SOUTHERN LEYTE
STATE UNIVERSITY
Probability
SAMPLE SPACE
Statisticians use the word
experiment to describe any process
that generates a set of data.
The set of all possible outcomes of a
statistical experiment is called the
sample space and is represented by
the symbol S.
SAMPLE SPACE
Each outcome in the sample space is
called an element or a member of the
sample space, or simply a sample
point.
Example:
An experiment consist of flipping a
coin and flipping it a second time if a
head occurs. If a tail occurs on the
first flip, then a die is tossed once.
Give the sample space.
Example:
Suppose that three items are
selected at random from a
manufacturing process. Each item is
inspected and classified as
defective,D, or non-defective,N. Give
the sample space.
Sample spaces with a large or infinite
number of sample points are
described by a statement or rule
method.
Example:
If the possible outcomes of an
experiment are the set of the cities in
the world with a population over 1
million,
EVENT
An event is a subset of a sample
space.
EVENT
Example:
Given the sample space S={t|t},
where t is the life in years of a
certain electronic component, then
the event A that component fails
before the end of the fifth year is the
subset A={t|0 t}
The complement of an event A
with respect to S is the subset of all
elements of S that are not in A. We
denote the complement of A by the
symbol A’.
The intersection of two events A
and B, denoted by the symbol A B, is
the event containing all the elements
that are common to A and B.
Example:
In tossing a dice, let A be the
event that an even number occurs
and B be the event that a number
greater than 3 shows. Find A B .
Two events are said to be mutually
exclusive or disjoint, if A B = , that
is, if A and B have no elements in
common.
The union of the two events A
and B, denoted by the symbol A B, is
the event containing all the elements
that belong to A or B or both.
COUNTING SAMPLE POINTS
Multiplication Rule:
If an operation can be performed
in ways, and for each of these ways a
second operation can be performed
in ways, then the two operations can
be performed in ways.
Example:
How many sample points are
there in the sample space when a
pair of dice is thrown once?
Generalized Multiplication Rule
If an operation can be performed
in ways, and for each of these a
second operation can be performed
in ways, and for each of the first two
a third operation can be performed in
ways, and so forth, then the
sequence of k operations can be
performed in … ways.
Example:
If a 22-member club needs to
elect a chair and a treasure, how
many different ways can these be two
elected?
Example:
Sam is going to assemble a
computer by himself. He has the
choice of chips from 2 brands, a hard
drive from 4, memory from 3 and an
accessory bundle from 5 local stores.
How many different ways can Sam
order the parts?
A permutation is an
arrangement of all or part of a
set of object.
Example:
How many even four-digit
numbers can be formed from
the digits 0,1,2,5,6 and 9 if
each digit can be used only
once?
For any non-negative integer n,
n! called “n factorial” is defined
as
n! = n(n-1)…(2)(1),
with special case 0!=1
The number of
permutations of n objects is n!
Consider the letters a,b,c
abc, acb, bac, bca, cab, cba
= 3(2)(1) = 6 permutations
= 3!
The number of permutations of n
distinct objects taken r at a time
is
Example:
a, b, c, d
Take 2 letters a time from 4.
=4
=3
= 12
The number of permutations
of n objects arranged in a circle
is (n-1)!
Example:
In how many ways can 7
different appetizers be arranged
on a circular tray?
The number of distinct
permutations of n things of which
are one of a kind, of a second
kind,…, of a kth kind is
The number of ways
partitioning a set of n objects into
r cells with elements in the first
cell, elements in the second, and
so forth, is
where + +…+ = n
Example:
In a college football training
session, the defensive coordinator
needs to have 10 players standing
in a row. Among these 10 players,
there are 1 freshman, 2
sophomores, 4 juniors and 3
seniors. How many different ways
can they be arranged in a row if
only their class level will be
The number of combinations of
n distinct objects taken r at a time
is
Example:
In how many ways can 7
graduate students be assigned to 1
triple and 2 double hotel rooms
during a conference?
The number of ways of selecting
r objects from n without regard to
order is called combination.