Probability

MCQ Questions
1. Seven white balls and three black balls are randomly placed in a row. The probability that no two
black balls are placed adjacently, equals:
1
(A)
2
7
(B)
15
2
(C)
15
1
(D)
13

̅ ) = 2/3, then P(A

2. If P(A ∪ B) = 3/4, P(A ̅ ∩ B) is equal to -
(A) 1/12
(B) 7/12
(C) 5/12
(D) 1/2

3. A coin is tossed three times. The probability of getting head and tail alternatively, is:
(A) 1/8
(B) 1/2
(C) 1/4
(D) none of these

4. A three digit number, which is a multiple of 11, is chosen at random. Probability that the number
so chosen is also a multiple of 9, is equal to:
1
(A)
9
2
(B)
9
1
(C)
100
9
(D)
100

5. Two dice are thrown. What is the probability that the sum of the numbers appearing on the two
dice is 11, if 5 appears on the first?
(A) 1/36
(B) 1/6
(C) 5/6
(D) none

6. A pack of cards contains 4 aces, 4 kings, 4 queens and 4 jacks. Two cards are drawn at random
from this pack without replacement. The probability that at least one of them will be an ace, is:
1
(A)
5
 9
(B)
20
1
(C)
6
1
(D)
9

7. A card is drawn from a pack of 52 cards. A gambler bets that it is a spade or an ace. What are the
odds against his winning this bet?
(A) 17: 52
(B) 52: 17
(C) 9: 4
(D) 4: 9

8. The probability of getting either all heads or all tails for exactly the second time in the 3rd trial,
if in each trial 3 coins are tossed, is -
3
(A)
16
3
(B)
32
3
(C)
64
3
(D)
8

9. A and B toss a coin alternatively till one of them gets a head and wins the game. If 𝐴 begins the
game, the probability that B wins the game is -
(A) 1/2
(B) 1/3
(C) 1/4
(D) 2/3

10. A fair coin is tossed a fixed number of times. If the probability of getting 7 heads is equal to that
of getting 9 heads, then probability of getting 3 heads is -
(A) 35/212
(B) 35/214
(C) 7/212
(D) None

11. The probability that a bulb produced by a factory will fuse after 150 days if used is 0.05 . What is
the probability that out of 5 such bulbs none will fuse after 150 days of use-
(A) 1 − (19/20)5
(B) (19/20)5
(C) (3/4)5
(D) 90(1/4)5

12. There are two urns 𝐴 and 𝐵. Urn A contains 5 red, 3 blue and 2 white balls, urn B contains 4 red,
3 blue and 3 white balls. An urn is choosen at random and a ball is drawn. Probability that the
ball drawn is red is-
(A) 9/10
 (B) 1/2
(C) 11/20
(D) 9/20

13. Let 𝐴 and 𝐵 be two events such that P(A ∩ B′ ) = 0.20, P(A′ ∩ B) = 0.15, P(A′ ∩ B′ ) = 0.1,
then P(A/B) is equal to-
(A) 11/14
(B) 2/11
(C) 2/7
(D) 1/7

14. A man is known to speak truth 3 out of 4 times. He throws a die and reports that it is a six. The
probability that it is actually a six is -
(A) 3/8
(B) 1/5
(C) 3/5
(D) None

15. An unbiased coin is tossed n times. If the probability that head occurs 6 times is equal to the
probability that head occurs 8 times, then n =
(A) 7
(B) 14
(C) 16
(D) 19

16. A biased dice is tossed and the respective probabilities for various faces to turn up given below :

Face 1 2 3 4 5 6

Probability 0.1 0.24 0.19 0.18 0.15 0.14

If an even face has turned up, then the probability that it is face 2 or face 4 is -
(A) 0.25
(B) 0.42
(C) 0.75
(D) 0.9

17. A problem in mathematics is given to three students A, B and C and their respective probability of
solving the problem is 1/2,1/3 and 1/4. The probability that the problem is solved is -
(A) 3/4
(B) 1/2
(C) 2/3
(D) 1/3
18. ' X ' speaks truth in 60% and ' Y ' in 50% of the cases. The probability that they contradict each
other narrating the same incident, is:
1
(A)
4
1
(B)
3
1
(C)
2
2
(D)
3

19. The probability of the occurrence of a multiple of 3 on one die a multiple of 2 on the other die if
both are thrown together is
(A) 1/6
(B) 1/3
(C) 11/16
(D) None of these

20. A box contains 24 identical balls of which 12 are white and 12 are black. The balls are drawn at
random from the box one at a time with replacement. The probability that a white ball is drawn
for the 4th time on the 7th draw is
(A) 5/64
(B) 27/32
(C) 5/32
(D) 1/2

21. A coin is tossed 𝑛 times. The probability of getting head at least once is greater than 0.8 , then
the least value of n is -
(A) 2
(B) 3
(C) 4
(D) 5

22. One bag contains 5 white and 4 black balls. Another bag contains 7 white and 9 black balls. A
ball is transferred from the first bag to the second and then a ball is drawn from second. The
probability that the ball is white, is:
8
(A)
17
40
(B)
153
5
(C)
9
4
(D)
9

23. Five digit numbers are formed using digits 1,2,3,4,5,6&8. What is probability that they have
even digits at both the ends?
4
(A)
7
3
(B)
7
 2
(C)
7
(D) None

24. A person draws a card from a pack of playing cards, replaces it and shuffles the pack. He
continues doing this until he shows a spade. The chance that he will fail the first two times is-
9
(A)
64
1
(B)
64
1
(C)
16
9
(D)
16

25. 𝐴 and 𝐵 are two independent events. The probability that both 𝐴 and 𝐵 occur is 1/6 and the
probability that neither of them occurs is 1/3. Then, the probability of the two events are :
1 1
(A) ,
2 3
1 1
(B) ,
5 6
1 1
(C) ,
2 6
2 1
(D) ,
3 4

26. If 𝑃(𝐴) = 2/3, 𝑃(𝐵) = 1/2 and 𝑃(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵) = 5/6 then events 𝐴 and 𝐵 are
(A) Mutually exclusive
(B) Independent as well as mutually exhaustive
(C) Independent
(D) Dependent only on 𝐴

27. A locker can be opened by dialing a fixed three digit code (between 000 and 999). A stranger
who does not know the code tries to open the locker by dialing three digits at random. The
probability that the stranger succeeds at the 𝑘 th trial is
𝑘
(A)
999
𝑘
(B)
1000
𝑘−1
(C)
1000
(D) None of these

28. The probability that a leap year will have 53 Fridays or 53 Saturdays is
2
(A)
7
3
(B)
7
4
(C)
7
1
(D)
7

29. Three letters are written to different persons and corresponding addresses are written on three
envelopes. However, letter are placed in envelopes without looking at the addresses. The
probability that the letters go into right envelopes, is-
 1
(A)
27
1
(B)
6
1
(C)
9
(D) None
1 1 1 𝐵
30. If 𝑃(𝐴) = , 𝑃(𝐵) = and 𝑃(𝐴 ∩ 𝐵) = , then 𝑃 ( ) =
2 3 4 𝐴
(A) 1
(B) 0
1
(C)
2
1
(D)
3

1 1 1 𝐵‾
31. If 𝐴 and 𝐵 are two events such that 𝑃(𝐴) = , 𝑃(𝐵) = and 𝑃(𝐴 ∩ 𝐵) = , then 𝑃 ( ‾) =
3 4 5 𝐴
37
(A)
40
37
(B)
45
23
(C)
40
(D) None

32. If two events 𝐴 and 𝐵 are such that 𝑃 (𝐴𝑐 ) = 0.3, 𝑃(𝐵) = 0.4 and 𝑃(𝐴𝐵 𝑐 ) = 0.5, then
𝑃[𝐵/(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 𝑐 )] is equal to
1
(A)
2
1
(B)
3
1
(C)
4
(D) None
𝐴 1 𝐵 1
33. For two events 𝐴 and 𝐵, if 𝑃(𝐴) = 𝑃 ( ) = and 𝑃 ( ) = , then
𝐵 4 𝐴 2
(A) 𝐴 and 𝐵 are independent
𝐴′ 3
(B) 𝑃 ( ) =
𝐵 4
𝐵′ 1
(C) 𝑃 ( ′) =
𝐴 2
(D) All of these

34. A box contains 15 transistors, 5 of which are defective. An inspector takes out one transistor at
random, examines it for defects and replaces it. After it has been replaced another inspector does
the same thing and then so does a third inspector. The probability that atleast one of the
inspectors finds a defective transistor, is equal to -
(A) 1/27
(B) 8/27
(C) 19/27
(D) 26/24
 35. In a box, there are 2 red, 3 black and 4 white balls. Out of these three balls are drawn together.
The probability of these being of same colour is-
1
(A)
84
1
(B)
21
5
(C)
84
(D) None

36. A coin is tossed three times in succession. If 𝐄 is the event that there are at least two heads and F
is the event in which first throw is a head, then P(E/F) =
3
(A)
4
3
(B)
8
1
(C)
2
1
(D)
8

37. Two coins are tossed together. The probability of getting two heads is -
1
(A)
2
1
(B)
4
1
(C)
8
1
(D)
3

38. A football match may be either won, drawn or lost by the host country's team. So, there are three
ways of forecasting the result of any one match, one correct and two incorrect. Find the
probability of forecasting at least three correct results for four matches-
1
(A)
9
2
(B)
9
2
(C)
7
(D) None

CASE BASED MCQ'S

Passage -1 [39 to 43]

Ajay enrolled himself in an online practice test portal provided by his school for better practice. Out of 5
questions in a set-I, he was able to sole 4 of them and got stuck in the one which is as shown below.
If A and B are independent events, P(A) = 0.6 and P(B) = 0.8, then answer the following questions.

39. P(A ∩ B) =
(A) 0.2
(B) 0.9
(C) 0.48
(D) 0.6

40. P(A ∪ B) =
(A) 0.92
(B) 0.08
(C) 0.48
(D) 0.64

41. P(B ∣ A) =
(A) 0.14
(B) 0.2
(C) 0.6
(D) 0.8

42. P(A ∣ B) =
(A) 0.6
(B) 0.9
(C) 0.19
(D) 0.11

43. P( not A and not B) =

(A) 0.01
(B) 0.48
(C) 0.08
(D) 0.91

Passage -2 [44 to 48]

Suman was doing a project on a school survey, on the average number of hours spent on study by
students selected at random. At the end of survey, Suman prepared the following report related to the
data.

Let 𝑋 denotes the average number of hours spent on study by students. The probability that X can take
the values x, has the following form, where k is some unknown constant.

0.2, if x = 0
kx, if x = 1 or 2
P(X = x) = {
k(6 − x), if x = 3 or 4
0, otherwise

Based on the above information, answer the following questions.

44. Find the value of 𝑘.

(A) 0.1
(B) 0.2
(C) 0.3
(D) 0.05

45. What is the probability that the average study time of students is not more than 1 hour?
(A) 0.4
(B) 0.3
(C) 0.5
(D) 0.1

46. What is the probability that the average study time of students is at least 3 hours?
(A) 0.5
(B) 0.9
(C) 0.8
(D) 0.1

47. What is the probability that the average study time of students is exactly 2 hours?
(A) 0.4
(B) 0.5
 (C) 0.7
(D) 0.2

48. What is the probability that the average study time of students is at least 1 hour?
(A) 0.2
(B) 0.4
(C) 0.8
(D) 0.6

Passage -3 [49 to 53]

On a holiday, a father gave a puzzle from a newspaper to his son Ravi and his daughter Priya. The
1 1
probability of solving this specific puzzle independently by Ravi and Priya are and respectively.
4 5

Based on the above information, answer the following questions.

49. The chance that both Ravi and Priya solved the puzzle, is
(A) 10%
(B) 5%
(C) 25%
(D) 20%

50. Probability that puzzle is solved by Ravi but not by Priya, is

1
(A)
2
1
(B)
5
3
(C)
5
1
(D)
3

51. Find the probability that puzzle is solved.

1
(A)
2
1
(B)
5
 2
(C)
5
5
(D)
6

52. Probability that exactly one of them solved the puzzle, is-
1
(A)
30
1
(B)
20
7
(C)
20
3
(D)
20

53. Probability that none of them solved the puzzle, is-

1
(A)
5
3
(B)
5
2
(C)
5
(D) None

Passage -4 [54 to 58]

In a family there are four children. All of them have to work in their family business to earn their
livelihood at the age of 18.

Based on the above information, answer the following questions.

54. Probability that all children are girls, if it is given that elder child is a boy, is-
(A) 3/8
(B) 1/8
(C) 5/8
(D) none of these

55. Probability that all children are boys, if two elder children are boys, is-
(A) 1/4
(B) 3/4
(C) 1/2
(D) none of these
 56. Find the probability that two middle children are boys, if it is given that eldest child is a girl.
(A) 0
(B) 3/4
(C) 1/4
(D) none of these

57. Find the probability that all children are boys, if it is given that at most one of the children is a
girl.
(A) 0
(B) 1/5
(C) 2/5
(D) 4/5

58. Find the probability that all children are boys, if it is given that at least three of the children are
boys.
(A) 1/5
(B) 2/5
(C) 3/5
(D) 4/5

Passage -5 [59 to 63]

To teach the application of probability a maths teacher arranged a surprise game for 5 of his students
namely Archit, Aadya, Mivaan, Deepak and Vrinda. He took a bowl containing tickets numbered 1 to 50
and told the students go one by one and draw two tickets simultaneously from the bowl and replace it
after nothing the numbers.

Based on the above information, answer the following questions.

59. Teacher ask Vrinda, what is the probability that both tickets drawn by Archit shows even number?
(A) 1/50
(B) 12/49
(C) 13/49
(D) 15/49

60. Teacher ask Mivaan, what is the probability that both tickets drawn by Aadya shows odd
number?
(A) 1/50
(B) 2/49
(C) 12/49
(D) 5/49

61. Teacher ask Deepak, what is the probability that tickets drawn by Mivaan, shows a multiple of 4
on one ticket and a multiple 5 on other ticket?
(A) 14/245
(B) 16/245
 (C) 24/245
(D) none of these

62. Teacher ask Archit, what is the probability that tickets are drawn by Deepak, shows a prime
number on one ticket and a multiple of 4 on other ticket?
(A) 3/245
(B) 17/245
(C) 18/245
(D) 36/245

63. Teacher ask Aadya, what is the probability that tickets drawn by Vrinda, shows an even number
on first ticket and an odd number on second ticket?
(A) 15/98
(B) 25/98
(C) 35/98
(D) none of these

Passage -6 [64 to 68]

In a bilateral cricket series between India and South Africa, the probability that India wins the first
match is 0.6. If India wins any match, then the probability that it wins the next match is 0.4 , otherwise
the probability is 0.3 . Also, it is given that there is no tie in any match.

Based on the above information answer the following questions.

64. The probability that India won the second match, if India has already loose the first match is-
(A) 0.5
(B) 0.4
(C) 0.3
(D) 0.6

65. The probability that India losing the third match, if India has already loose the first two matches
is-
(A) 0.2
(B) 0.3
 (C) 0.4
(D) 0.7

66. The probability that India losing the first two matches is-
(A) 0.12
(B) 0.28
(C) 0.42
(D) 0.01

67. The probability that India winning the first three matches is-
(A) 0.92
(B) 0.96
(C) 0.94
(D) 0.096

68. The probability that India winning exactly one of the first three matches is-
(A) 0.205
(B) 0.21
(C) 0.408
(D) 0.312

Passage -7 [69 to 73]

A student is preparing for the competitive examinations LIC AAO, SSC CGL and Bank P.O. The
probabilities that the student is selected independently in competitive examination of LIC AAO, SSC
CGL and Bank P.O. are 𝑎, 𝑏 and c respectively. Of these examinations, students has 50% chance of
selection in at least one, 40% chance of selection in at least two and 30% chance of selection in exactly
two examinations.

Based on the above information, answer the following questions.

69. The value of 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 − 𝑎𝑏 − 𝑏𝑐 − 𝑐𝑎 + 𝑎𝑏𝑐 is-

(A) 0.3
(B) 0.5
 (C) 0.7
(D) 0.6

70. The value of 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑏𝑐 + 𝑎𝑐 − 2𝑎𝑏𝑐 is-

(A) 0.5
(B) 0.3
(C) 0.4
(D) 0.6

71. The value of abc is-

(A) 0.1
(B) 0.5
(C) 0.7
(D) 0.3

72. The value of 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑏𝑐 + 𝑎𝑐 is-

(A) 0.1
(B) 0.6
(C) 0.5
(D) 0.3

73. The value of 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 is-

(A) 1
(B) 1.5
(C) 1.6
(D) 1.4

Passage -8 [74 to 78]

Box I contain 1 white, 3 black and 2 red balls. Box II contains 2 white, 1 black and 3 red balls. Box III
contains 3 white, 2 black and 1 red balls. One box is chosen at random and two balls are drawn with
replacement.

If E1 , E2 , E3 be the events that the balls drawn from box I, box II and box III respectively and E be the
event that balls drawn are one white and one red, then answer the following questions.

74. Probability of occurrence of event E given that the balls drawn are from box I, is-
1
(A)
9
2
(B)
6
 3
(C)
5
1
(D)
7

75. Probability of occurrence of event E, given that the balls drawn are from box II, is-
1
(A)
3
1
(B)
4
3
(C)
4
3
(D)
5

76. Probability of occurrence of event E, given that balls drawn are from box III, is-
1
(A)
12
3
(B)
11
1
(C)
6
4
(D)
11

77. The value of ∑3i=1 P(E ∣ Ei ) is equal to-

5
(A)
18
1
(B)
2
1
(C)
18
11
(D)
18

78. The probability that the balls drawn are from box II, given that event E has already occurred, is-
1
(A)
11
6
(B)
11
5
(C)
11
(D) none of these

ASSERTION & REASON BASED MCQ'S

Directions: In the following questions, a statement of Assertion (A) is followed by a statement of
Reason (R). Mark the correct choice as:

(A) Both assertion (A) and reason (R) are true and (𝑅) is correct explanation of assertion (𝐴).

(B) Both assertion (A) and reason (R) are true, but reason (𝑅) is not the correct explanation of assertion
(A).

(C) Assertion (A) is true, but reason ( 𝑅 ) is false.

(D) Assertion (A) is false, but reason (R) is true.
1 1
79. Assertion (A): Let A and B be two events such that P(A) = , while P(A or B) = . Let P(B) =
5 2
3
P, then for P = , A and B independent.
8

Reason (R): For independent events, P(A ∩ B) = P(A)P(B)

P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B) − P(A ∩ B)

= P(A) + P(B) − P(A)P(B)
1 1
= +P −( )P
5 5
1 1 4
⇒ = + P
2 5 5
3
⇒ P=
8

̅ ) = 5 and P(B) = 1. Then

80. Assertion (A): If A and B are two mutually exclusive events with P(A
6 3
̅) is equal to 1.
P(A/B
4

Reason (R): If 𝐴 and 𝐵 are two events such that P(A) = 0.2, P(B) = 0.6 and P(A ∣ B) = 0.2 then
̅ ) is 0.2.
the value of P(A ∣ B

81. Assertion (A): Let A and B be two events such that the occurrence of 𝐴 implies occurrence of 𝐵,
but not vice-versa, then the correct relation between P(A) and P(B) is P(B) ≥ P(A).

Reason (R): Here, according to the given statement A ⊆ B

P(B) = P(A ∪ (A ∩ B)) (∵ A ∩ B = A)

= P(A) + P(A ∩ B)

Therefore, P(B) ≥ P(A)

82. Assertion (A): If A ⊂ B and B ⊂ A then, P(A) = P(B).

Reason (R): If 𝐴 ⊂ 𝐵 then 𝑃(𝐴‾) ≤ 𝑃(𝐵‾ ).

83. Assertion (A): The probability of an impossible event is 1.

Reason (R): If A is a perfect subset of B and P(A) < P(B), then P(B − A) is equal to P(B) −
P(A).

84. Assertion (A): If 𝐴 = 𝐴1 ∪ 𝐴2 … ∪ 𝐴𝑛 , where 𝐴1 … . . 𝐴𝑛 are mutually exclusive events then

∑ni=1 P(A i) = P(A)

Reason (R):

Given, 𝐴 = 𝐴1 ∪ 𝐴2 … .∪ 𝐴𝑛
Since 𝐴1 … 𝐴𝑛 are mutually exclusive

P(A) = P(A1 ) + P(A 2 ) + ⋯ . +P(A n)

Therefore P(A) = ∑ni=1 P(A i )