Probability worksheet — GCSE Higher

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

2.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.

3.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.

4.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.

5.At a quiz night, each team's result is a win, a draw or a loss, and no team can have more than one of these results. The probability that a team wins is 42% and the probability that a team draws is 18.5%. Work out the probability, as a percentage, that a team does not win and does not draw.

6.In a class of 32 pupils, 19 study geography and 15 study history. 8 study both subjects. Work out n(G ∪ H), the number of pupils who study geography or history or both.

7.Five raffle tickets numbered 1 to 5 are in a bag. Two tickets are drawn one after the other and the first is not put back. Work out the probability that ticket 1 is drawn first and ticket 2 is drawn second.

8.A company has 400 employees. 150 of them work part time and 160 of them cycle to work. Working part time and cycling to work are independent. Work out how many of the employees you would expect both to work part time and to cycle to work.

9.A doctors' surgery has 400 patients. 3 in every 10 of the patients are over 65 years old. 90 of the patients over 65 and 70 of the patients aged 65 or under had a flu jab. One of the patients who had a flu jab is picked at random. Work out the probability that this patient is over 65.

10.A pack contains 6 cards, numbered 1 to 6. A card is drawn at random from the pack, and a fair coin is flipped. Work out the probability of drawing an even-numbered card and the coin landing on tails.

11.In a certain town, P(rain on Monday) = 0.3. If it rains on Monday, the probability that it also rains on Tuesday is 0.6. If it does not rain on Monday, the probability that it rains on Tuesday is 0.25. Work out the probability that it rains on Tuesday.

12.A two-way table records how 130 pupils travel to school. 70 of the pupils are girls and the rest are boys. 42 of the girls walk to school and the rest of the girls cycle. 33 of the boys walk to school. Work out what fraction of the girls walk to school.

13.A factory checked 400 items. A frequency tree splits them into 250 items made by machine A and 150 items made by machine B. On machine A's branch, 15 of the items were faulty. On machine B's branch, 5 of the items were faulty. One of the 400 items is picked at random. Work out the probability that it is faulty. Give your answer as a fraction in its simplest form.

14.A basketball player has a free-throw success probability of 0.75. She wants to expect to score 60 successful free throws. Work out how many free throws she needs to attempt.

15.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.