13 Probability

13.1 I NTRODUCTION
Kumar and Sudha were walking together to play a carroms match:
Kumar : Do you think we will win?
Sudha : There are 50 percent chances of that. We may win.
Kumar : How do you say 50 percent?
Do you think Sudha is right in her statement?
Is her chance of wining 50%?
In this chapter, we study about such questions. We also discuss words the like ‘probably’,
‘likely’, ‘possibly’, etc. and how to quantify these. In class IX we studied about events that are
extremely likely and in fact, are almost certain and those that are extremely unlikely and hence
almost impossible. We also talked about chance, luck and the fact that an event occurs one
particular time does not mean that it would happen each time. In this chapter, we try to learn how
the likelihood of an event can be quantified.
This quantificatioin into a numerical measure is referred to as finding 'Probability'.

13.1.1 W HAT IS P ROBABILITY

Consider an experiment: A normal coin was tossed 1000 times. Head turned up 455 times
and tail turned up 545 times. If we try to find the likelihood of getting heads we may say it is 455
455
out of 1000 or or 0.455.
1000
This estimation of probability is based on the results of an actual
experiment of tossing a coin 1000 times. These estimates are called experimental
or empirical probabilities. In fact, all experimental probabilities are based on
the results of actual experiments and an adequate recording of what happens
in each of the events. These probabilities are only 'estimations'. If we perform
the same experiment for another 1000 times, we may get slightly different
data, giving different probability estimate.
 306 Class-X Mathematics

Many other persons from different parts of the world have done this kind of experiment
and recorded the number of heads that turned up.
For example, the eighteenth century French naturalist Comte de Buffon, tossed a coin
4040 times and got 2048 heads. The experimental probability of getting a head, in this case, was
2048
i.e., 0.507.
4040
J.E. Kerrich, from Britain, recorded 5067 heads in 10000 tosses of a coin. The experimental
5067
probability of getting a head, in this case, was = 0.5067. Statistician Karl Pearson spent
10000
some more time, making 24000 tosses of a coin. He got 12012 heads, and thus, the experimental
probability of a head obtained by him was 0.5005.
Now, suppose we ask, 'What will be the experimental probability of getting a head, if the
experiment is carried on up to, say, one million times? Or 10 million times? You would intuitively
feel that as the number of tosses increases, the experimental probability of a head (or a tail) may
1
settle down closer and closer to the number 0.5 , i.e., . This matches the theoretical probability
2
of getting a head (or getting a tail), we will learn how to find the theoretical probability.
This chapter is an introduction to the theoretical (also called classical) probability of an
event, Now we discuss simple problems based on this concept.

13.2 P ROBABILITY - A T HEORETICAL A PPROACH

Let us consider the following situation: Suppose a ‘fair’ coin is tossed at random.
When we speak of a coin, we assume it to be 'fair', that is, it is symmetrical so that there is
no reason for it to come down more often on one side than the other. We call this property of the
coin as being 'unbiased'. By the phrase 'random toss', we mean that the coin is allowed to fall
freely without any bias or interference. (Here we dismiss the possibility of its 'landing' on its edge,
which may be possible, for example, if it falls on sand). We refer to this by saying that the
outcomes, head and tail, are equally likely.
For basic understanding of probability, in this chapter, we will assume that all the experiments
have equally likely outcomes.
Now, we know that the experimental or empirical probability P(E) of an event E is

Number of trials in which the event happened

P(E) =
Total number of trials

Free Distribution by A.P. Government

 Probability 307

D O T HIS

a. Outcomes of which of the following experiments are equally likely?

1. Getting a digit 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 while throwing a die.
2. Picking a different colour ball from a bag of 5 red balls, 4 blue balls and 1 black ball.
3. Winning in a game of carrom.
4. Units place of a two digit number selected may be 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9.
5. Picking a different colour ball from a bag of 10 red balls, 10 blue balls and 10 black
balls.
6. Raining on a particular day of July.
b. Are the outcomes of every experiment equally likely?
c. Give examples of 5 experiments that have equally likely outcomes and five more examples
that do not have equally likely outcomes.

A CTIVITY

(i) Take any coin, toss it, 50 times, 100 times, 150 times and count the number of times a
head and a tail come up seperately. Record your observations in the following table:-

S. Number of Number of Probability of Number of Probability of

No. experiments heads head tails tails
1. 50
2. 100

3. 150

What do you observe? Obviously, as the number of experiments are more and more,
1
probability of head or tail reaches 50% or . This empirical interpretation of probability can
2
be applied to every event associated with an experiment that can be repeated a large number
of times.

Probability and Modelling

The requirement of repeating an experiment has some limitations, as it may be very
expensive or unfeasible in many situations. Of course, it worked well in coin tossing or die
throwing experiments. But how about repeating the experiment of launching a satellite in

Free Distribution by A.P. Government

 308 Class-X Mathematics

order to compute the empirical probability of its failure during launching, or the repetition of
the phenomenon of an earthquake to compute the empirical probability of a multi-storeyed
building getting destroyed in an earthquake? For finding these probabilities we calculate models
of behaviour and use them to estimate behaviour and likely outcomes. Such models are complex
and are validated by predictions and outcomes. Forecast of weather, result of an election,
population demography, earthquakes, crop production etc. are all based on such models and
their predictions.

“The assumption of equally likely outcomes” (which is valid in many experiments, as in two
of the examples seen, of a coin and of a die) is one of the assumption that leads us to the following
definition of probability of an event.
The theoretical probability (also called classical probability) of an event T, written as P(T),
is defined as
Number of outcomes favourable to T
P(T) =
Number of all possible outcomes of the experiment

where we assume that the outcomes of the experiment are equally likely. We usually simply
refer to theoretical probability as Probability.

The definition of probability was given by Pierre Simon Laplace

in 1795.
Probability theory had its origin in the16th century when an Italian
physician and mathematician J. Cardan wrote the first book on the subject,
The Book on Games of Chance. James Bernoulli (1654 -1705), A. De
Moivre (1667-1754), and Pierre Simon Laplace are among those who
made significant contributions to this field. In recent years, probability
has been used extensively in many areas such as biology, economics, Pierre Simon Laplace
(1749 – 1827)
genetics, physics, sociology etc.

13.3 M UTUALLY E XCLUSIVE E VENTS

If a coin is tossed, we get head or tail, but not both. Similarly, if we select a student of a
high school that student may belong to one of either 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 class, but not to any two or
more classes. In both these examples, occurrence of an event prevents the occurrence of other
events. Such events are called mutually exclusive events.
Two or more events of an experiment, where occurance of an event prevents occurances
of all other events, are called Mutually Exclusive Events. We will discuss this in more detail
later in the chapter.

Free Distribution by A.P. Government

 Probability 309

13.4.1 F INDING P ROBABILITY

How do we find the probability of events that are equally likely? We consider the tossing
of a coin as an event associated with experiments where the equally likely assumption holds. In
order to proceed, we recall that there are two possible outcomes each time. This set of outcomes
is called the sample space. We can say that the sample space of one toss is {H, T}. For the
experiement of drawing out a ball from a bag containing red, blues, yellow and white ball, the
sample space is {R, B, Y, W}. What is the sample space for the throw of a die?

D O T HIS

Think of 5 situations with equally likely events and find the sample space.

Let us now try to find the probability of equally likely events that are mutually exclusive.
Example-1. Find the probability of getting a head when a coin is tossed once. Also find the
probability of getting a tail.
Solution : In the experiment of tossing a coin once, the number of possible outcomes is two -
Head (H) and Tail (T). Let E be the event 'getting a head'. The number of outcomes favourable
to E, (i.e., of getting a head) is 1. Therefore,
Number of outcomes favourable to E 1
P(E) = P (head) = =
Number of all possible outcomes 2
Similarly, if F is the event 'getting a tail', then
1
P(F) = P(tail) = (Guess why?)
2
Example-2. A bag contains a red ball, a blue ball and an yellow ball, all the balls being of the
same size. Manasa takes out a ball from the bag without looking into it. What is the probability
that she takes a (i) yellow ball? (ii) red ball? (iii) blue ball?
Solution : Manasa takes out a ball from the bag without looking into it. So, it is equally likely
that she takes out any one of them.
Let Y be the event 'the ball taken out is yellow', B be the event 'the ball taken out is blue',
and R be the event 'the ball taken out is red'.
Now, the number of possible outcomes = 3.
(i) The number of outcomes favourable to the event Y = 1.
1 1 1
So, P(Y) = . Similarly, P(R) = and P(B) =
3 3 3

Free Distribution by A.P. Government

 310 Class-X Mathematics

Remarks
1. An event having only one outcome in an experiment is called an elementary event. In
Example 1, both the events E and F are elementary events. Similarly, in Example 2, all
the three events, Y, B and R are elementary events.
2. In Example 1, we note that : P(E) + P(F) = 1
In Example 2, we note that : P(Y) + P(R) + P(B) = 1.
If we find the probability of all the elementary events and add them, we would get the
total as 1.
3. In events like a throw of dice, probability of getting less than 3 and of getting a 3 or
more than three are not elementary events of the possible outcomes. In tossing two
coins {HH}, {HT}, {TH} and {TT} are elementary events.
Example-3. Suppose we throw a die once. (i) What is the probability of getting a number
greater than 4? (ii) What is the probability of getting a number less than or equal to 4?
Solution : (i) In rolling an unbaised dice
Sample space S = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
No. of outcomes n(S) = 6
Favourable outcomes for E = {5, 6}
number greater than 4
No. of favourable outcomes n(E) = 2

2 1
Probability P(E) = =
6 3
(ii) Let F be the event 'getting a number less than or equal to 4'.
Sample space S = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
No. of outcomes n(S) = 6
Favourable outcomes for F = {1, 2, 3, 4}
number less or equal to 4
No. of favourable outcomes n(F) = 4

4 2
Probability P(F) = =
6 3

Free Distribution by A.P. Government

 Probability 311

Note : Are the events E and F in the above example elementary events?
No, they are not elementary events. The event E has 2 outcomes and the event F has 4
outcomes.

13.4.2 C OMPLEMENTARY E VENTS AND P ROBABILITY

In the previous section we read about elementary events. Then in example-3, we calculated
probability of events which are not elementary. We saw,
1 2
P(E) + P(F) = + =1
3 3
Here F is the same as 'not E' because there are only two events.

We denote the event 'not E' by E . This is called the complement event of event E.
So, P(E) + P(not E) = 1

i.e., P(E) + P( E ) = 1, which gives us P( E ) = 1 - P(E).

In general, it is true that for an event E, P( ) = 1 – P(E)

D O T HIS
(i) Is getting a head complementary to getting a tail? Give reasons.
(ii) In case of a die is getting a 1 complementary to events getting 2, 3, 4, 5, 6? Give reasons
for your answer.
(iii) Write of five new pair of events that are complementary.

13.4.3 I MPOSSIBLE AND C ERTAIN E VENTS

Consider the following about the throws of a die with sides marked as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
(i) What is the probability of getting a number 7 in a single throw of a die?
We know that there are only six possible outcomes in a single throw of this die. These
outcomes are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Since no face of the die is marked 7, there is no outcome
favourable to 7, i.e., the number of such outcomes is zero. In other words, getting 7 in a single
throw of a die, is impossible.
0
So P(getting 7) = =0
6
That is, the probability of an event which is impossible to occur is 0. Such an event is
called an impossible event.

(ii) What is the probability of getting 6 or a number less than 6 in a single throw of a die?

Free Distribution by A.P. Government

 312 Class-X Mathematics

Since every face of a die is marked with 6 or a number less than 6, it is sure that we will
always get one of these when the dice is thrown once. So, the number of favourable outcomes is
the same as the number of all possible outcomes, which is 6.
6
Therefore, P(E) = P(getting 6 or a number less than 6) = =1
6
So, the probability of an event which is sure (or certain) to occur is 1. Such an event is
called a sure event or a certain event.
Note : From the definition of probability P(E), we see that the numerator (number of outcomes
favourable to the event E) is always less than or equal to the denominator (the number of all
possible outcomes). Therefore, 0 ≤ P(E) ≤ 1.

T RY T HIS

1. A child has a die whose six faces show the letters A, B, C, D, E and F. The die is thrown
once. What is the probability of getting (i) A? (ii) D?
2. Which of the following cannot be the probability of an event?
(a) 2.3 (b) -1.5 (c) 15% (D) 0.7

T HINK - D ISCUSS

1. Why is tossing a coin considered to be a fair way of deciding which team should get the
ball at the beginning of any game?
7
2. Can be the probability of an event? Explain.
2

3. Which of the following arguments are correct and which are not correct? Give reasons.

i) If two coins are tossed simultaneously there are three possible outcomes - two heads,
1
two tails or one of each. Therefore, for each of these outcomes, the probability is .
3
ii)If a die is thrown, there are two possible outcomes - an odd number or an even number.
1
Therefore, the probability of getting an odd number is .
2

13.5 D ECK OF C ARDS AND P ROBABILITY

Have you seen a deck of playing cards?
A deck of playing cards consists of 52 cards which are divided into 4 suits of 13 cards
each. They are black spades (♠), red hearts (♥), red diamonds (♦) and black clubs (♣).

Free Distribution by A.P. Government

 Probability 313

The cards in each suit are Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2. Kings,
Queens and Jacks are called face cards. Many games are played with this deck of cards, some
games are played with part
of the deck and some with
two decks even. The study
of probability has a lot to do
with card and dice games as
it helps players to estimate
possibilities and predict how
the cards could be
distributed among players.

Example-4. One card is drawn from a well-shuffled deck of 52 cards. Calculate the probability
that the card will (i) be an ace, (ii) not be an ace.
Solution : Well-shuffling ensures equally likely outcomes.
(i) There are 4 aces in a deck.
Let E be the event 'the card is an ace'.
The number of outcomes favourable to E = 4
The number of possible outcomes = 52 (Why ?)
4 1
Therefore, P(E) = =
52 13
(ii) Let F be the event 'card drawn is not an ace'.
The number of outcomes favourable to the event F = 52 - 4 = 48 (Why?)
The number of possible outcomes = 52
48 12
Therefore, P(F) = =
52 13

Alternate Method : Note that F is nothing but E .

Therefore, we can also calculate P(F) as follows:
1 12
P (F) = P( E ) = 1 - P(E) = 1 - =
13 13

T RY T HIS

You have a single deck of well shuffled cards. Then,

1. What is the probability that the card drawn will be a queen?

Free Distribution by A.P. Government

 314 Class-X Mathematics

2. What is the probability that it is a face card?

3. What is the probability it is a spade?
4. What is the probability that is the face card of spades?
5. What is the probability it is not a face card?

13.6 U SE OF P ROBABILITY
Let us look at some more occasions where probability may be useful. We know that in
sports some countries are strong and others are not so strong. We also know that when two
players are playing it is not that they win equal times. The probability of winning of the player or
team that wins more often is more than the probability of the other player or team. We also
discuss and keep track of birthdays. Sometimes happens it that people we know have the same
birthdays. Can we find out whether this is a common event or would it only happen occassionally.
Classical probability helps us do this.

Example-5. Sangeeta and Reshma, play a tennis match. It is known that the probability of
Sangeeta winning the match is 0.62. What is the probability of Reshma winning the match?
Solution : Let S and R denote the events that Sangeeta wins the match and Reshma wins the
match, respectively.
The probability of Sangeeta's winning chances = P(S) = 0.62 (given)
The probability of Reshma's winning chances = P(R) = 1 - P(S)
= 1 -0.62 = 0.38 [R and S are complementary]

Example-6. Sarada and Hamida are friends. What is the probability that both will have (i)
different birthdays? (ii) the same birthday? (ignoring a leap year).
Solution : Out of the two friends, one girl, say, Sarada's birthday can be any day of the year.
Now, Hamida's birthday can also be any day of 365 days in the year. We assume that these 365
outcomes are equally likely.
(i) If Hamida's birthday is different from Sarada's, the number of favourable outcomes for her
birthday is 365 - 1 = 364
364
So, P (Hamida's birthday is different from Sarada's birthday) =
365
(ii) P(Sarada and Hamida have the same birthday) = 1 - P (both have different birthdays)

364 1
= 1- [ Using P( E ) = 1 - P(E)] =
365 365

Free Distribution by A.P. Government

 Probability 315

Example-7. There are 40 students in Class X of a school of whom 25 are girls and 15 are
boys. The class teacher has to select one student as a class representative. She writes the name
of each student on a separate cards, the cards being identical. Then she puts cards in a box and
stirs them thoroughly. She then draws one card from the box. What is the probability that the
name written on the card is the name of (i) a girl? (ii) a boy?
Solution : There are 40 students, and only one name card has to be chosen.
The number of all possible outcomes is 40
(i) The number of outcomes favourable for a card with the name of a girl = 25 (Why?)
25 5
∴ P (card with name of a girl) = P(Girl) = =
40 8
(ii) The number of outcomes favourable for a card with the name of a boy = 15 (Why?)
15 3
Therefore, P(card with name of a boy) = P(Boy) = =
40 8
5 3
or P(Boy) = 1 - P(not Boy) = 1 - P(Girl) = 1 - =
8 8

E XERCISE - 13.1

1. Complete the following statements:

(i) Probability of an event E + Probability of the event 'not E' = ______________
(ii) The probability of an event that cannot happen is__________.
Such an event is called __________
(iii) The probability of an event that is certain to happen is __________.
Such an event is called______
(iv) The sum of the probabilities of all the elementary events of an experiment is_________
(v) The probability of an event is greater than or equal to __________ and less than or
equal to _______
2. Which of the following experiments have equally likely outcomes? Explain.
(i) A driver attempts to start a car. The car starts or does not start.
(ii) A player attempts to shoot a basketball. She/he shoots or misses the shot.
(iii) A trial is made to answer a true-false question. The answer is right or wrong.
(iv) A baby is born. It is a boy or a girl.

Free Distribution by A.P. Government

 316 Class-X Mathematics

3. If P(E) = 0.05, what is the probability of 'not E'?

4. A bag contains lemon flavoured candies only. Malini takes out one candy without looking
into the bag. What is the probability that she takes out
(i) an orange flavoured candy? (ii) a lemon flavoured candy?
5. Rahim takes out all the hearts from the cards. What is the probability of
i. Picking out an ace from the remaining pack.
ii. Picking out a diamonds.
iii. Picking out a card that is not a heart.
iv. Picking out the Ace of hearts.
6. It is given that in a group of 3 students, the probability of 2 students not having the same
birthday is 0.992. What is the probability that the 2 students have the same birthday?
7. A die is thrown once. Find the probability of getting
(i) a prime number; (ii) a number lying between 2 and 6; (iii) an odd number.
8. What is the probability of drawing out a red king from a deck of cards?
9. Make 5 more problem of this kind using dice, cards or birthdays and discuss with friends
and teacher about their solutions.

13.7 M ORE A PPLICATIONS OF P ROBABILITY

We have seen some example of use of probability. Think about the contents and ways
probability has been used in these. We have seen again that probability of complementary events
add to 1. Can you identify in the examples and exercises given above, and those that follow,
complementary events and elementary events? Discuss with teachers and friends. Let us see
more uses.

Example-8. A box contains 3 blue, 2 white, and 4 red marbles. If a marble is drawn at random
from the box, what is the probability that it will be
(i) white? (ii) blue? (iii) red?
Solution : Saying that a marble is drawn at random means all the marbles are equally likely to be
drawn.
∴ The number of possible outcomes = 3 +2 + 4 = 9 (Why?)
Let W denote the event 'the marble is white', B denote the event 'the marble is blue' and R
denote the event 'marble is red'.
(i) The number of outcomes favourable to the event W = 2

Free Distribution by A.P. Government

 Probability 317

2
So, P(W) =
9

3 1 4
Similarly, (ii) P(B) = = and (iii) P(R) =
9 3 9
Note that P(W) + P(B) + P(R) = 1.

Example-9. Harpreet tosses two different coins simultaneously (say, one is of ,1 and other of
,2). What is the probability that she gets at least one head?
Solution : We write H for 'head' and T for 'tail'. When two coins are tossed simultaneously, the
possible outcomes are (H, H), (H, T), (T, H), (T, T), which are all equally likely. Here (H, H)
means heads on the first coin (say on ,1) and also heads on the second coin (,2). Similarly (H,
T) means heads up on the first coin and tail up on the second coin and so on.
The outcomes favourable to the event E, 'at least one head' are (H, H), (H, T) and (T, H).
So, the number of outcomes favourable to E is 3.
3
∴P(E) = [Since the total possible outcomes = 4]
4
3
i.e., the probability that Harpreet gets at least one head is
4
Check This
Did you observe that in all the examples discussed so far, the number of possible outcomes
in each experiment was finite? If not, check it now.
There are many experiments in which the outcome is number between two given numbers,
or in which the outcome is every point within a circle or rectangle, etc. Can you count the number
of all possible outcomes in such cases? As you know, this is not possible since there are infinitely
many numbers between two given numbers, or there are infinitely many points within a circle. So,
the definition of theoretical probability which you have learnt so far cannot be applied in the
present form.
What is the way out? To answer this, let us consider the following example:
Example-10. (Not for examination) In a musical chair game, the person playing the music has
been advised to stop playing the music at any time within 2 minutes after she starts playing. What
is the probability that the music will stop within the first half-minute after starting?

Free Distribution by A.P. Government

 318 Class-X Mathematics

Solution : Here the possible outcomes are all the numbers between 0 and 2. This is the portion
of the number line from 0 to 2

0 1 1 2
2
Let E be the event that 'the music is stopped within the first half-minute'.
1
The outcomes favourable to E are points on the number line from 0 to
2
1 1
The distance from 0 to 2 is 2, while the distance from 0 to is
2 2
Since all the outcomes are equally likely, we can argue that, of the total distance is 2 and
1
the distance favourable to the event E is
2
1
Distance favourable to the event E 1
So, P(E) = = 2=
Total distance in which outcomes can lie 2 4
We now try to extend this idea of for finding the probability as the ratio of the favourable
area to the total area.

Example-11. A missing helicopter is 6 km .

reported to have crashed somewhere in the
rectangular region as shown in the figure. L ak e
What is the probability that it crashed inside
4.5 k m .

the lake shown in the figure?

2 km .

Solution : The helicopter is equally likely

to crash anywhere in the region. Area of
the entire region where the helicopter can
9 km .
crash = (4.5 × 9) km2 = 40.5 km2
Area of the lake = (2 × 3) km2 = 6 km2
6 4
Therefore, P (helicopter crashed in the lake) = =
40.5 27
Example-12. A carton consists of 100 shirts of which 88 are good, 8 have minor defects and 4
have major defects. Jhony, a trader, will only accept the shirts which are good, but Sujatha,
another trader, will only reject the shirts which have major defects. One shirt is drawn at random
from the carton. What is the probability that
(i) it is acceptable to Jhony? (ii) it is acceptable to Sujatha?

Free Distribution by A.P. Government

 Probability 319

Solution : One shirt is drawn at random from the carton of 100 shirts. Therefore, there are 100
equally likely outcomes.
(i) The number of outcomes favourable (i.e., acceptable) to Jhony = 88 (Why?)
88
Therefore, P (shirt is acceptable to Jhony) = = 0.88
100
(ii) The number of outcomes favourable to Sujatha = 88 + 8 = 96 (Why?)
96
So, P (shirt is acceptable to Sujatha) = = 0.96
100

Example-13. Two dice, one red and one white, are thrown at the same time. Write down all the
possible outcomes. What is the probability that the sum of the two numbers appearing on the top
of the dice is (i) 8 (ii) 13 (iii) less than or equal to 12?

Solution : When the red dice shows '1', the white dice could show any one of the numbers 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6. The same is true when the red dice shows '2', '3', '4', '5' or '6'. The possible outcomes
of the experiment are shown in the figure; the first number in each ordered pair is the number
appearing on the red dice and the second
number is that on the white dice.

Note that the pair (1, 4) is different 1 2 3 4 5 6

from (4, 1). (Why?) 1 1, 1 1, 2 1, 3 1, 4 1, 5 1, 6
2 2, 1 2, 2 2, 3 2, 4 2, 5 2, 6
So, the number of possible outcomes 3 3, 1 3, 2 3, 3 3, 4 3, 5 3, 6
n(S) = 6 × 6 = 36. 4 4, 1 4, 2 4, 3 4, 4 4, 5 4, 6
5 5, 1 5, 2 5, 3 5, 4 5, 5 5, 6
(i) The outcomes favourable to the event 6 6, 1 6, 2 6, 3 6, 4 6, 5 6, 6
'the sum of the two numbers is 8' denoted
by E, are: (2, 6), (3, 5), (4, 4), (5, 3), (6, 2) (See figure)
i.e., the number of outcomes favourable to E is n(E) = 5.
n(E) 5
Hence, P(E) = =
n(S) 36
(ii) As there is no outcome favourable to the event F, 'the sum of two numbers is 13',
0
So, P(F) = =0
36
(iii) As all the outcomes are favourable to the event G, 'sum of two numbers is 12',
36
So, P(G) = =1
36

Free Distribution by A.P. Government

 320 Class-X Mathematics

E XERCISE - 13.2

1. A bag contains 3 red balls and 5 black balls. A ball is drawn at random from the bag. What
is the probability that the ball drawn is (i) red ? (ii) not red?
2. A box contains 5 red marbles, 8 white marbles and 4 green marbles. One marble is taken
out of the box at random. What is the probability that the marble taken out will be (i) red?
(ii) white ? (iii) not green?
3. A Kiddy bank contains hundred 50p coins, fifty ,1 coins, twenty ,2 coins and ten ,5
coins. If it is equally likely that one of the coins will fall out when the bank is turned upside
down, what is the probability that the coin (i) will be a 50 p coin? (ii) will not be a ,5 coin?
4. Gopi buys a fish from a shop for his aquarium. The shopkeeper
takes out one fish at random from a tank containing 5 male fish and
8 female fish (See figure). What is the probability that the fish taken
out is a male fish?
5. A game of chance consists of spinning an arrow which comes to
rest pointing at one of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (See
figure), and these are equally likely outcomes. What is the 8 1
probability that it will point at 2
7
(i) 8 ? (ii) an odd number? 3
6
(iii) a number greater than 2? (iv) a number less than 9? 5 4

6. One card is drawn from a well-shuffled deck of 52 cards. Find the probability of getting
(i) a king of red colour (ii) a face card (iii) a red face card
(iv) the jack of hearts (v) a spade (vi) the queen of diamonds
7. Five cards-the ten, jack, queen, king and ace of diamonds, are well-shuffled with their
face downwards. One card is then picked up at random.
(i) What is the probability that the card is the queen?
(ii) If the queen is drawn and put aside, what is the probability that the second card picked
up is (a) an ace? (b) a queen?
8. 12 defective pens are accidentally mixed with 132 good ones. It is not possible to just look
at a pen and tell whether or not it is defective. One pen is taken out at random from this lot.
Determine the probability that the pen taken out is a good one.
9. A lot of 20 bulbs contain 4 defective ones. One bulb is drawn at random from the lot.
What is the probability that this bulb is defective? Suppose the bulb drawn in previous
case is not defective and is not replaced. Now one bulb is drawn at random from the rest.
What is the probability that this bulb is not defective?

Free Distribution by A.P. Government

 Probability 321

10. A box contains 90 discs which are numbered from 1 to 90. If one disc is drawn at random
from the box, find the probability that it bears (i) a two-digit number (ii ) a perfect square
number (iii) a number divisible by 5.
11. Suppose you drop a die at random on the rectangular 3 m.
region shown in figure. What is the probability that it will
land inside the circle with diameter 1m?

2 m.
12. A lot consists of 144 ball pens of which 20 are defective
and the others are good. The shopkeeper draws one
pen at random and gives it to Sudha. What is the probability
that (i) She will buy it? (ii) She will not buy it ?
13. Two dice are rolled simultaneously and counts are added (i) complete the table given
below:
Event : 'Sum on 2 dice' 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1 5 12
Probability
36 36 36

(ii) A student argues that 'there are 11 possible outcomes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and
1
12. Therefore, each of them has a probability . Do you agree with this argument? Justify
11
your answer.
14. A game consists of tossing a one rupee coin 3 times and noting its outcome each time.
Hanif wins if all the tosses give the same result i.e., three heads or three tails, and loses
otherwise. Calculate the probability that Hanif will lose the game.
15. A die is thrown twice. What is the probability that (i) 5 will not come up either time? (ii) 5
will come up at least once? [Hint : Throwing a die twice and throwing two dice
simultaneously are treated as the same experiment].

O PTIONAL E XERCISE
[This exercise is not meant for examination]
1. Two customers Shyam and Ekta are visiting a particular shop in the same week (Tuesday
to Saturday). Each is equally likely to visit the shop on any day as on another day. What is
the probability that both will visit the shop on (i) the same day? (ii) consecutive days? (iii)
different days?
2. A bag contains 5 red balls and some blue balls. If the probability of drawing a blue ball is
double that of a red ball, determine the number of blue balls in the bag.

Free Distribution by A.P. Government

 322 Class-X Mathematics

3. A box contains 12 balls out of which x are black. If one ball is drawn at random from the
box, what is the probability that it will be a black ball? If 6 more black balls are put in the
box, the probability of drawing a black ball is now double of what it was before. Find x.
4. A jar contains 24 marbles, some are green and others are blue. If a marble is drawn at
random from the jar, the probability that it is green is 23 . Find the number of blue marbles
in the jar.

W HAT W E H AVE D ISCUSSED

In this chapter, you have studied the following points:
1. We have looked at experimental probability and theoretical probability.
2. The theoretical (classical) probability of an event E, written as P(E), is defined as
Number of trails in which the event happened
P (E) = where we assume that the
Total number of trails
outcomes of the experiment are equally likely.
3. The probability of a sure event (or certain event) is 1.
4. The probability of an impossible event is 0.
5. The probability of an event E is a number P(E) such that 0 ≤ P (E) ≤ 1
6. An event having only one outcome is called an elementary event. The sum of the probabilities
of all the elementary events of an experiment is 1.
7. For any event E, P (E) + P ( E ) = 1, where E stands for 'not E'. E and E are called
complementary events.
8. Some more terms used in the chapter are given below:

Equally likely events : Two or more events are said to be equally likely if each one of
them has an equal chance of occurrance.
Mutually Exclusive events : Two or more events are mutually exclusive if the occurrence of
each event prevents the every other event.
Complementary events : Consider an event has few outcomes. Event of all other outcomes
in the sample survey which are not in the favourable event is
called Complementary event.
Exhaustive events : All the events are exhaustive events if their union is the sample
space.
Sure events : The sample space of a random experiment is called sure or certain
event as any one of its elements will surely occur in any trail of
the experiment.
Impossible event : An event which will occur on any account is called an impossible
event.

Free Distribution by A.P. Government