CLASS XII MATHEMATICS

CH 13 PROBABILITY
PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1.For a loaded die, the probabilities of outcomes are given as under:
P(1) = P(2) = 0.2, P(3) = P(5) = P(6) = 0.1 and P(4) = 0.3. The die is thrown
two times. Let A and B be the events, same number each time, and a total
score is 10 or more, respectively. Determine whether or not A and B are
independent.
2.A bag contains 5 red marbles and 3 black marbles. Three marbles are
drawn one by one without replacement. What is the probability that at least
one of the three marbles drawn be black, if the first marble is red?
3.Explain why the experiment of tossing a coin three times is said to have
binomial distribution.
4. Find the variance of the number obtained on a throw of an unbiased die.
5.In a hurdle race, a player has to cross 10 hurdles. The probability that he
5
will clear each hurdle is 6. What is the probability that he will knock down
fewer than 2 hurdles?
(Hots)
6.In a dice game, a player pays a stake of Re1 for each throw of a die. She
receives Rs 5 if the die shows a 3, Rs 2 if the die shows a 1 or 6, and
nothingotherwise. What is the players expected profit per throw over a long
series of throws?
7.In a factory, which manufactures nuts, machines A, B, and C manufacture
respectively 25%, 35%, and 40% of nuts. Of their output, 5, 4, and 2 per cent
respectively are defective nuts. A nut is drawn at random from the product
and is found to be defective. Find the probability that it is manufactured by
machine B.
8. In answering a question on a MCQ test with 4 choices per question, a
1
student knows the answer, guesses or copies the answer. Let2 be the
1

probability that he knows the answer, 4 be the probability that he guesses and
1
4

that he copied it. Assuming that a student, who copies the answer, will be
3

correct with the probability4, what is the probability that the student knows the
answer, given that he answered correctly?
Arjun does not know the answer to one of the questions in the test. The
evaluation process has negative marking. Which value would Arjun violate if
he resorts to unfair means? How would an act like above hamper his
character development in the coming years?

9. A die is loaded in such a way that an even number is twice as likely to

occur as an odd number. If the die is tossed twice, find the probability
distribution of the random variable representing the perfect squares in the
two tosses.
(Hots)
3

10.Two events & are such that = 5 , / = 0.5 & ( ) = 5,

find ().
11.A speaks the truth 8 times out of 10 times. A die is tossed. He reports that
it was 5. What is the probability that it was actually 5?Comment on the
behaviour of A.
12.An insurance company insured 2,000 cyclists, 4,000 scooter drivers and
6000 motorbike drivers. The probability of an accident involving a cyclist,
scooter driver and a motorbike driver are 0.01, 0.03 and 0.15 respectively.
One of the insured persons meets with an accident. What is the probability
that he is scooter driver? Which mode of transport would you suggest to a
student and why?
13. A and B throw a die alternatively till one of them gets a 6 and wins the
game. Find their respective probabilities of winning if A starts first. (Hots)
14. The probability of simultaneous occurrence of at least one of two events A
and B is p. If the probability that exactly one of A, B occurs is q, then prove
that P (A) + P (B) = 2 2p + q.
15. Out of a group of 8 highly qualified doctors in a hospital, 6 are very kind
and cooperative with their patients and so are very popular, while the other
two remain reserved. For a health camp, three doctors are selected at
random. Find the probability distribution of the number of very popular
doctors.What values are expected from the doctors?
16. Find the probability of throwing at most 2 sixes in 6 throws of a single die.
17. The probabilities of two students A and B coming to the school in time are
3/7 and 5/7 respectively. Assuming that the events, A coming in time and B
coming in time are independent, find the probability of only one of them
coming to the school in time. Write at least one advantage of coming to school
in time.
18. How many times must a man toss a fair coin, so that the probability of
having at least one head is more than 80% ?
(Hots)
19. On a multiple choice examination with three possible answers (out of
which only one is correct) for each of the five questions, what is the probability
that a candidate would get four or more correct answers just by guessing?
20.A bag contains 4 balls. Two balls are drawn at random, and are found to
be white. What is the probability that all balls are white?

21. A letter is known to have come either from TATA NAGAR or from
CALCUTTA. On the envelope, just two consecutive letter TA are visible. What
is the probability that the letter came from TATA NAGAR.
(Hots)
22.A bag contains (2n + 1) coins. It is known that n of these coins have a
head on both sides where as the rest of the coins are fair. A coin is picked up
at random from the bag and is tossed. If the probability that the toss results in
31
a head is42 , determine the value of n.
(Hots)
23. Let X denote the number of hours you study on a Sunday. Also it is
known that
if x 0
0.1,
kx ,
if x 1or 2

P (X x )
k (5 x ), if x 3 or 4
0,
otherwise
where k is a constant.
(a) Find the value of k.
(b) What is the probability that you study atleast two hours? Exactly
two hours? Atmost two hours?

24. Suppose you have two coins which appear identical in your pocket. You
know that one is fair and one is 2-headed. If you take one out, toss it and get
a head, what is the probability that it was a fair coin?
25.Three machines E1, E2, E3 in a certain factory produce 50%, 25% and
25%, respectively, of the total daily output of electric tubes. It is known that
4% of the tubes produced one each of machines E1 and E2 are defective,
and that 5% of those produced on E3 are defective. If one tube is picked up at
random from a days production, calculate the probability that it is defective.