FORM 5

CHAPTER 7: PROBABILITY II
Example 2:

Example 1:
Experiment: Tossing a fair coin

Experiment: Choosing a card at random

from a set of cards numbered 1 to 6.

Possible Outcome: {Tail, Head}

Possible Outcome: (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

P( Tail) = P (Head) =

P(1)=P(2)=P(3)=P(4)=P(5)=P(6)=1/6

QUESTIONS:
1.
K

16 Cards written with the letters from the words KERANAMU MALAYSIA, as shown
in the above diagram, are put into a bag. A card is picked at random from the bag.
Calculate the probability that the card shows:
a) a vowel
b) a consonant,
c) a letter after the letter Q according to alphabetical order.

2.
11

13

17

19

23

29

Dices labeled with the number shown in the above diagram are put into a box. A dice is
drawn at random from the box. Calculate the probability that the dice shows
a) a number less than 15
b) a prime number
c) an even number

R
E
C
U
3.
Calculate the probability of:
a) a letter N
b) a letter R
c) a letter C
d) a VOWEL
e) A Consonant

4. A box containing 2 Physics books, 4 chemistry books, and 5 Biology books. Zeti picks
a book at random from the box. Calculate the probability that the book drawn is a book
on
a) Physics
b) Chemistry
c) Biology
d) Politics

CALCULATING THE EXPECTED OF OUTCOMES

1. The probability that a diskette produced by a factory is defect is 1/20. If 5000 diskette
is produced by the factory in a certain period of time, estimate the number of diskette that
is defect.

2. A basket contains red apples and green apples. If an apple is picked at random from the
basket, the probability that it is a red apple is 4/5. If there are 84 red apples in the basket,
calculate the total number of apples in the basket.

3. A box contains 7 red bulbs, 5 green bulbs and x blue bulbs. If a bulb is drawn at
random from the box, the probability of obtaining a green bulb is 1/3 . Find the value of
x.

4. There are 36 balls in a box. 15 are squash balls and the rest are golf balls. X tennis
balls are then put into the box. The probability of obtaining a golf ball is . Find the
value of x.

PROBABILITY OF THE COMPLEMENT OF AN EVENT

Example 1:
A= Even of choosing a vowel from the word TSUNAMI
A= Even of choosing a consonant from the word TSUNAMI

P (A) =1 - P (A)

CALCULATING THE PROBABILITY OF THE COMPLEMENT OF AN EVENT

1. The probability that the computer network of a bank is offline on any day is 1/25.
Calculate the probability that the computer network of the bank is functional on
Wednesday.

2. The probability that it rains on any day in Taiping is 3/7. Calculate the probability that it
will not rain on Sunday in Taiping.

3. The probability that a bulb produced by a factory is defective is 1/30. Calculate the
probability that a bulb chosen at random from a box of bulbs produced by the factory is
in good condition.

4. In a case, there are green and yellow chips. If a chip is drawn at random from a case, the
probability that it is a green chip is 3/7. If there are 64 yellow chips in the case, calculate
the total numbers of chips in the case.

5. A box contains cubes, spheres and hemisphere. Anne draws an object at random from the
box. The probability of drawing a cube is 1/4 and the probability of drawing a sphere is
3/5. The box contains 6 hemispheres. Calculate the total number of objects in the box.

6. A number is chosen from 1 to 50. Calculate the probability that the chosen number is not
a perfect square.

7. In any hockey match between Malaysia and South Korea, the probability that Malaysia
wins is 1/6 and probability that South Korea win is . Calculate the probability that a
particular hockey match between Malaysia and South Korea ends in Draw.

PROBABILITY OF A COMBINED EVENT

Combined Event
Union

Intersection

Exercise

1. In an experiment, 2 fair dice are thrown.

A= Event of obtaining two same numbers from the two dice
B= Even of the sum of the numbers from the two dice is at least 8
List the outcomes of each of the following combined events and find possibility for the
combined events:
a) A or B

b) A and B

Solution:
Step 1: Construct a possibility diagram.
1

1
2
3
4
5
6
Step 2: List all sample space, S
S=

Step 3: State the event in word and set notation for A and B separately.

Step 4: State the set notation for combined event and eventually find the probability.
a) A U B

b) A n B

Exam Question (SPM 08, SPM 09, SPM 10, SPM11, SPM 12)
2. In the diagram, box M contains three balls labeled with the letter A, E and V while box N
contains four balls labeled with the numbers 1, 2, 8 and 9.

BOX M

BOX N

A ball is drawn at random from each box. List the sample space. Hence, list the outcomes and
calculate the probability of obtaining
a) a letter A or an even number
b) a vowel and a prime number

CALCULATING THE PROBABILITY OF A COMBINED EVENT INVOLVING THE

PRODUCT OF PROBABILITIES
Exercise
1) The probabilities that two teachers A and B, will pass the PTK Test ar 1/3 and 2/5 respectively.
Calculate the probability that:
a)
b)
c)
d)

both A and B pass the PTK test,

both A and B fail the PTK test,
either one of them passes the PTK test,
at least one of them passes the PTK test

Solution:

2. The table below shows the probabilities of Anil and Yeoh in choosing their courses in
University.
Student
Anil
Yeoh

Probability of Choosing
Pharmacy
Medicine
8/5
1/4
1/5
5/7

Calculate the probability that

a) Anil does not choose either pharmacy or medicine
b) One of them chooses pharmacy and another one of them chooses medicine.

Solving Problem Using Tree Diagrams

Exercise:
1. A jar contains 6 red sweets and 4 green sweets. A sweet is drawn at random from the jar. If it
is a red sweet, it is put back into the jar, before the second sweet is drawn. If it is a green
sweet, it is not put back into the jar, and the second sweet is drawn straight away. Calculate
the probability that: (SPM2007)
a) Two green sweets are drawn.
b) A red sweet and a green sweet are drawn
Solution:

2.

All the cards written with the letters from the word RECURRENCE are put into the box. Two
cards are drawn at random from the box, one after the other, without replacement. Calculate the
probability that
a) the first card drawn has a letter R and the second card drawn has a letter N,
b) the two cards drawn have the same letter

3. During the National day Celebration, a drawing competition was held in a school. The
participants were required to choose a title out of three titles. The table shows the number of male
and female participants according to titles.
Title
Cemerlang, Gemilang ,
Terbilang
Keranamu Malaysia
Perpaduan Teras Kemajuan

Number of participants
Male
2

Female
4

8
3

6
1

a) The participants are choosen at random from the group that choosethe title Keranamu
Malaysia. Calculate the probability that the two participants are of the same gender.
b) Two participants are choosen at random from the male participants. Calculate the
probability that both of them choose the title Cemerlang, Gemilang, Terbilang.
Solution: