Probability worksheet — GCSE Foundation

1.The probability that Ben catches his bus on time is 0.8. The probability that Freya catches her bus on time is 0.5. The two events are independent. Work out the probability that both Ben and Freya catch their bus on time.

2.A factory finds that the probability a randomly chosen light bulb is defective is 0.035. In a batch of 4,000 bulbs, work out how many bulbs you would expect to work correctly.

3.A tree diagram shows two rounds of a game, played independently. On each round, the probability of losing is 0.7 and the probability of winning is 0.3. Work out the probability of losing both rounds.

4.A bag contains 5 red counters and 5 green counters. Three counters are taken out one at a time and are not put back. Work out the probability that all three counters are red.

5.The probability that Amelia's bus is late on a school morning is 9/10. Write this probability as a percentage.

6.The probability that Kofi passes his driving test on any attempt is 0.6, and each attempt is independent of the others. Work out the probability that he fails both his first two attempts.

7.A fair coin is flipped and a fair five-sided spinner, labelled 1 to 5, is spun. All the outcomes are listed as pairs, such as (H, 3). Work out the probability that the outcome is a tail and an odd number.

8.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?

9.A train company runs 25 trains a day, every day. The probability that any one train is late is 0.08. Work out how many late trains the company should expect over a period of 4 weeks.

10.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?

11.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.

12.Spinner C has 3 equal sections, numbered 2, 3 and 5. Spinner D has 6 equal sections, numbered 1 to 6. Both spinners are spun once, and the two numbers are multiplied together. Work out the probability that the product is a multiple of 5.

13.A box contains cards labelled 1, 2 and 3. A card is drawn at random and its number noted, then it is put back. A second card is then drawn at random. Every outcome is listed as an ordered pair, such as (1, 2). Work out how many of the outcomes in the full list have both numbers the same.

14.A machine makes 4000 light bulbs a day and runs 5 days a week. Two inspectors test bulbs from this machine. Inspector A tests 40 bulbs and finds 4 faulty. Inspector B tests 500 bulbs and finds 30 faulty. Using the better of the two estimates, work out how many faulty bulbs the machine is expected to make in one week.

15.In a trial, a drawing pin was dropped 80 times and landed point-up 52 times. Assuming this relative frequency continues, work out how many times you would expect it to land point-up in 300 drops.