Probability worksheet — GCSE Foundation

1.In a survey of 45 students, 22 said they like reading, 18 said they like gaming, and 6 said they like both. Work out how many students like exactly one of reading or gaming.

2.Two ordinary fair dice are rolled, one after the other. Work out the probability that the first dice shows a 6 and the second dice shows an even number.

3.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?

4.A spinner has three equal sections, coloured red, blue and green. It is spun twice, and each outcome is listed as an ordered pair of colours, such as (red, blue). Work out how many outcomes are in the full list.

5.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.

6.A bag contains 4 red counters and 6 blue counters. A counter is taken at random, its colour noted, and it is put back in the bag before a second counter is taken at random. Work out the probability that the two counters are different colours. Give 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.Kwame flips a fair coin three times and writes down what it lands on each time. Work out the probability that it lands on heads all three times.

9.At a fun run, each runner finishes, retires or is disqualified, and cannot do more than one of these. The probability that a runner finishes is 68.5% and the probability that a runner retires is 24.75%. Work out the probability, as a percentage, that a runner is disqualified.

10.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.

11.The probability that a component is faulty is 1/10. Two components are tested independently. Work out the probability that at least one of the two components is faulty.

12.A student is estimating the probability that a spinner lands on red. In her first 85 spins it landed on red 34 times. She then spins it 165 more times, and in those it lands on red 58 times. Work out the best estimate of the probability of red from all 250 spins. Give your answer as a decimal, correct to 3 decimal places.

13.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.

14.A fair six-sided dice is rolled 300 times. Work out how many more times you would expect it to land on an even number than on a six.

15.Two ordinary fair dice are rolled. Work out the probability that both dice show the same score.