Relative frequency and the probability scale worksheet — GCSE Foundation

1.A spinner is divided into 8 equal sections. 3 of the sections are red and the rest are not red. The spinner is spun once. Work out the probability that it does not land on red.

2.One card is taken at random from an ordinary pack of 52 playing cards. 26 of the cards are red. Work out the probability that the card is red. Give your answer as a percentage.

3.Two games at a school fete are played independently. The probability of winning game X is 3/8. The probability of winning game Y is 0.4. Which statement correctly compares the two games?

4.A fair six-sided dice is rolled once. Write down the probability of rolling a 6.

5.A bag is known to contain red, blue and green counters in equal numbers, so the theoretical probability of taking each colour is 1/3. In 90 trials with replacement, red was taken 38 times, blue was taken 26 times and green was taken 26 times. Which colour is over-represented compared with its theoretical probability?

6.A machine produces bolts. In a sample of 250 bolts, 15 are faulty. Work out the relative frequency of a bolt being faulty, giving your answer as a fraction in its simplest form.

7.On a probability scale from 0 to 1, five descriptions are used: impossible (0), unlikely (between 0 and 0.5), evens (exactly 0.5), likely (between 0.5 and 1) and certain (1). The probability that a particular bus is late is 3/8. Which description best fits this probability?

8.Four students each drop a drawing pin repeatedly to estimate the probability that it lands point-up. Freya makes 20 drops, Malik makes 50 drops, Priya makes 200 drops and Tom makes 80 drops. Which student's relative frequency is likely to give the best estimate of the true probability?

9.A market research company found that, out of 120 shoppers surveyed, 42 preferred paper bags to plastic bags. A supermarket expects 900 shoppers this week. Using this relative frequency, work out how many of the 900 shoppers would be expected to prefer paper bags.

10.On the probability scale from 0 (impossible) to 1 (certain), evens is exactly halfway. An event is 3/10 more likely than evens. Work out the probability of that event, giving your answer as a decimal.

11.A fair six-sided dice is rolled once. Write down the probability that the score is an even number.

12.A spinner is spun 50 times. It lands on green 18 times. Work out the relative frequency of landing on green.

13.The probability that a spinner lands on blue is 2/5. Write this probability as a percentage.

14.An ordinary six-sided dice, numbered 1 to 6, is rolled 30 times and lands on a 6 seven times. Ravi says the theoretical probability of rolling a 6 and the relative frequency of rolling a 6 in this trial are the same number. Is Ravi right?

15.A quality inspector tests 145 light bulbs and finds that 33 are faulty. Work out the relative frequency of a bulb being faulty, as a percentage correct to 1 decimal place.