A Level Cambridge (CIE) Maths 3 hours 32 questions
Exam Questions
Basic Probability
Calculating Probabilities & Events / Venn Diagrams / Tree Diagrams
Easy (8 questions) /40
Medium (8 questions) /46 Scan here to return to the course
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Hard (8 questions) /45
Very Hard (8 questions) /53
Total Marks /184
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Easy Questions
1 Write the following probability statements in words. The first one has been done for you.
(i) P(A ∩ B ) “The probability that A has happened and B has happened.”
(ii) P(A ∪ B )
(iii) P(A ' ∩ B ')
(iv) P((A ∪ B ) ')
(3 marks)
2 (a) The heights, in cm, of 100 rockhopper penguins are recorded in the following table:
Height, h (cm) Frequency
40 ≤ h < 45 12
45 ≤ h < 50 36
50 ≤ h < 55 42
55 ≤ h < 60 10
Write down the number of penguins that are
(i) at least 50 cm tall
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(ii) between 45 and 55 cm tall.
(2 marks)
(b) A rockhopper penguin is chosen at random. Use your answers to part (a) to help determine
the probability that the penguin is
(i) at least 50 cm tall
(ii) between 45 and 55 cm tall.
(2 marks)
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3 (a) A and B are two events such that P(A) = 0.3, P(B) = 0.8, and P(A and B) = 0.24.
Use the formula P(A and B) = P(A) × P(B) to determine whether A and B are independent or
not.
(2 marks)
(b) C and D are two events such that P(C) = 0.42, P(D) = 0.51, and P(C or D) = 0.91.
Use the formula P(C or D) = P(C) + P(D) to determine whether C and D are mutually exclusive
or not.
(2 marks)
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4 (a) You may use the formula P (A and B ) = P (A ) × P ( B ) in this question.
A fair spinner has five sections labelled ‘dog’, ‘cat’, ‘dog’, ‘dog’ and ‘rabbit’.
The spinner is spun once. Find the probability the spinner comes to rest on a section
labelled
(i) ‘dog’
(ii) ‘rabbit’.
(2 marks)
(b) The spinner is spun twice. Find the probability that
(i) the spinner comes to rest on the section labelled ‘cat’ on both spins
(ii) the spinner does not come to rest on a section labelled ‘dog’ on either spin.
(3 marks)
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5 (a) A box of equally sized toy bricks contains 3 blue bricks and 2 red bricks.
A random toy brick is removed from the box. Determine the probability that this brick is
(i) blue
(ii) red.
(2 marks)
(b) A second brick is taken from the box without the first one being replaced. Copy and
complete the tree diagram below that represents this situation.
(3 marks)
(c) Use your tree diagram from part (b) to determine the probability that both bricks taken from
the box are blue.
(2 marks)
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6 (a) A fair die is rolled and a fair coin is tossed.
Complete the table below listing all possible outcomes.
(2 marks)
(b) The event A is the die landing on a multiple of three and the event B is the coin landing on
heads. Write down:
(i) P( B )
(ii) P(A')
(iii) P(A ∩ B )
(iv) P(A ∪ B )
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(6 marks)
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7 (a) A and B are two events such that P (A ) = 0 . 25 and P ( B ) = 0 . 7 . Given that A and B are
independent use the formula P (A and B ) = P (A ) × P ( B ) to find P (A and B ) .
(2 marks)
(b) C and D are two events such that P ( C ) = 0 . 4 and P (D ) = 0 . 5 . Given that C and D are
mutually exclusive use the formula P ( C or D ) = P ( C ) + P (D ) to find P ( C or D ) .
(2 marks)
8 The tree diagram below shows the probabilities that a pool player will successfully complete
two successive trick shots. Y indicates a successful trick shot, N indicates a failed trick shot.
Use the probabilities given to determine the probability that the pool player
(i) successfully completes both trick shots
(ii) successfully completes exactly one trick shot
(iii) successfully completes at least one trick shot.
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(5 marks)
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Medium Questions
1 (a) A and B are two events such that P (A ) = 0 . 35 , P ( B ) = 0 . 25 and P (A ∪ B ) = 0 . 6 .
State, with a reason, whether A and B are mutually exclusive.
(2 marks)
(b) C and D are two events such that P( C ) = 0 . 2 , P(D ) = 0 . 4 and P( C ∩ D ) = 0 . 18 .
State, with a reason, whether C and D are independent.
(2 marks)
2 The lengths, in cm, of 120 adult platypuses are recorded in the following table:
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Length, l (cm) Frequency (female) Frequency (male)
39 ≤ l < 42 14 0
42 ≤ l < 45 29 0
45 ≤ l < 48 12 7
48 ≤ l < 51 6 21
51 ≤ l < 54 3 19
54 ≤ l < 57 1 5
57 ≤ l < 60 0 2
60 ≤ l < 63 0 1
One platypus is chosen at random. Find the probability that the platypus is:
(i) male
(ii) less than 51 cm long
(iii) a male less than 45 cm long
(iv) a female between 45 and 54 cm long.
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(4 marks)
3 Two fair spinners each have three sectors numbered 1 to 3. The two spinners are spun
together and then the product of the numbers indicated on each spinner is recorded.
Find the probability of the product indicated by the spinners being
(i) exactly 6
(ii) less than 4
(iii) an odd number.
(4 marks)
4 (a) A fair four-sided die and a fair six-sided die are rolled and the sum of the numbers on their
uppermost faces is recorded.
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Complete the sample space below showing all possible outcomes.
(1 mark)
(b) An event A is ‘the sum on the two dice is more than 7’ and an event B is ‘scoring an odd
number on one die and an even number on the other’.
Find:
(i) P(A )
(ii) P( B )
(iii) P(A ∩ B )
(iv) P(A ∪ B )
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(5 marks)
(c) Determine whether the events A and B are independent or not, justify your answer.
(2 marks)
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5 (a) Two words are chosen at random from the word IMPOSSIBLE without replacement.
The event A is defined as ‘choosing two of the same letters’ and the event B is defined as
'the first letter taken is a letter S’.
Find:
(i) P(A )
(ii) P( B )
(iii) P(A ∩ B )
(5 marks)
(b) Determine whether the events A and B are mutually exclusive, justify your answer.
(2 marks)
6 Angelo meets with his maths tutor, Miss Perry, once a week. The probability that Miss Perry
changes the time of the meeting is 0.2. The probability that she is late is 0.15. Otherwise
she is on time. For the next two weeks that they meet, find the probability that Angelo’s
maths tutor:
(i) is on time for both of the meetings
(ii) changes the time of their meeting at least once
(iii) is late for exactly one and changes the time of the other meeting.
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(5 marks)
7 (a) A bag contains 13 yellow tokens and 7 green tokens. Two tokens are drawn from the bag
without replacement.
Draw a tree diagram to represent this experiment.
(3 marks)
(b) Find the probability that the two tokens drawn are the same colour.
(3 marks)
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8 (a) In a game of Galactic Unicorns your Monocerian-class space frigate is attacking an evil
Sargonian robot ship. Your attack will either hit or miss the robot ship, the probability of
hitting the ship is 0.7. If you hit the robot ship then there is a probability of 0.8 that the ship
will be destroyed, otherwise it will manage to escape. If you miss the robot ship then there
is a probability of 0.2 that it will manage to escape, otherwise it will surrender because it has
witnessed the immense power of your rainbow lasers.
Draw a tree diagram to represent this information.
(3 marks)
(b) Find the probability that the robot ship
(i) is destroyed
(ii) manages to escape
(iii) surrenders.
(3 marks)
(c) Show that the events ‘you hit the robot ship’ and ‘the robot ship manages to escape’ are
independent.
(2 marks)
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Hard Questions
1 (a) A spinner with five equal sections labelled 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 is spun once, the number the
spinner lands on is recorded and then it is spun again. The event R is ‘The product of the
two numbers the spinner lands on is even’ and the event S is ‘The first number is greater
than the second number’.
Construct a sample space diagram to display the product of the two numbers when the
spinner is spun twice.
(2 marks)
(b) Find:
(i) P( R )
(ii) P( S')
(iii) P( R ∩ S )
(iv) P( R ∪ S )
(4 marks)
(c) Give an example to show that the events R and S are not mutually exclusive.
(1 mark)
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2 (a) The histogram below shows the distribution of masses, in grams, of 80 newly hatched
ducklings:
Find the probability that a duckling chosen at random has a mass less than 54 g .
(2 marks)
(b) Estimate the probability that a duckling chosen at random has a mass greater than 53 g .
(3 marks)
3 A game is played using a fair spinner with four sectors numbered 1 to 4, as well as a fair dice
with its six sides numbered 1 to 6. The spinner is spun and the dice is rolled, and the score
in the game is defined as the (positive) difference between the two results.
Find the probability of the score in the game being
(i) exactly 0
(ii) 3 or more
(iii) a prime number.
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(4 marks)
4 On any given day the probability that Tomás works on his poetry is 0.55, and the probability
that he stops in at his local pub is 0.75. Given that he always does at least one of those two
things, find the probability that on a given day Tomás:
(i) goes to the pub and works on his poetry
(ii) goes to the pub but doesn’t work on his poetry.
(4 marks)
5 A , B , C and D are four events such that P (A ) = 0 . 28, P ( B ) = 0 . 33, P ( C ) = 0 . 43
and P (D ) = 0 . 25 .
(i) Given that B and C are mutually exclusive, find P ( B or C ) .
(ii) Given that A and D are independent, find P (A and D ) .
(4 marks)
6 (a) Praewa plays sports every day after school. She is four times more likely to choose football
than tennis and three times more likely to choose basketball than tennis. She does not play
any other sport.
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1
Show that the probability of Praewa choosing tennis is .
8
(1 mark)
(b) Find the probability that Praewa chooses three different sports on the next three days in a
row.
(3 marks)
(c) On a five day week chosen at random, find the probability that Praewa chooses football
every day.
(2 marks)
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7 (a) A bag contains 12 red marbles, 7 green marbles and 1 black marble. Two marbles are
drawn from the bag without replacement.
Draw a tree diagram to represent this experiment.
(4 marks)
(b) Find the probability that the two marbles drawn are not both the same colour.
(3 marks)
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8 (a) In a game of Unicorns Versus Zombies your unicorn is attempting to use the magic of its
horn to dispel a cloud of zombie apocalypse flies. On the first attempt, the probability of the
magic working is 0.7. If the magic works, then there is a probability of 0.2 that the flies will
be turned into glitter pixies and join your rainbow army, otherwise the flies will simply be
dispelled. If the magic does not work the first time you may try again, although the
probability of your magic working the second time is only 0.6. Similarly, if your magic does
not work the second time you may try a third time, but on the third attempt the probability
of your magic working is reduced to 0.5. If your magic works on the second or third
attempts the probabilities of dispelling the flies or turning them into glitter pixies are the
same as for the magic working on the first attempt. If your magic does not work on the third
attempt, however, then your unicorn is turned into an evil zombie corn and joins the zombie
horde. In all cases, the game ends when either the flies are turned into glitter pixies, or the
flies are dispelled, or your unicorn is turned into a zombie corn.
Draw a tree diagram to represent this information.
(4 marks)
(b) Find the probability that
(i) the flies are turned into glitter pixies
(ii) the flies are dispelled
(iii) your unicorn is turned into a zombiecorn.
(3 marks)
(c) Give an example of two events in the game that are mutually exclusive.
(1 mark)
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Very Hard Questions
1 (a) A six -sided spinner with equal segments labelled 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 3 is spun and a fair coin is
tossed. If the coin lands on heads the number recorded is one more than the number on
the spinner. If the coin lands on tails the number on the spinner is doubled and recorded.
The event A is ‘the number recorded is a prime number’ and the event B is ‘the number
recorded is not one of the original numbers on the spinner’.
Show that the events A and B are mutually exclusive, justify your answer.
(2 marks)
(b) One of the segments on the spinner showing the number 1 is changed to a number 4 and
the experiment is repeated using the same rules as before.
Find:
(i) P(A )
(ii) P( B )
(iii) P(A ' ∩ B)
(iv) P(A ∪ B ) '
(6 marks)
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(c) After the change that has been made to the spinner, determine if the events A and B are still
mutually exclusive. Justify your answer.
(2 marks)
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2 (a) The histogram below shows the distribution of masses, in kg, of 100 newborn calves:
Find the probability that a calf chosen at random has a mass greater than 21 kg .
(2 marks)
(b) Estimate the probability that a calf chosen at random has a mass less than 23 . 5 kg .
(3 marks)
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3 A game is played using a fair spinner with four sectors numbered 1 to 4, as well as a fair
eight-sided dice with its sides numbered 1 to 8. The spinner is spun and the dice is rolled,
and the score in the game is determined as follows:
if the number on the spinner is higher than the number on the dice, then the score is
the sum of the two numbers;
if the number on the spinner is lower than the number on the dice, then the score is
the (positive) difference of the two numbers;
if the numbers on the spinner and the dice are equal, then the score is the product of
the two numbers.
Find the probability of the score in the game being
(i) exactly 7
(ii) 10 or more
(iii) a triangular number (1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, …).
(4 marks)
4 On any given day the probability that Björn has an avocado with his lunch is 0.39, while the
probabilities of him having a bacon butty or a piece of carrot cake are 0.32 and 0.44
respectively. He never has all three items on the same day, but the probability that he
doesn’t have at least one of them is only 0.09. Given that the probability of him having
exactly two of the three items is the same regardless of which two items those are, find the
probability that on a given day Björn has:
(i) exactly one of the three items
(ii) a bacon butty but not a piece of carrot cake.
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(5 marks)
5 A , B and C are three events such that P(A ) = 0 . 28, P(A ∪ C ) = 0 . 4 and
P( B ∩ C ) = 0 . 02.
Given that A and C are mutually exclusive, and that B and C are independent, find P( B ) ,
P( C ) and P ( C ∩ B ') .
(5 marks)
6 (a) Isabel has two boxes of chocolates. Box A contains 4 caramels and 6 toffees, and box B
contains 5 caramels and x toffees. Isabel chooses a chocolate at random from box A and
moves it to box B. Her friend then takes a chocolate at random from box B.
27
Show that the probability Isabel’s friend takes a caramel is given by .
5(x + 6)
(4 marks)
11
(b) Given that the probability that Isabel’s friend takes a toffee is , find the value of x .
20
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(4 marks)
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7 (a) A bag contains 10 black tokens and 6 white tokens. A token is drawn from the bag and its
colour recorded, and then a fair coin is flipped. If the coin lands on heads then a second
token is drawn from the bag without replacing the first token. If the coin lands on tails then
the first token is replaced in the bag before a second token is drawn.
Draw a tree diagram to represent this experiment.
(4 marks)
(b) Find the probability that the second token drawn is white.
(3 marks)
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8 (a) The game Undead Redemption is played using three fair dice – a four-sided dice with the
sides numbered 1 to 4, a six-sided dice with the sides numbered 1 to 6, and an eight-sided
dice with the sides numbered 1 to 8.
In the game your character is battling a zombie. The battle can last between one and three
rounds, and it is resolved as follows:
In the first round, you and the zombie each roll the four-sided dice. If your roll is
greater than or equal to the zombie’s roll then the zombie is destroyed and the battle is
over. Otherwise your character is wounded and the battle goes on to the second
round.
In the second round, you roll the four-sided dice and the zombie rolls the six-sided
dice. If your roll is greater than or equal to the zombie’s roll then the zombie is
destroyed and the battle is over. Otherwise your character is wounded again and the
battle goes on to the third round.
In the third round, you roll the four-sided dice and the zombie rolls the eight-sided
dice. If your roll is greater than or equal to the zombie’s roll then the zombie is
destroyed and the battle is over. Otherwise your character is wounded for the third
time and dies.
Draw a tree diagram to represent this information.
(6 marks)
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(b) Find the probability that
(i) the zombie is destroyed
(ii) your character dies
(iii) your character is wounded one or more times but still manages to destroy the zombie
(3 marks)
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