KRANJI SECONDARY SCHOOL

ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS 4045

SECONDARY TWO EXPRESS 2022

S2: Probability
Name : _________________________( ) Class : 2___

Learning Objectives
© Probability as a measure of chance
© Sample space of a probability experiment
© Probability of single events (including listing all the possible outcomes in a simple chance
situation to calculate the probability)
© Understanding probability & relative frequency can be useful in helping us make decisions
about uncertain events.

1
PROBABILITY
• Probability experiment - A process or operation whose outcomes cannot be _____________ with
certainty.
• We use probability as a measure of __________.
• The collection of all the possible outcomes of a probability experiment is called _________
_________.

Event Sample space

Tossing a coin
Rolling a 6-sided die
Drawing a card from a standard pack of 52
playing cards
Choosing a prime number between 1 to 20

Probability of an event E,

1. For any event E, ____ £ P(E) £ _____

2. P(impossible event) = ________

3. P(event which is certain to happen) = ________

4. Probability of an event not happening, P(E’) = ______________

2
Question 1 [Anglo-Chinese Sch (Barker Road)]
The number of days that students were absent in a week is shown in the table.
Number of days 0 1 2 3 4 5
Number of students 14 12 2 1 0 1

One student is chosen at random. What is the probability the student was absent for more than 2 days?

(ans) 1
15
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Question 2 [Geylang Methodist Sch (Sec)]
The diagram shows a fair spinner. The wheel is divided into 8 equal parts.
The pointer is spun once. Find the probability of obtaining
(a) a score of 3.
(b) a score that is an odd number.
(c) a score that is more than 4.
(d) a score of 6.

(a) 3 (b) 5 (c) 1 (d) 0

8 8 8
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3
Question 3
The letters of the word MATHEMATICAL are written on cards. One card is chosen at random.
Find the probability that the letter on the card is
(a) M, (b) a vowel, (c) Z.

(a) 2 = 1 (b) 5
(c) 0
12 6 12
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FURTHER EXAMPLES OF PROBABILITY OF SINGLE EVENTS
In some cases, the outcomes of the event cannot be counted. An example would be the probability of
landing on any colours of the spinner below.

The 4 possible outcomes are not equally likely to occur and we need to take ionto account the area of
each sector.

In general, the probability of such an event E is,

𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐸

𝑃 (𝐸 ) =
𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠

4
Example
A circle is divided into sectors of different colours. A point is selected at random in the circle.
Find the probability that that point lies in the
(i) red sector, (ii) blue sector, (iii) black sector.

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Question 4

5
 𝟑 𝟏 𝟓
(i) 𝟖 (ii) 𝟔 (iii) 0 (iv) 𝟐𝟒
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Question 5

𝒙?𝟐
(i) 14 + x (ii) 𝟏𝟒?𝒙 (iii) x = 6
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6
EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH TO FINDING PROBABILITY
@
In theory, when we toss a coin, the probability of obtaining a “head” is A
because there are only two

possible outcomes - “head” or “tail”. However, when we toss a coin 10 times, do we always get 5
“heads” and 5 “tails” exactly? Let’s find out.

1. If we toss a coin 1000 times, do we always get 500 “heads” and 500 “tails? _________
@
2. Do the fraction of obtaining heads or tails approach the theoretical value of A
when there are

more tosses? ________

The fraction of obtaining a “head” is called the relative frequency of obtaining a “head”. i.e.

𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠
𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 =
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑠

@
The relative frequency of obtaining a “head” is not always equal to the theoretical value of A, but will

generally approach this value when the number of tosses increases (i.e. total number of trials).

7
Practice Exercise (TB pg. 138 & 139)

8
9
Review Exercise 12

1. (a) (i) Sample space = {5, 6, 8, 56, 58, 65, 68, 85, 86, 568, 586, 658, 685, 856, 865}

(ii) Total number of possible outcomes = 15

(b) (i) There are 6 two-digit numbers, i.e. 56, 58, 65, 68, 85 and 86.

P(number formed consists of two digits)

!
= "#

𝟐
=𝟓

(ii) There are 5 numbers which are multiples of 5, i.e. 5, 65, 85, 685 and 865.

P(number formed is a multiple of 5)

#
= "#

𝟏
=
𝟑

2. (i) Total number of possible outcomes = 6

There are 3 outcomes with even numbers, i.e. 2, 4 and 6.

(
P(getting an even number) = !

𝟏
=𝟐

(ii) There are 2 outcomes with composite numbers, i.e. 4 and 6.

)
P(getting a composite number) =
!

𝟏
=𝟑

(iii) There is 1 outcome with a number divisible by 4, i.e. 4.

𝟏
P(getting a number that is divisible by 4) = 𝟔
3. (i) Total number of possible outcomes = 26

There is 1 Queen of hearts in the new deck.

𝟏
P(drawing the Queen of hearts) = 𝟐𝟔

(ii) There is no Jack of clubs in the new deck.

+
P(drawing the Jack of clubs) = )!

=0

(iii) There is 1 six of hearts and 1 seven of diamonds in the new deck.

P(drawing either the six of hearts or the seven of diamonds)

","
= )!

)
= )!

𝟏
=
𝟏𝟑

(iv) There are 2 nines in the new deck.

Since a card is either a nine or not a nine, then

P(drawing a nine) + P(drawing a card which is not a nine) = 1

\ P(drawing a card which is not a nine)

= 1 – P(drawing a nine)
)
= 1 − )!

)/
= )!

𝟏𝟐
= 𝟏𝟑
4. (i) Total number of possible outcomes = 6

There is 1 sector that has an umbrella as a prize, i.e. D.

𝟏
P(customer wins an umbrella) = 𝟔

(ii) There are 3 sectors that have a voucher as a prize, i.e. A, B and E.
(
P(customer wins a voucher) = !

𝟏
=𝟐

(iii) There is no outcome in which a customer wins $100 cash.

+
P(customer wins $100 cash) =
!

=0

5. (i) Total number of possible outcomes = 22

𝟕
P(reel will stop to show the symbol ‘orange’) = 𝟐𝟐

(ii) Number of grape symbols in the slot machine = 22 – 4 – 7 – 9

=2

P(reel will stop to show the symbol ‘grape’)

)
= ))

𝟏
=
𝟏𝟏

(iii) There are no pineapple symbols in the slot machine.

P(reel will stop to show the symbol ‘pineapple’)

+
= ))

=0

(iv) P(reel will stop to show either the symbol ‘cherry’ or the symbol ‘peach’)
/,1
= ))

𝟏𝟑
= 𝟐𝟐
6. (i) Total number of possible outcomes = 20
/
P(sweet is a mint wrapped in red paper) = )+

𝟏
=
𝟓

(ii) Number of toffees in the bag = 7 + 3

= 10
"+
P(sweet is a toffee) = )+

𝟏
=𝟐

(iii) Number of sweets wrapped in green paper = 7 + 6

= 13
𝟏𝟑
P(sweet is wrapped in green paper) = 𝟐𝟎
7. (a) (i) Total number of possible outcomes = 7 + 11

= 18

There are no green staplers in the bag.

+
P(stapler drawn is green) = "3

=0

(ii) Number of white and orange staplers in the bag

= 7 + 11

= 18
"3
P(stapler drawn is either white or orange) = "3

=1

(b) (i) Total number of possible outcomes = 18 + 12

= 30
")
P(stapler drawn is red) =
(+

𝟐
=𝟓

(ii) P(stapler drawn is not orange)

= 1 – P(stapler drawn is orange)

""
= 1 − (+

𝟏𝟗
= 𝟑𝟎
8. (i) Angle of the green sector = 360° − 90° − 110° − 60°

= 100°

P(student selected travels to school by car)

5675 9: ;677< =7>?96

= 5675 9: >@6>A7

5<;A7 9: ;677< =7>?96

= 5<;A7 9: >@6>A7

"++°
= (!+°

𝟓
=
𝟏𝟖

(ii) Sum of angles of orange and purple sector = 110° + 60°

= 170°

P(student selected travels to school by MRT or on foot)

5675 9: 965<;7 =7>?96 ,5675 9: DE6DA7 =7>?96

=
5675 9: >@6>A7

5<;A7 9: 965<;7 =7>?96,5<;A7 9: DE6DA7 =7>?96

= 5<;A7 9: >@6>A7

"F+°
= (!+°

𝟏𝟕
= 𝟑𝟔

(iii) P(student selected travels to school by bicycle) = 0

9. (a) (i) Total number of outcomes = 26 + 62 + 8 + 9 + 12

= 117
𝟔𝟐
P(a teacher is selected) = 𝟏𝟏𝟕

)!
(ii) P(a management staff is selected) = ""F

𝟐
=𝟗

(iii) Total number of administrative and maintenance staff

= 9 + 12

= 21

P(an administrative or a maintenance staff is selected)

)"
= ""F

𝟕
=
𝟑𝟗

(b) (i) Number of school personnel remaining

= 117 – 2 – 1

= 114

Number of administrative staff remaining = 9 – 1

=8
3
P(an administrative staff is selected) = ""/

𝟒
=
𝟓𝟕

(ii) P(school personnel selected is not a laboratory staff)

= 1 – P(a laboratory staff is selected)

3
= 1 − ""/

"+!
= ""/

𝟓𝟑
= 𝟓𝟕
10. (i) Total number of outcomes = 100

Number of tulips = 100 – 20 – h

= 80 – h
3+HI
P(picking a stalk of tulip) = "++

3+HI "
Given that "++
= /,

4(80 – h) = 100

320 – 4h = 100

–4h = –220

h = 55

(ii) Number of stalks of flowers remaining = 100 – 10

= 90
##
P(picking a stalk of rose) =
1+

𝟏𝟏
=
𝟏𝟖
11. (i) Total number of vehicles in the car park

= 125 + 3p + 2q + 20

= 145 + 3p + 2q
(J
P(vehicle leaving is a motorcycle) = "/#,(J,)K

(J (
Given that "/#,(J,)K = /+,

40(3p) = 3(145 + 3p + 2q)

120p = 435 + 9p + 6q

111p – 6q – 435 = 0

37p – 2q – 145 = 0 –(1)

)+
(ii) P(vehicle leaving is a bus) = "/#,(J,)K

)+ "
Given that "/#,(J,)K = "+,

10(20) = 145 + 3p + 2q

200 = 145 + 3p + 2q

3p + 2q – 55 = 0 –(2)

(iii) (1) + (2): 37p – 2q – 145 + (3p + 2q – 55) = 0

40p –200 = 0

40p = 200

p=5

Substitute p = 5 into (2):

3(5) + 2q – 55 = 0

15 + 2q – 55 = 0

2q – 40 = 0

2q = 40

q = 20

\ p = 5 and q = 20
12. (i)

Die 2
1 2 3 4 5 6
Die 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Total number of possible outcomes = 36

(ii) (a) There are 6 outcomes with a sum equal to 7.

!
P(sum is equal to 7) = (!

𝟏
=𝟔

(b) All outcomes have a sum that is less than 20.

P(sum is less than 20) = 1