 1
P(1) = =
total # of sides 6

P(2) = =
total # of sides 6

P(3) = =
total # of sides 6

P(4) = =
total # of sides 6

P(5) = =
total # of sides 6

P(6) = =
total # of sides 6

# ways to roll an even number 3 1
P(even) = = =
total # of sides 6 2

# ways to roll an odd number 3 1
P(odd) = = =
total # of sides 6 2
Experiment 2 illustrates the difference between an outcome and an event. A single
outcome of this experiment is rolling a 1, or rolling a 2, or rolling a 3, etc. Rolling an
even number (2, 4 or 6) is an event, and rolling an odd number (1, 3 or 5) is also an
event.
Summary: The probability of an event is the measure of the chance that the event will
occur as a result of an experiment. The probability of an event A is the number of ways
event A can occur divided by the total number of possible outcomes. The probability of
an event A, symbolized by P(A), is a number between 0 and 1, inclusive, that measures
the likelihood of an event in the following way:
 If P(A) > P(B) then event A is more likely to occur than event B.
 If P(A) = P(B) then events A and B are equally likely to occur.
SAMPLE SPACES
he sample space of an experiment is the set of all possible outcomes of that experiment
Experiment 1: What is the probability of each outcome when a dime is tossed?

Outcomes: The outcomes of this experiment are head and tail.
Probabilities:
1
P(head) =
2

1
P(tail) =
2
.
The sample space of Experiment 1 is: {head, tail}
Experiment 2: A spinner has 4 equal sectors colored yellow, blue, green and red. What is the
probability of landing on each color after spinning this spinner?
Top of Form

Bottom of Form
Sample Space: {yellow, blue, green, red}
Probabilities:
1
P(yellow) =
4

1
P(blue) =
4

1
P(green) =
4

1
P(red) =
4
Experiment 3: What is the probability of each

outcome when a single 6-sided die is rolled?
Sample Space: {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
Probabilities:
1
P(1) =
6

1
P(2) =
6

1
P(3) =
6

1
P(4) =
6

1
P(5) =
6

1
P(6) =
6
Experiment 4: A glass jar contains 1 red, 3 green, 2 blue and 4 yellow marbles.
If a single marble is chosen at random from the jar, what is the probability of
each outcome?
Sample Space: {red, green, blue, yellow}
Probabilities:
1
P(red) =
10

3
P(green) =
10

2 1
P(blue) = =
10 5

4 2
P(yellow) = =
10 5
Summary: The sample space of an experiment is the set of all possible outcomes for that
experiment. You may have noticed that for each of the experiments above, the sum of the
probabilities of each outcome is 1. This is no coincidence. The sum of the probabilities of the
distinct outcomes within a sample space is 1.
The sample space for choosing a single card at random from a deck of 52 playing cards is
shown below. There are 52 possible outcomes in this sample space.
The probability of each outcome of this experiment is:

1
P(card) =
52
The sum of the probabilities of the distinct outcomes within this sample space is:
52
= 1
52
ACTIVITY!!!
1. A glass jar contains 6 red, 5 green, 8 blue and 3 yellow marbles. If a single marble is chosen
at random from the jar, what is the probability of choosing a red marble? a green marble? a
blue marble? a yellow marble?
2. A single card is chosen at random from a standard deck of 52 playing cards. What is the
probability that the card chosen is a joker card? an ace card? red card?
3. A card is selected at random from ordinary deck of playing cards. Find the probability
that card is heart.
4. A box contains five red, two white, and three green balls. If a ball is selected at random,
find the probability that is
a. red. c. not red. d. white.
b. green. d. black.

Example: Probability Is The Measure of How Likely An Event Is

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PROBABILITY

# of ways to land on purple 0

Outcomes: The possible outcomes of this

Experiment 1: What is the probability of each outcome when a dime is tossed?

Experiment 3: What is the probability of each

The probability of each outcome of this experiment is:

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