Solve the following probability practice problems:

1. Determine the probability that a digit chosen at random from the digits 1, 2, 3,12 will be odd.

1. 1/2 2. 1/9 3. 5/9 4. 4/9

2. Determine the probability that a digit chosen at random from digits 1, 2, 3, ….. 13 will be even.

1. 1/2 2. 1/9 3. 5/9 4. 6/13

3. A coin is tossed four times, if H = head and T = tail, what is the probability of the tosses coming up in
the order HTHH?

1. 3/16 2. 1/16 3. 5/16 4. 7/16

4. A dice is thrown, what is the probability that the number obtained is a prime number.

1. 1/6 2. 1/8 3. ½ 4. 1/3

5. Find the probability of throwing a total of 8 in a single throw with two dice.

1. 1/36 2. 5/36 3. 25/36 4. 12/36

6. If a dice is thrown twice, what is the probability of not getting a one on either throw?

1. 1/12 2. 1/18 3. 25/36 4. 12/36

7. A card is drawn from a pack of 52 cards. What is the probability that the card is a Queen?

1. 1/52 2. ¼ 3. 1/16 4. None of these

8. Two cards are drawn in succession from a pack of 52 cards, without replacement. What is the
probability, that the first is a Queen and the second is a Jack of a different suit?

1. 1/52 2. 1/13 3. 4/13 4. 1/221

9. Two dice are thrown, what is the probability that both the dices are not having the same number.

1. ¼ 2. 5/6 3. 1/9 4. 1/12

10. Determine the probability that a number chosen at random from the digits 1, 2, 3, ……., 10 will be a
multiple of 4.

1. ¼ 2. 1/3 3. 1/5 4. 1/2

11. What is the probability of getting at least one 3 in 2 throws of a dice?

1. 1/36 2. 5/36 3. 11/36 4. 35/36

12. The probability of A’s winning a game of chess against B is 2/3. What is the probability that A will win
at least 1 of a total of two games?
 1. 1/27 2. 19/27 3. 2/27 4. 8/9

13. What is the probability that a non-leap year will have 53 Mondays?

1. 52/53 2. 51/52 3. 1 4. None of these

Directions for questions 14 to 16: Read the following information and answer the questions that follow. The
probability that A will pass the examination is 1/2 and the probability that B will pass the examination is 1/3.

14. What is the probability that both A and B will pass the examination?

1. 1/6 2. 1 3. 2/3 4. 1/3

15. What is the probability that only 1 person [either A or B] will pass the examination?

1. 1 2. ½ 3. 1/3 4. 2/3

16. What is the probability that at least one person will pass the examination?

1. 1 2. ½ 3. 1/3 4. 2/3

17. Three cards are drawn together from a pack of 52 cards at random. What is the probability that all the
cards are Diamonds?

1. 4C3 / 2C3 2. 13C3 / 52C3 3. 26C3 / 52C3 4. 8C3 / 52C3

18. A bag contains 8 blue balls and 6 black balls. Three balls are drawn one by one with replacement. What
is the probability that all the 3 balls are black?

1. 27 / 343 2. 1 / 343 3. 18 / 343 4. None of these

19. One bag contains 8 blue balls and 6 Green balls; another bag contains 7 blue balls and 5 green balls. If
one ball is drawn from each bag, determine the probability that both are blue?

1. ½ 2. 1/3 3. ¼ 4. 1/5

20. 1 ball is drawn at random from a box containing 4 red balls, 5 white balls and 6 blue balls, what is the
probability that the ball is a red ball?

1. 1/7 2. 2/15 3. 4/15 4. 1/15

21. A coin is thrown 3 times .what is the probability that at least one head is obtained?
22. Find the probability of getting a numbered card when a card is drawn from the pack of 52 cards.

23. There are 5 green 7 red balls. Two balls are selected one by one without replacement. Find the
probability that first is green and second is red.

24. What is the probability of getting a sum of 7 when two dice are thrown?

25. Two cards are drawn from the pack of 52 cards. Find the probability that both are diamonds or both are
kings.

26. Three dice are rolled together. What is the probability as getting at least one '4'?
27. A problem is given to three persons P, Q, R whose respective chances of solving it are 2/7, 4/7, 4/9
respectively. What is the probability that the problem is solved?

28. Find the probability of getting two heads when five coins are tossed.

29. Two dice are thrown together. What is the probability that the number obtained on one of the dice is
multiple of number obtained on the other dice?

30. Find the probability that a leap year has 52 Sundays.

31. Three bags contain 3 red, 7 black; 8 red, 2 black, and 4 red & 6 black balls respectively. 1 of the bags is
selected at random and a ball is drawn from it. If the ball drawn is red, find the probability that it is
drawn from the third bag.
Problems on Probability with solutions:

Example 1: A coin is thrown 3 times .what is the probability that atleast one head is obtained?
Sol: Sample space = [HHH, HHT, HTH, THH, TTH, THT, HTT, TTT]
Total number of ways = 2 × 2 × 2 = 8. Fav. Cases = 7
P (A) = 7/8
OR
P (of getting at least one head) = 1 – P (no head)⇒ 1 – (1/8) = 7/8
Example 2: Find the probability of getting a numbered card when a card is drawn from the pack of 52 cards.
Sol: Total Cards = 52. Numbered Cards = (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) 9 from each suit 4 × 9 = 36
P (E) = 36/52 = 9/13
Example 3: There are 5 green 7 red balls. Two balls are selected one by one without replacement. Find the
probability that first is green and second is red.
Sol: P (G) × P (R) = (5/12) x (7/11) = 35/132
Example 4: What is the probability of getting a sum of 7 when two dice are thrown?
Sol: Probability math - Total number of ways = 6 × 6 = 36 ways. Favorable cases = (1, 6) (6, 1) (2, 5) (5, 2) (3,
4) (4, 3) --- 6 ways. P (A) = 6/36 = 1/6
Example 5: 1 card is drawn at random from the pack of 52 cards.
(i) Find the Probability that it is an honor card.
(ii) It is a face card.
Sol: (i) honor cards = (A, J, Q, K) 4 cards from each suits = 4 × 4 = 16
P (honor card) = 16/52 = 4/13
(ii) face cards = (J,Q,K) 3 cards from each suit = 3 × 4 = 12 Cards.
P (face Card) = 12/52 = 3/13
Example 6: Two cards are drawn from the pack of 52 cards. Find the probability that both are diamonds or both
are kings.
Sol: Total no. of ways = 52C2
Case I: Both are diamonds = 13C2
Case II: Both are kings = 4C2
P (both are diamonds or both are kings) = (13C2 + 4C2 ) / 52C2
Example 7: Three dice are rolled together. What is the probability as getting at least one '4'?
Sol: Total number of ways = 6 × 6 × 6 = 216. Probability of getting number ‘4’ at least one time
= 1 – (Probability of getting no number 4) = 1 – (5/6) x (5/6) x (5/6) = 91/216
xample 8: A problem is given to three persons P, Q, R whose respective chances of solving it are 2/7, 4/7, 4/9
respectively. What is the probability that the problem is solved?
Sol: Probability of the problem getting solved = 1 – (Probability of none of them solving the problem)

Probability of problem getting solved = 1 – (5/7) x (3/7) x (5/9) = (122/147)

Example 9: Find the probability of getting two heads when five coins are tossed.
Sol: Number of ways of getting two heads = 5C2 = 10. Total Number of ways = 25 = 32
P (two heads) = 10/32 = 5/16
Example 10: What is the probability of getting a sum of 22 or more when four dice are thrown?
Sol: Total number of ways = 64 = 1296. Number of ways of getting a sum 22 are 6,6,6,4 = 4! / 3! = 4
6,6,5,5 = 4! / 2!2! = 6. Number of ways of getting a sum 23 is 6,6,6,5 = 4! / 3! = 4.
Number of ways of getting a sum 24 is 6,6,6,6 = 1.
Fav. Number of cases = 4 + 6 + 4 + 1 = 15 ways. P (getting a sum of 22 or more) = 15/1296 = 5/432
Example 11: Two dice are thrown together. What is the probability that the number obtained on one of the dice
is multiple of number obtained on the other dice?
Sol:Total number of cases = 62 = 36
Since the number on a die should be multiple of the other, the possibilities are
(1, 1) (2, 2) (3, 3) ------ (6, 6) --- 6 ways
(2, 1) (1, 2) (1, 4) (4, 1) (1, 3) (3, 1) (1, 5) (5, 1) (6, 1) (1, 6) --- 10 ways
(2, 4) (4, 2) (2, 6) (6, 2) (3, 6) (6, 3) -- 6 ways
Favorable cases are = 6 + 10 + 6 = 22. So, P (A) = 22/36 = 11/18
Example 12: From a pack of cards, three cards are drawn at random. Find the probability that each card is from
different suit.
Sol: Total number of cases = 52C3
One card each should be selected from a different suit. The three suits can be chosen in 4C3 was
The cards can be selected in a total of (4C3) x (13C1) x (13C1) x (13C1)
Probability = 4C3 x (13C1)3 / 52C3
= 4 x (13)3 / 52C3
Example 13: Find the probability that a leap year has 52 Sundays.
Sol: A leap year can have 52 Sundays or 53 Sundays. In a leap year, there are 366 days out of which there are
52 complete weeks & remaining 2 days. Now, these two days can be (Sat, Sun) (Sun, Mon) (Mon, Tue) (Tue,
Wed) (Wed, Thur) (Thur, Friday) (Friday, Sat).
So there are total 7 cases out of which (Sat, Sun) (Sun, Mon) are two favorable cases. So, P (53 Sundays) = 2 /
7
Now, P(52 Sundays) + P(53 Sundays) = 1
So, P (52 Sundays) = 1 - P(53 Sundays) = 1 – (2/7) = (5/7)
Example 14: Fifteen people sit around a circular table. What are odds against two particular people sitting
together?
Sol: 15 persons can be seated in 14! Ways. No. of ways in which two particular people sit together is 13! × 2!
The probability of two particular persons sitting together 13!2! / 14! = 1/7
Odds against the event = 6 : 1
Example 15: Three bags contain 3 red, 7 black; 8 red, 2 black, and 4 red & 6 black balls respectively. 1 of the
bags is selected at random and a ball is drawn from it. If the ball drawn is red, find the probability that it is
drawn from the third bag.
Sol: Let E1, E2, E3 and A are the events defined as follows.
E1 = First bag is chosen
E2 = Second bag is chosen
E3 = Third bag is chosen
A = Ball drawn is red
Since there are three bags and one of the bags is chosen at random, so P (E1) = P(E2) = P(E3) = 1 / 3
If E1 has already occurred, then first bag has been chosen which contains 3 red and 7 black balls. The
probability of drawing 1 red ball from it is 3/10. So, P (A/E1) = 3/10, similarly P(A/E2) = 8/10, and P(A/E3) =
4/10. We are required to find P(E3/A) i.e. given that the ball drawn is red, what is the probability that the ball is
drawn from the third bag by Baye’s rule

Introduction to Probability
Just like permutation and combination, the probability word problems appear frequently in the competitive
exams. In this article, we will cover basic probability theory and probability equations.
Definition
A classic definition of probability is the chance or the likelihood that an event will occur, which means the ratio
of the number of favorable cases to the total number of possible cases, provided that all cases are equally likely.
Probability always lies between 0 and 1.
If the probability of happening of an event is 0, then it is an impossible event.
If the probability of happening of an event is 1, then it is a sure event.
Probability of happening of any event P(A) = fav. number of cases / Total no. of cases = n/N
Now while solving probability in math, we have to use some specific definitions of the topic, which are given
below.
Types of Experiment:
While studying probability theory, we will frequently use the term ‘experiment' which means an operation
which can produce well defined outcome(s). There are two types of experiments:
(i) Deterministic Experiment: The experiments whose outcome is same when done under exact conditions are
called Deterministic experiment. E.g. all experiments are done in chemistry lab.
(ii) Random Experiment: The experiments whose outcomes are more than 1 when done under exact
conditions are called Random Experiment. E.g. if a coin is tossed we may get a head or a tail.
Events in Probability:
When we perform any experiment, there are some outcomes which are called events. Let us study the different
types of events can occur.
Trial and Elementary Events: If we repeat a random experiment under exact conditions, it is known as trial
and all the possible outcomes are known as elementary events. E.g. if we throw a dice it is called a trial and
getting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 is called elementary event.
Compound Event: When two or more elementary events are combined it is known as compound event. When
we throw a dice, getting a prime number is compound event as we can get 2, 3, 5 and all are elementary.
Exhaustive Number of Cases: It is the total possible outcome. When we throw a dice total number of cases are
6. When we throw a pair of dice exhaustive number of cases is 36.
Mutually Exclusive Events: It means simultaneous occurrence is not possible. In case of tossing a coin, either
head will come or tail will come. So, both are mutually exclusive events.
Equally Likely Cases: It means chances are equal. When we throw a dice, each outcome has equal chance. So
it is case of equally likely.
Total Number of Cases: As the name suggests, the total number of elementary events of a trial are known as
total number of cases.
Favorable Events: Desired outcome of an elementary event is called Favorable event. E.g. when we throw a
dice and it is asked that what is the probability of getting a multiple of 3? In this case favorable cases are 2 (3
and 6) and total cases are obviously 6.
Independent Events: Two events are called independent if outcome of one event is not affecting the outcome
of other. If we toss a coin and throw a dice then outcome of coin is independent of outcome of coin, both are
independent events.
Let us go through the Probability Formulas:
Probability in simple language is defined as ratio of favorable cases to the total number of cases.
Probability of happening of any event P(A) = fav. number of cases / Total no. of cases = n/N
If p is the probability of happening of an event A, then the probability of not happening of that event is P(Ā) =
1- p
Probability Equations: P (A) ≤ 1, P(A) + P(Ā) = 1.
Addition theorem: P(X or Y) = P(X) + P(Y) – P (X∩Y)
or P(X⋃Y) = P(X) + P(Y) – P(X∩Y)
Mutually exclusive events: Two events are mutually exclusive if they cannot occur simultaneously. For n
mutually exclusive events, the probability is the sum of all probabilities of these events:
p = p1 + p2 + ... + p (n-1) + p (n)
or
P (A or B) = P (A) + P (B) where A and B denote mutually exclusive events.
Independent events: Two events are independent if the occurrence of one event does not influence the
occurrence of other events. Therefore, for n independent events, the probability is the product of all
probabilities of independent events:
p = p1 x p2 x ... x p (n-1) x p (n)
or P(X and Y) = P(X) x P(Y) , where X and Y denote independent events
Odds in favor of certain event = No. of successes: No. of failures
Odds against of an event = No. of failures: No. of successes

For solving the questions on probability, you are advised to revise the major probability formulas, go through
20 to 25 probability examples & solutions and solve around 100 probability sums. After doing this, you will feel
confident to solve probability problems on your own.