Welcome,

to the world
of
Mathematics!

How many different

outfits can you choose?

Six (6) different outfits can be

chosen.

This is an example of.

PROBABILITY

What is Probability?

is a branch of mathematics that

deals with uncertainly. It is a
measure or estimation of how likely it
is that an event will occur.

Sometimes you can measure a probability with a number:

"10% chance of rain", or you can use words such as
impossible, unlikely, possible, even chance, likely and
certain.

Probability is always between 0 and 1

Tossing a Coin
When a coin is tossed, there are two possible
outcomes:
heads (H) or
tails (T)
We say that the probability of the coin landing H
is .
And the probability of the coin landing T is .

Throwing Dice

When a single die is thrown, there are six

possible outcomes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
The probability of any one of them is 1/6.

Formula
Probability of an event happening
=
Number of ways it can happen
Total number of outcomes

(there is only 1 face with a "4" on it)

Total number of outcomes: 6 (there are 6 faces altogether)
Number of ways it can happen: 1

Probability

Example: the chances of rolling a "4" with a die

Number of ways it can happen: 1 (there is only 1
face with a "4" on it)
Total number of outcomes: 6 (there are 6 faces
altogether)
1
So the probability =
6

Example: there are 5 marbles in a bag: 4 are blue, and 1

is red. What is the probability that a blue marble will be
picked?
Number of ways it can happen: 4 (there are 4 blues)
Total number of outcomes: 5 (there are 5 marbles in total)
4
So the probability =

= 0.85
5

Probability is Just a
Guide

Probability does not tell

us exactly what will
happen, it is just a
guide.

Words to remember:
Certain = refers to an event which has to
happen.
Chance = refers to the likehood that
something will happen.
Experiment = an action where the result is
uncertain.
Impossible = refers to an event which will
never happen.

Outcomes = are the result of experiments.

Words to remember:
Sample point = is an individual outcome in
the sample space.
Sample space or probability space = is the
set of all possible outcomes of an
experiment.
Uncertain = refers to something which is
likely to change, and therefore not reliable or
stable.
Unlikely = refers to something which is not
likely to occur, not likely to be true or be
believed.