Probability Basics

Probability • Topic 19 • intermediate

🌳 Probability Trees and Conditional Probability

Tree diagrams help visualize sequences of events and calculate complex probabilities systematically.

Tree Diagrams

Branches: Show possible outcomes

Probabilities: Written on branches

Endpoints: Show final outcomes

Multiplication: Along branches

Conditional Probability

P(A|B): Probability of A given B

Formula: P(A|B) = P(A and B) / P(B)

Example: P(Rain|Cloudy)

🎲 Tree Diagram Example

Example: Two Coin Tosses

Start
First Toss
Second Toss
Outcome
H (0.5)
H (0.5)
T (0.5)
HH (0.25)
HT (0.25)
T (0.5)
H (0.5)
T (0.5)
TH (0.25)
TT (0.25)
Calculations:

P(HH) = 0.5 × 0.5 = 0.25

P(exactly one H) = P(HT) + P(TH) = 0.25 + 0.25 = 0.5

P(at least one H) = 1 - P(TT) = 1 - 0.25 = 0.75

Key Rules:

Along branches: Multiply probabilities

Different paths: Add probabilities

All outcomes sum to 1: 0.25 + 0.25 + 0.25 + 0.25 = 1

🎯 Conditional Probability Example

Scenario: A class has 30 students. 18 play football, 12 play basketball, 6 play both sports.

Given Information:

Total students: 30

Play football (F): 18

Play basketball (B): 12

Play both (F ∩ B): 6

Questions:

P(B|F) = P(plays basketball given plays football)

= P(B ∩ F) / P(F)

= (6/30) / (18/30) = 6/18 = 1/3

🎯 Interactive Practice

Question 1: Drawing two cards without replacement from a deck. What is P(both are hearts)?

Hint: First card P(Heart) = 13/52, Second card P(Heart|First was Heart) = 12/51

Question 2: A bag has 4 red and 6 blue balls. Draw 2 balls without replacement. What is P(first red, second blue)?

Question 3: In a class, P(studies Math) = 0.8, P(passes test) = 0.9, P(passes test | studies Math) = 0.95. What is P(studies Math | passes test)?