1. The Venn diagram below shows events A and B where P(A) = 0.3, P( A  B) = 0.

6 and
P(A ∩ B) = 0.1. The values m, n, p and q are probabilities.

(a) (i) Write down the value of n.

(ii) Find the value of m, of p, and of q.

(4)

(b) Find P(B′).

(2)
(Total 6 marks)

2. In a group of 16 students, 12 take art and 8 take music. One student takes neither art nor music.
The Venn diagram below shows the events art and music. The values p, q, r and s represent
numbers of students.

IB Questionbank Maths SL 1
 (a) (i) Write down the value of s.

(ii) Find the value of q.

(iii) Write down the value of p and of r.

(5)

(b) (i) A student is selected at random. Given that the student takes music, write down the
probability the student takes art.

(ii) Hence, show that taking music and taking art are not independent events.
(4)

(c) Two students are selected at random, one after the other. Find the probability that the
first student takes only music and the second student takes only art.
(4)
(Total 13 marks)

3. Consider the events A and B, where P(A) = 0.5, P(B) = 0.7 and P(A ∩ B) = 0.3.

The Venn diagram below shows the events A and B, and the probabilities p, q and r.

(a) Write down the value of

(i) p;

(ii) q;

(iii) r.
(3)

IB Questionbank Maths SL 2
 (b) Find the value of P(A | B′).
(2)

(c) Hence, or otherwise, show that the events A and B are not independent.
(1)
(Total 6 marks)

1
4. José travels to school on a bus. On any day, the probability that José will miss the bus is .
3
7
If he misses his bus, the probability that he will be late for school is .
8
3
If he does not miss his bus, the probability that he will be late is .
8
Let E be the event “he misses his bus” and F the event “he is late for school”.
The information above is shown on the following tree diagram.

(a) Find

(i) P(E ∩ F);

(ii) P(F).
(4)

IB Questionbank Maths SL 3
 (b) Find the probability that

(i) José misses his bus and is not late for school;

(ii) José missed his bus, given that he is late for school.
(5)

The cost for each day that José catches the bus is 3 euros. José goes to school on Monday and
Tuesday.

(c) Copy and complete the probability distribution table.

X (cost in euros) 0 3 6
1
P (X)
9
(3)

(d) Find the expected cost for José for both days.
(2)
(Total 14 marks)

5. The diagram below shows the probabilities for events A and B, with P(A′) = p.

(a) Write down the value of p.

(1)

IB Questionbank Maths SL 4
 (b) Find P(B).
(3)

(c) Find P(A′ | B).

(3)
(Total 7 marks)

6. Two boxes contain numbered cards as shown below.

Two cards are drawn at random, one from each box.

(a) Copy and complete the table below to show all nine equally likely outcomes.

3, 9
3, 10
3, 10
(2)

Let S be the sum of the numbers on the two cards.

(b) Write down all the possible values of S.

(2)

(c) Find the probability of each value of S.

(2)

(d) Find the expected value of S.

(3)

IB Questionbank Maths SL 5
 (e) Anna plays a game where she wins $50 if S is even and loses $30 if S is odd.
Anna plays the game 36 times. Find the amount she expects to have at the end of the 36
games.
(3)
(Total 12 marks)

7. In a class of 100 boys, 55 boys play football and 75 boys play rugby. Each boy must play at
least one sport from football and rugby.

(a) (i) Find the number of boys who play both sports.

(ii) Write down the number of boys who play only rugby.
(3)

(b) One boy is selected at random.

(i) Find the probability that he plays only one sport.

(ii) Given that the boy selected plays only one sport, find the probability that he plays
rugby.
(4)

Let A be the event that a boy plays football and B be the event that a boy plays rugby.

(c) Explain why A and B are not mutually exclusive.

(2)

(d) Show that A and B are not independent.

(3)
(Total 12 marks)

8. A four-sided die has three blue faces and one red face. The die is rolled.

Let B be the event a blue face lands down, and R be the event a red face lands down.

(a) Write down

(i) P (B);

(ii) P (R).
(2)

IB Questionbank Maths SL 6
 (b) If the blue face lands down, the die is not rolled again. If the red face lands down, the die
is rolled once again. This is represented by the following tree diagram, where p, s, t are
probabilities.

Find the value of p, of s and of t.

(2)

Guiseppi plays a game where he rolls the die. If a blue face lands down, he scores 2 and is
finished. If the red face lands down, he scores 1 and rolls one more time. Let X be the total
score obtained.

3
(c) (i) Show that P (X = 3) = .
16

(ii) Find P (X = 2).

(3)

(d) (i) Construct a probability distribution table for X.

(ii) Calculate the expected value of X.

(5)

(e) If the total score is 3, Guiseppi wins $10. If the total score is 2, Guiseppi gets nothing.

Guiseppi plays the game twice. Find the probability that he wins exactly $10.
(4)
(Total 16 marks)

IB Questionbank Maths SL 7
9. There are 20 students in a classroom. Each student plays only one sport. The table below gives
their sport and gender.

Football Tennis Hockey

Female 5 3 3
Male 4 2 3

(a) One student is selected at random.

(i) Calculate the probability that the student is a male or is a tennis player.

(ii) Given that the student selected is female, calculate the probability that the student
does not play football.
(4)

(b) Two students are selected at random. Calculate the probability that neither student plays
football.
(3)
(Total 7 marks)

10. Let A and B be independent events, where P(A) = 0.6 and P(B) = x.

(a) Write down an expression for P(A ∩ B).

(1)

(b) Given that P(A  B) = 0.8,

(i) find x;

(ii) find P(A ∩ B).

(4)

(c) Hence, explain why A and B are not mutually exclusive.

(1)
(Total 6 marks)

IB Questionbank Maths SL 8
11. Two standard six-sided dice are tossed. A diagram representing the sample space is shown
below.

Score on second die

1 2 3 4 5 6
1 • • • • • •
2 • • • • • •
Score on first die 3 • • • • • •
4 • • • • • •
5 • • • • • •
6 • • • • • •

Let X be the sum of the scores on the two dice.

(a) Find

(i) P(X = 6);

(ii) P(X > 6);

(iii) P(X = 7 | X > 5).

(6)

(b) Elena plays a game where she tosses two dice.

If the sum is 6, she wins 3 points.

If the sum is greater than 6, she wins 1 point.
If the sum is less than 6, she loses k points.

Find the value of k for which Elena’s expected number of points is zero.
(7)
(Total 13 marks)

IB Questionbank Maths SL 9
12. The Venn diagram below shows information about 120 students in a school. Of these, 40 study
Chinese (C), 35 study Japanese (J), and 30 study Spanish (S).

A student is chosen at random from the group. Find the probability that the student

(a) studies exactly two of these languages;

(1)

(b) studies only Japanese;

(2)

(c) does not study any of these languages.

(3)
(Total 6 marks)

IB Questionbank Maths SL 10
13. A bag contains four apples (A) and six bananas (B). A fruit is taken from the bag and eaten.
Then a second fruit is taken and eaten.

(a) Complete the tree diagram below by writing probabilities in the spaces provided.

(3)

(b) Find the probability that one of each type of fruit was eaten.
(3)
(Total 6 marks)

14. Let A and B be independent events such that P(A) = 0.3 and P(B) = 0.8.

(a) Find P(A Ç B).

(b) Find P(A  B).

(c) Are A and B mutually exclusive? Justify your answer.

(Total 6 marks)

2 1
15. Events E and F are independent, with P(E) = and P(E Ç F) = . Calculate
3 3

(a) P(F);

(b) P(E  F).

(Total 6 marks)

IB Questionbank Maths SL 11
 1 3 7
16. Let A and B be events such that P(A) = , P(B) = and P(A  B) = .
2 4 8

(a) Calculate P(A Ç B).

(b) Calculate P(AïB).

(c) Are the events A and B independent? Give a reason for your answer.

Working:

Answers:

(a) …………………………………………..
(b) …………………………………………..
(c) ……………………………………..........
(Total 6 marks)

17. A discrete random variable X has a probability distribution as shown in the table below.

x 0 1 2 3

P(X = x) 0.1 a 0.3 b

(a) Find the value of a + b.

(2)

(b) Given that E(X) =1.5, find the value of a and of b.

(4)
(Total 6 marks)

IB Questionbank Maths SL 12
18. The probability distribution of the discrete random variable X is given by the following table.

x 1 2 3 4 5

P(X = x) 0.4 p 0.2 0.07 0.02

(a) Find the value of p.

(b) Calculate the expected value of X.

(Total 6 marks)

19. The probability distribution of a discrete random variable X is given by

x2
P(X = x) = , x  {1, 2, k}, where k > 0.
14

(a) Write down P(X = 2).

(1)

(b) Show that k = 3.

(4)

(c) Find E(X).

(2)
(Total 7 marks)

20. In a game a player rolls a biased four-faced die. The probability of each possible score is shown
below.

Score 1 2 3 4
1 2 1
Probability x
5 5 10

(a) Find the value of x.

(2)

IB Questionbank Maths SL 13
 (b) Find E(X).
(3)

(c) The die is rolled twice. Find the probability of obtaining two scores of 3.
(2)
(Total 7 marks)

1
21. The probability of obtaining heads on a biased coin is .
3

(a) Sammy tosses the coin three times. Find the probability of getting

(i) three heads;

(ii) two heads and one tail.

(5)

(b) Amir plays a game in which he tosses the coin 12 times.

(i) Find the expected number of heads.

(ii) Amir wins $ 10 for each head obtained, and loses $ 6 for each tail.
Find his expected winnings.
(5)
(Total 10 marks)

ü¢

IB Questionbank Maths SL 14
1. (a) (i) n = 0.1 A1 N1

(ii) m = 0.2, p = 0.3, q = 0.4 A1A1A1 N3 4

(b) appropriate approach

e.g. P(B′) =1– P(B), m + q, 1–(n + p) (M1)
P(B′) = 0.6 A1 N2 2
[6]

2. (a) (i) s=1 A1 N1

(ii) evidence of appropriate approach (M1)

e.g. 21–16, 12 + 8 – q =15
q=5 A1 N2

(iii) p = 7, r = 3 A1A1 N2 5

5
(b) (i) P(art|music) = A2 N2
8

(ii) METHOD 1
12  3 
Part     A1
16  4 

evidence of correct reasoning R1

3 5
e.g. 
4 8
the events are not independent AG N0

METHOD 2
96  3
P(art) × P(music) =   A1
256  8

evidence of correct reasoning R1

12 8 5
e.g.  
16 16 16
the events are not independent AG N0 4

IB Questionbank Maths SL 1
 3
(c) P(first takes only music) = = (seen anywhere) A1
16
7
P(second takes only art)= (seen anywhere) A1
15
evidence of valid approach (M1)
3 7
e.g. 
16 15
21  7 
P(music and art)=   A1 N2 4
240  80 
[13]

3. (a) (i) p = 0.2 A1 N1

(ii) q = 0.4 A1 N1

(iii) r = 0.1 A1 N1

2
(b) P(A│B′) = A2 N2
3

0.2
Note: Award A1 for an unfinished answer such as .
0.3

(c) valid reason R1

2
e.g. ≠ 0.5, 0.35 ≠ 0.3
3
thus, A and B are not independent AG N0
[6]

7
4. (a) (i) A1 N1
24

IB Questionbank Maths SL 2
 (ii) evidence of multiplying along the branches (M1)
2 5 1 7
e.g.  , 
3 8 3 8
adding probabilities of two mutually exclusive paths (M1)
1 7   2 3  1 1  2 5
e.g.       ,       
3 8  3 8 3 8  3 8
13
P(F) = A1 N2
24

1 1
(b) (i)  (A1)
3 8
1
A1
24

(ii) recognizing this is P(E│F) (M1)

7 13
e.g. 
24 24
168  7 
  A2 N3
312  13 

(c)
X (cost in euros) 0 3 6
1 4 4
P (X)
9 9 9

A2A1 N3

(d) correct substitution into E(X) formula (M1)

1 4 4 12 24
e.g. 0 ×  3  6  , 
9 9 9 9 9
E(X) = 4 (euros) A1 N2
[14]

4
5. (a) p= A1 N1
5

IB Questionbank Maths SL 3
 (b) multiplying along the branches (M1)
1 1 12
e.g.  ,
5 4 40
adding products of probabilities of two mutually exclusive paths (M1)
1 1 4 3 1 12
e.g.    , 
5 4 5 8 20 40
14  7 
P(B) =   A1 N2
40  20 

(c) appropriate approach which must include A′ (may be seen on diagram) (M1)
P( A   B )  P( A  B) 
e.g.  do not accept 
P( B )  P( B) 
4 3

P(A′│B) = 5 8 (A1)
7
20
12  6 
P(A′│B) =   A1 N2
14  7 
[7]

6. (a)
3, 9 4, 9 5, 9
3, 10 4, 10 5, 10
3, 10 4, 10 5, 10

A2 N2

(b) 12, 13, 14, 15 (accept 12, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 14, 15, 15) A2 N2

1 3 3 2
(c) P(12) = , P(13) = , P(14) = , P(15) = A2 N2
9 9 9 9

(d) correct substitution into formula for E(X) A1

1 3 3 2
e.g. E(S) = 12 ×  13   14   15 
9 9 9 9
123
E(S) = A2 N2
9

IB Questionbank Maths SL 4
 (e) METHOD 1
correct expression for expected gain E(A) for 1 game (A1)
4 5
e.g.  50   30
9 9
50
E(A) =
9
amount at end = expected gain for 1 game × 36 (M1)
= 200 (dollars) A1 N2

METHOD 2
attempt to find expected number of wins and losses (M1)
4 5
e.g.  36,  36
5 9
attempt to find expected gain E(G) (M1)
e.g. 16 × 50 – 30 × 20
E(G) = 200 (dollars) A1 N2
[12]

7. (a) (i) evidence of substituting into n(A  B) = n(A) + n(B) – n(A ∩ B) (M1)
e.g. 75 + 55 – 100, Venn diagram
30 A1 N2

(ii) 45 A1 N1

(b) (i) METHOD 1

evidence of using complement, Venn diagram (M1)
e.g. 1 – p, 100 – 30
70  7 
  A1 N2
100  10 

METHOD 2
attempt to find P(only one sport), Venn diagram (M1)
25 45
e.g. 
100 100
70  7 
  A1 N2
100  10 

IB Questionbank Maths SL 5
 45  9 
(ii)   A2 N2
70  14 

(c) valid reason in words or symbols (R1)

e. g. P(A ∩ B) = 0 if mutually exclusive, P(A ∩ B) if not mutually exclusive
correct statement in words or symbols A1 N2
e.g. P(A ∩ B) = 0.3, P(A  B) ≠ P(A) + P(B), P(A) + P(B) > 1, some
students play both sports, sets intersect

(d) valid reason for independence (R1)

e.g. P(A ∩ B) = P(A) × P(B), P(B│A) = P(B)
correct substitution A1A1 N3
30 75 55 30 75
e.g.   , 
100 100 100 55 100
[12]

3
8. (a) (i) P(B) = A1 N1
4

1
(ii) P(R) = A1 N1
4

3
(b) p A1 N1
4

1 3
s , t A1 N1
4 4

(c) (i) P(X = 3)

1 3
= P (getting 1 and 2) =  A1
4 4

3
= AG N0
16

1 1 3  3
(ii) P(X = 2) =  +  or 1   (A1)
4 4 4  16 

13
= A1 N2
16

IB Questionbank Maths SL 6
 (d) (i)

X 2 3
P(X = x) 13 3
16 16

A2 N2

(ii) evidence of using E(X) = ∑xP(X = x) (M1)

 13   3 
E(X) = 2   3  (A1)
 16   16 

35  3
=  2  A1 N2
16  16 

(e) win $10 Þ scores 3 one time, 2 other time (M1)

13 3
P(3)  P(2) =  (seen anywhere) A1
16 16
evidence of recognizing there are different ways of winning $10 (M1)
 13 3 
e.g. P(3)  P(2) + P(2)  P(3), 2  ,
 16 16 
36 3 36 3
  
256 256 256 256

78  39 
P(win $10) =   A1 N3
256  128 
[16]

9. (a) (i) correct calculation (A1)

9 5 2 4 233
e.g.   ,
20 20 20 20

12  3 
P(male or tennis) =   A1 N2
20  5 

(ii) correct calculation (A1)

6 11 3  3
e.g.  ,
20 20 11

6
P(not football | female) = A1 N2
11

IB Questionbank Maths SL 7
 11 10
(b) P(first not football) = , P(second not football) = A1
20 19

11 10
P(neither football) =  A1
20 19

110  11 
P(neither football) =   A1 N1
380  38 
[7]

10. (a) P(A ∩ B) = P(A) × P(B) (= 0.6x) A1 N1

(b) (i) evidence of using P(A  B) = P(A) + P(B) – P(A)P(B) (M1)

correct substitution A1
e.g. 0.80 = 0.6 + x – 0.6x, 0.2 = 0.4x
x = 0.5 A1 N2

(ii) P(A ∩ B) = 0.3 A1 N1

(c) valid reason, with reference to P(A ∩ B) R1 N1

e.g. P(A ∩ B) ≠ 0
[6]

11. (a) (i) number of ways of getting X = 6 is 5 (A1)

5
P(X = 6) = A1 N2
36

(ii) number of ways of getting X > 6 is 21 (A1)

21  7 
P(X > 6) =   A1 N2
36  12 

6  3
(iii) P(X =7|X > 5) =   A2 N2
26  13 

IB Questionbank Maths SL 8
 (b) evidence of substituting into E(X) formula (M1)
10
finding P(X < 6) = (seen anywhere) (A2)
36
evidence of using E(W) = 0 (M1)
correct substitution A2
 5   21   10 
e.g. 3   1   k    0 , 15 + 21 – 10k = 0
 36   36   36 
36
k= (= 3.6) A1 N4
10
[13]

19
12. (a)  0.158 A1 N1
120

(b) 35  (8 + 5 + 7)(= 15) (M1)

15  3 1 
Probability =    0.125  A1 N2
120  24 8 

(c) Number studying = 76 (A1)

Number not studying = 120  number studying = 44 (M1)
44  11 
Probability =   0.367  A1 N3
120  30 
[6]

IB Questionbank Maths SL 9
13. (a)

3/9 A

A
4/10
6/9
B

4/9 A
6/10
B

5/9
B
A1A1A1 N3

 4 6  6 4
(b)      M1M1
 10 9   10 9 

48  8 
  , 0.533  A1 N1
90  15 
[6]

14. (a) Independent Þ P(A  B) = P(A)  P(B) (= 0.3  0.8) (M1)

= 0.24 A1 N2

(b) P(A  B) = P(A) + P(B)  P(A  B) (= 0.3 + 0.8  0.24) M1

= 0.86 A1 N1

(c) No, with valid reason A2 N2

eg P(A  B)  0 or P(A  B)  P(A) + P(B) or correct
numerical equivalent
[6]

IB Questionbank Maths SL 10
15. (a) For attempting to use the formula (P(E  F) = P(E)P(F)) (M1)
Correct substitution or rearranging the formula A1
1
1 2 P E  F 
eg  P(F), P(F) = , P(F) = 3
3 3 PE  2
3

1
P(F) = A1 N2
2

(b) For attempting to use the formula (P(E  F) = P(E) + P(F)

 (P(E  F)) (M1)
2 1 1
P(E  F) =   A1
3 2 3

5
=  0.833 A1 N2
6
[6]

16. (a) P(A  B) = P(A) + P(B) – P(A  B) (M1)

1 3 7
P(A  B) =  
2 4 8
3
= (A1) (C2)
8

 3
 
P( A  B )  8
(b) P(AïB) =  (M1)
P( B )  3
 
 4
1
= (A1) (C2)
2

(c) Yes, the events are independent (A1) (C1)

EITHER
P(AïB) = P(A) (R1) (C1)
OR
P(A  B) = P(A)P(B) (R1) (C1)
[6]

IB Questionbank Maths SL 11
17. (a) For summing to 1 (M1)
eg 0.1 + a + 0.3 + b = 1
a + b = 0.6 A1 N2

(b) evidence of correctly using E( X )   x f ( x) (M1)

eg 0  0.1 + 1  a + 2  0.3 + 3  b, 0.1 + a + 0.6 + 3b = 1.5

Correct equation 0 + a + 0.6 + 3b = 1.5 (a + 3b = 0.9) (A1)
Solving simultaneously gives
a = 0.45 b = 0.15 A1A1 N3
[6]

18. (a) For using  p 1 (0.4 + p + 0.2 + 0.07 + 0.02 = 1) (M1)

p = 0.31 A1 N2

(b) For using E(X) =  xP X  x  (M1)

E(X) = 1(0.4) + 2(0.31) + 3(0.2) + 4(0.07) + 5(0.02) A1

=2 A2 N2
[6]

4  2
19. (a) P(X = 2)    A1 N1 1
14  7 

1
(b) P(X = 1) = (A1)
14

k2
P(X = k) = (A1)
14
setting the sum of probabilities = 1 M1

1 4 k2
e.g.   = 1, 5 + k2 = 14
14 14 14

 k2 9
k2 = 9  accept   A1
 14 14 

k=3 AG N0 4

IB Questionbank Maths SL 12
 (c) correct substitution into E X    xP( X  x) A1

1 4 9

e.g. 1    2   3 
 14   14   14 

36  18 
E X     A1 N1 2
14  7 
[7]

20. (a) For summing to 1 (M1)

1 2 1
e.g.    x  1
5 5 10
3
x= A1 N2
10

(b) For evidence of using E(X) = ∑x f (x) (M1)

Correct calculation A1
1 2 1 3
e.g.  1  2   3   4 
5 5 10 10
25
E(X) = ( 2.5) A1 N2
10

1 1
(c)  (M1)
10 10
1
A1 N2
100
[7]

3
1
21. (a) (i) Attempt to find P(3H) =   (M1)
3
1
= A1 N2
27

(ii) Attempt to find P(2H, 1T) (M1)

2
1 2
= 3  A1
 3 3
2
= A1 N2
9

IB Questionbank Maths SL 13
 1 
(b) (i) Evidence of using np  12  (M1)
 3 
expected number of heads = 4 A1 N2

(ii) 4 heads, so 8 tails (A1)

E(winnings) = 4 × 10 – 8 × 6 (= 40 – 48) (M1)
= –$ 8 A1 N1
[10]

IB Questionbank Maths SL 14