Probability worksheet — GCSE Foundation

1.A library recorded loans for 250 books over a week, using a frequency tree. The first branch splits the books into 160 fiction and 90 non-fiction. Of the fiction books, 112 were returned on time and the rest were returned late. All the non-fiction books were returned on time. Work out the probability that a book, chosen at random from the 250, was returned late. Give your answer as a fraction in its simplest form.

2.On a probability scale from 0 to 1, the points impossible (0), unlikely (0.25), evens (0.5) and certain (1) are marked. An event has a probability of 0.3. Between which two neighbouring marked points does 0.3 lie?

3.Two fair four-sided dice, numbered 1 to 4, are rolled and the two scores are added together. Work out the probability that the total is 5.

4.In a board game Mia moves forward by the total of two ordinary fair dice. Work out the probability that her total is 7. Give your answer as a fraction in its simplest form.

5.The universal set is {1, 2, 3, ..., 15}. A = {multiples of 3}. Work out n(A′), the number of elements not in A.

6.A spinner lands on one of four colours: amber, black, cyan or damson. The probability it lands on amber is 0.18, on black is 0.22 and on cyan is 0.24. Work out the probability that it lands on amber or damson.

7.Harry plays a game in which he flips a fair coin and rolls an ordinary fair dice. He wins a prize only if the coin shows heads and the dice shows a 6. Work out the probability that Harry wins a prize.

8.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.

9.Grace rolls two ordinary fair dice at the same time and works out the total of the two scores. Work out the probability that the total is greater than 10.

10.A spinner can land on red, blue, green or yellow. The probability that it lands on red is 0.24 and the probability that it lands on yellow is 0.16. The probabilities of landing on blue and on green are equal, and each is called x. Work out the value of x.

11.A biased spinner is spun 40 times and lands on red 16 times. It is then spun a further 60 times and lands on red 21 times. Work out the best estimate of the probability that the spinner lands on red, using the results of all 100 spins together.

12.A raffle sells 400 tickets at 50p each. There is one prize of £45. Aisha buys 8 tickets. Work out how much money Aisha should expect to lose from playing, giving your answer in pounds.

13.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.

14.A fair six-sided dice is rolled 90 times. Work out how many more times you would expect it to land on a number less than 4 than on a 6.

15.A survey asked 80 people to name their favourite drink. The table shows the results: Tea 20 people, Coffee 32 people, Juice 16 people, Water 12 people. Work out the percentage of people whose favourite drink was Coffee.