Lesson 11-3 Basic Concepts of Probability

Objectives: Compute classical probability Compute empirical probabilities

A. Classical Probability

Let E be an event that is a subset of the sample space S. We will write n(E) to represent the number of outcomes in E, and n(S) to represent the number of outcomes in S. The probability of the event E is defined to be n u ft e ( Nos Eb ci ) mo E e m ru n o P ( E ) n u ft e ( Nos Sb ci ) moS e m ru n o There is one key assumption we make in classical probability: that every outcome in a sample space is equally likely.

1. A single die is rolled. Find the probability of getting (a) A 2. Video for 1 a, b, c (b) A number less than 5.

(c) An odd number.

Lesson 11-3 Basic Concepts of Probability

2. Two coins are tossed. Find the probability of getting (a) Two heads. Video

(b) At least one head.

(c) At most one head.

B. Empirical Probability

Empirical probability is based on observed frequenciesthat is, the number of times a particular event has occurred out of a certain number of trials.
Oe s e bqhef s uev e np ( re t e f v c c ) ey i n d of f r f i c P ( E ) T r l) o o tm af ( l b n n nt ui e r a s

Lesson 11-3 Basic Concepts of Probability

3. 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 these probabilities for a person selected at random from the sample. (a) The person has type O blood.

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(b) The person has type A or type B blood.

(c) The person has neither type A nor type O blood.

(d) The person does not have type AB blood.

Lesson 11-3 Basic Concepts of Probability

4. A recent survey reported that 67% of Americans approve of human embryonic stem cell research. If an American is selected at random, find the probability that he or she will disagree or have no opinion on the issue.

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5. On a 10-question true/false test, there are seven false questions and the rest are true. If Marcus answered the first eight questions correctly, and five of them were false, find the probability that when he answers true for the next question, his answer will be correct.