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Understanding Experimental vs. Theoretical Probability

The document explains two types of probability: experimental probability, which is derived from actual experiments, and theoretical probability, which is calculated without experimentation. It provides examples of calculating probabilities for various scenarios, including dice rolls, drawing balls from a box, and drawing cards from a deck. Additionally, it introduces the concept of complementary events, illustrating how to find probabilities for events and their complements.

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4 views2 pages

Understanding Experimental vs. Theoretical Probability

The document explains two types of probability: experimental probability, which is derived from actual experiments, and theoretical probability, which is calculated without experimentation. It provides examples of calculating probabilities for various scenarios, including dice rolls, drawing balls from a box, and drawing cards from a deck. Additionally, it introduces the concept of complementary events, illustrating how to find probabilities for events and their complements.

Uploaded by

balgovind25576
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Probability

 Experimental Probability: The probability obtained from the result of an experiment


when we actually perform the experiment is called experimental (or empirical)
probability.
 Theoretical Probability: The probability we find through the theoretical approach
without actually performing the experiment is called theoretical probability.
 The theoretical probability (or classical probability) of an event E, is denoted by P(E)
and is defined as

 Experimental probability may or may not be equal to the theoretical probability.


 Formula of theoretical probability can be used to find the probabilities of various events.

Example 1: A dice is thrown once. What is the probability of getting 1 on the


dice?
Solution: When a dice is thrown once, the possible outcomes are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Let A be the event of getting 1 on the dice.

Example 2: A box contains 3 white, 5 green, and 6 red balls. A ball is drawn at
random out of the box. Find the probability of drawing a red ball.
Solution: Total number of balls = 3 + 5 + 6 = 14
Therefore, total number of possible outcomes = 14
Let E be the event of drawing a red ball.
Number of outcomes favourable to E = 6

Example 3: A card is drawn at random from a deck of 52 cards. Find the


probability that the card drawn is,

o A black card
o An ace
o Neither a black card nor an ace

Solution:
Since there are 52 cards in a deck, the number of all possible outcomes is 52.

o Number of black cards in the deck = 26

Therefore, the probability that the drawn card is black



o Number of aces in the deck = 4

Therefore, the probability that the drawn card is an ace



o Number of cards which are neither black nor an ace = 26 – 2 = 24

Therefore, the probability that the drawn card is neither black nor an ace

 Complementary events
For an event E such that of an experiment, the
event represents ‘not E’ , which is called the complement of the event E.
We say, E and are complementary events.

Example:
A pair of dice is thrown once. Find the probability of getting a different
number on each die.
Solution:
When a pair of dice is thrown, the possible outcomes of the experiment can be
listed as:

The number of all possible outcomes = 6 × 6 = 36


Let E be the event of getting the same number on each die.
Then, is the event of getting different numbers on each die.

Now, the number of outcomes favourable to E is 6.

Thus, the required probability is .

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