Probability: Pratyush at Toughest Questions

Pratyush @ Toughest Questions
Probability
What is probability?
favorable cases
total cases
In tossing a coin, events
are:
P ( Head) =
1
/
2

P ( Tail ) =
1
/
2

Probability (Head or Tail)
1
/
2
+
1
/
2
= 1
Probability ( A or B)
= P(A) + P(B)
Probability 1
Example of 2 coins tossed
Case 1: 2 H
Case 2: 2 T
Case 3: H & T
What is the probability of
a head and tail?
Favorable outcome
Total outcome
=
1
/
3

Case 1: HH
Case 2 : TT
Case 3 : HT
Case 4 : TH
So P =
2
/
4
=
1
/
2

Wrong
With 3 coins, what is the
probability of only 1 head?
P (HTT) = (
1
/
2
)*(
1
/
2
)*(
1
/
2
) =
1
/
8

Joint P = P(A) * P(B) * P(C)
P (THT) and P (TTH) are also
1
/
8
each.
So P =
1
/
8
+
1
/
8
+
1
/
8
=
3
/
8

2 dice are thrown
Find the probability that the
sum of faces is 1
P = 0
Probability 0
Find the probability that
the sum of faces is 2
Probability =
1
/
36

Probability =
1
/
36

Total Sum Set = { 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}
So Probability =
1
/
11

Wrong
Total outcomes = 6*6 = 36
Favorable outcomes
{ (3,3), (2,4), (1,5), (4,2), (5,1) }
P =
5
/
36

Probability of all outcomes
should be equal
2 dice are thrown
Find the probability that the
sum is single digit
Prob ( Sum = 2) =
1
/
36

Prob ( Sum = 3) =
2
/
36

Prob ( Sum = 4) =
3
/
36

Prob ( Sum = 5) =
4
/
36

Prob ( Sum = 6) =
5
/
36

Prob ( Sum = 7) =
6
/
36

Prob ( Sum = 8) =
5
/
36

Prob ( Sum = 9) =
4
/
36

Total =
(1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 5 + 4)
36
Alternatively
Prob ( Sum = 10) =
3
/
36

Prob ( Sum = 11) =
2
/
36

Prob ( Sum = 12) =
1
/
36

P ( Sum 10,11 or 12) =
6
/
36

P (Sum is not 10, 11 or 12)
= 1 -
6
/
36
=
30
/
36

P(A
c
) = 1 - P(A)
Its easier to work out the
complement sometimes...
4 dice are thrown -
probability that there are 3
sixes and another number
Favorable outcome = 1*1*1*5*4
Total outcomes = 6*6*6*6
P = 20 / 6
4

Probability that a number
is divisible by 2 is
P =
1
/
2

is divisible by 3 is
P =
1
/
3

is divisible by 2 or 3 is
P =
1
/
2
+
1
/
3
=
5
/
6

Is it?
Probability that number is
divisible by 2 or 3 is
1
/
2
+
1
/
3
-
1
/
6
=
4
/
6
=
2
/
3

P (A B) =
P(A) + P(B) - P(A B)

10 coins are tossed, what
is the probability that only
one is a tail or head?
Prob of 1 H, 9 T is = 1/ 2
10
, but
there are 10 such cases. So
prob = 10/2
10
Prob of 9 H, 1 T is = 10/2
10
Prob of one tail or head is =
10/2
10
+ 10/2
10
= 10/2
9

In a single toss of 4 coins
what is the probability of
getting at least one head?
P (no heads) =
1
/
16
.
P (at least 1 head) =
1 -
1
/
16
=
15
/
16

In a single toss of 4 coins
what is the probability of
getting at most 1 head?
P (no heads) =
1
/
16
.
P (1 H & 3 T) =
1
/
16
* 4.
P (at most 1 H)
= P (0 H) + P (1 H) =
5
/
16

2 cards are successively
drawn without
replacement. Probability
that both are greater than
2 & less than 9 is
There are 6 * 4 = 24 cards
P (1st card) =
24
/
52

P (2nd card) =
23
/
51

Joint P =
24
/
52
*
23
/
51

Probability of 1
st
ball blue
& 2
nd
white without
replacement?
first ball blue =
4
/
10
=
2
/
5
.
second ball white =
6
/
9
=
2
/
3

Joint P =
2
/
5
x
2
/
3
=
4
/
15

Probability of all 4 being
blue - without
replacement?
= (
7
/
13
)*(
6
/
12
)*(
5
/
11
)*(
4
/
10
)
=
7
/
143

Probability of all four not
blue - without
replacement?
= 1 -
7
/
143

=
136
/
143

Probability that all are of
same color?
All white =
6
/
13
x
5
/
12
x
4
/
11
x
3
/
10
=
3
/
143

Probability all same color =
P (all B) + P (all W) =
10
/
143

The probability that a card
drawn from a pack of 52
cards is a diamond/king?
There are 13 diamonds and 4
kings, but one of them is a king
of diamond. Therefore,
P =
(13 + 4 - 1)
/
52
=
16
/
52

In a lottery of tickets
numbered 1 to 50, 2
tickets are drawn. The
probability that both are
prime numbers is:
(15 prime numbers from 1 - 50)
P (1st being prime) =
15
/
50

P (2nd being prime) =
14
/
49

P (both prime) =
15
*
14
/
50*49

An AA gun can take max
4 shots. P of hitting the
plane at the 1
st
, 2
nd
, 3
rd

and 4
th
shot are 0.4, 0.3,
0.2, 0.1 resp. P that the
gun hits the plane is:
Probability of hitting the plane =
P (the plane is hit at least once)
= 1 - (1-p
1
)(1-p
2
)(1-p
3
)(1-p
4
) =
1 - (0.6)*(0.7)*(0.8)*(0.9) =
(1 - 0.3024) = 0.6976
A contains 4 red and 5
white balls and B contains
3 red and 7 white balls. 1
ball is drawn from A and 2
from B. Find the
probability that out of 3, 2
are white and 1 is red.
P(2 W & 1 R) =
P[(1 R from 1
st
and 2 W from
2
nd
or
(1 W from 1
st
,1 W and 1 R from
2
nd
)]
(
4
/
9
)*(
7
/
10
)*(
6
/
9
)+ (
5
/
9
)*(
7
/
9
)*(
3
/
10
)
=
7
/
15

A speaks the truth in 75%
and B in 80% of the
cases. In how many cases
will they contradict each
other narrating the same
incident.
P(A and B contradict each
other)
= P[(A tells truth and B tells a
lie)
or
P(A tells a lie and B tells truth)
=
3
/
4
*
1
/
5
+
1
/
4
*
4
/
5

=
7
/
20

P of two events E and F
are 0.25 and 0.50 resp. P
of their simultaneous
occurrence is 0.14. P that
neither E occurs nor F is:
P (E U F) =
0.25 + 0.50 - 0.14
= 0.61.
Now, P (neither E nor F)
= 1 - P(E U F)
= 1 - 0.61 = 0.39
The probability that a leap
year selected at random
will contain 53 Sundays,
is:
A leap year contains 366 days
and therefore, 52 weeks and 2
days. Now, there can be 7
different combinations of the
remaining two days, where 2
favour the required event.
Hence, P = 2/7.
The probability of solving
a problem by A, B, and C
are
1
/
2
,
1
/
3
and
1
/
4

respectively. The
probability that the
problem is solved is:
P = 1 - P(that the problem
remains unsolved)
= 1 - (1-p
1
)(1- p
2
)(1- p
3
)
= 1 - (
1
/
2
)*(
2
/
3
)*(
3
/
4
)
= 1 -
1
/
4

=
3
/
4

If P that A and B will die
within a year are a and b
resp, P that only one of
them will be alive at the
end of the year is:
Required probability
= P(A dies & B alive) or
P(A is alive and B dies.) =
a (1 - b) + (1 - a) b
= a + b - 2ab.
In a row of 6 Mathematics
books and 4 Physics
books, the probability that
3 particular Maths books
will be together is:
Taking 3 books as one book,
we have 8 books which can be
arranged in 8! ways.
These 3 books can be arranged
in 3! ways. Hence n(F) = 8!*3!
Also n(T) = 10!.
Therefore P = (8!*3!) / 10! =
1
/
15

N cadets stand in a row. If
all possible permutations
are equally likely, P of 2
particular cadets standing
side by side is:
P = [(N-1)! * 2!] / N! =
2
/
N

A can solve 90% of the
problems given in a book
and B can solve 70%.
What is P that at least 1 of
them will solve a problem,
selected at random?
P(E) = 0.9, P(F) = 0.7
Also P(EF) = P(E)*P(F) =
0.63.
Hence required probability is
0.9 + 0.7 - 0.63
= 0.97
Bag X contains 3 B and 4
W balls. Bag Y contains 4
B and 2 W balls. A bag is
selected at random. From
the selected bag, 1 ball is
drawn. Find P that it is W.
P (drawing W from X) =
4
/
7
.
P (drawing W from Y) =
2
/
6
.
Choosing either bag gives a
probability of
1
/
2
.
Hence, total probability
=
1
/
2
(
4
/
7
+
2
/
6
) =
19
/
42

3 urns contain 2 W & 3 B
balls, 3 W & 2 B and 4 W
& 1 B resp. A ball is drawn
from an urn at random
and it is W. What it P that
it was drawn from 1
st
urn?
P =
(
2
/
5
)*(
1
/
3
)
------------------------------------------
(
2
/
5
)*(
1
/
3
) + (
3
/
5
)*(
1
/
3
) + (
4
/
5
)*(
1
/
3
)
=
2
/
9

X contains 5 W and 7 B
balls. Y contains 7 W and 8
B. 1 ball is drawn from X
and put into Y without
noticing its colour. If now a
ball is drawn from Y, what is
P that it is W?
P(transfer W ball from X & then
select W ball from Y) =
5
/
12
*
8
/
16

=
5
/
24
.
P( transfer B ball from X and
then draw B ball from Y) =
(
7
/
12
)*(
7
/
16
) =
49
/
192
.
Total probability is =
(
5
/
24
) + (
49
/
192
) =
89
/
192

Probability: Pratyush at Toughest Questions

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Pratyush @ Toughest Questions

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