PROBABILITY

Probability of an Event
1. If the letters of the word “ASSASSIN” are written down at random in a row, the probability that no two
S’s occur together is 1/35. (1983)
2. Seven white balls and three black balls are randomly placed in a row. The probability that no two black
balls are placed adjacently, equals (1998)
1 7 2 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
2 15 15 3
3. Six boys and six girls sit in a row at random. Find the probability that (1978)
(a) the six girls sit together
(b) the boys and girls sit alternatively
4. In how many ways three girls and nine boys can be seatedin two vans, each having numbered seats, 3 in
the front and 4 at the back? How many seating arrangements are possible if 3 girls should sit together in a
back row on adjacent seats? Now, if all the seating arrangements are equally likely, what is the probability
of 3 girls sitting together in a back row on adjacent seats? (1996)
5. Three boys and two girls stand in a queue. The probability that the number of boys ahead of every girl is
atleast one more than the number of girls ahead of her, is (2014)
(a) 1/2 (b) 1/3 (c) 2/3 (d) 3/4

6. There are five students S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5 in a music class and for them there are five seats R1, R2, R3,
R4 and R5 arranged in a row, where initially the seat Ri is allotted to the student Si, i = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. But, on
the examination day, the five students are randomly allotted the five seats. (2018)
(i). The probability that, on the examination day, the student S1 gets the previously allotted seat R1 and NONE
of the remaining students gets the the seat previoulsy allotted to him/her is

3 1 7 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
40 8 40 5
(ii). For i = 1, 2, 3, 4 let Ti denote the event that the students St and Si + 1 do NOT sit adjacent to each other
on the day of the examination. Then, the probability of the event T1  T2  T3  T4 is

1 1 7 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
15 10 60 5
7. If three distinct numbers are chosen randomly from the first 100 natural numbers, then the probability that
all three of them are divisible by both 2 and 3, is (2004)
4 4 4 4
(a) (b) (c) (d)
55 35 33 1155

PROBABILITY Page # 36
8. Two numbers are selected randomly from the set S = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} without replacement one by one.
The probability that minimum of the two numbers is less than 4, is (2003)
(a) 1/15 (b) 14/15 (c) 1/5 (d) 4/5
9. In a multiple-choice question there are four alternative answers, of which one or more are correct. A
candidate will get marks in the question only if he ticks the correct answers. The candidates decide to tick
the answers at random, if he is allowed upto three chances to answer the questions, find the probability
that he will get marks in the question. (1985)
10. A box contains 2 fifty paise coins, 5 twenty five paise coins and a certain fixed number n( 2) of ten and
five paise coins. Five coins are taken out of the box at random. Find the probability that the total value of
these 5 coins is less than one rupee and fifty paise. (1988)
11. Let  be a complex cube root of unity with   1. A fair die is thrown three times. If r1, r2 and r3 are the
r r r
numbers obtained on the die, then the probability that  1   2   3  0 is (2010)
(a) 1/8 (b) 1/9 (c) 2/9 (d) 1/36
12. If the integers m and n are chosen at random between 1 and 100, then the probability that a number of the
form 7m + 7n is divisible by 5, equals (1999)
1 1 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
4 7 8 49
13. A is a set containing n elements. A subset P of a is chosen at random. The set A is reconstructed by
replacing the elements of P. A subset Q of A is again chosen at random. Find the probability that P and Q
have no common elements. (1991)
14. Three of the six vertices of a regular hexagon are chosen at rondom. The probability that the triangle with
three vertices is equilateral, equals (1995)
(a) 1/2 (b) 1/5 (c) 1/10 (d) 1/20
15. An unbaised die, with faces numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 is thrown n times and the list of n numbers showing
up is noted. What is the probability that among the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 only three numbers appear in
this list? (2001)
16. Three randomly chosen nonnegative integers x, y and z are found to satisfy the equation x + y + z = 10.
Then the probability that z is even is (2017)
1 36 6 5
(a) (b) (c) (d)
2 55 11 11
17. Three identical dice are rolled. The probability that the same number will appear on each of them is
(1984)
1 1 1 3
(a) (b) (c) (d)
6 36 18 28
18. Four fair dice D1, D2, D3 and D4 each having six faces numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are rolled simulta-
neously. The probability that D4 shows a number appearing on one of D1, D2 and D3 is (2012)
91 108 125 127
(a) (b) (c) (d)
216 216 216 216
19. If p and q are chosen randomly from the set {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}, with replacement, determine the
probability that the roots of the equation x2 + px + q = 0 are real. (1997)

PROBABILITY Page # 37
20. Consider the system of equations ax + by = 0, cx + dy = 0, where a,b,c,d, {0, 1}. (2008)
Statement I : The probability that the system of equations has a unique solution, is 3/8.
Statement II : The probability that the system of equations has a solution, is 1.
(a) Statement I is true, Statement II is also true; Statement II is the correct explanation of Statement I.
(b) Statement I is true, Statement II is also true; Statement II is not the correct explanation of Statement I.
(c) Statement I is true; Statement II is false.
(d) Statement I is false; Statement II is true.
21. A determinant is chosen at random from the set of all determinants of order 2 with elements 0 or 1 only.
The probability that the value of the determinant chosen is positive, is... . (1982)

Compound Probability
22. Two events A and B have probabilities 0.25 and 0.50 respectively. the probability that both A and B
occur simultaneously is 0.14. Then, the probability that neither A nor B occurs is (1980)
(a) 0.39 (b) 0.25 (c) 0.11 (d) None of these
23. If M and N are any two events, then the probability that exactly one of them occurs is (1984)
(a) P(M) + P(N) - 2P(M  N) (b) P(M) + P(N) - P(M  N)
(c) P(M) + P(N) - 2P(M  N) (d) P(M  N) - P(M  N)

24. P(A  B)  P(A  B) if and only if the relation between P(A) and P(B) is ...... (1985)
25. The probability that at least one of the events A and B occurs is 0.6. If A and B occur simultaneously with
probability 0.2, then P ( A )  P( B ) is (1987)
(a) 0.4 (b) 0.6 (c) 1.2 (d) 1.4

3 1 1
26. If P(B) = , P(A  B  C)  and P(A  B  C)  , then P(B  C) is (2002)
4 3 3
1 1 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
12 6 15 9
27. For the three events A, B and C, P(exactly one of the events A or B occurs) = P(exactly one of the events
B or C occurs) = P(exactly one of the events C or A occurs) = p and P(all the three events occurs
1
simultaneously) = p2, where 0  p  . Then, the probability of at least one of the three events A, B and
2
C occurring is (1996)
3p  2 p 2 p  3p 2 p  3p 2 3p  2 p 2
(a) (b) (c) (d)
2 4 2 4
28. If E and F are events with P ( E)  P( F) and P(E  F)  0, then (1998)
(a) occurrence of E  occurrence of F
(b) occurrence of F  occurrence of E
(c) non-occurrence of E  non-occurrence of F
(d) None of the above implication holds
29. For two given events A and B, P(A  B) is (1988)
(a) not less than P(A) + P(B) – 1 (b) not greater than P(A) + P(B)
(c) equal to P(A) + P(B) – P(A  B) (d) equal to P(A) + P(B) + P(A  B)

PROBABILITY Page # 38
 1  3p 1  p 1  2p
30. If , and are the probabilities of three mutually exclusive events, then the set of all
3 4 2
values of p is... . (1986)
31. A, B, C are events such that P(A) = 0.3, P(B) = 0.4, P(C) = 0.8, P(AB) = 0.08, P(AC) = 0.28,
P(ABC) = 0.09,
If P(A  B  C)  0.75 , then show that P(BC) lies in the interval 0.23  x  0.48 (1983)
32. A and B are two candidates seeking admission in IIT. The probability that A is selected is 0.5 and the
probability that both A and B are selected is atmost 0.3. Is it possible that the probability of B getting
selected is 0.9? (1982)
33. Three numbers are chosen at random without replacement from {1, 2,..., 10}. The probability that the
minimum of the chosen number is 3, or their maximum is 7, is... . (1997)
34. The probabilities that a student passes in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry are m, p and c respectively.
Of these subjects, the students has a 75% chance of passing in at least one, a 50% chance of passing in at
least two, and a 40% chance of passing in exactly two. which of the following relations are true?
(1999, 2011)
19 27 1 1
(a) p  m  c  (b) p  m  c  (c) pmc  (d) pmc 
20 20 10 4
Conditional Probability
1 1 2
35. Let X and Y be two events such that P(X)  , P(X |Y)  and P(Y | X)  . Then (2017)
3 2 5
4 1 2
(a) P(Y)  (b) P(X  | Y)  (c) P(X  Y)  (d) P(X  Y)  1
15 2 5 5
36. If two events A and B are such that P(Ac) = 0.3, P(B) = 0.4 and P(A  Bc )  0.5 then P[B / (A  Bc )  ...
(1994)

37. If E and F are the complementary events of E and F respectively and if 0 < P(F) < 1, then (1998)
(a) P(E / F)  P(E / F)  1 (b) P(E / F)  P(E / F)  1
(c) P(E / F)  P(E / F)  1 (d) P(E / F)  P(E / F)  1
38. Let H1, H2......Hn be mutually exclusive events with P(Hi )> 0, i = 1, 2,......, n.
Let E be any other event with 0 < P(E) < 1.
Statement I : P(Hi/E)> P(E/Hi)  P(Hi) for i = 1, 2,..., n
n
Statement II :  P(H )  1
i 1
i (2007)

(a) Statement I is true, Statement II is also true; Statement II is the correct explanation of Statement I.
(b) Statement I is true, Statement II is also true; Statement II is not the correct explanation of Statement I.
(c) Statement I is true; Statement II is false.
(d) Statement I is false; Statement II is true.
39. For a biased die the probabilities for the different faces to turn up are given below
Face 1 2 3 4 5 6
Probability 0.1 0.32 0.21 0.15 0.05 0.17
This die is tossed and you are told that either face 1 or face 2 has turned up. Then, the probability that it is
face 1, is... . (1981)

PROBABILITY Page # 39
40. A box contains 100 tickets numbered 1, 2, .., 100. Two tickets are chosen at random. It is given that the
minimum number on the two chosen tickets is not more than 10. The maximum number on them is 5 with
probability... . (1985)
41. One indian and four American men and their wifes are to be seated randomly around a circular table. Then,
the conditional probability that the Indian man is seated adjacent to his wife given that each American man
is seated adjacent to his wife, is (2007)
1 1 2 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
2 3 5 5
42. Let S be the sample space of all 3 × 3 matrices with entries from the set {0, 1}. Let the events E1 and E2
be given by E1  {AS:det A  0} and E 2  {A S: sum of entries of A is 7}.
If a matrix is chosen at random from S, then the conditional probability P(E1/E2) equals _____. (2019)

Independent Events

43. If A and B are two independent events such that P(A) > 0, and P ( B)  1, then P( A / B) is equal to
(1982)
1 P (A  B) P( A )
(a) 1 – P(A / B) (b) P(A / B) (c) (d)
P ( B) P ( B)
1
44. A and B are two independent events. The probability that both A and B occur is and the probability that
6
1
neither of them occurs is . Find the probability of the occurrence of A. (1984)
3
45. Let E and F be two independent events. The probability that both E and F happen is 1/12 and the
probability that neither E nor F happen is 1/2. Then, (1993)
(a) P(E) = 1/3, P(F) = 1/4 (b) P(E) = 12, P(F) = 1/6
(c) P(E) = 1/6, P(F) = 1/2 (d) P(E) = 1/4, P(F) = 1/3
11
46. Let E and F be two independent events. The probability that exactly one of them occurs is and the
25
2
probability of none of them occurring is . If P(T) denotes the probability of occurrence of the event T,,
25
then (2011)
4 3 1 2
(a) P(E) = , P(F) = (b) P(E) = , P(F) =
5 5 5 5
2 1 3 4
(c) P(E) = , P(F) = (d) P(E) = , P(F) =
5 5 5 5
47. Let A and B be two events such that P(A) = 0.3 and P(A  B)  0.8 . If A and B are independent events,
then P(B) =... . (1991)

PROBABILITY Page # 40
 1 1 1
48. Let X and Y be two events such that P(X| Y)  , P(Y| X)  and P(X  Y)  . Which of the
2 3 6
followwing is /are correct ? (2012)
(a) P ( X  Y)  2 / 3 (b) X and Y are independent
(c) X and Y are not independent (d) P ( X c  Y)  1 / 3
49. If E and F are independent events such that 0 < P(E) < 1 and 0 < P(F) < 1, then (1989)
c
(a) E and F are mutually exclusive (b) E and F (the complement of the event F) are independent
(c) Ec and Fc are independent (d) P(E / F) + P(Ec / F) = 1
50. Let Ec denotes the complement of an event. E. Let E, F, G be pairwise independent events with P(G)>0
and P(E  F  G)  0. Then, P(E c  Fc / G) equals (2007)
(a) P(E c )  P(Fc ) (b) P(E c )  P(Fc )
(c) P(E c )  P(F) (d) P(E)  P(Fc )

51. Let 0 < P(A) < 1, 0 < P(B) < 1 and P (A  B)  P (A )  P( B)  P ( A ) P( B) , then (1995)
(a) P ( B / A )  P ( B)  P( A ) (b) P (A   B )  P (A )  P( B )
(c) P (A  B)   P( A )  P( B)  (d) P (A / B)  P (A )  P( B)
52. For any two events A and B in a sample space (1991)
FG A IJ  P(A)  P(B)  1 , P(B)  0 is always true
(a) P
H BK P(B)
(b) P(A  B)  P(A)  P(A  B) does not hold
(c) P(A  B)  1  P(A)P(B) , if A and B are independent
(d) P(A  B)  1  P(A)P(B) , if A and B are disjoint
53. An experiment has 10 equally likely outcomes. Let A and B be two non-empty events of the experiment.
If A consists of 4 outcomes, the number of outcomes that B must have so that A and B are independent, is
(2008)
(a) 2, 4 or 8 (b) 3, 6 or 9 (c) 4 or 8 (d) 5 or 10
54. Let |X| denote the number of elements in a set X. Let S = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} be a sample space, where each
element is equally likely to occur. If A and B are independent events associated with S, then the number of
ordered pairs (A, B) such that 1  | B || A | equals ______. (2019)
55. Of the three independent events E1, E2 and E3, the probability that only E1 occurs is , only E2 occurs is
 and only E3 occurs is . Let the probability p that none of events E1, E2 or E3 occurs satisfy the
equations (  2).p   and (  3 ) p  2 . All the given probabilities are assumed to lie in the
probability of occurrence of E1
interval (0, 1). Then, is equal to (2013)
probability of occurrence of E 3

56. If A and B are two independent events, prove that P( A  B) P( A   B  )  P( C), where C is an event
defined that exactly one of A and B ocurs. (2004)

PROBABILITY Page # 41
57. A lot contains 50 defective and 50 non-defective bulbs. Two bulbs are drawn at random, one at a time,
with replacement. The events A, B, C are defined as :
A = (the first bulb is defective)
B = (the second bulb is non-defective)
C = (the two bulbs are both defective or both non-defective)
Determine whether
(a) A, B, C are pairwise independent.
(b) A, B, C are independent. (1992)
58. If the probability for A to fail in an examination is 0.2 and that of B is 0.3, then the probability that either A
or B fails is 0.5. (T / F) (1989)

1 3 1 1
59. Four persons independently solve a certain problem correctly with probabilities , , , . Then, the
2 4 4 8
probability that the problem is solved correctly by atleast one of them is (2013)
235 21 3 253
(a) (b) (c) (d)
256 256 256 256
60. An anti-aircraft gun can take a maximum of four shots at an enemy plane moving away from it. The
probabilities of hitting the plane at the first, second, third and fourth shot are 0.4, 0.3, 0.2, and 0.1 respec-
tively. What is the probability that the gun hits the plane ? (1981)
61. A student appears for tests I, II and III. The student is successful if he passes either in tests I and II or tests
I and III. The probabilities of the student passing in tests I, II and III are p, q and 1/2 respectively. If the
probability that the student is successful, is 1/2, then (1986)
(a) P = q = 1 (b) p = q = 1/2 (c) p = 1, q = 0 (d) p = 1, q = 1/2
62. If from each of the three boxes containing 3 white and 1 black, 2 white and 2 black, 1 white and 3 black
balls, one ball is drawn at random, then the probability that 2 white and 1 black balls will be drawn, is
(1998)
13 1 1 3
(a) (b) (c) (d)
32 4 32 16
63. Box I contains three cards bearing numbers 1, 2, 3 : box II contains five cards bearing numbers 1, 2, 3, 4,
5 and box III contains seven cards bearing numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. A card is drawn from each of the
boxes. Let xi be the number on the card drawn from the ith box i = 1, 2, 3. (2014)
(i). The probability that x1 + x2 + x3 is odd, is
29 53 57 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
105 105 105 2
(ii). The probability that x1, x2, x3 are in an arithmetic progression, is
9 10 11 7
(a) (b) (c) (d)
105 105 105 105
64. Three faces of a fair die are yellow, two faces red and one blue. The die is tossed three times. The
probability that the colours, yellow, red and blue, appear in the first, second and the third tosses respec-
tively, is...... . (1992)
65. A fair coin is tossed repeatedly. if tail appears on first four tosses, then the probability of head appearing on
fifth toss equals (1998)
1 1 31 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
2 32 32 5

PROBABILITY Page # 42
66. A coin has probability p of showing head when tossed. It is tossed n times. Let pn denotes the profbability
that no two (of more) consecutive heads occur. Prove that p1  1, p 2  1  p 2 and p n  (1  p).
p n 1  p(1  p)p n 2 ,  n  3. (2000)
67. A box contain 2 black, 4 white and 3 red balls. One ball is drawn at random from the box and kept aside.
From the remaining balls in the box, another ball is drawn at random and kept beside the first. This process
is repeated till all the balls are drawn from the box. Find the probability that the balls drawn are in the
sequence of 2 black, 4 white and 3 red. (1979)

Binomial Probability
68. Eight players P1, P2, ..., P8 play a knock-out tournament. It is known that whenever the players Pi and Pj
play, the player Pi will win if i < j. Assuming that the players are paired at random in each round, what is the
probability that the player P4 reaches the final? (1999)
69. For a student to quality, he must pass atleast two out of three exams. The probability that he will pass the
p
1st exam is p. If he fails in one of the exams, then the probability of his passing in the next exam, is
2
otherwise it remainins the same. Find the probability that he will qualify. (2003)
70. The probability that an event A happens in one trial of an experiment is 0.4. Three independent trials of
the experiments are performed. The probability that the event A happens at least once is (1980)
(a) 0.936 (b) 0.784 (c) 0.904 (d) None of these
71. Numbers are selected at random, one at a time, from the two-digit numbers 00, 01, 02, ...., 99 with
replacement. An event E occurs if and only if the product of the two digits of a selected number is 18. If
four numbers are selected, find probability that the event E occurs at least 3 times. (1993)

72. A man takes a step forward with probability 0.4 and backwards with probability 0.6. Find the probability
that at the end of eleven steps he is one step away from the starting point. (1987)

73. One hundred identical coins, each with probability p, of showing up heads are tossed once. If 0 < p < 1
and the probability of heads showing on 50 coins is equal to that of heads showing on 51 coins, then the
value of p is (1988)
(a) 1/2 (b) 49/101 (c) 50/101 (d) 51/101

74. Suppose the probability for A to win a game against B is 0.4. If A has an option of playing either a “best of
3 games” of a “best of 5 games” match against B, which option should choose so that the probability of his
winning the match is higher? (No game ends in a draw). (1989)

75. The minimum number of times a fair coin needs to be tossed, so that the probability of getting at least two
heads is atleast 0.96, is (2015)
76. India plays two matches each with West Indies and Australia. In any match the probabilities of India getting
points 0, 1 and 2 are 0.45, 0.05 and 0.50 respectively. Assuming that the outcomes are independent, the
probability of India getting at least 7 points, is (1992)
(a) 0.8750 (b) 0.0875 (c) 0.0625 (d) 0.0250

PROBABILITY Page # 43
77. Football teams T1 and T2 have to play two games against each other. It is assumed that the outcomes of the two
1 1 1
games are independent. The probabilities of T1 winning, drawing and losing a game against T2 and , and ,
2 6 3
respectively. Each team gets 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 point for a loss in a game. Let X and Y
denote the total points scored by teams T1 and T2, respectively, after two games (2016)
(i). P(X > Y) is-
1 5 1 7
(a) (b) (c) (d)
4 12 2 12
(ii). P(X = Y) is-
11 1 13 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
36 3 36 2
78. A fair die is tossed repeatedly until a six is obtained. Let X denote the number of tosses required. (2009)
(i). The probability that X = 3 equals
25 25 5 125
(a) (b) (c) (d)
216 36 36 216
(ii). The probability that X  3 equals
125 25 5 25
(a) (b) (c) (d)
216 36 36 216
(iii). The conditional probability that X  6 given X > 3 equals
125 25 5 25
(a) (b) (c) (d)
216 216 36 36
79. A pair of fair dice is rolled together till a sum of either 5 or 7 is obtained. Then, the probability that 5 comes
before 7, is... . (1989)
80. A fair die is rolled. The probability that the first time 1 occurs at the even throw, is (2005)
(a) 1/6 (b) 5/11 (c) 6/11 (d) 5/36
81. Three players, A, B and C, toss a coin cyclically in that order (that is A, B, C, A, B, C, A, B, ...) till a head
shows. Let p be the probability that the coin shows a head. Let ,  and  be, respectively, the prob-
abilities that A, B and C gets the first head. Prove that   (1  p) . Determine ,  and 
(in terms of p). (1998)
82. The probability of India winning a test match against West Indies is 1/2. Assuming independence from
match to match the probability that in a 5 match series India’s second win occurs at third test is (1995)
(a) 1/8 (b) 1/4 (c) 1/2 (d) 2/3
83. There are four machines and it is known that exactly two of them are faulty. They are tested, one by one,
in a random order till both the faulty machines are identified. Then, the probability that only two tests are
needed, is (1998)
1 1 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
3 6 2 4
Total Probability
84. Cards are drawn one by one at random from a well shuffled full pack of 52 playing cards until 2 aces are
obtained for the first time. If N is the number of cards required to be drawn, then show that
(n  1)(52  n)(51  n)
Pr {N  n}  where 2  n  50 . (1983)
50 x 49 x 17 x 13
PROBABILITY Page # 44
85. An unbiased die with faces marked 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 is rolled four times. Out of four face values obtained,
the probability that the minimum face value is not less than 2 and the maximum face value is not greater that
5, is (1993)
(a) 16/81 (b) 1/81 (c) 80/81 (d) 65/81
86. Fifteen coupouns are numbered 1, 2, ..., 15, respectively. seven coupons are selected at random one at
a time with replacement. The probability that the largest number appearing on a selected coupon is 9, is
(1983)
F 9I
(a) GH JK
6
F 8I
(b) GH JK
7
F 3I
(c) GH JK
7

(d) None of these

16 15 5
87. In a test an examinee either guesses or copies or knows the answer to a multiple choice question with four
choices. The probability that he make a guess is 1/3 and the probability that he copies the answer is 1/6.
The probability that his answer is correct given that he copied it, is 1/8. Find the probability that he knew
the answer to the question given that he correctly answered it. (1991)
88. There are three bags B1, B2 and B3. The bag B1 contains 5 red and 5 green balls, B2 contains 3 red and 5
green balls and B3 contains 5 red and 3 green balls. Bags B1, B2 and B3 have probabilities 3/10, 3/10 and
4/10 respectively of being chosen. A bag is selected at random and a ball is chosen at random from the
bag. Then which of the following options is/are correct ? (2019)
(a) Probability that the chosen ball is green, given that the selected bag is B3, equals 3/8.
(b) Probability that the selected bag is B3, given that the chosen ball is green, equals 5/13.
(c) Probability that the chosen ball is green equals 39/80.
(d) Probability that the selected bag is B3 and the chosen ball is green equals 3/10
1 3 2 1
89. A person goes to office either by car, scooter, bus or train probability of which being , , and
7 7 7 7
2 1 4 1
respectively. Probability that he reaches offices late, if he takes car, scooter, bus or train is , , and
9 9 9 9
respectively. Given that he reached office in time, then what is the probability that he travelled by a car?
(2005)
90. In a certain city only two newspapers A and B are published, it is known that 25% of the city propulation
reads A and 20% reads B, while 8% reads both A and B. It is also known that 30% of those who read A
but not B look into advertisements and 40% of those who read B but not A look into advertisements while
50% of those who read both A and B look into advertisements. What is the percentage of the population
reads an advertisement? (1984)
91. An unbiased coin is tossed. If the result in a head, a pair of unbiased dice is rolled and the number obtained
by adding the numbers on the two faces is noted. If the result is a tail, a card from a well shuffled pack of
eleven cards numbered 2, 3, 4, ..., 12 is picked and the number on the card is noted. What is the probabil-
ity that the noted number is either 7 or 8? (1994)
92. An urn contains h white and n black balls. A ball is drawn at random and is put back into the urn along with
k additional balls of the same colour as that of the ball drawn. A ball is again drawn at random. What is the
probability that the ball drawn now is white ? (2001)
93. A bag contains 12 red balls and 6 white balls. Six balls are drawns one by one without replacement of
which of least 4 balls are white. Find the probability that in the next two drawns exactly one white ball is
drawn. (Leave the answer in n Cr ). (2004)

PROBABILITY Page # 45
94. A computer producing factory has only two plants T1 and T2. Plant T1 produces 20% and plant T2 pro-
duces 80% of the total computers produced. 7% of computers produced in the factory turn out to be
defective. It is known that P(computer turns out to be defective given that is produced in plant T1) = 10P
(computer turns out to be defective given that it is produced in plant T2) where P(E) denotes the probabil-
ity of an event E. A computer produces in the factory is randomly selected and it does not turn out to be
defective. Then the probability that it is produced in plant T2 is (2016)
36 47 78 75
(a) (b) (c) (d)
73 79 93 83
95. There are n urns each containing (n + 1) balls such that the ith urn contains ‘i’ white balls and
(n + 1 – i) red balls. Let ui be the event of selecting ith urn, i = 1,2,3,....., n and W denotes the event
of getting a white balls. (2006)
(i). lim P(W) is equal to
If P(u i )  i , where i = 1, 2, 3,......, n, then n

2 1 3
(a) 1 (b) (c) (d)
3 4 4
(ii). If P(ui) = c, where c is a constant, then P(un/W) is equal to
2 1 n 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
n +1 n +1 n +1 2
FG 1 IJ
(iii).
H
If n is even and E denotes the event of choosing even numbered urn P(u i ) 
n K
, then the value of P(W/E) is

n+2 n+2 n 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
2n + 1 2(n + 1) n +1 n +1

96. A box contains N coins, m of which are fair and the rest are biased. The probability of getting a head when
a fair coin is tossed, is 1/2, while it is 2/3 when a biased coin is tossed. a coin is drawn from the box at
random and is tossed twice. The first time it shows head and the second time it shows tail. What is the
probability that the coin drawn is fair? (2002)
97. A box B1 contains 1 white ball, 3 red balls and 2 black balls. Another box B2 contains 2 white balls,
3 red balls and 4 black balls. A third box B3 contains 3 white balls, 4 red balls and 5 black balls.
(2013)
(i). If 1 ball is drawn from each of the boxes B1, B2 and B3 the probability that all 3 drawn balls are of the same
colour is
82 90 558 566
(a) (b) (c) (d)
648 648 648 648
(ii). If 2 balls are drawn (without repalcement) from a randomly selected box and one of the balls is white and
the other balls is red, the probability that these 2 balls are drawn from box B2 is
116 126 65 55
(a) (b) (c) (d)
181 181 181 181
98. Let U1 and U2 be two urnus such that U1 contains 3 white and 2 red balls and U2 contains only 1
white ball. A fair coin is tossed. If head appears then 1 ball is drawn at random from U1 and put
into U2. However, if tail appears then 2 balls are drawn at random from U1 and put into U2. Now,
1 ball is drawn at random from U2. (2011)

PROBABILITY Page # 46
(i). The probability of the drawn ball from U2 being white is
13 23 19 11
(a) (b) (c) (d)
30 30 30 30
(ii). Given that the drawn ball from U2 is white, the probability that head appeared on the coin is
17 11 15 12
(a) (b) (c) (d)
23 23 23 23

99. Let n1 and n2 be the number of red and balck balls respectively in box 1. Let n3 and n4 be the number
of red and black balls, respectively in box II. (2015)
(i). One of the two boxes, box I and box II was selected at random and a ball was drawn randomly out of this
1
box. The ball was found to be red. If the probability that this red ball was drawnfrom box II, is , then the
3
correct option(s) with the possible values of n1, n2, n3 and n4 is/are
(a) n1 = 3, n2 = 3, n3 = 5, n4 = 15 (b) n1 = 3, n2 = 6, n3 = 10, n4 = 50
(c) n1 = 8, n2 = 6, n3 = 5, n4 = 20 (d) n1 = 6, n2 = 12, n3 = 5, n4 = 20
(ii). A ball is drawn at random from box 1 and transferred to box II. If the probability of drawing a red ball from
1
box I, after this transfer, is , then the correct option(s) with the possible values of n1 and n2 is/are
3
(a) n1 = 4 and n2 = 6 (b) n1 = 2 and n2 = 3 (c) n1 = 10 and n2 = 20 (d) n1 = 3 and n2 = 6

100. A lot contains 20 articles. The probability that the lot contains exactly 2 defective articles is 0.4 and the
probability that the lot contains exactly 3 defective articles is 0.6. Articles are drawn from the lot at random
one by one without replacement and are tested till all defective articles are found. What is the probability
that the testing procedure ends at the twelth testing ? (1986)
101. Sixteen players S1, S2, .....S16 play in a tournament. They are divided into eight pairs at random from each
pair a winner is decided on the basis of a game played between the two players of the pair. Assume that all
the palyers are of equal strength. (1997)
(a) Find the probability that the players S1 is among the eight winners.
(b) Find the probability that exactly one of the two players S1 and S2 is among the eight winners.
102. An urn contains 2 white and 2 blacks balls. A ball is drawn at random. If it is white it is not replaced into the
urn. Otherwise it is replaced along with another ball of the same colour. The process is repeated. Find the
probability that the third ball drawn is black. (1987)
103. Urn A contains 6 red and 4 black balls and urn B contains 4 red and 6 black balls. One ball is drawn at
random from urn A and placed in urn B. Then, one ball is drawn at random from urn B and placed in urn
A. If one ball is drawn at random from urn A, the probability that it is found to be red, is... . (1988)

4 1
104. A signal which can be green or red with probability and respectively, is received by station A and
5 5
3
then transmitted to station B. The probability of each station receiving the signal correctly is . If the signal
4
received at station B is green, then the probability that the original signal green is (2010)
3 6 20 9
(a) (b) (c) (d)
5 7 23 20

PROBABILITY Page # 47
 2 1
105. A is targeting to B, B and C are targeting to A. Probability of hitting the target by A, B and C are , and
3 2
1
respectively. If A is hit, then find the probability that B hits the target and C does not. (2003)
3
106. A ship is fitted with three engines E1, E2 and E3. The engines function independently of each other with
respective probabilities 1/2, 1/4 and 1/4. For the ship to be operational atleast two of its engines must
function. Let X denote the event that the ship is operational and let X1, X2 and X3 denotes, respectively the
events that the engines E1, E2 and E3 are functioning. Which of the following is/are true? (2012)
c 3 7
(a) P X1 | X  (b) P [Exactly two engines of the ship are functioning x] =
16 8
5 7
(c) P X | X 2  (d) P X | X1 
16 16

(A NSWERS)

1 1 1 1 10( n  2)
1.F 2.b 3.(a) , (b) 4. 5.a 6.(i).A, (ii).C 7.d 8.d 9. 10. 1  n  7
132 462 91 5 C5

11.c 12.a
F 3I
13. GH JK
n

14.c 15.
(3n  3.2 n  3)  6 C3
16.c 17.b 18.a 19.0.62 20.b
4 6n
3 1 1 11
21. 22.a 23.ac 24. P(A  B) 25.c 26.a 27.a 28.d 29.abc 30.  p  32.No 33.
16 3 2 40
1 5 1 1 1
34.bc 35.ab 36. 37.ad 38.d 39. 40. 41.c 42.(0.5) 43.b 44. or 45.ad
4 21 9 3 2
5
46.ad 47. 48.ab 49.bcd 50.c 51.c 52.ac 53.d 54.(422) 55.(6)
7
57.(a) A, B and C are pairwise independent (b) A, B and C are dependent 58.F 59.a 60.(0.6976)
1 1 4 97
61.c 62.a 63.(i).b (ii).c 64. 65.a 67. 68. 69.2p2 – p3 70.b 71.
36 1260 35 254
72. 11 C 6 ( 0.24) 5 73.d 74.best of 3 games 75.(8) 76.b 77.(i).b (ii).c 78.(i).a (ii).b (iii).d
2 p p(1  p) p  2p2  p3 24
79. 80.b 81.   , , 82.b 83.b 85.a 86.d 87.
5 1  (1  p) 3 1  (1  p) 3 1  (1  p) 3 29
12
1 193 m C2 .6 C 4 10 C1 .2 C1 12 C2 .6 C5 11 C1 .1 C1
88.ac 89. 90.13.9% 91. 92. 93. 18
 12  18  12
7 792 m n C6 C2 C6 C2
9m
94.c 95.(i).B (ii).A (iii).B 96. 97.(i).A (ii).D 98.(i).B (ii).D 99.(i).AB (ii).CD
8N  m
99 1 8 23 32 1
100. 101.(a) (b) 102. 103. 104.c 105. 106.bc
1900 2 15 30 55 2

PROBABILITY Page # 48