Probabilities of exhaustive events sum to one worksheet — GCSE Foundation

1.The probability that a machine completes a task successfully is 0.85. Work out the probability that the machine does not complete the task successfully.

2.A card is taken at random from an ordinary pack of 52 playing cards. The pack contains 4 aces and 4 kings. Work out the probability that the card is an ace or a king.

3.A box contains counters that are silver, bronze or copper only. The probability that a counter taken at random is silver is 1/2 and the probability that it is bronze is 1/8. The box contains 64 counters in total. Work out the number of copper counters.

4.A bag contains 2 white counters and 8 black counters. One counter is taken at random from the bag. Work out the probability that the counter is not black.

5.A bag contains beads that are exactly one of red, white or black. The probability of taking a red bead is 3/10 and the probability of taking a white bead is 1/4. Work out the probability of taking a bead that is red or white.

6.A biased six-sided dice is rolled once. The probability that it lands on 6 is 0.25. The other five scores are all equally likely. Work out the probability that it lands on 3.

7.A bag contains counters that are red, blue or green only. The probability that a counter taken at random is not red is 0.8. The bag contains 25 counters in total. Work out how many of the counters are red.

8.The probability that a plant grown from a seed packet germinates is 7/10. Work out the probability that it does not germinate.

9.At a quiz night, each team's result is a win, a draw or a loss, and no team can have more than one of these results. The probability that a team wins is 42% and the probability that a team draws is 18.5%. Work out the probability, as a percentage, that a team does not win and does not draw.

10.Isla travels to school by bus, by bike, on foot or by car, and never by more than one of these on the same day. The probability that she travels by bus is 0.2, the probability that she travels by bike is 0.3 and the probability that she travels on foot is 0.1. Work out the probability that she travels to school by bus, by bike or on foot.

11.At a coffee shop, each customer buys tea, coffee, water or juice, and never more than one of these. The probability that a customer buys tea is 0.36 and the probability that they buy juice is 0.04. The probability that a customer buys coffee is three times the probability that they buy water. Work out the probability that a customer buys water.

12.The probability that Priya's dentist appointment overruns is 0.35. Work out the probability that it does not overrun.

13.At a tombola stall, each ticket wins a toy, wins a sweet or wins nothing, and no ticket can win more than one of these. The probability that a ticket wins a toy is 0.15 and the probability that it wins a sweet is 0.4. Work out the probability that a ticket wins neither a toy nor a sweet.

14.The probability that the Hughes family go away during the summer holidays is 3/7. Work out the probability that they do not go away during the summer holidays.

15.A spinner lands on red, on blue or on green, and it cannot land on more than one colour at a time. The probability that it lands on red is 0.3 and the probability that it lands on blue is 0.5. Work out the probability that it lands on red or on blue.