Probability plays a very pivotal role in mathematics. Probability is defined as the chances for an event to occur. For a given situation or conditions there is always a chances for an event to likely or unlikely occur. The probability of a event is mostly between 0 to 1. The chances or probability for all the possible events to occur for a given condition add up to a 1. Therefore probability of an event is calculated by:
P (Event) = Number of outcomes favorable for the event/Total number of outcomes.
Example 1: A dice is thrown what is the probability of getting the number 5?
Solution: On throwing a dice the total number of possibilities are 6 either of the following numbers may show up i.e. {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6}.
Therefore total number of possible outcomes on throwing a dice = 6.
The number of outcomes favorable of getting the number 5 = 1.
P (5) = Number of outcomes favorable for number 5/Total number of outcomes. = 1/6.
Therefore probability of getting number 5 is P (5) = 1/6.
Example 2: A coin is tossed what is the probability of getting a tails?
Solution: On tossing a coin there are total of two possibilities either heads may show up or tails may show up.
Therefore total number of possible outcomes = 2.
The number of outcomes favorable of getting tails = 1.
P (Tails) = Number of outcomes favorable for heads/Total number of outcomes.
Therefore probability of getting tails P (T) = 1/2.