THEORY OF PROBABILITY

PROBLEM SET

1 A girl has four blouses, three skirts, and 2 pairs of shoes. In how many ways can she dress up?

2 In how many ways can a committee consisting of 2 men and 3 women can be chosen from 6 men and 8
women?

3 In how many ways can a student choose 4 books a set of 7 different books?

4 In how many ways can a committee of 4 be chosen from 10 people?

5 In how ways can four books can be chosen from 10 different books and arranged in 4 spaces on a shelf?

6 How many 3-letter words can be formed from the letters of the English alphabet if no letter can be used
more than once?

7 Supposed that each child born to a couple is equally likely to be boy or a girl, independently of the sex of
the other children in the family. If a couple has four children, then what are the probabilities of the
following events
a. All four are of the same sex

b. exactly two are boys

c. there is at least one boy

8 After having shaken hands all around, it was found that 45 handshakes had been interchanged. How many
persons were in the party?

9 Forty guests consisting 24 men and 16 women are to be seated in eight rows each row having five chairs.
Three men and two women are to occupy each row seated alternately. How many possible ways of
grouping of guests are there?

10 Little girl Izza was asked to choose any of the four out of ten different toys on the sales counter. In how
many ways can she make her choice?

11 Gretel is going to buy two books in mathematics, two books in science and one book in psychology. If
there are five different books in mathematics, five in science and three books in psychology, in how many
possible ways can she make the purchase?

12 In how many ways are there to select 3 candidates from 9 equally qualified recent graduates for job
openings in an accounting form?

13 Eight committees are group into 2. First group is composed of 3 and second group is composed of 5
committees. Find the number of arrangement.

14 Three boxes each contain 5 eggs with two bad eggs. If Deniese draw 2 eggs for each box. Find the number
of ways that she will draw 2 bad eggs.

15 How many 4-digit numbers can be formed from the integers 1 to 9 if no integer can be used more than
once?


16 Fifteen female contestants enter the Mutyang Stat Center contest. In how many ways can the trophies
for the Mutya, the I
st
runner up and 2
nd
runner up be awarded?

17 How many sitting arrangements are possible if 15 people are to sit in a circle?

18 In how many relative orders can 5 men and 5 women be seated around a table, with men and women
alternating?

19 From a bag containing 6 white and 8 black balls, in how many ways can we form a group of 5 balls
involving at least three white balls

20 From the digits (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), how many numbers of seven different digits each can be formed in
which odd and even alternate?

21 A college plays 10 football games during a season. In how many ways can the team end the season with 6
wins, 3 losses and 1 draw?

22 How many distinct permutations can be made from the letters of the word SUPERSTITIOUS?

23 In how many ways can 7 different trees be planted in a circle?

24 How many committees of 6 men each can be selected from 9 men, if a certain 2 men refuse to serve
together on any committee?

25 In how many ways can five English books, three Mathematics books, and two History books be arranged
on a shelf so that all books with the same title are together?

26 The lotto uses number 1-42. A winning number consist of six (6) different numbers in any order. What are
your chances of winning it?

27 A bag contains 3 white and 5 black balls. If two balls are drawn in succession without replacement, what is
the probability that both balls are black?

28 A fair die is tossed twice. Find the probability of getting 4, 5 or six on the first toss and a 1, 2, 3, or 4 on the
second toss.

29 One bag contains 4 white balls and 2 black balls; another contains 3 white balls and 5 black balls. If one
ball is drawn from each bag, find the probability that one is white and one is black?

30 Twenty items, six of which are defectives and 14 are not were inspected one after the other. If these
items are chosen at random at , what is the probability that
a. The first three items are defective?

b. Among the first three items inspected, there is one defective and two not defective?