Probability

ISC Class 12 Board Questions

With Answers
1993 to 2022
1 3 1
1. The probabilities a student getting I, II, III division in an examination are respectively , 𝑎𝑛𝑑 .
10 5 4
Calculate the probability that the student fails in the examination. (ISC 1993)

2. Three shots are fired at a moving target. The probabilities of hitting the target at the first, second and
1 3 1
third shots are , 𝑎𝑛𝑑 respectively. Calculate the probability that the target gets hit.
2 10 10
(1994)
3. A speaks truth in 55% cases and B speaks truth in 75% cases. Determine the percentage of cases in
which they are likely to contradict each other in stating the same fact.
(ISC 1995)

4. Find the probability of drawing an ace or spade or both from a deck of cards. (ISC 1996)

5. A problem in mathematics is given to three students A, B and C. The chances of solving it by A, B and
1 1 1
C are respectively , 𝑎𝑛𝑑 .Calculate the probability that the problem that the problem will be
3 4 5
solved. (ISC 1997,2003)

6. In a given race, the odds are in favour of four horses A, B, C, D are 1:3, 1:4, 1:5, 1:6 respectively.
Assuming that a dead heat is impossible, find the chance that one of them wins the race.
(ISC 1998)

3 4
7. The probability that a boy will not pass MBA examination is and that a girl will not pass is
5 5
.Calculate the probability that at least one of them passes the examination.
(ISC 1999)

8. A card is drawn at random from a pack of 52 playing cards. What is the probability that the card
drawn is neither a spade or a queen?
(ISC 2006, 2000)

9. A bag contains 20 balls marked 1 to 20. One ball is drawn at random from the bag. What is the
probability that the ball drawn is marked with a number which is a multiple of 5 or 7.
(ISC 2001)

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10. A problem in mathematics is given to four students A, B, C and D. Their chances of solving the
1 1 1 1
problems are , , 𝑎𝑛𝑑 respectively. What is the probability that the problem will be
2 3 4 5
solved? (ISC 2001)

11. A pair of dice is thrown. If two numbers appearing on them is different, find the probability that the
sum of the numbers appearing is 6.
(ISC 2001)

12. There are 10 persons who are to be seated together around a circular table. Find the probability that
the two particular persons will always seat together.
(ISC 2002)

13. One number is chosen at random from the numbers 1 to 21. Find the probability that it may be a
prime number.
(ISC 2003)

14. A bag has 4 red and 5 black, a second bag has 3 red and 7 black balls. One ball is drawn from 1st bag
and two balls from 2nd bag. Find the probability that two balls are black, and one is red.
(ISC 2004)

15. A candidate is selected for interview of management trainees in 3 companies. For the first company,
there are 12 candidates, for the second there are 15 candidates and for the third, there are 10
candidates. Find the probability that he is selected by at least one of the companies. (ISC 2005)

1 2 3
16. The probability of A, B and C solving a problem are , , respectively. If all try and solve the
3 7 8
problem simultaneously, find the probability that only one of them solve it. (ISC 2006)

17. A and B throw two dice each. If A gets a sum of 9 on his two dice, then find the probability of B
getting a higher sum.
(ISC 2006)
18. Kamal and Monica appear for an interview for two vacancies. The probability of Kamal’s selection is
1 1
and that of Monica’s selection is . Find the probability that only one of them will be selected.
3 5
(ISC 2007)

19. The bag A contains 3 white and 2 black balls while the bag B contains 2 white and 5 black balls. One
of the bags is chosen at random and a ball is drawn from it. What is the probability that the ball is
white? (ISC 2007)

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20. In a single throw of two dice find the probability of getting a total of at most 9.
(ISC 2008)

21. There are three urns A, B and C. Urn A contains 4 red balls and 3 black balls. Urn B contains 5 red
balls and 4 black balls. Urn C consists of 4 red balls and 4 black balls. One ball is drawn from each of
these urns. What is the probability that the three balls drawn consist of 2 red balls and 1 black ball?
(ISC 2008)

22. Bag A contains 5 white 4 black balls, bag B contains7 white and 6 black balls. One ball is drawn
from bag A and without noticing its colour, is put in the bag B. If the ball is then drawn from bag B,
find the probability that it is black in colour.
(ISC 2009)
23. An article manufactured by a company consists of two parts A and B. In this process of manufacture
of part A, 9 out of 104 parts may be defective. Similarly, 5 out of 100 are likely to be defective in the
manufacture of part B. Calculate the probability that the article manufactured will not be defective.
(ISC 2009)
1
24. Two horses are considered for a race. The probability of selection of first horse is and that of the
4
1
second is . What is the probability that :
3
(i) both of them will be selected.
(ii) only one of them will be selected. (ISC 2009)
(iii) none of them will be selected.

25. A fair die is thrown once. What is the probability that either an even number or a number greater
than three will turn up? (ISC 2010)

1
26. Akhil and Ajay appear for an interview for two vacancies. The probability of Akhil’s selection is and
4
2
Ajay’s selection is . Find the probability that the only one of them will be selected.
3
. (ISC 2010)
27. There are two bags. One bag contains six green and three red balls. The second bag contains five
green and four red balls. One ball is transferred from the first bag to the second bag. Then one ball is
drawn from the second bag. Find the probability that it is a red ball.
(ISC 2010)
28. A purse contains 4 silver and 5 copper coins. A second purse contains 3 silver and 7 copper coins. If a
coin is taken out at random from one of the purses, what is the probability that it is a copper coin?
. (ISC 2011)
29. Aman and Bhuvan throw a pair of dice alternately. In order to win, they have to get a sum of 8. Find
their respective probabilities of winning if Aman starts the game. (ISC 2011)

30. A bag contains 8 red and 5 white balls. Two successive draws of 3 bulbs are made at random from
the bag without replacements. Find the probability that the first draw yields 3 white balls and the
second draw 3 red balls. (ISC 2012)
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31. Bag A contains three red and four white balls; Bag B contains two red and three white balls. If one
ball is drawn from bag A and two balls from bag B, find the probability that:
(i) one ball is red, and two balls are white.
(ii) all the three balls are of same colour. (ISC 2013)

32. Three persons Aman, Bipin and Mohan attempt a mathematics problem independently. The odds in
favour of Aman and Mohon solving the problem are 3 : 2 and 4 : 1 respectively and the odds against
Bipin solving the problem are 2 : 1. Find:
(i) the probability that all the three will solve the problem.
(ii) the probability that problem will be solved. (ISC 2013)

33. In a college 70% students pass in Physics, 75% pass in mathematics and 10% students fail in both.
One student is chosen at random. What is the probability that:
(i) he passes in Physics and Mathematics.
(ii) he passes in Mathematics given that he passes in Physics.
(iii) he passes in Physics given that he passes in Mathematics. (ISC 2014)

34. A bag contains 5 white and 4 black balls, and another bag contains 7 white and 9 black balls. A ball is
drawn from the first bag and two balls are drawn from the second bag. What is the probability of
drawing one white and two black balls? (ISC 2014)

35. An urn contains 2 white and 2 black balls. A ball is drawn at random. If it is white, it is not replaced
into the urn. Otherwise, it is replaced with another ball of the same colour. The process is repeated.
Find the probability that the third ball drawn is black. (ISC 2015)

36. Three persons A, B and C shoot to hit a target. If A hits the target four times in five trials, B hits it
three times in four trials and C hits it in two times in three trials, find the probability that:
(i) exactly two persons hit the target.
(ii) at least two persons hit the target.
(iii) none hit the target. (ISC 2015)

37. A committee of 4 persons has to be chosen from 8 boys and 6 girls, consisting of at least one girl.
Find the probability that the committee consists of more girls than boys. (ISC 2016)

38. An urn contains 10 white and 3 black balls while another urn contains 3 white and 5 black balls. Two
balls are drawn from the first urn and put into the second urn and then a ball is drawn from the
second urn. Find the probability that the ball drawn from the second urn is a white ball. (ISC 2016)

1 1 1
39. A problem is given to three students whose chances of solving it are , , and respectively. Find the
4 5 3
probability that the problem is solved. (ISC 2017)

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40. In a class of 60 students, 30 opted for mathematics, 32 opted for Biology and 24 opted for both
mathematics and Biology. If one of these students is selected at random, find the probability that:
(i) the student opted for mathematics or Biology.
(ii) the student has opted neither mathematics nor biology.
(iii) the student has opted Mathematics but not biology. (ISC 2017)

1 1 1
41. If A and B are events such that P(A) = , P(B) = and P(A∩B) = , then find:
2 3 4
(a) P(A/B)
(b) P(B/A) (ISC 2018)
1 1
42. In a race, the probabilities of A and B winning the race are and respectively. Find the probability of
3 6
neither of them winning the race. (ISC 2018)

43. A speaks the truth in 60% of the cases, while B in 40% of the cases. In what percent of cases are they
likely to contradict each other in stating the same fact? (ISC 2018)

44. Two balls are drawn from an urn containing 3 white, 5 red and 2 black balls, one by one without
replacement. What is the probability that at least one ball is red? (ISC 2019)

3 2
45. If events A and B are independent, such that P(A) = , P(B) = , find P(A∪ 𝐵). (ISC 2019)
5 3

46. Bag A contains 4 white balls and 3 black balls, while Bag B contains 3 white balls and 5 black balls.
Two balls are drawn from Bag A and placed in Bag B. Then what is the probability of drawing a white
ball from Bag B? (ISC 2019)

47. A bag contains 5 white, 7 red and 4 black balls. If four balls are drawn one by one with replacement,
what is the probability that none is white? (ISC 2020)

48. Let A and B be two events such that

1 3
𝑃 (𝐴 ) = , 𝑃(𝐵) = 𝑝 and 𝑃(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵) =
2 5
Find ′𝑝′ if 𝐴 and 𝐵 are independent events. (ISC 2020)

5 4 3
49. Three persons A, B and C shoot to hit a target. Their probabilities of hitting the target are , and
6 5 4
respectively. Find the probability that:
(i) exactly two persons hit the target.
(ii) at least one person hit the target. (ISC 2020)

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 4 7
50. If A and B are two events such that P(A) = and P(B/A) = then P (A ∩ 𝐵) is equal to:
5 8
7
(a)
40
21
(b)
40
32
(c)
35
7
(d) (ISC Sem-2 2022)
10
51. A bag contains 9 red, 7 white and 4 black balls. If two balls are drawn at random without
replacement, the probability that both balls are red will be:
11
(a)
95
18
(b)
95
18
(c)
85
18
(d) (ISC Sem-2 2022)
23
1
52. Two horses are considered for race. The probability of selection of first horse is and that of second
5
2
is . Find the probability that:
3
(i) both will be selected
(ii) only one of them will be selected
(iii) none of them will be selected
(iv) at least one of them will be selected. (ISC Sem-2 2022)

Answer
(1) 1 (2) 137 (3) 47.5% (4) 4 (5) 3
20 200 13 5

(6) 57 (7) 13 (8) 9 (9) 3 (10) 4

140 25 13 10 5

(11) 1 (12) 2 (13) 8 (14) 7 (15) 23

9 9 21 15 100

(16) 25 (17) 1 (18) 2 (19) 31 (20) 5

56 6 5 70 6

(21) 17 (22) 29 (23) 361 24(i) 1 24(ii) 5

42 63 416 12 12

24(iii) 1 (25) 2 (26) 7 (27) 13 (28) 113

2 3 12 30 180

(29) 0.463 (30) 7 31(i) 33 31(ii) 3 32(i) 4

429 70 14 25

32(ii) 71 33(i) 11 33(ii) 11 33(iii) 11 (34) 2

75 20 14 15 5

(35) 23 36(i) 13 36(ii) 5 36(iii) 1 (37) 175

30 30 6 60 931
(38) 59 (39) 3 40(i) 19 40(ii) 11 40(iii) 1
130 5 30 30 10

41(a) 3 41(b) 1 (42) 5 (43) 13 (44) 7

4 2 9 25 9

(45) 1 (46) 29 (47) 11 4 (48) 1 (49)(i) 47

3 70 ( ) 5 120
16

(49)(ii) 119 (50) 7 (51) 18 (52)(i) 2 (52)(ii) 3

(d) (b)
120 10 95 15 5

(52)(iii) 4 (52)(iv) 11
15 15