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Find the Probability of Selecting Specified Items

In this worksheet, students will calculate the probability of choosing or not choosing certain items.

'Find the Probability of Selecting Specified Items' worksheet

Key stage:  KS 3

Year:  Year 8 Maths worksheets

Curriculum topic:   Probability

Curriculum subtopic:   Record, Describe and Analyse Probability Experiments

Popular topics:   Probability worksheets

Difficulty level:  

Worksheet Overview

Probability can be written as a fraction.

On the top (numerator) of the fraction, we place the number of options we are looking for.

On the bottom (denominator) of the fraction, we place the total number of possible combinations.

 

Example

Look at these coloured cards.

 

coloured cards

 

What is the probability of selecting a red or blue card at random?

 

Answer

There are 2 options that we are looking for - the red and the blue card.

There are 6 possible combinations.

 

The probability of choosing a red or blue card is 2/6 which simplifies to 1/3.

 

Having done that, what is the probability of choosing a yellow card? 

There are 4 yellow cards out of a possible 6 cards, so the probability is 4/6 which simplifies to 2/3.

 

green tick

 

Can you see that the two answers of 1/3 and 2/3 add together to make the number 1? There is no other possible combination other than the ones we have looked at, so the total will be 1.

 

The probability of something happening, plus the probability of it not happening will always equal 1.

 

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