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In common usage, the word probability is used to mean the chance that a
particular event (or set of events) will occur expressed on a linear scale from 0
(impossibility) to 1 (certainty), also expressed as a percentage between 0 and
100%. In this lesson we will discuss theoretical probability and empirical probability.
An occurrence for which the outcome is uncertain is called an experiment. The set
of all possible outcomes of an experiment is called sample space and is usually
denoted with a capital S.
Theoretical Probability
is
is
NOTE: The sum of the theoretical probabilities of all
possible outcomes in the sample space equals 1.
Empirical Probability
Example 1:
You are dealt one card from a standard 52-card deck. Find the
probability of being dealt
a. a queen
b. a diamond
c. a queen of diamonds
d. a black card
e. a black king
Example 2:
The U.S. Census Bureau claims that there are 69.2 million
individuals over age 18 in the U.S. who have never been
married. Find the empirical probability of selecting a never
married person from the U.S. population of 235.8 million.