Chapter 1
Number and Quantity
Course: Core Academic Skills For Educators Combined Test 5752
Subject: Core Academic Skills Educators Mathematics 5733
Chapter: Data Interpretation And Representation Statistics And Probability
Probability is the mathematical study of uncertainty. It measures how likely an event is to occur in a given situation. In real life, probability is used in education, business, science, health, and everyday decisions such as predicting weather or calculating risks. Understanding probability helps in interpreting data and solving problems logically.
The general definition of probability is:
P(Event) = Number of favorable outcomes ÷ Total number of possible outcomes
This definition assumes each outcome in the sample space is equally likely. The sample space is the complete set of all possible outcomes of an experiment.
Simple probability in detail
A simple probability involves only one event. For example:
- Tossing a coin: P(heads) = 1/2 because there are 2 possible outcomes.
- Rolling a die: P(rolling an even number) = 3/6 = 1/2 because the even numbers are 2, 4, and 6.
- Drawing from a deck: P(king) = 4/52 = 1/13 because there are 4 kings in a standard deck.