Probability

Problem: A spinner has 4 equal sectors colored yellow, blue, green and red. What are the chances of landing
on blue after spinning the spinner? What are the chances of landing on red?

Solution: The chances of landing on blue are 1 in 4, or one fourth.

The chances of landing on red are 1 in 4, or one fourth.

This problem asked us to find some probabilities involving a spinner. Let's look at some definitions and
examples from the problem above.

Definition Example
An experiment is a situation involving chance or probability that In the problem above, the experiment is
leads to results called outcomes. spinning the spinner.
The possible outcomes are landing on
An outcome is the result of a single trial of an experiment.
yellow, blue, green or red.
One event of this experiment is landing on
An event is one or more outcomes of an experiment.
blue.
The probability of landing on blue is one
Probability is the measure of how likely an event is.
fourth.
In order to measure probabilities, mathematicians have devised the following formula for finding the
probability of an event.

Probability Of An Event
The Number Of Ways Event A Can Occur
P(A) = 
The total number Of Possible Outcomes

The probability of event A is the number of ways event A can occur divided by the total number of
possible outcomes. Let's take a look at a slight modification of the problem from the top of the page.

Experiment 1: A spinner has 4 equal sectors colored yellow, blue, green and red. After spinning the spinner,
what is the probability of landing on each color?

The possible outcomes of this experiment are yellow, blue, green, and red.
Probabilities:

# of ways to land on
P(yellow  1
 =  yellow  = 
)
total # of colors  4 
 
# of ways to land on blue  1
P(blue)  =   = 
total # of colors  4 
 
# of ways to land on green  1
P(green)  =   = 
total # of colors  4 
 
# of ways to land on red  1
P(red)  =   = 
total # of colors  4 

Experiment 2: A single 6-sided die is rolled. What is the probability of each outcome? What is the probability
of rolling an even number? of rolling an odd number?

  
Outcomes: The possible outcomes of this experiment are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Probabilities:

# of ways to roll a 1 1
P(1)  =   = 
total # of sides 6
 
# of ways to roll a 2 1
P(2)  =   = 
total # of sides 6
 
# of ways to roll a 3 1
P(3)  =   = 
total # of sides 6
 
# of ways to roll a 4 1
P(4)  =   = 
total # of sides 6
 
# of ways to roll a 5 1
P(5)  =   = 
total # of sides 6
 
# of ways to roll a 6 1
P(6)  =   = 
total # of sides 6
 
# ways to roll an even number 3 1
P(even) =   =   = 
total # of sides 6 2
 
# ways to roll an odd number 3 1
P(odd)  =   =   = 
total # of sides 6 2
Experiment 2 illustrates the difference between an outcome and an event. A single outcome of this
experiment is rolling a 1, or rolling a 2, or rolling a 3, etc. Rolling an even number (2, 4 or 6) is an event, and
rolling an odd number (1, 3 or 5) is also an event.

In Experiment 1 the probability of each outcome is always the same. The probability of landing on each color
of the spinner is always one fourth. In Experiment 2, the probability of rolling each number on the die is
always one sixth. In both of these experiments, the outcomes are equally likely to occur. Let's look at an
experiment in which the outcomes are not equally likely.

Experiment 3: A glass jar contains 6 red, 5 green, 8 blue and 3 yellow marbles. If a single
marble is chosen at random from the jar, what is the probability of choosing a red marble? a green marble? a
blue marble? a yellow marble?

Outcomes: The possible outcomes of this experiment are red, green, blue and yellow.

Probabilities: 

# of ways to choose red  6   3 

P(red)  =   = 2  = 1
total # of marbles
2 1
 
# of ways to choose
 5 
green
P(green) =   = 
2
total # of marbles
2
 
# of ways to choose
 8   4 
blue
P(blue)  =   =   = 
2 1
total # of marbles
2 1
 
P(yello  =  # of ways to choose  = 
 3 
w) yellow
total # of marbles 2
 2
The outcomes in this experiment are not equally likely to occur. You are more likely to choose a blue marble
than any other color. You are least likely to choose a yellow marble.

Experiment 4: Choose a number at random from 1 to 5. What is the probability of each outcome? What is the
probability that the number chosen is even? What is the probability that the number chosen is odd?

Outcomes: The possible outcomes of this experiment are 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Probabilities: 

# of ways to choose a 1 1
P(1)  =   = 
total # of numbers 5
 
# of ways to choose a 2 1
P(2)  =   = 
total # of numbers 5
 
# of ways to choose a 3 1
P(3)  =   = 
total # of numbers 5
 
# of ways to choose a 4 1
P(4)  =   = 
total # of numbers 5
 
# of ways to choose a 5 1
P(5)  =   = 
total # of numbers 5
 
# of ways to choose an even
P(eve 2
 =  number  = 
n)
total # of numbers 5
 
# of ways to choose an odd
3
P(odd) =  number  = 
total # of numbers 5
The outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are equally likely to occur as a result of this experiment. However, the events
even and odd are not equally likely to occur, since there are 3 odd numbers and only 2 even numbers from 1
to 5.

Summary: The probability of an event is the measure of the chance that the event will occur as a result of an
experiment. The probability of an event A is the number of ways event A can occur divided by the
total number of possible outcomes. The probability of an event A, symbolized by P(A), is a number between 0
and 1, inclusive, that measures the likelihood of an event in the following way:

 If P(A) > P(B) then event A is more likely to occur than event B.
 If P(A) = P(B) then events A and B are equally likely to occur.
 Polygon
A  polygon  is a  plane  shape (two-dimensional) with straight sides. Examples include triangles,
quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons and so on.

Regular
A "Regular Polygon" has:

 
all sides equal and
all angles equal. Regular Pentagon   Irregular Pentagon

Otherwise it is irregular.

Here we look at Regular Polygons only.

Properties
So what can we know about regular polygons? First of all, we can work out angles.

Exterior Angle
The  Exterior Angle  is the angle between any side of a shape, 
and a line extended from the next side.
© 2015 MathsIsFun.com v 0.9

All the Exterior Angles of a polygon add up to 360°, so:

Each exterior angle must be 360°/n

(where n is the number of sides)

Press play button to see.

  
Exterior Angle
(of a regular octagon)

Example: What is the exterior angle of a regular octagon?

An octagon has 8 sides, so:

Exterior angle = 360°/n = 360°/8 = 45°

Interior Angles
The  Interior Angle  and Exterior Angle are measured from the same line, so they add
up to 180°.

Interior Angle = 180° − Exterior Angle

We know the Exterior angle = 360°/n, so:

Interior Angle = 180° − 360°/n

Which can be rearranged like this:

Interior Angle   = 180° − 360°/n

    = (n × 180° / n) − (2 × 180° / n)

    = (n−2) × 180°/n

So we also have this:

Interior Angle = (n−2) × 180° / n

Example: What is the interior angle of a regular octagon?

A regular octagon has 8 sides, so:

Exterior Angle = 360° / 8 = 45°

Interior Angle = 180° − 45° = 135°

 Interior Angle
(of a regular octagon)

Or we could use:

Interior Angle = (n−2) × 180° / n

= (8−2) × 180° / 8 = 6 × 180° / 8 = 135° 

Example: What are the interior and exterior angles of a regular hexagon?

A regular hexagon has 6 sides, so:

Exterior Angle = 360° / 6 = 60°

Interior Angle = 180° − 60° = 120°

Converting repeating decimals to fractions

Step 1:

Let x equal the repeating decimal you are trying to convert to a fraction

Step 2:

Examine the repeating decimal to find the repeating digit(s)

Step 3:

Place the repeating digit(s) to the left of the decimal point

Step 4:

Place the repeating digit(s) to the right of the decimal point

Step 5:

Subtract the left sides of the two equations.Then, subtract the right sides of the two equations

As you subtract, just make sure that the difference is positive for both sides

Now let's practice converting repeating decimals to fractions with two good examples
Example #1:

What rational number or fraction is equal to 0.55555555555

Step 1:

x = 0.5555555555 

Step 2:

After examination, the repeating digit is 5

Step 3:

To place the repeating digit ( 5 ) to the left of the decimal point, you need to move the decimal point 1 place to the right

Technically, moving a decimal point one place to the right is done by multiplying the decimal number by 10.

When you multiply one side by a number, you have to multiply the other side by the same number to keep the equation
balanced

Thus, 10x = 5.555555555

Step 4:

Place the repeating digit(s) to the right of the decimal point

Look at the equation in step 1 again. In this example, the repeating digit is already to the right, so there is nothing else to do.

x = 0.5555555555

Step 5:

Your two equations are:

10x = 5.555555555

   x = 0.5555555555

10x - x = 5.555555555 − 0.555555555555

9x = 5

Divide both sides by 9

x = 5/9

Example #2:

What rational number or fraction is equal to 1.04242424242

Step 1:

x = 1.04242424242 

Step 2:

After examination, the repeating digit is 42

Step 3:

To place the repeating digit ( 42 ) to the left of the decimal point, you need to move the decimal point 3 place to the right

Again, moving a decimal point three place to the right is done by multiplying the decimal number by 1000.

When you multiply one side by a number, you have to multiply the other side by the same number to keep the equation
balanced

Thus, 1000x = 1042.42424242

Step 4:

Place the repeating digit(s) to the right of the decimal point

In this example, the repeating digit is not immediately to the right of the decimal point.

Look at the equation in step 1 one more time and you will see that there is a zero between the repeating digit and the decimal
point

To accomplish this, you have to move the decimal point 1 place to the right

This is done by multiplying both sides by 10

10x = 10.4242424242

Step 5:

Your two equations are:

1000x = 1042.42424242
   10x = 10.42424242

1000x - 10x = 1042.42424242 − 10.42424242

990x = 1032

Divide both sides by 990

x = 1032/990