Probability

Probabilityisthetheoryofquantifyingthechanceofaneventoccurring(ornotoccurring).
Whilethetheoryisvastinitself,forthepurposeofexam,veryelementaryquestionsare
askedandhencewewillsticktojustthebasics.Allthequestionsofprobabilitythatareasked
inentranceexamsarebasedondiscreteeventsandinthecaseofdiscreteevents,probability
isdefinedas:
Probabilityofaneventoccurring=

number of favourable outcomes

total number of possible outcomes

Bytheformulaitshouldbeevidentthatprobabilitycanneverbemorethan1becausethe
numberoffavourableoutcomescanneverbemorethanthetotalnumberofoutcomes.
Examples:
Inacaseofacoinbeingtossed,thetotalnumberofoutcomesisjusttwoviz.headsortails
1
turningup.Ifwewanttofindtheprobabilityofheadsturninguponatoss,itissimply .
2
Whenaregulardiceisrolled,thetotalnumberofoutcomesis6andthustheprobabilitythat
4
aprimenumberisrolledwillbegreaterthan2willbe sincethefavourablenumberofcases
6
arerollingof3or4or5or6.
Whentwocardsaredrawnoutofapackofcards,thetotalnumberofoutcomespossibleis
52
C2 .Ifwewanttofindtheprobabilityofboththecardsbeingfacecard,thetwocardsdrawn
mustbefromthe12facecardsandthiscanhappenin 12 C2 ways.Thustherequired
12

probabilityis

52

C2

C2

Tossingacoin,rollingadiceanddrawingcardsfromapackofcardsarethemostcommon
scenariosinquestionsonprobability.
E.g.1:Whatistheprobabilitythatthesumofnumbersturned,whentwo
dicearerolled,is10?
Whentwodiceisrolled,thereatotalof36outcomesasshownbelow:
(1,1) (1,2)

(1,3) (1,4)

(1,5)

(1,6)

(2,1) (2,2)

(2,3) (2,4)

(2,5)

(2,6)

(3,1) (3,2)

(3,3) (3,4)

(3,5)

(3,6)

(4,1) (4,2)

(4,3) (4,4)

(4,5)

(4,6)

(5,1) (5,2)

(5,3) (5,4)

(5,5)

(5,6)

(6,1) (6,2)

(6,3) (6,4)

(6,5)

(6,6)

Pleasenotethatfirstdiceturning1andsecondturning2isdifferentfrom
firstdiceturning2andsecondturning1.
Requirednumberofcaseswherethesumis10is(6,4),(5,5),(4,6).

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Thustherequiredprobabilityis

3
.
36

E.g.2:Onecardisdrawnoutfromapackofcards.Whatistheprobability
thatthecarddrawnoutisaKingoraRedcard?
Onecardcanbedrawnoutin52ways.
Whilethereare26Redcardsand4Kings,thenumberofwaysofdrawinga
Kingoraredcardisnot26+4i.e.40.Thisisbecause2oftheKingsare
alreadycountedintheRedcard.Thusthenumberofcardsfromwhicha
cardfavourabletotheoutcomecanbedrawnis28.Sotherequired
28 7
probability=
= .
52 13

IndependentEvents
Twoeventsaresaidtobeindependentwhentheoutcomeofoneoftheeventdoesnotaffect
theoutcomeoftheotherevent.
Fortwoindependentevents,AandB,theprobabilitythateventAandBoccursistheproduct
oftheprobabilitiesofeventAandofeventBi.e.
p(AandB)=p(A)p(B)
Forexamplesifacoinistossed5times.Theoutcomeonthesecondtossisnotdependenton
theoutcomeofthefirsttoss.Forthatmattertheoutcomeonanyparticulartossisnot
dependentontheoutcomeoftheprevioustosses.Thuseachtossisanindependentevent.To
findtheprobabilityofallfivetossturningupHeads,wejustneedtomultiplytheprobabilityof
1 1 1 1 1 1
turningaheadineachtossfivetimes,i.e. =

2 2 2 2 2 32

ProbabilityofaUnion(EventAorEventB)
LetssaytheprobabilityofAsolvingaproblemis
problemis

2
andtheprobabilityofBsolvingthe
3

1
.Whatistheprobabilitythattheproblemissolved?
2

Ifwesimplyaddthetwoprobabilities,becausewearefindingtheprobabilitythatAorB
2 1 7
solvestheproblem,ouranswerwillbe + = whichisgreaterthan1andhenceitisnot
3 2 6
possible.
Ouranswerisgreaterthan1becauseAsolvingtheproblemisnotexclusivetoBsolvingthe
problemi.e.whenweconsiderAsolvingtheproblem,wehavemadenomentionofBandit
couldbepossiblethatBhasalsosolvedtheproblem,whichweindependentlyaddagain.So
theanswerisgreaterthan1.
Thewayoutis,
p(AorB)=p(A)+p(B)p(AandB)
Iftheyareindependentevents,wehavealreadylearntthatp(AandB)=p(A)p(B).
Inthiscase,sincethetwoguyssolveproblemsindependently,therequiredprobabilityofthe
problembeingsolvedis:
p(AorBsolving)=p(Asolving)+p(Bsolving)p(Asolving)p(Bsolving)

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2 1 2 1 4+3 2 5
+ =
=
3 2 3 2
6
6

Theabovequestioncouldalsobesolvedbybreakingthecaseoftheproblembeingsolved
intocasesthatareexclusivetoeachotherasfollows:
Problemcouldbesolvedineitherofthefollowingexclusiveways:
AsolvedandBdidnotsolve
AdidnotsolveandBsolved
Bothofthemsolved.
Sincethesecasesareexclusivetheprobabilitiescoulddirectlybeaddedandtheanswercan
2 1 1 1 2 1 2 +1+ 2 5
befoundas + + =
=
3 2 3 2 3 2
6
6

ComplementofanEvent:
IfeventAisafavourableevent,thecomplementofAisdefinedaseventAnotoccurringand
thecomplementisdenotedas A .
Nowitshouldbeobviousthatp(A)+p( A )=1becauseaeventoccurringanditnotoccurring
wouldencompassallthepossibleoutcomes.
Thispropertyoftheprobabilitiesofaneventanditscomplementaddingupto1canbeused
veryeffectivelyincertaincasesasfollows

ThecaseofAtleast1
Whenwearefindingtheprobabilityofatleastoneoftheattemptsturningasuccess,itisbest
solvedbyfindingtheprobabilityofitscomplementandthensubtractingitfrom1tofindthe
answer.Becauseasjustseenp(A)=1p( A ).
Thecomplementofatleastoneattemptbeingasuccessisnoneoftheattemptsbeinga
success
E.g.3:Acoinistossed6times.Whatistheprobabilitythatatleastonetoss
resultsinahead?
Oneshouldimmediatelyrealizethatthisisacaseofatleast1andin
breakingupthiseventintosmallerexclusiveeventswouldbelabouriousas
wecouldhave1heador2heador3headorsoon.
Thebeststrategyistofindtheprobabilityofthecomplement:probability
thatnotossresultsintoahead.Thusalltossshouldresultintotailand

1 1 1 1 1 1 1

p(all6tossresultingintails)= =
2 2 2 2 2 2 64
p(atleastonetossbeinghead)=1p(all6tossresultingintails)=
1 63

1
=
64 64
E.g.4:Inanoilfield,Reliance,CairnsandShellareexploringforoil.The
1
1
probabilitythatReliancestrikesoilis ,thatCairnsstrikesoilis and
3
4

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1
.Findtheprobabilityoilisfoundintheoilfield.
5
Considereachcompanystrikingoilindependentofeachother.

thatShellstrikesoilis

Oilwillbefoundifanyofthecompanystrikesoili.e.atleastoneofthe
companystrikesoil.Onecansolvethisbyusingsettheoryorby
consideringexclusiveevents.Whilethereisabettermethodtosolvethis,
firstweshallsolvethisbyboththesemethodsjusttoreiteratethe
methods.
Usingsettheory,wewanttofind p ( R C S ) andwecanfindthisby
usingtheformula,
p ( R C S ) = p ( R ) + p (C ) + p ( S ) ( p ( R C ) + p (C S ) + p ( R S )) + p ( R C S )

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
= + + + + +
3 4 5 3 4 4 5 3 5 3 4 5

20 + 15 + 12 ( 5 + 3 + 4 ) + 1
3 4 5

36
3
=
3 4 5 5

Aslightlybetterwayistoconsiderexclusiveevents
Anyofthefollowingexclusivewayscouldbepossible

RC S

RC S

R C S

RC S

RC S

RCS

RC S

Andtherequiredprobabilityis
1 3 4 2 1 4 2 3 1 1 1 4 1 3 1 2 1 1 1 1 1
+ + + + + +
3 4 5 3 4 5 3 4 5 3 4 5 3 4 5 3 4 5 3 4 5

12 + 8 + 6 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1
36
3
=
= .
3 4 5
3 4 5 5

Theabovemethodofconsideringexclusivecasesandthenadding
probabilitiesofthemisaveryusefultechnique.
However,forthisquestion,thebestwayistorealizethattherequired
probabilityinvolvesatleast1andthusfindingtheprobabilitythatnone
ofthecompanystrikesoil.Thiscanoccurinonlyonewaythatiswhen
2 3 4 2
noneofthecompanystrikesoil.Thisis = .Andtheprobability
3 4 5 5
2 3
thatatleastonecompanystrikesoilis 1 = .
5 5

Exercise

1.

Inasimultaneousthrowoftwodice,whatistheprobabilityofgettingasumgreaterthan7?

2.

Abagcontains6whiteand4blackhats.Twohatsaredrawnsimultaneouslyatrandom.What
istheprobabilitythatbothareofthesamecolour?

3.

Fromapackof52cards,twocardsaredrawnsimultaneously.Whatistheprobabilitythatthe
cardsareofthesamesuit?

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4.

Inaclassthereare15boysand10girls.Threestudentsareselectedatrandom.Whatisthe
probabilitythat2girlsand1boyisselected?

5.

Aboxcontains20bulbs,12aredefective.Fourbulbsareselectedatrandom.Whatisthe
probabilitythatatleastoneofthefourselectedisdefective?

6.

TheprobabilitythatAsolvestheproblemis

7.

GroupAhas2boysand3girls,groupBhas3boysand4girlsandgroupChas2boysand4
girls.Onestudentisselectedfromeachofthegroup.Findtheprobabilitythatonegirland
twoboysareamongthethreeselected.

8.

2
3
andthatBsolvestheproblemis .Whatis
3
4
theprobabilitythatexactlyoneofthemsolvestheproblem?

2 2 3
TheprobabilityofA,BandCsolvingaproblemis , , .Ifitisknownthatexactlyoneof
3 5 8
themsolvestheproblembutitisnotknownwhosolvesandtheyreceiveaprizemoneyofRs.
600forsolvingtheproblem,inwhatratioshouldtheydividethisamountamongthemselves?

ConditionalProbability
ConditionalProbabilityisasituationwherepartinformationoftheoutcomechangesthe
probabilityofanevent.Considerthemostcommonexampleofconditionalprobability
ThreemachinesA,BandCproduceboltssomeofwhicharefaulty.A,BandCrespectively
produce100,200and700boltsandofwhich10,15and25aredefective.Aqualityinspector
picksaboltatrandom.Findtheprobabilitythat
a.FindtheprobabilitythattheboltpickedupisproducedbymachineA
b.Iftheboltpickedisdefectiveone,findtheprobabilitythattheboltpickedupisproducedby
machineA
Now,thequestionsaskthesameprobabilitythattheboltpickedisproducedbymachineA,
Buttheninpartb,someinformationoftheoutcome,namely,theboltpickedisdefective,is
known.
a.Therequiredprobabilityisastraightforwardone

100
1
= .
1000 10

b.Sincetheboltpickedisadefectiveone,nowthesamplespaceisnotthe1000bolts,butis
nowlimitedtoonlythe50defectiveones.Andthus,weshouldnowbeconcernedonlywith
10 1
thisnarrowsamplespaceof50bolts.Andtherequiredprobabilityis
= .
50 5
Ifitseemstodifficultforyoutodigest,whyshouldaboltbeingdefectiveornotaffectthe
probabilityofitbeingfrommachineA,especiallysincetheeventispickingaboltrandomly,
thinkofthefollowing.
LetssayonlymachineAproduceddefectives.Nowonpickingoneboltandfindingittobe
defective,wouldntyoubeabsolutelysurethatitisfrommachineA.
Thus,knowingpartoftheinformationoftheoutcomereducesthesamplespace.
Consideronemoreexample

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Therearetwourns,onehaving5whitemarblesand6blackmarblesandtheotheronehaving
2whitemarblesand3blackmarbles.Onemarbleispickedfromeachoftheurns.Findthe
probabilitythatbotharewhitemarbles.
Againtheanswershouldbeanobviousone:

5 2 2
= .
11 5 11

Nowwhatisthesamplespaceinthiscase?Welearntthatprobabilitywasaratio,
number of favourable ways
.Intheabovequestion,wheredidthedenominatorgo?
total number of ways
Thesamplespaceinthiscaseisallthefollowingpossibleoutcomes:WW,WB,BWandBB.
Andwhenwefindtheprobabilityofthisentiresamplespace,asexpecteditwillbe1.Check:
5 2 5 3 6 2 6 3 10 + 15 + 12 + 18 55
+ + + =
=
= 1 .
11 5 11 5 11 5 11 5
11 5
55
Thus,wedonotfindorwritethedenominatorinsuchcases.
Now,considerthefollowingproblem,withthesamescenario...
Onemarbleispickedfromeachoftheurns.Ifatleastoneofthemarblesiswhite,whatisthe
probabilitythatboththemarblesarewhite?
Thisbecomesaquestionofconditionalprobabilitybecausepartinformationoftheoutcomeis
available.
Becauseoftheconditionatleastoneofthemarbleiswhite,thesamplespacegetsreduced
toalimitedcase,namelyWW,WBandBW.
Thus,nowtherequiredprobabilitywillbe
5 2

WW
10
10
11 5
.
=
=
=
WW + WB + BW 5 2 + 5 3 + 6 2 10 + 15 + 12 37
11 5 11 5 11 5
Thus,incaseofconditionalprobability,thesamplespacegetsreducedtoasmaller,limited
numberofpossibilities.Onemoreexample
E.g.5:Inanoilfield,Reliance,CairnsandShellareindependentlyexploring
1
foroil.TheprobabilitythatReliancestrikesoilis ,thatCairnsstrikesoilis
3
1
1
andthatShellstrikesoilis .Ifoilisstruckintheoilfield,findthe
4
5
probabilitythattwoofthecompaniesstruckoil.
Thisisalsoaconditionalprobabilityquestionbecauseitstatesthatoilis
struck.Wehavealreadyfoundintheearlierexamplewithsamedatathat
2 3 4 3
theprobabilityofoilbeingstruckis 1 = .Nowthiswillbeour
3 4 5 5
denominatorwhenwefindtheconditionalprobability.
Twocompaniesstrikingoilcouldhappeninanyofthefollowingways:
RC S
RC S
R C S .

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Thus,requiredprobabilityis
1 1 4 1 3 1 2 1 1
+ +
3 4 5 3 4 5 3 4 5 = 4 + 3 + 2 = 1 .
3
3 3 4 4
5

BinomialDistribution
Itake5shotsatthedartboard.Theprobabilityofmehittingthebullseyeinanyattemptis
1
.WhatistheprobabilitythatIhitbullseyeonthe1st,3rdand5thtry?
4
3

1 3 1 3 1 1 3
Itshouldnotbeaproblemtofindtheprobabilityas = .
4 4 4 4 4 4 4
IftheprobabilitywasrequiredoftheeventthatIhitthebullseyeononlythefirstthree
attempts?
3

1 1 1 3 3
1 3
Inthiscasetheanswerwouldbe whichisagain .
4 4 4 4 4
4 4
Infacttheprobabilityofmehittingbullseyeonanythreespecifiedattempts,irrespectiveof
3

1 3
whichthreeattemptsarespecifiedis .
4 4
Butwhatwillbetheprobabilityofmehittingbullseyeonanythreeattemptsi.e.thecase
whentheattemptsarenotspecified?
Inthiscase,anyofthefollowingwaysisacceptable
HHHMMorHHMHMorHHMMHorHMHHMorsoon.Nowthetotalnumberofsuchways
wouldbe5C3i.e.anythreepositionsoutof5couldbehitsandothertwowouldbemiss.Now
3

1 3
theprobabilityofalltheseindividualcasewouldbe andthusthetotalrequired
4 4
3

1 3
probabilitywillbeaddingthistermatotalof5C3times,i.e. 5 C3 .
4 4
Anysuchscenariooffindingtheprobabilityofrsuccessinatotalofnattemptsisgivenby
n

Cr p r (1 p )

nr

,wherepistheprobabilityofsuccessinanyoneattempt.

ThenCristofactorinwhichofthenattemptsresultsinrsuccesses.Andtheprobabilityofany

onesuchcasewouldbe p p p ...r times... (1 p) (1 p ) ...( n r ) times = p r (1 p )

nr

E.g.6:Adiceisrolledatotalof8times.WhatistheprobabilitythatIrolla
numbergreaterthan4onexactly5rolls?
Ifsdenotesasuccessi.e.rollinggreaterthan4andfdenotesafailurei.e.
rolling4orless,thenonepossibleacceptablewaycouldbesssssfff.
Howeverthisisnottheonlyway.The5sscouldpossiblecomeinany5out
ofthe8positions.Thusthetotalnumberofacceptablewaysis8C5.
5

2 4
Andeachoftheseoutcomewouldhaveaprobabilityof .
6 6

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2 4
Thusrequiredprobabilityis 8 C5 .
6 6
E.g.7:Intheabovequestionswhatwouldbetheprobabilityofrollinga
numbergreaterthan4onatleast5rolls.
Rollinganumbergreaterthan4onatleast5rollscanbeexpandedto
rollinganumbergreaterthan4onexactly5rollsor6rollsor7rollsorall8
rolls.
Andtherequiredprobabilitywouldbetheadditionofallthesecasesi.e.
5

2 4
2 4
2 4
2
C5 + 8C6 + 8C7 + 8C8 .
6 6
6 6
6 6
6

Itshouldbenoticedthatthelasttermoftheaboveboilsdowntojust
8

2
whichisasexpectedbecauserollinganumbergreaterthan4on
6
8

2 2
2 2
eachofthe8rollsisjust ... = .
6 6
6 6
Questionsonbinomialdistributioncouldalsobecoupledwithconditionalprobability
E.g.8:Acoinistossedatotalof8times.Ifheadappearsatleast6times,
whatistheprobabilitythatheadappearsonexactly7tosses?
Usingthefundaofconditionalprobability,therequiredprobabilitycanbe
7 heads
.
thoughtofas
6 heads or 7 heads or 8 heads
Whenacoinistossedtheprobabilityofgettingaheadandofnotgettinga
1
headisthesamei.e. .Thusinalltheterms,thetermequivalentto
2
8
nr
1
r
p (1 p ) wouldbe .
2
Thustherequiredprobabilityis
8

1
C7
8
C7
8
8
2
.
=
=
=
8
8
8
8
8
8
C6 + C7 + C8 28 + 8 + 1 37
1 8
1 8
1
8
C6 + C7 + C8
2
2
2
8

Exercise
1.

2 2 3
TheprobabilityofA,BandCsolvingaproblemis , , .Iftheproblemissolvedwhatisthe
3 5 8
probabilitythatallthreesolvetheproblem?

2.

Twocardsaredrawnatrandomfromawellshuffledpackofcards.Ifthetwocardsareface
cards,findtheprobabilitythatboththecardsareredcards.

3.

Urn1contains5whiteballsand8blackballsandUrn2contains7whiteballsand2black
balls.Oneballispickedfromurn1anddroppedinurn2.Thenoneballispickedfromurn2.If

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thisballturnsouttobewhite,findtheprobabilitythattheballtakenfromurn1anddropped
inurn2isalsowhite.
4.

Thepoliceinspectorfires10shotsattheterrorist.Iftheprobabilitythathehitstheterrorist
1
onanyattemptis ,findtheprobabilitythattheterroristishit.
7

5.

Intheabovequestion,iftheterroristishit,findtheprobabilitythatexactly1shothitthe
terrorist.

6.

1
BothAandBfireatthetargetonce.TheprobabilityofAhittingthetargetis andofB
3
2
hittingthetargetis .Ifonebullethitsthetarget,findtheprobabilitythatAhitsthetarget
3
andBmisses.

NOTE:
Sometimesprobabilityisexpressedintermsofoddsinfavourofandoddsagainst.Toconvertsuchdata
intoprobability,understandthefollowing
Whentheoddsinfavourofaneventisa:b,theprobabilityoftheeventoccurringis
Whentheoddsagainstaneventisa:b,theprobabilityoftheeventoccurringis

a
.
a+b

b
.
a+b

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Probability Question Bank 1

Questions
Standard Questions
1. The probability that A tells the truth is and the probability that B tells the
truth is 2/5. What is the probability that their answers to a yes/no type of
question contradicts?
1. 3
20

2. 3
10

3. 9
20

4. 9
10

5. None of these

2. Two cards are drawn from a pack of well shuffled cards, one after the other,
without the first card being replaced. What is the probability that one card is a
King and one is a Queen.
1. 4 4 2
52 51

4.

87
52 51

2.

44
52 51

5.

87
52 51 2

3.

44
2 52 51

3. Two cards are drawn from a pack of well shuffled cards, simultaneously. What
is the probability that one card is a King and one is a Queen.
1. 4 4 2
52 51

4.

87
52 51

2.

44
52 51

5.

87
52 51 2

3.

44
2 52 51

4. The odds in favour of A, B and C solving a problem are 2 : 3, 3 : 4 and 4 : 5

respectively. What are the odds in favour of the question being solved?
1. 8
63

2. 12
63

3. 16
105

4. 51
63

5. 133
315

5. In the above question given that the problem is solved, what is the probability
that A alone has solved the problem?
1.

10

2
5

2.

3
7

3.

4
21

4.

8
63

5.

8
51

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Probability Question Bank 1

6. In question 4, given that the problem is solved by exactly two of A, B and C, what
is the probability that A did not solve the problem?
1.

6
35

2.

4
35

3.

12
49

4.

16
49

5. None of these

7. Urn I has 5 black hats and 8 white hats. Urn II has 3 black hats and 5 white hats.
Urn III has 6 black hats and 4 white hats. One hat is drawn from each of the urn.
What is the probability that all the hats drawn are not of the same color?
1.

2
15

2.

21
120

3.

21
200

4.

143
600

5.

457
600

8. In question 5, given that all the hats drawn are of the same color, what is the
probability that the hats drawn are white in color?
1.

2
15

2.

80
143

3.

21
120

4.

21
200

5.

143
600

9. In a match between India and South Africa, the odd against India winning the
match is 2 : 1. What is the probability that India would win a three match series
against South Africa, if there is no possibility of a draw in a match
1.

7
27

2.

8
27

3.

10
27

4.

20
27

5.

22
27

10. In question 7, what is the probability that a 10 match series of India and South
Africa will end in a draw. There is no possibility of a draw in an individual match.
5
1. 2
310

4.

1 25

5 310

25
310

2.

10

C5

3.

5.

10

C5 10 C5

5 25
310

25
310

11. A coin is tossed 5 times. What is the probability that head appears more number
of times than the tail?
1.

11

1
2

2.

3
5

3.

2
5

4.

1
5

5. None of these

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Probability Question Bank 1

12. In question 9, if head appears more number of times than tail, what is the
probability that head appears on all five toss?
1.

1
32

2.

1
16

3.

1
8

4.

1
3

5. None of these

Difficult Questions
13. Three critics review a book. Odds in the favor of the book are 5: 2, 4 : 3 and
3 : 4. Find the probability that majority are in favor of the book.
1.

209
343

2.

189
343

3.

149
343

4.

141
343

5. None of these

14. A coin is tossed 10 times. Find the probability of getting exactly six heads. Also
find the probability of getting atmost 8 heads.
1.

4.

3 1023
,
5 1024
C4 1013
,
210 1024

10

2.

3 1013
,
5 1024

3.

10

C4
10

1023
1024

5. None of these

15. There is a 30% chance that it rains on any particular day. What is the
probability that there is at least one rainy day within a period of 7 days?
1.

3
10

2.

10

7
10

10

3. 1

4. 1

5. None of these

16. In the question above, given that there is at least one rainy day in a week, what
is the probability that there are at least two rainy days in a week?
7

10

1. 1 4

7
4. 1
10

12

2. 1

3 7

10 10

3. 7 C1 3 7
10 10

5. None of these

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Probability Question Bank 1

17. A consignment of 15 radios contains 4 defectives. The radios are taken out one
by one at random and examined. The ones examined are not put back. What is
the probability that the ninth one examined is the last defective?
9

C4

11

4 11
1. 15

C4 15 15

4.

C3

15

C4

C4

4
2. 15

C4 15

3.

C4

15

C4

5. None of these

18. The probability of a man hitting a target in one fire is . How many times at
4
least must he fire at the target in order that his chance of hitting the target at
least once will exceed
1. 2

2
?
3

2. 4

3. 5

4. 6

5. Cannot be determined

19. In a sequence of independent trials, the probability of success in one trial is

1
. Find the probability that the second success takes place on or after the
4

fourth trial.
1.

1
4

2.

3
4

3.

27
64

4.

9
64

5. None of these

20. In a series of five one-day cricket matches between India and Pakistan, the
1
1
probability of India winning or drawing are respectively and . If a win, loss
3
6
or draw gives 2, 0 or 1 point respectively then find the probability that India will
score 5 points in the series.
1.

1
216

2.

11
216

3.

121
66

4.

504
66

5. None of these

21. In multiple-choice questions, there are four alternative answers of which one
or more answers are correct. A candidate gets marks if he ticks all the correct
answers. The candidate, being ignorant about the answers, decides to tick
at random. How many attempts at least should he be allowed so that the
1
probability of his getting marks in the question may exceed ?
5
1. 3

13

2. 4

3. 5

4. 6

5. 7

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Probability Question Bank 1

22. A man takes a step forward with probability 0.4 and backward with probability
0.6. Find the probability that at the end of eleven steps he is one step away from
the starting point.
1.

11

4.

11

C5

65
510
5

2 3
C5 11 C6
5 5

2.

11

5.

11

2 3
C5
5 5

10

3.

11

3
C5
5

10

6
C5 11 C6
5

23. Two students A and B attempt to solve the same question. Their chances of
1
1
solving the question are and
respectively. If the odds against making the
8
12
same mistake by them be 1000 : 1, find the probability of their results being
correct if they obtain the same result.
1.

96
1001

2.

1
96 1001

4.

96
1096

5.

1001
1096

3.

1001
1097

24. A, B, C and D cut a pack of 52 cards successively in the order given. If the
person who cuts a spade first receives Rs. 350, what is the probability of D
receiving the money?
1.

81
175
1

81

81

81

3.
4 175

2.
4 175
81

5.
4 175

4.
4 175

25. A man parks his car among 7 cars standing in a row, his car not being parked at
the end. On his return he finds that exactly 4 of the 7 cars are still there. What
is the probability that both the cars parked on two sides of his car, have left?
1.

1
35

2.

1
7

3.

2
7

4.

2
35

5. None of these

26. A pair of dice is rolled together till a sum of either 5 or 7 is obtained. Find the
probability that 5 comes before 7.
1.

14

1
5

2.

2
5

3.

1
2

4.

2
3

5. None of these

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27. Two squares are chosen at random from the 64 squares drawn on the
chessboard. What is the chance that the two squares chosen have exactly one
corner in common?
1.

7
288

2.

7
144

3.

1
36

4.

1
9

5. None of these

28. A man is at point A in the grid shown below. He starts moving east-wards and
whenever he reaches a node with two ways out, probability of choosing either
of the two ways is equal. Find the probability that he reaches point B. Consider
that he does not re-trace any path backwards and always moves either eastwards or southwards.

A
B

1.

1
4

2.

1
2

3.

1
3

4.

1
5

5. None of these

29. Two cards are simultaneously drawn randomly from a well shuffled pack of
cards. What is the probability that atleast one of the card drawn is a Red card
and also atleast one of the card drawn is a King?
1.

1176
1326

2.

1177
1326

3.

149
1326

4.

150
1326

5.

151
1326

30. 4 policemen come to a funeral and remove and place their identical looking caps
on a table before entering the room. While going out, each one picks a cap from
the table, randomly. What is the probability that none of the policeman picks the
same cap that he had had kept on the table?
1.

15

23
24

2.

17
24

3.

9
24

4.

6
24

5. None of these

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Probability Question Bank 1

Answer Key
Assignment

16

1. 3

2. 1

3. 1

4. 4

5. 5

6. 5

7. 5

8. 2

9. 4

10. 2

11. 1

12. 2

13. 1

14. 4

15. 4

16. 1

17. 4

18. 2

19. 3

20. 4

21. 2

22. 1

23. 3

24. 3

25. 2

26. 2

27. 2

28. 4

29. 3

30. 3

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