Probability worksheet — GCSE Foundation

1.A basketball player takes two free throws, and the throws are independent. The probability of scoring on each throw is 0.6, and the probability of missing is 0.4. Work out the probability that she scores exactly one of the two throws.

2.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.

3.A pupil must choose 2 different subjects at random from these five: maths, physics, biology, chemistry and history. Work out the probability that the two subjects chosen are maths and biology.

4.On the probability scale from 0 to 1, which word best describes an event with probability 0.9?

5.The probability that a seed fails to germinate is 1/5. Three seeds are planted independently. Work out the probability that at least one of the three seeds germinates.

6.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.

7.A fair four-sided dice, numbered 1 to 4, is rolled twice. Every outcome is listed as an ordered pair, first roll then second roll, such as (2, 3). Work out how many different outcomes are in the list.

8.A red dice and a blue dice are rolled. Both dice are ordinary and fair. Work out the probability of getting a 1 on the red dice and a 2 on the blue dice.

9.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.

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 fair, a game costs £2 to play. The probability of winning the game is 0.15, and each win pays out £10. Amir plays the game 200 times. Work out how much money Amir should expect to lose in total.

12.Priya spins a fair spinner with P(red) = 0.3, and separately flips a fair coin with P(heads) = 0.5. Using a tree diagram, work out the probability that she gets red AND heads.

13.A fair spinner has 8 equal sections. 3 of the sections are red. The spinner is spun 240 times. Work out how many times you would expect it to land on red.

14.Four pupils each flip the same coin a number of times and record the results. Sam flips it 40 times and gets 24 heads. Priti flips it 25 times and gets 10 heads. Leo flips it 20 times and gets 9 heads. Fatima flips it 15 times and gets 6 heads. Combine all four pupils' results to estimate the probability that the coin lands on heads.

15.Bag A contains 3 red balls and 2 blue balls. Bag B contains 1 red ball and 3 blue balls. One ball is taken at random from each bag. Work out the probability that both balls are red.