2 Unit Probability HSC Questions

Question 1s

1. ’11 1g A batch of 800 items is examined. The probability that an item from this batch is defective is
0.02. How many items from this batch are defective?

2. ’04 1e A packet contains 12 red, 8 green, 7 yellow and 3 black jellybeans.

One jellybean is selected from the packet at random.
What is the probability that the selected jellybean is red or yellow?

3. ’00 1d A bag contains red marbles and blue marbles in the ratio 2 : 3 . A marble is selected at random.
What is the probability that the marble is blue?

4. ’98 1c A coin is tossed three times. What is the probability that ‘heads’ appears every time?

5. ’97 1f Forty-five balls, numbered 1 to 45, are placed in a barrel, and one ball is drawn at random.
What is the probability that the number on the ball drawn is even?

Question 4s

6. ’10 4c There are twelve chocolates in a box. Four of the chocolates have mint centres, four have
caramel centres and four have strawberry centres. Ali randomly selects two chocolates and
eats them.
(i) What is the probability that the two chocolates have mint centres?
(ii) What is the probability that the two chocolates have the same centre?
(iii) What is the probability that the two chocolates have different centres?

7. ’07 4b Two ordinary dice are rolled. The score is the sum of the numbers on the top faces.
(i) What is the probability that the score is 10?
(ii) What is the probability that the score is not 10?

8. ’06 4c A chessboard has 32 black squares and 32 white squares. Tanya chooses three different
squares at random.
(i) What is the probability that Tanya chooses three white squares?
(ii) What is the probability that the three squares Tanya chooses are the same colour?
(iii) What is the probability that the three squares Tanya chooses are not the same colour?
*9. ’03 4b The diagram shows two spinners which are spun simultaneously.

Each of the three outcomes on the first spinner are equally likely, and each of the four
outcomes on the second spinner are equally likely.
(i) What is the probability that both spinners stop on the same number?
(ii) What is the probability that at least one of the spinners stops on a 3?

*10. ’92 4b Pat and Chris each throw a die.

(i) Find the probability that they both throw the same number.
(ii) Find the probability that the number thrown by Chris is greater than the number thrown
by Pat.

11. ’91 4c An insurance company has calculated that the probability of a woman being alive in 40 years
time is 0.8 and that the probability of her husband being alive in 40 years time is 0.7.
What is the probability that in 40 years time:
(i) both will be alive
(ii) only one of them will be alive?

12. ’89 4c In a large school, the student population is 42% male and 58% female.
Two students are selected at random to take part in a survey.
Find, correct to two decimal places, the probability that:
(i) both are female
(ii) both are of the same sex
(iii) they are of different sexes

Question 5s
13. ’11 5b Kim has three red shirts and two yellow shirts. On each of the three days, Monday, Tuesday
and Wednesday, she selects one shirt at random to wear. Kim wears each shirt that she selects
only once.
(i) What is the probability that Kim wears a red shirt on Monday?
(ii) What is the probability that Kim wears a shirt of the same colour on all three days?
(iii) What is the probability that Kim does not wear a shirt of the same colour on consecutive
days?
*14. ’09 5b On each working day James parks his car in a parking station which has three levels. He parks
his car on a randomly chosen level. He always forgets where he has parked, so when he leaves
work he chooses a level at random and searches for his car. If his car is not on that level, he
chooses a different level and continues in this way until he finds his car.
(i) What is the probability that his car is on the first level he searches?
(ii) What is the probability that he must search all three levels before he finds his car?
(iii) What is the probability that on every one of the five working days in a week, his car is
not on the first level he searches?

*15. ’05 5d A total of 300 tickets are sold in a raffle which has three prizes. There are 100 red, 100 green
and 100 blue tickets.
At the drawing of the raffle, winning tickets are NOT replaced before the next draw.
(i) What is the probability that each of the three winning tickets is red?
(ii) What is the probability that at least one of the winning tickets is not red?
(iii) What is the probability that there is one winning ticket of each colour?

16. ’00 5b Four white (W) balls and two red (R) balls are placed in a bag. One ball is selected at random,
removed and replaced by a ball of the other colour. The bag is then shaken and another ball is
randomly selected.
(i) Copy the tree diagram into your Writing Booklet. Complete the tree diagram, showing
the probability on each branch.

(ii) Find the probability that both balls selected are white.
(iii) Find the probability that the second ball selected is white.

Question 6s
*17. ’04 6c In a game, a turn involves rolling two dice, each with faces marked 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. The
score for each turn is calculated by multiplying the two numbers uppermost on the dice.
(i) What is the probability of scoring zero on the first turn?
(ii) What is the probability of scoring 16 or more on the first turn?
(iii) What is the probability that the sum of the scores in the first two turns is less than 45?
*18. ’90 6c Bob tosses two dice with faces numbered 1 to 6. He records the maximum of the two
uppermost faces as a score.
(i) Find the probability that he records the score 1 in a single throw of the two dice.
(ii) Find the probability that he records the scores 1, 1, 1 in three tosses of the two dice.
(iii) Find the probability that he records the score 6 in a single throw of the two dice.

Question 7s
19. ’08 7c Xena and Gabrielle compete in a series of games. The series finishes when one player has
2
won two games. In any game, the probability that Xena wins is and the probability that
3
1
Gabrielle wins is .
3
Part of the tree diagram for this series of games is shown.

(i) Copy and complete the tree diagram showing the possible outcomes.
(ii) What is the probability that Gabrielle wins the series?
(iii) What is the probability that three games are played in the series?

*20. ’02 7c Chris has four pairs of socks in a drawer, each pair a different colour.
He selects socks one at a time and at random from the drawer.
(i) The probability that he does NOT have a matching pair after selecting the second sock
6
is . Explain why this is so.
7
(ii) Find the probability that he does NOT have a matching pair after selecting the third
sock.
(iii) What is the probability that the first three socks include a matching pair?

21. ’01 7b Onslo tries to connect to his internet service provider. The probability that he connects
on any single attempt is 0.75.
(i) What is the probability that he connects for the first time on his second attempt?
(ii) What is the probability that he is still not connected after his third attempt?
22. ’95 7a A factory assembles torches. Each torch requires one battery and one bulb. It is known that
6% of all batteries and 4% of all bulbs are defective.
Find the probability that, in a torch selected at random, both the battery and the bulb are NOT
defective. Give your answer in exact form.

*23. ’93 7c The die used in a new game has 20 faces. Each face has a different letter of the alphabet
marked on it, however the letters Q, U, V, X, Y and Z have not been used.
(i) The die is rolled twice. What is the probability that the same letter appears on the upper
face twice?
(ii) The die is rolled three times. What is the probability that the letter E appears on the
upper face exactly twice?

*24. ’90 7b A box of marbles contains 8 red and 11 green marbles. Sue-Mei randomly selects three
marbles one at a time and without replacement. What is the probability that she selects green,
red, green in that order?

Question 8s

*25. ’10 8b Two identical biased coins are tossed together, and the outcome is recorded. After a large
number of trials it is observed that the probability that both coins land showing heads is 0.36.
What is the probability that both coins land showing tails?

26. ’01 8b Five candidates A , B , C , D and E , are standing for an election. Their names are written on
pieces of cardboard that are placed in a barrel and are drawn out randomly to determine their
positions on the ballot paper.
(i) What is the probability that A is drawn first?
(ii) What is the probability that the order of the names on the ballot paper is that shown
below?

27. ’99 8b A box contains five cards. Each card is labelled with a number. The numbers on the cards are
0, 3, 3, 5, 5. Cameron draws one card at random from the box and then draws a second card
at random without replacing the first card drawn.
(i) What is the probability that he draws a ‘5’, then a ‘3’?
(ii) What is the probability that the sum of the two numbers drawn is at least 8?
(iii) What is the probability that the second card drawn is labelled ‘3’?
*28. ’96 8a Students studying at least one of the languages, French and Japanese, attend a meeting. Of the
28 students present, 18 study French and 22 study Japanese.
(i) What is the probability that a randomly chosen student studies French?
(ii) What is the probability that two randomly chosen students both study French?
(iii) What is the probability that a randomly chosen student studies both languages?

*29. ’95 8a Greg and Jack are playing in a golf tournament. They will play two rounds and each has an
equal chance of winning the first round.
If Greg wins the first round, his probability of winning the second round is increased to 0·6.
If Greg loses the first round, his probability of winning the second round is reduced to 0·3.
(i) Draw a tree diagram for the two-round sequence. Label each branch of the diagram with
the appropriate probability.
(ii) Find the probability that Greg wins exactly one round.

30. ’92 8b A box contains twelve chocolates all of exactly the same appearance. Four of the chocolates
are hard and eight are soft. Kim eats three chocolates chosen randomly from the box. Using a
tree diagram, or otherwise, find the probability that:
(i) the first chocolate Kim eats is hard
(ii) Kim eats three hard chocolates
(iii) Kim eats exactly one hard chocolate.

Question 9s

31. ’09 9a Each week Van and Marie take part in a raffle at their respective workplaces. The probability
1
that Van wins a prize in his raffle is . The probability that Marie wins a prize in her raffle is
9
1
. What is the probability that, during the next three weeks, at least one of them wins a prize?
16

*32. ’08 9a It is estimated that 85% of students in Australia own a mobile phone.
(i) Two students are selected at random. What is the probability that neither of them owns a
mobile phone?
(ii) Based on a recent survey, 20% of the students who own a mobile phone have used their
mobile phone during class time. A student is selected at random. What is the probability
that the student owns a mobile phone and has used it during class time?
*33. ’07 9b A pack of 52 cards consists of four suits with 13 cards in each suit.
(i) One card is drawn from the pack and kept on the table. A second card is drawn and
placed beside it on the table. What is the probability that the second card is from a
different suit to the first?
(ii) The two cards are replaced and the pack shuffled. Four cards are chosen from the pack
and placed side by side on the table. What is the probability that these four cards are all
from different suits?

34. ’97 9a A bag contains two red balls, one black ball, and one white ball. Andrew selects one ball from
the bag and keeps it hidden. He then selects a second ball, also keeping it hidden.
(i) Draw a tree diagram to show all the possible outcomes.
(ii) Find the probability that both the selected balls are red.
(iii) Find the probability that at least one of the selected balls is red.
(iv) Andrew drops one of the selected balls and we can see that it is red.
What is the probability that the ball that is still hidden is also red?

35. ’88 9b (i) A die whose faces are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 is tossed twice.
The sum S of the numbers which appear uppermost on the die is calculated.
Find the probability that S is greater than 8.

(ii) It is known that a 4 appears on the die at least once in the two throws.
Find the probability that S is greater than 8.

Question 10s

*36. ’05 10b Xuan and Yvette would like to meet at a cafe on Monday. They each agree to come to the
cafe sometime between 12 noon and 1 pm, wait for 15 minutes, and then leave if they have
not seen the other person.
Their arrival times can be represented by the point ( x, y ) in the Cartesian plane, where x
represents the fraction of an hour after 12 noon that Xuan arrives, and y represents the
fraction of an hour after 12 noon that Yvette arrives.
1 2
Thus  ,  represents Xuan arriving at 12:20 pm and Yvette arriving at 12:24 pm. Note
3 5
that the point ( x, y ) lies somewhere in the unit square 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 and 0 ≤ y ≤ 1 as shown in the
diagram.
 1 1
(i) Explain why Xuan and Yvette will meet if x − y ≤ or y − x ≤ .
4 4

(ii) The probability that they will meet is equal to the area of the part of the region given by
the inequalities in part (i) that lies within the unit square 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 and 0 ≤ y ≤ 1 .
Find the probability that they will meet.

(iii) Xuan and Yvette agree to try to meet again on Tuesday. They agree to arrive between
12 noon and 1 pm, but on this occasion they agree to wait for t minutes before leaving.
For what value of t do they have a 50% chance of meeting?

*37. ’98 10a A game is played in which two coloured dice are thrown once. The six faces of the blue die
are numbered 4, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 12. The six faces of the pink die are numbered 2, 3, 5, 7, 11
and 13. The player wins if the number on the pink die is larger than the number on the blue
die.
(i) By drawing up a table of possible outcomes, or otherwise, calculate the probability of
the player winning a game.
(ii) Calculate the probability that the player wins at least once in two successive games.

38. ’94 10a David has invented a game for one person. He throws two ordinary dice repeatedly until the
sum of the two numbers shown is either 7 or 9. If the sum is 9, David wins. If the sum is 7,
David loses. If the sum is any other number, he continues to throw until it is 7 or 9.
1
(i) Show that the probability that David wins on his first throw of the dice is .
9
(ii) Calculate the probability that a second throw is needed.
(iii) What is the probability that David wins on his first, second, or third throw?
Leave your answer in unsimplified form.
(iv) Calculate the probability that David wins the game.

*39. ’89 10a In the Jackpot Lottery, the probability of the Jackpot prize being won in any draw is
approximately 1 in 50.
(i) What is the probability that the Jackpot prize will be won in each of three consecutive
draws?
(ii) How many consecutive draws must be made for it to be 99% certain that a Jackpot prize
will have been won?

New Format HSCs

40. ’12 13c Two buckets each contain red marbles and white marbles. Bucket A contains 3 red and 2
white marbles. Bucket B contains 3 red and 4 white marbles.
Chris randomly chooses one marble from each bucket.
(i) What is the probability that both marbles are red?
(ii) What is the probability that at least one of the marbles is white?
(iii) What is the probability that both marbles are the same colour?
41. ’13 Q5 A bag contains 4 red marbles and 6 blue marbles. Three marbles are selected at random
without replacement. What is the probability that at least one of the marbles selected is red?
1 1 5 29
(A) (B) (C) (D)
6 2 6 30

*42. ’13 15d Pat and Chandra are playing a game. They take turns throwing two dice. The game is won by
the first player to throw a double six. Pat starts the game.
(i) Find the probability that Pat wins the game on the first throw.
(ii) What is the probability that Pat wins the game on the first or on the second throw?
(iii) Find the probability that Pat eventually wins the game.

Extension 1 (based on 2 unit work only)

1. ’11 6c A game is played by throwing darts at a target. A player can choose to throw two or three
darts.
Darcy plays two games. In Game 1, he chooses to throw two darts, and wins if he hits the
target at least once. In Game 2, he chooses to throw three darts, and wins if he hits the target
at least twice.
The probability that Darcy hits the target on any throw is p , where 0 < p < 1 .

(i) Show that the probability that Darcy wins Game 1 is 2 p − p 2 .

(ii) Show that the probability that Darcy wins Game 2 is 3 p 2 − 2 p 3 .

(iii) Prove that Darcy is more likely to win Game 1 than Game 2.
(iv) Find the value of p for which Darcy is twice as likely to win Game 1 as he is to win
Game 2.

Extension 2 (based on 2 unit Probability only)

1. ’10 3c Two identical biased coins are each more likely to land showing heads than showing tails.
The two coins are tossed together, and the outcome is recorded. After a large number of trials
it is observed that the probability that the two coins land showing a head and a tail is 0.48.
What is the probability that both coins land showing heads?
2. ’97 3c In a game, two players take turns at drawing, and immediately replacing, a marble from a bag
containing two green and three red marbles. The game is won by player A drawing a green
marble, or player B drawing a red marble.
Player A draws first.
Find the probability that:
(i) A wins on her first draw;
(ii) B wins on her first draw;
(iii) A wins in less than four of her turns;
(iv) A wins eventually.

3. ’98 4c An urn contains 3 red balls and w white balls.

1
Sue draws two balls together from the urn. The probability that they have the same colour is .
2
Bill adopts a different procedure. He draws one ball from the urn, notes its colour and
replaces it. He then draws a second ball from the urn and notes its colour. The probability that
5
both balls have the same colour is now .
8
Find all possible values of w .

4. ’94 Q5 (a) Let f ( x ) =

( x − 2 )( x + 1) for x ≠ 5 .
5− x
18
(i) Show that f ( x ) = − x − 4 + .
5− x
(ii) Explain why the graph of y = f ( x ) approaches that of y = − x − 4 as x → ∞ and
as x → −∞ .
(iii) Find the values of x for which f ( x ) is positive, and the values of x for which
f ( x ) is negative.

(iv) Using part (i), show that the graph of y = f ( x ) has two stationary points.
(There is no need to find the y coordinates of the stationary points.)

(v) Sketch the curve y = f ( x ) . Label all asymptotes, and show the x intercepts.

(b) A jar contains w white and r red jellybeans. Three jellybeans are taken at random from
the jar and eaten.
(i) Write down an expression, in terms of w and r , for the probability that these 3
jellybeans were white.
Gary observed that if the jar had initially contained ( w + 1) white and r red jellybeans,
then the probability that the 3 eaten jellybeans were white would have been double that
in part (i).
w2 − w − 2
(ii) Show that r = .
5− w
(iii) Using part (a)(v), or otherwise, determine all possible numbers of white and red
jellybeans.
5. ’08 7a An urn contains n red balls, n white balls and n blue balls. Three balls are drawn at random
from the urn, one at a time, without replacement.
(i) What is the probability, ps , that the three balls are all the same colour?

(ii) What is the probability, pd , that the three balls are all of different colours?

(iii) What is the probability, pm , that two balls are of one colour and the third is of a
different colour?
(iv) If n is large, what is the approximate ratio ps : pd : pm ?

6. ’99 7b A player has one token and needs exactly five tokens to win a prize. He plays a game where
he can vary the number of tokens he bets. At each stage he either doubles the number of
tokens he bets or loses the tokens he bets. The probability that he doubles the number of
tokens he bets is p and the probability that he loses the number of tokens he bets is q = 1 − p .
His strategy is to reach his goal of exactly five tokens as quickly as possible.
The diagram shows the possible outcomes in terms of number of tokens and the probabilities
associated with each stage.

(i) Starting with one token, what is the probability that he loses all of his tokens without
ever having four tokens?
(ii) What is the probability that he obtains four tokens once and then loses all of his tokens
without ever having four tokens again?
1
(iii) If p = , find the probability that he wins a prize.
2

7. ’93 7a In the next 7 days, called day 1, day 2, . . . , day 7, Esther and George must each take 3 days
in a row off work. They choose their consecutive 3 days randomly and independently of each
other.
1
(i) Show that the probability that they both have day 1 off together is .
25
(ii) What is the probability that day 2 is the first day that they both have off together?
(iii) Find the probability that Esther and George have at least one day off together.

8. ’11 8b A bag contains seven balls numbered from 1 to 7. A ball is chosen at random and its number
is noted. The ball is then returned to the bag. This is done a total of seven times.
(i) What is the probability that each ball is selected exactly once?
(ii) What is the probability that at least one ball is not selected?
(iii) What is the probability that exactly one of the balls is not selected?
 1
9. ’09 8bc (b) Let n be a positive integer greater than 1. The area of the region under the curve y =
x
from x = n − 1 to x = n is between the areas of two rectangles, as shown in the diagram.

n n
−  1
Show that e n −1
< 1 −  < e −1 .
 n

(c) A game is being played by n people, A1 , A2 , ..., An , sitting around a table. Each person
has a card with their own name on it and all the cards are placed in a box in the middle
of the table. Each person in turn, starting with A1 , draws a card at random from the box.
If the person draws their own card, they win the game and the game ends. Otherwise,
the card is returned to the box and the next person draws a card at random. The game
continues until someone wins.
Let W be the probability that A1 wins the game.
1 1
Let p = and q = 1 − .
n n
(i) Show that W = p + q nW .
(ii) Let m be a fixed positive integer and let Wm be the probability that A1 wins in no
more than m attempts.
Wm
Use part (b) to show that, if n is large, is approximately equal to 1 − e − m .
W

10. ’82 8ii Eight players enter a knock-out singles tennis tournament in which each of the four first round
winners plays one second round game to decide who enters the final.
Assuming that all players are equally likely to win a game, show that the probability that two
1
particular entrants play each other in the tournament is .
4
Also show that if sixteen persons enter the tournament, then the probability that the two
1
players meet is .
8
Prove that for a similar knock-out tournament for 2 n players, the probability that two players
meet is 21− n .
Answers
19 3 1
1. 16 2. 3. 4.
30 5 8
22 1 3 8
5. 6. (i) (ii) (iii)
45 11 11 11
1 11
7. (i) (ii)
12 12
5 5 16
8. (i) (ii) (iii)
42 21 21
1 1 1 5
9. (i) (ii) 10. (i) (ii)
6 2 6 12
11. (i) 0.56 (ii) 0.38
12. (i) 0.34 (ii) 0.51 (iii) 0.49
3 1 3
13. (i) (ii) (iii)
5 10 10
1 1 32
14. (i) (ii) (iii)
3 3 243
1617 42934 10 000
15. (i) (ii) (iv)
44551 44551 44551
1 11
16. (ii) (ii)
3 18
11 1 1291
17. (i) (ii) (iii)
36 9 1296
1 1 11
18. (i) (ii) (iii)
36 46 656 36
7 8 4 3
19. (ii) (iii) 20. (ii) (iii)
27 9 7 7
564
21. (i) 0.1875 (ii) 0.015625 22.
625
1 57 440
23. (i) (ii) 24.
20 8000 2907
1 1
25. 0.16 26. (i) (ii)
5 120
1 1 2
27. (i) (ii) (iii)
5 2 5
9 17 3
28. (i) (ii) (iii) 29. (ii) 0.35
14 42 7
1 1 28 91
30. (i) (ii) (iii) 31.
3 55 55 216
13 2197
32. (i) 0.0225 (ii) 0.17 33. (i) (ii)
17 20825
1 5 1  1
34. (ii) (iii) (iii)  NOT 
6 6 3  5
5 4 7
35. (i) (ii) 36. (ii) (iii) 17 min 34 s
18 11 16
7 203
37. (i) (ii)
18 324
2
13 1 1 13 1  13  2
38. (ii) (iii) + × + ×  (iv)
18 9 9 18 9  18  5
 1
39. (i) (ii) 228
125 000
9 26 17
40. (i) (ii) (iii)
35 35 35
1 2521 36
41. C 42. (i) (ii) (iii)
36 46 656 71

Extension 1
7 − 17
1. (iv) p= = 0.3596
8

Extension 2
1. 0.36
2 9 1622 10
2. (i) (ii) (iii) (iv)
5 25 3125 19
3. w =1
4. (a) (iii) +ve: x < −1, 2 < x < 5 −ve: −1 < x < 2, x > 5
(v)

−4 − 1 2 5

−4

w w −1 w−2
(b) (i) × × (iii) 2R/3W or 10R/4W
w + r w + r −1 w + r − 2
5. (i)
( n − 1)( n − 2 ) (ii)
2n 2
(iii) 1 −
( n − 1)( n − 2 ) − 2n 2
( 3n − 1)( 3n − 2 ) ( 3n − 1)( 3n − 2 ) ( 3n − 1)( 3n − 2 ) ( 3n − 1)( 3n − 2 )
(iv) 1: 2 : 6
1
6. (i) q (1 + p ) (ii) p 2 q 3 (1 + p ) (iii)
5
3 19
7. (ii) (iii)
25 25
7
6! 6!  7   6  7!  1 
8. (i) (ii) 1− 6 (iii)   ×   × ×  
76 7  1   1  2!  7 