Probabilities (2022)

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1. Events A and B are such that 𝑃(𝐴) = 5, 𝑃(𝐴|𝐵) = 3 and 𝑃(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵) = 4.
a) State, with a reason, whether the events A and B are independent.
b) Find 𝑃(𝐵) and 𝑃(𝐴 ∩ 𝐵).
c) Find 𝑃(𝐴|𝐵′ ).

2. A teacher in a sports school randomly selects an athlete among 10 swimmers and 20 cyclists
to participate in a national triathlon. The teacher believes that the probability of a cyclist
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winning the triathlon is 10 𝑝, where p is the probability of a swimmer winning the triathlon.
The teacher is confident that the selected athlete has 40$ chance of winning the triathlon.
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Show that 𝑝 = 8.
If a cyclist is selected for a triathlon this year and another cyclist for a triathlon in the
following year, find the probability that at least one of them wins.

3. A number comprising three digits if formed from the set of integer (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9).
[Assuming that repetitions are allowed and 0 cannot be the first digit]
The events A and B are defined as follows:
A: The number does not contain the digit 6.
B: The number starts with the digit 3.
a) Find 𝑃(𝐴) and P(B)
b) Find P(A|B). Hence state with a reason whether the events A and B are independent.

4. Based on a market survey, 70% of respondents in a certain area own smart phones. Among
those who own smartphones, 45% of them own tablet computers. It is also found that 80% of
the respondents own smartphones or tablet computers.
a) Find the probability that a respondent selected at random owns
i) a smartphone and a tablet computer,
ii) a tablet computer,
iii) a smart phone but not a tablet computer.
b) Determine whether the events “a respondent owns a smartphone” and “a respondent own a
tablet computer” are independent.

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5. Two events A and B are such that 𝑃(𝐴 ∩ 𝐵) = 8, 𝑃(𝐴 ∩ 𝐵′ ) = 4 and 𝑃(𝐴′ ∩ 𝐵) = 8.
a) Find P(A), P(B) and 𝑃(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵).
b) Determine whether events A and B are independent.

6. A study of job satisfaction is conducted for accountants and lawyers, where the satisfaction
score is measured on a scale of 0 to 100. The number of respondents from these two
occupations for each category of job satisfaction score is shown in the table below.
Number of respondents
Occupation of respondents Score Score Score Score
<50 50 - 64 65 - 79 >79
Accountant 5 10 30 5
Lawyer 6 6 21 7
 a) Find the probability that a randomly chosen respondent has a satisfaction score of less than
65 given the respondent is an accountant.
b) Find the probability that a randomly chosen respondent is an accountant and has a
satisfaction score of less than 65.
c) Find the probability that two randomly chosen respondents each has a satisfaction score of
less than 65.
d) Determine whether the event “ the respondent is an accountant” and the event “the
satisfaction score is less than 65” are independent.

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7. Two events, A and B, are such that 𝑃(𝐴) = 2, 𝑃(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵) = 10 and 𝑃(𝐴\𝐵) = 12.
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a) Show that 𝑃(𝐵) = 35 and 𝑃(𝐴 ∩ 𝐵) = 7.
b) Find 𝑃(𝐴\𝐵′ ).

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8. The events A and B are such that 𝑃(𝐴) = , 𝑃(𝐵) = and 𝑃(𝐴 ∩ 𝐵) = .
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a) Find 𝑃(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵), and determine whether the events A and B are exhaustive.
b) Find and (𝐴|𝐵′ ), determine whether the events A and B are independent.

9. An office security system has a four digit personal identification number (PIN). The door will
not open after three unsuccessful attempts to enter the PIN. Assume that a worker does not try
the same wrong PIN twice.
a) If a worker remembers the first two digits and knows that the last digit is either 8 or 9, find
the probability that he will guess the correct PIN
i) in the first attempt,
ii) in the second attempt.
b) If a worker remembers the first two digits only, find the probability that
i) all his three attempts are unsuccessful,
ii) he will guess the correct PIN within three attempts.

10. The number of employees classified by duration of service and employee’s status in a
company is summarised in the table below.
Employee’s status Number of employees
Less than 1 year of 1 to 3 years of More than 3 years of
service service service
Contract 5 19 6
Permanent 11 45 14
Let A be the event that an employee is on contract status and B be the event that an employee
has more than 3 years of service. An employee is randomly chosen.
a) Find 𝑃(𝐴), 𝑃(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵′ ) and 𝑃(𝐴|𝐵).
b) Determine whether A and B are independent events.

11. Based on a market survey, 60% of respondents in a certain area own cars. Among those who
own cars, 35% of them own motorcycles. It is also found that 70% of the respondents own
cars or motorcycles.
a) Find the probability that a respondent selected at random owns
i) a car and a motorcycle,
ii) a motorcycle,
iii) a car but not a motorcycle.
b) State with a reason whether the events “a respondent owns a car” and “a respondent owns
motorcycle” are independent.
12. On a given day, the probabilities that three models of cars A, B and C of a certain making
serviced at a car service centre are 0.40, 0.35 and 0.25 respectively. The probabilities of a car
of models A, B and C having major service are 0.05,0.10 and 0.15 respectively.
a) Find the probability that a car coming to the service centre
i) requires a major service and it is of model C,
ii) requires a major service.
b) Find the probability that a car coming to the service centre requires a major service of it is
of model C.
c) Find the probability that a car coming to the service centre is of model C given that it
requires a major service.

13. There are 200 students majoring in Business, Accounting or Economics at a faculty with 123
female students. There are 65 female out of 90 students majoring in Business. Among the 68
students majoring in Accounting, 24 are males. A student is chosen at random.
a) Find the probability that the student
i) majors in Economics,
ii) is a male given that he majors in Economics.
b) There are 80% of Business major, 75% of Accounting major and 70% of Economics major
students staying on campus. A student is again chosen at random.
i) Find the probability that the student is staying on campus.
ii) Find the probability that the student majors in Business, given that the student is staying on
campus.

14. It is known that of the customers buying laptops, 75% buy an antivirus software, 40% buy an
additional memory card and 30% buy both.
a) Find the probability that a randomly selected customer does not buy any of those items.
b) Find the probability that a randomly selected customer buys an antivirus software given
that an additional memory card is bought.
c) Determine whether the event “an additional memory card is bought” is independent of the
event “an antivirus software is bought”.

15. In an undergraduate programme at a private university, there are 132 male students and 22
international students. 8 of the male students are international students. The event “a student
is a male” and the event “a student is an international student” are independent.
a) Determine the total number of students in the programme.
b) Find the probability that a student in the programme selected at random is a male or an
international student.

16. a) Copy and complete the table of probabilities, printed below, for these events, where J’ and
W’ denote the events ‘not J’ and ‘not W’ respectively.
Juice J J’ Total
Mineral water
W 0.65
W’ 0.15
Total 0.30 1.00
b) Hence, or otherwise, find the probability that, on any given Sunday, Jane buys either juice
or mineral water but not both.
c) Show that
i) the events J and W are not mutually exclusive;
ii) the events J and W are not independent.
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17. A dice is biased such that when it is tossed, the probability of obtaining a score 6 is 4. The
probability of obtaining each of the other scores, 1,2,3,4,5 are equal.
a) Calculate the probability of obtaining a 5 with this biased dice.
b) This biased dice and an unbiased dice are tossed together , find the probability that the total
score of the two dice is 11 or more.
c) The two dice are tossed again, given that the total score is 11 or more, calculate the
probability that the score on the biased dice is 6.

18. In a fruit stall, 15% of the mangoes are not ripe. If two of the mangoes are chosen at random.
a) find the probability that at least one out of two mangoes chosen are not ripe.
b) if at least one out of two mangoes chosen are not ripe, find the probability that both
mangoes are not ripe.

19. A container contains 5 green wooden blocks, 7 red wooden blocks and 8 blue wooden blocks.
The blocks are identical except for their colours. John randomly selects wooden blocks from
the container until a green block is selected. If John does not select a green block, he will put
it back into the container and repeat the process until a green block is obtained.
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i) Show that the probability that the second piece selected is red is 80
ii) Find the probability that either the second piece selected is red or the fourth piece selected
is green.

20. A box contains 4 pears and 7 oranges. Three fruits are taken out at random and eaten. Find the
probability
i) 2 pears and 1 orange are eaten, in any order
ii) the third fruit eaten is an orange
iii) the first fruit eaten was a pear, given that the third fruit eaten is an orange

21. A hotel chain has hotels in three types of location: city, coastal and country. The percentages
of the chain’s reservations for each of these locations are 30,55 and 15 respectively. Each of
the chain’s hotels offers three types of reservation: Bed&Breakfast, Half Board and Full
Board. The percentages of these types of reservation for each of the three types of location are
shown in the table below.
Type of reservation Type of location
City Coastal Country
Bed & Breakfast 80 10 30
Half Board 15 65 50
Full Board 5 25 20
For a reservation selected at random,
a) show that the probability that it is for Bed & Breakfast is 0.34,
b) calculate the probability that it is for Half Board in a hotel in a coastal location,
c) calculate the probability that it is for a hotel in a coastal location, given that it is for Half
Board.

22. A farmer plants three types of durians, A,B and C in the ratio 5: 3: 2. The yield of large fruits
among the types are 30% for A, 40% for B and 60% for C. It is found that squirrels ate 5% of
type A durian, 10% of type B durian and 20% of type C durian.
a) What is the proportion of large fruit produced in the farm?
b) How many percent of the large fruits are eaten by the squirrels?
c) How many percent of the fruits eaten by the squirrels are large?
d) Is there any evidence to show that squirrels prefer smaller fruits?
23. In a form six class, the number of boys and girls are as shown in the following frequency
distribution.
Gender Frequency
Boys 30
Girls 20
Total 50
Two students are selected at random from the class. The sampling is without replacement.
Find the probability that the first student selected is a girl and the second is a boy.

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24. The independent probabilities that Luke, Mark and Alan can solve a particular puzzle are 3 , 4
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and 4 respectively. If all three boys try to solve the puzzle, find the probability that:
a) only Alan solves the puzzle
b) two, and only two boys, solve the puzzle.

25. Camera lenses are made by two companies, A and B. 60% of the lenses are made by A and the
remaining 40% by B. 5% of the lenses made by A and 7% made by B are faulty.
a) One lens is selected at random. Find the probability that
i) it is faulty
ii) it was made by A, given that it is fault.
b) Two lenses are selected at random. Find the probability that
i) exactly one of them is faulty.
ii) both were made by A, given that exactly one is faulty.

26. A bag contains 5 golf balls and 3 other balls, whereas a box contains 4 golf balls and 2 other
balls. A die is thrown and if a number less than 5 results a ball is drawn from the bag,
otherwise a ball is drawn from the box. Find the probability that
a) a ball drawn is a golf ball.
b) if the ball drawn is a golf ball, it came from a box.

27. A sample of 300 adults were asked whether they have ever done shopping online. The
following table displayed the responses.
Online Shopping
Yes No
Male 90 120
Female 40 50
a) If an adult is chosen randomly from these 300 adults, find the probability that the adult
i) has done shopping online
ii) has done shopping online, given that this adult is a male
b) Are the events having done online shopping and female adult mutually exclusive?
c) Are the events male adult and never done shopping online independent?

28. The probability that a patient has a particular disease is 0.001. The probability that a test for
the disease give a positive result when the patient has the disease is 0.995. When the patient
does not have the disease, the probability that the test giving negative result is 0.995 too.
a) Find the probability that the result of the test is positive
b) Find the probability that the patient has the disease given that the result of the test is
positive.
29. A container contains 5 green balls, 7 red balls and 8 blue balls. The balls are identical except
for their colour. Ali randomly selects ball from the container until a green ball is selected If
Ali does not select a green ball, he will put it back into the container and repeat the process
until a green ball is obtained.
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a) Show that the probability that the second ball selected is red is 80.
b) Find the probability that either the second ball selected is red or fourth ball selected is
green.

30. There are 20 teachers and 15 lecturers attending a conference. The number of women teachers
and that of women lecturers are 12 and 5 respectively. Four participants from this group are
selected randomly to lead some sessions of outdoor activities.
a) Find the probability that three teachers are selected.
b) Given that two women are selected, find the probability that both of them are teachers.

31. Channel TutorTV is an education television for participants schools equipped with TV sets. A
survey show that 38% of all schools subscribe to Channel TutorTV. Of these subscribers, 3%
never use the broadcast, while 15% use more than 5 times per week. Find the probability that
a randomly selected school
a) subscribes to Channel TutorTV and never use the broadcasts.
b) subscribes to Channel TutorTV and uses the broadcasts more than 5 times a week.

32. From the past experience, the probability that a new worker in a company can complete his
daily tasks satisfactorily is 0.8 if he has undergone the company’s in house training and 0.4 if
he has not undergone the training. If 85% of the new workers has undergone training, find
a) the probability that a new worker of the company can complete his tasks satisfactorily,
b) the probability that a new worker of the company who has not undergone training given
that he can complete his tasks satisfactorily.

33. The following table shows the numbers of male and female viewers who prefer either sports
or musical programmes on television.
Sports Musical
Male 89 36
Female 50 75
A television viewer involved in the survey is selected at random. A is the event that a female
viewer is selected, and B is the event that a viewer prefers musical programmes.
a) Find 𝑃(𝐴 ∩ 𝐵) and 𝑃(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵).
) Determine whether the event A and B are
i) mutually exclusive,
ii) independent.

34. a) The classification of 30 shirts according to the colour and the size are shown in the table
below.
Small Medium Large
Blue 5 6 3
White 4 10 2
i) Calculate the probability that a randomly chosen shirt is blue or not large.
ii) Show the probability that at least one small size shirt in five randomly chosen shirts is
0.8572 and hence, find the probability that there are two medium size shirts given that at least
one small size shirt.
 b) There are three car service centres X, Y and Z in a particular area. The probabilities that a
car of a certain model coming to car service centres X, Y and Z are 0.30,0.45 and 0.25
respectively. The probabilities the car have major service in these service centres are 0.15,
0.20 and 0.30 respectively.
i) Find the probability that a car coming to service X and has major service.
ii) Find the probability that a car has a major service
iii) Find the probability that a car coming to service centre Y or Z given that it has major
service.

35. The following table, based on a survey, shows the numbers of boy and girl viewers who
prefer either game show or educational programmes on television
Game show Educational
Boy 95 26
Girl 46 83
A television viewer involved in the survey is selected at random. If X is the event that a girl
viewer is selected, and Y is the event that a viewer prefers game show programmes.
a) Find 𝑃(𝑋 ∩ 𝑌) and 𝑃(𝑋 ∪ 𝑌)
b) Determine whether X and Y are independent and whether X and Y are mutually exclusive.

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36. a) Events A and B are such that 𝑃(𝐴) = 4, 𝑃(𝐵) = 3 and 𝑃(𝐵|𝐴′ ) = 4, where 𝐴′ is the
complement of A.
i) State whether A and B are independent, giving a reason for your answer.
ii) Find 𝑃(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵).
iii) Determine if A and B are mutually exclusive. Justify your answer.
b) A box contains 5 green wooden blocks, 7 red wooden blocks and 8 blue wooden blocks. A
game is played by randomly selecting wooden blocks. The blocks are identical except for
their colours and the objective of the game is to select blocks from the box until a green block
is selected. If a green block is not selected, it will be put back into the container and the
process is repeated until a green block is obtained.
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i) Show that the probability that the second piece selected is red is 80.
ii) Find the probability that either the second piece selected is red or the fourth piece selected
is green.