Chapter-15: Probability

Exercise 15.1 (Page 283 of Grade 9 NCERT Textbook)

Q1. In a cricket match, a batswoman hits a boundary 6 times out of 30 balls she
plays. Find the probability that she did not hit a boundary.

Difficulty Level:
Easy

Known/given:
Total number of balls played and number of times the batswoman hits the boundary.

Unknown:
Probability of the batswoman not hitting a boundary.

Reasoning:
Number of instances that event takes place
Probability of an event, P ( E ) =
Total number of instances

Solution:
Number of balls played = 30

Number of balls the batswoman hits boundary = 6

Number of balls the batswoman does not hit a boundary = 30 – 6 = 24

Number of balls the batswoman

does not hit the boundary
Probability of the batswoman not hitting a boundary =
Total number of balls played
24 4
= =
30 5

Q2. 1500 families with 2 children were selected randomly, and the following
data were recorded:

Number of girls in a family 2 1 0

Number of families 475 814 211

Compute the probability of a family, chosen at random, having

(i) 2 girls (ii) 1 girl (iii) No girl

Also check whether the sum of these probabilities is 1.

Difficulty Level:
Easy

Known/given:
Number of families having 2 girl child,1 girl child, no girl child and the total number of
families.

Unknown:
Probability of selecting family having 2 girl child,1 girl child, no girl child and whether
sum of these probabilities is 1.

Reasoning:
Probability of selecting a family having 2 girls, 1 girl and no girl will be the ratio of the
number of girls in the family and the total number of families.

Number of instances that event takes place

Probability of an event, P ( E ) =
Total number of instances

Solution:
Total number of families = 1500
Number of families having 2 girls = 475
Number of families having 1 girl = 814
Number of families having no girl = 211

Family having 2 girls

Probability of family having 2 girls, P1 =
Total number of families
Therefore, P1 = 475 = 19
1500 60

Family having 1 girl

Probability of family having 1 girl, P2 =
Total number of families

Therefore, P2 = 814 = 407

1500 750

Family having no girl

Probability of family having no girl, P3 =
Total number of families

Therefore, P3 = 211
1500

Sum of all the three probabilities = P1 + P2 + P3

475 814 211
= + +
1500 1500 1500
475 + 814 + 211
=
1500
1500
=
1500
=1
Q3. Refer to Example 5, Section 14.4, Chapter 14. Find the probability that
a student of the class was born in August.

Example 5, Section 14.4, Chapter 14: In a particular section of Class IX,

40 students were asked about the months of their birth and the following
graph was prepared for the data so obtained:

Difficulty Level:
Medium

Known/given:
Total number of students in class and number of students born in each month.

Unknown:
Probability of students born in the month of August.

Reasoning:
The probability that student was born in a certain month is given by the ratio of students
born in a certain month and the total number of students born.

Number of instances that event takes place

Probability of an event, P ( E ) =
Total number of instances

Solution:
The total number of students in class = 40
Number of students born in August = 6
Number of students born in August
Probability of students born in August =
Total number of students in class
6
=
40
3
=
20
Q4. Three coins are tossed simultaneously 200 times with the following
frequencies of different outcomes:

Outcome 3 heads 2 heads 1 head No head

Frequency 23 72 77 28

If the three coins are simultaneously tossed again, compute the probability
of 2 heads coming up.

Difficulty Level:
Medium

Known/given:
Total number of tosses and frequencies of different outcomes.

Unknown:
Probability of 2 heads coming up when three coins are tossed simultaneously.

Reasoning:
Probability of 2 heads coming up when three coins are tossed simultaneously is given
by the ratio of the number of times a particular outcome occurs and the total number of
tosses.
Number of instances that event takes place
Probability of an event, P ( E ) =
Total number of instances

Solution:
Total number of tosses = 200
Number of 2 heads outcomes = 72
Number of 2 heads outcomes
Probability of 2 heads outcomes =
Total number of tosses
72
=
200
9
=
25
Q5. An organisation selected 2400 families at random and surveyed them to
determine a relationship between income level and the number of vehicles
in a family. The information gathered is listed in the table below:

Monthly income Vehicles per family

(in ₹) 0 1 2 Above 2
Less than 7000 10 160 25 0
7000 – 10000 0 305 27 2
10000 – 13000 1 535 29 1
13000 – 16000 2 469 59 25
16000 or more 1 579 82 88

Suppose a family is chosen. Find the probability that the family chosen is
i) earning ₹ 10000 – 13000 per month and owning exactly 2 vehicles.
ii) earning ₹ 16000 or more per month and owning exactly 1 vehicle.
iii) earning less than ₹ 7000 per month and does not own any vehicle.
iv) earning ₹ 13000 – 16000 per month and owning more than 2 vehicles.
v) owning not more than 1 vehicle.

Difficulty Level:
Medium

Known/given:
Family monthly income and vehicles per family.

Unknown:
Probability of family
i) earning ₹10000 – 13000 per month and owning exactly 2 vehicles.
ii) earning ₹16000 or more per month and owning exactly 1 vehicle.
iii) earning less than ₹7000 per month and does not own any vehicle.
iv) earning ₹13000 – 16000 per month and owning more than 2 vehicles.
v) owning not more than 1 vehicle.

Reasoning:
The probability of certain event is given by the ratio of occurrence of a particular event
by the total number of events.

Number of vehicles per family

Probability of having vehicle based on the earnings =
Total number of families
Solution:
Total number of families = 2400
Family earning ₹10000 – 13000 per month and owning exactly 2 vehicles = 29
Family earning ₹16000 or more per month and owning exactly 1 vehicle = 579
Family earning less than ₹7000 per month and does not own any vehicle = 10
Family earning ₹13000 – 16000 per month and owning more than 2 vehicles = 25
Family owning not more than 1 vehicle =10+0+1+2+1+160+305+535+469+579 = 2062
(i) Probability of family earning ₹ 10000 – 13000 per month and owning exactly
29
2 vehicles =
2400
(ii) Probability of family earning ₹ 16000 or more per month and owning exactly
579
1 vehicle =
2400
(iii) Probability of family earning less than ₹ 7000 per month and does not own
10 1
any vehicle = =
2400 240
(iv) Probability of family earning ₹ 13000 – 16000 per month and owning more
25 1
than 2 vehicles = =
2400 96
2062 1031
(v) Probability of family owning not more than 1 vehicle = =
2400 1200

Q6. Refer to Table 14.7, Chapter 14.

(i) Find the probability that a student obtained less than 20% in the
mathematics test.
(ii) Find the probability that a student obtained marks 60 or above.

Table 14.7, Chapter 14, Example 7: A teacher wanted to analyse the

performance of two sections of students in a mathematics test of 100 marks.
Looking at their performances, she found that a few students got under 20
marks and a few got 70 marks or above. So, she decided to group them into
intervals of varying sizes as follows: 0 – 20, 20 – 30, . . ., 60 – 70, 70 – 100.
Then she formed the following table:

Marks Number of students

0 – 20 7
20 – 30 10
30 – 40 10
40 – 50 20
50 – 60 20
60 – 70 15
70 – above 8
Total 90
Difficulty Level:
Medium

Known/given:
Marks in different range and respective students.

Unknown:
Probability of students obtained
(i) less than 20% in math.
(ii) 60 marks or above.

Reasoning:
The probability of certain event is given by the ratio of occurrence of a particular event
by the total number of events.
Number of students in range of marks
Probability of students in range of marks =
Total number of students

Solution:
Total number of students = 90
Number of students obtained less than 20% marks = 7
Number of students obtained 60 marks or above = 15+8 = 23
7
(i) Probability of students obtained less than 20% marks =
90
23
(ii) Probability students obtained 60 marks or above =
90

Q7. To know the opinion of the students about the subject statistics, a survey of
200 students was conducted. The data is recorded in the following table.

Opinion Number of students

like 135
dislike 65

Find the probability that a student chosen at random

(i) likes statistics, (ii) does not like it.

Difficulty Level:
Medium

Known/given:
Number of students who like statistics and who do not like statistics.

Unknown:
Probability of the number of students
(i) like statistics.
(ii) do not like statistics.
Reasoning:
The probability of certain event is given by the ratio of occurrence of a particular event
by the total number of events.

Number of students like/dislike statistics

Probability of students like/dislike statistics =
Total number of students

Solution:
Total number of students = 200
Number of students who like statistics = 135
Number of students who dislike statistics = 65
135 27
(i) Probability of students who like statistics = =
200 40
65 13
(ii) Probability students who dislike statistics = =
200 40

Q8. Refer to Q.2, Exercise 14.2. What is the empirical probability that an
engineer lives:
i) less than 7 km from her place of work?
ii) more than or equal to 7 km from her place of work?
1
iii) within km from her place of work.
2
Q2, Exercise 14.2: The distance (in km) of 40 engineers from their
residence to their place of work were found as follows:
5 3 10 20 25 11 13 7 12 31
19 10 12 17 18 11 32 17 16 2
7 9 7 8 3 5 12 15 18 3
12 14 2 9 6 15 15 7 6 12

Difficulty Level:
Medium

Known/given:
Number of engineers and distance of their workplace to the residence.

Unknown:
The empirical probability that an engineer lives:
(i) less than 7 km from her place of work?
(ii) more than or equal to 7 km from her place of work?
1
(iii) within km from her place of work.
2
Reasoning:
The probability of certain event is given by the ratio of occurrence of a particular event
by the total number of events.
Number of instances that event takes place
Probability of an event, P ( E ) =
Total number of instances
Solution:
Total number of engineers = 40
Number of engineers who live less than 7 km from their place of work = 9
Number of engineers who live more than or equal to 7 km from their workplace = 31
1
Number of engineers who live within km from their place of work = 0
2
(i) Probability of an engineer who lives less than 7 km from their place of work
9
=
40
(ii) Probability of an engineer who lives more than or equal to 7 km from their
31
place of work =
40
1
(iii) Probability of an engineer who lives within km from their place of work
2
0
= =0
40

Q11. Eleven bags of wheat flour, each marked 5 kg, actually contained the
following weights of flour (in kg):
4.97 5.05 5.08 5.03 5.00 5.06 5.08 4.98 5.04 5.07 5.00
Find the probability that any of these bags chosen at random contains more
than 5 kg of flour.

Difficulty Level:
Easy

Known/given:
Number of bags of specific weights.

Unknown:
Probability of any of the bags containing more than 5 kg of flour.

Reasoning:
The probability of certain event is given by the ratio of occurrence of a particular event
by the total number of events.

Number of instances that event takes place

Probability of an event, P ( E ) =
Total number of instances
Solution:
Total number of bags = 11
Number of bags containing more than 5 kg of flour = 7
7
Probability of a bag containing more than 5 kg of flour =
11

Q12. In Q.5, Exercise 14.2, you were asked to prepare a frequency distribution
table, regarding the concentration of Sulphur dioxide in the air in parts per
million of a certain city for 30 days. Using this table, find the probability of
the concentration of Sulphur dioxide in the interval 0.12 – 0.16 on any of
these days.

Q5, Exercise 14.2: A study was conducted to find out the concentration of
Sulphur dioxide in the air in parts per million (ppm) of a certain city. The
data obtained for 30 days is as follows:

0.03 0.08 0.08 0.09 0.04 0.17

0.16 0.05 0.02 0.06 0.18 0.20
0.11 0.08 0.12 0.13 0.22 0.07
0.08 0.01 0.10 0.06 0.09 0.18
0.11 0.07 0.05 0.07 0.01 0.04

Difficulty Level:
Easy

Known/given:
Concentration of Sulphur dioxide for 30 days.

Unknown:
Probability of the concentration of Sulphur dioxide in the interval of 0.12 – 0.16.

Reasoning:
The probability of certain event is given by the ratio of occurrence of a particular event
by the total number of events.
Number of instances that event takes place
Probability of an event, P ( E ) =
Total number of instances

Solution:
Total number of days = 30
Number of days on which concentration was in the interval 0.12 – 0.16 = 2
2 1
Probability of the concentration of Sulphur dioxide in the interval 0.12 – 0.16 = =
30 15
Q13. In Q.1, Exercise 14.2, you were asked to prepare a frequency distribution
table regarding the blood groups of 30 students of a class. Use this table to
determine the probability that a student of this class, selected at random, has
blood group AB.

Q1, Exercise 14.2: The blood groups of 30 students of Class VIII are
recorded as follows:
A, B, O, O, AB, O, A, O, B, A, O, B, A, O, O,
A, AB, O, A, A, O, O, AB, B, A, O, B, A, B, O.

Difficulty Level:
Easy

Known/given:
Number of students and their blood group.

Unknown:
Probability of students having blood group AB.

Reasoning:
The probability of certain event is given by the ratio of occurrence of a particular event
by the total number of events.

Number of instances that event takes place

Probability of an event, P ( E ) =
Total number of instances

Solution:
Total number of students = 30
Number of students having blood group AB = 3
3 1
Probability of students having blood group AB = =
30 10