Lesson 6.

Probability
• Probability is a chance of an event occurring.

• Probability experiment is chance process that leads to well-defined

results. It involves an action or a trial through which specific results
are obtained like counts, measurements or responses.

• Outcome is the result of a single trial in a probability experiment.

• Sample space is the set of all possible outcomes of a probability

experiment.
Example 1. Rolling Dice
Find the sample space for rolling two dice.
Dice 2
Dice 1 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 (1,1) (2,1) (3,1) (4,1) (5,1) (6,1)
2 (1,2) (2,2) (3,2) (4,2) (5,2) (6,2)
3 (1,3) (2,3) (3,3) (4,3) (5,3) (6,3)
4 (1,4) (2,4) (3,4) (4,4) (5,4) (6,4)
5 (1,5) (2,5) (3,5) (4,5) (5,5) (6,5)
6 (1,6) (2,6) (3,6) (4,6) (5,6) (6,6)
Example 2. Drawing Cards
Find the sample space for drawing one card from an ordinary deck
of cards.
Example 3. Gender of Children
Find the sample space for the gender of the children if a family has
three children. Use B for boy and G for girl.

Tree diagram is a device consisting of line segments emanating from a

starting point and also from the outcome point. It is used to determine
all possible outcomes of a probability experiment.
An event consists of a set of outcomes of a probability experiment.
• An event is often represented by uppercase letters or A, B, and C.
• An event with one outcome is called a simple event.

Example 4. Rolling a Die

A six-sided die is rolled. Determine the number of outcomes and decide
whether it is simple or not.
Event A: You roll a 6.
Event B: You roll an odd number.
Event C: You roll at least a 4.
An event consisting of two or more outcomes is called a compound
event.
Example 5. Coin and Die Experiment
A probability experiment consists of tossing a coin and then rolling a
six-sided die. Determine the number of outcomes and identify the
sample space. Event A is tossing heads and rolling a 3. Event B is tossing
heads and rolling an even number. Decide if the events are simple or
compound.
• Seat Work
A. Identify the sample space of the probability experiment and determine the number of
outcomes in the sample space.
1. Guessing the initial of a student’s middle name.
2. Tossing three coins.
3. Determining a person’s blood type (A, B, AB, O) and the
Rh-factor (positive or negative)
B. Determine the number of outcomes in each event and decide whether the event is
simple or compound.
1. A computer is used to randomly select a number between 1 and 3,000.
Event A is selecting 359.
Event B is selecting a number less than 200.
2. You randomly select one card from a standard deck.
Event A is selecting a king
Event B is selecting a queen of hearts.
•
• Probabilities can be expressed as fractions in lowest terms, decimals
rounded up to two or three decimal places or percentages.

Example 6. Rolling a Die

• You roll a die. Find the probability of each event:
a. Event A: rolling a 3
b. Event B: rolling a 7
c. Event C: rolling a number less than 5.
Example 7. Drawing Cards.
You select a card from a standard deck. Find the probability of each
event:
1. Event D: selecting a seven of diamonds
2. Event E: selecting a diamond
3. Event F: selecting a red ace
4. Event G: selecting a diamond, heart, club or spade
a. Identify the total number of outcomes in the sample space
b. Find the number of outcomes in the event
c. Use the classical probability formula.
Example 8. Gender of Children
If a family has three children, find the probability that two of the
three children are girls.

AND/OR
When drawing a single card from a deck, find
a. The probability of getting a queen and a heart
b. The probability of getting a queen or a heart
c. The probability of getting a queen or a king
Example 9. Drawing Cards
A card is drawn from a ordinary deck. Find these probabilities:
1. of getting a jack
2. of getting a 6 of clubs
3. of getting a 3 or a diamond
4. of getting a 3 or a 6
•
Probability Rule 3
If an event E is certain, then the probability of E is 1.

Example 11. Find the probability of rolling a number less than 7.

Probability Rule 4
The sum of the probabilities of all outcomes in the sample space is
1.

Example 12. Find the sum of the probabilities of the outcomes of

rolling a die.
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Seat Work
1. A die is rolled one time. Find the probability
a. Of getting a 4
b. Of getting an even number
c. Of getting a number greater than 4
d. Of getting a number less than 7
e. Of getting a number greater than 0
f. Of getting a number greater than 3 or an odd number
g. Of getting a number greater than 3 and an odd number

2. If two dice are rolled one time, find the probability

a. Of getting a sum of 6
b. Of getting doubles
c. Of getting a sum of 7 or 11
d. Of getting a sum greater than 9
e. Of getting a sum less than or equal to 4
•
Example 1.
A researcher asked 50 people who plan to travel to Legaspi City for
vacation how they will get to their destination. The result can be
categorized in a frequency distribution as follows:
Method Frequency
Drive by car 15
Fly 9
Take the bus 26
Find the probability that a person will
a. Travel by airplane
b. Travel by bus
Example 2.
In a sample of 50 people, 21 had type O blood, 22 had type A blood,
5 had type B blood, and 2 had type AB blood. Set up a frequency
distribution and find the following probabilities:
a. A person has type O blood
b. A person has type A or type B blood
c. A person has neither type A nor type O blood
d. A person does not have type AB blood
Example 3.
The table below shows the number of voters (in millions) according to age.
Age of voters Frequency (in millions)
18 to 20 years old 5.8
21 to 24 years old 8.5
25 to 34 years old 21.7
35 to 44 years old 27.7
45 to 64 years old 51.7
65 years old and over 26.7
Find the probability that a voter chosen at random is
a. Between 21 and 24 years old
b. Between 35 and 44 years old
c. Not between 18 and 20 years old
d. Not between 25 and 34 years old
Law of Large Numbers
As an experiment is repeated over and over, the empirical probability of
an even approaches the theoretical probability of the event.

Mini Project # 6.
a. Toss a coin ten times and get the empirical probability of getting a head.
b. Toss it 30 times. Get the empirical probability of getting a head.
c. Toss it 50 times. Get the empirical probability of getting a head.
d. Toss it 100 times. Get the empirical probability of getting a head.
e. Discuss the results. You may show a scatter plot of the results.