Everything you need to ace this chapter, in one place.
Notes · Mind Map · Quiz · Assertion-Reason · Case Studies · Question Bank · Past Papers
Q1. A bag contains 4 red balls and 1 blue ball. Kavya draws a ball without looking. She claims that the outcomes 'red ball' and 'blue ball' are equally likely. Using the chapter's definition of probability, her claim is —
Answer: B — The chapter explicitly states that outcomes are equally likely only when each has the same chance of occurring; here 4 red vs 1 blue means drawing red is more likely, so the outcomes (red or blue) are NOT equally likely, making option B the correct conceptual understanding.
Q2. Assertion (A): The sum of probabilities of all elementary events in any experiment equals 1. Reason (R): Each elementary event represents exactly one outcome, and the total probability must account for all possible outcomes. Choose the correct option:
Answer: A — Assertion A is the direct definition from the chapter (Example 1 and 2 demonstrate this); Reason R correctly explains why—because elementary events are mutually exclusive and exhaustive, their probabilities must sum to 1.
Q3. When a die is thrown, a student writes: 'The probability of getting a number greater than 4 is 1/3, and the probability of getting a number less than or equal to 4 is 2/3.' The student's reasoning is —
Answer: B — Numbers > 4 are {5, 6}, giving P = 2/6 = 1/3; numbers ≤ 4 are {1, 2, 3, 4}, giving P = 4/6 = 2/3; these sum to 1, so the student's statement is actually correct—the distractor B tests whether students recognize that complementary events must sum to 1.
Q4. The chapter defines theoretical probability assuming equally likely outcomes. A teacher asks: 'When is this assumption valid?' The most accurate answer is —
Answer: B — The chapter explicitly states this assumption is valid 'in many experiments' but not all—it must hold when outcomes are truly equally likely (fair coin, fair die), not for asymmetric situations like the 4 red + 1 blue ball example.
Q5. Assertion (A): If an event E is an elementary event, then P(E) must be less than 1. Reason (R): Theoretical probability is defined as the ratio of favourable outcomes to total possible outcomes. Choose the correct option:
Answer: B — A is true (an elementary event has 1 favourable outcome out of n total, so P < 1); R is also true (it restates the definition); but R does NOT explain why P(E) < 1 for an elementary event—the explanation is that one outcome cannot be all possible outcomes.
Q6. A bag contains 3 identical balls. Kritika draws one ball without looking. Which statement about this experiment is INCORRECT?
Answer: D — Options A, B, C are all correct by the chapter's definitions; option D is incorrect because empirical probability approaches theoretical probability only as the number of trials becomes very large, not exactly in finite repetitions.
Q7. Assertion (A): The probability of getting a head when a fair coin is tossed is 1/2. Reason (R): A fair coin is symmetrical, so there is no reason for it to come down more often on one side than the other. Choose the correct option:
Answer: A — Both statements are true and directly linked: R describes the assumption (fairness and symmetry) that justifies the equally likely outcomes assumption, which leads to A (P = 1/2).
Q8. A student claims: 'Since I got 3 heads in 5 coin tosses, the experimental probability of heads is 3/5, so the theoretical probability should also be 3/5.' This claim is —
Answer: B — The chapter distinguishes between empirical (experimental) probability from repeated trials and theoretical probability calculated from assumptions about equally likely outcomes; the student confuses the two—empirical approaches theoretical only as trials increase, not in small samples.
Q9. When drawing a ball from a bag with 1 red, 1 blue, and 1 yellow ball, a student correctly identifies P(red) = 1/3. Her reasoning is: 'There are 3 possible outcomes, and 1 is favourable to red.' Is this reasoning —
Answer: A — The student directly applies the theoretical probability definition: P(E) = number of favourable outcomes / total outcomes = 1/3, correctly assuming equally likely outcomes (all balls same size).
Q10. Assertion (A): The empirical probability of an event requires repeating the experiment many times to be accurate. Reason (R): Theoretical probability can be calculated directly from equally likely outcomes without repetition. Choose the correct option:
Answer: B — Both A and R are true per the chapter; however, R does not explain A—R explains the advantage of theoretical probability, not why empirical probability requires repetition (which is because it's computed from trial outcomes, not from prior assumptions).
Define theoretical probability P(E).
P(E) = Number of favourable outcomes ÷ Number of all possible outcomes, assuming equally likely outcomes.
What is an elementary event?
An elementary event has exactly one outcome of the experiment.
What does 'equally likely outcomes' mean?
Each outcome of an experiment has the same chance of occurring (e.g., heads and tails in a fair coin toss).
State the complement rule for probability.
P(not E) = 1 − P(E), where not E is the complement of event E.
What is the sum of probabilities of all elementary events?
The sum of probabilities of all elementary events in an experiment always equals 1.
Why can't we always use empirical probability?
Empirical probability requires repeating an experiment many times, which is impractical or expensive for events like satellite launches or earthquakes.
When throwing a fair die once, what is P(number ≤ 4)?
P(number ≤ 4) = 4/6 = 2/3, since favourable outcomes are 1, 2, 3, 4.
What assumption must hold for the Laplace definition of probability?
All outcomes of the experiment must be equally likely.
Are drawing outcomes 'red ball' and 'blue ball' equally likely from a bag with 4 red and 1 blue ball?
No; red ball is more likely because there are 4 red balls versus only 1 blue ball.
What does 'fair' or 'unbiased' mean for a coin or die?
Fair means symmetrical with no bias, so each outcome has an equal chance of occurring.
Define equally likely outcomes. Give one example where outcomes are equally likely and one where they are not. [2 marks]
Equally likely outcomes have the same chance of occurring. Example 1: coin toss (H, T both P = 1/2). Example 2: bag with 4 red and 1 blue ball (red more likely than blue).
A die is thrown once. Find the probability of getting (i) a number greater than 4, and (ii) the complement of this event. Verify that P(E) + P(not E) = 1. [3 marks]
For (i), favourable outcomes are 5, 6 (count = 2 out of 6), so P = 2/6 = 1/3. For (ii), not E is 'number ≤ 4' with outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4 (count = 4), so P(not E) = 4/6 = 2/3. Then verify 1/3 + 2/3 = 1.
A bag contains 2 red balls, 3 blue balls, and 1 yellow ball. A ball is drawn at random. Find the probability of each colour, verify that the sum of all elementary event probabilities equals 1, and explain why you can use theoretical probability here. [5 marks]
Total = 6 balls. P(red) = 2/6 = 1/3, P(blue) = 3/6 = 1/2, P(yellow) = 1/6. Sum = 1/3 + 1/2 + 1/6 = 1. Theoretical probability applies because outcomes (drawing each ball) are equally likely, and we don't need to repeat the experiment; Laplace's assumption of equally likely outcomes holds.
Q1. Assertion (A):
The probability of getting a head when tossing a fair coin is 1/2.
Reason (R):
A fair coin has two equally likely outcomes: head and tail, so the probability of each is 1 out of 2.
Answer: A — Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A — Both the assertion and reason are true, and the reason correctly explains why the probability is 1/2. The definition of theoretical probability and the assumption of equally likely outcomes directly support this result.
Q2. Assertion (A):
The sum of probabilities of complementary events is always 1.
Reason (R):
Complementary events are events where one is the negation of the other, but they may have different probabilities.
Answer: B — Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A — The assertion is true: P(E) + P(E') = 1 for any event E and its complement E'. However, the reason is not a complete explanation. While the reason correctly states that complementary events are negations of each other, it doesn't explain WHY their probabilities sum to 1 (which is because together they cover all possible outcomes).
Q3. Assertion (A):
An elementary event is an event with exactly one outcome of the experiment.
Reason (R):
All elementary events have equal probability only when the experiment has equally likely outcomes.
Answer: C — A is true but R is false — The assertion is true by definition from the chapter. However, the reason is false. Elementary events don't necessarily have equal probability; they simply have one outcome each. For example, in a bag with 4 red balls and 1 blue ball, the elementary event 'drawing the blue ball' has probability 1/5, while 'drawing a specific red ball' has probability 1/4.
Unlock more Assertion-Reason questions in Premium — unlock →
Case Study:
A class of 30 students organized a raffle where each student bought one ticket. There are 30 identical tickets in a box, but only some are marked as winners. The winners get a prize. Tickets are drawn randomly without looking into the box. The outcomes are equally likely because all tickets are identical in size, shape, and feel. If there are 6 winning tickets in the box, students want to determine the probability of drawing a winning ticket, the probability of drawing a losing ticket, and the relationship between these two probabilities.
Q1. What is the total number of possible outcomes when drawing one ticket?
Answer: C
Q2. What is the probability of drawing a winning ticket?
Answer: A
Q3. What is the probability of drawing a losing ticket?
Answer: B
Q4. What is the relationship between the probability of drawing a winning ticket and the probability of drawing a losing ticket?
Answer: B
Unlock more case studies in Premium — unlock →
Real CBSE board exam questions from past papers — free to attempt.
CBSE 2026 · Set 31/4/1 · 1 mark
Probability of getting an irrational number at random from the numbers 3, 4, ∛9, ∛8, √5, 0, 42/3 is:
CBSE 2026 · Set 31/4/1 · 1 mark
A card is drawn from a well shuffled deck of 52 cards. The probability of getting an ace or a ten is:
CBSE 2026 · Set 31/4/1 · 1 mark
Assertion (A): The probability of an event can not be 1/0.9. Reason (R): 0 ≤ P(E) ≤ 1 for an event E.
CBSE 2026 · Set 31/4/1 · 3 marks
Two dice are rolled together. Find the probability that: (i) the sum of the numbers obtained is 10. (ii) the product of the numbers obtained is 6.
CBSE 2026 · Set 31/4/2 · 1 mark
Assertion (A): The probability of an event cannot be 1/0.9. Reason (R): 0 ≤ P(E) ≤ 1 for an event E.
CBSE 2026 · Set 31/4/2 · 3 marks
Two dice are rolled together. Find the probability that at least one of the numbers obtained is a multiple of 3.
CBSE 2026 · Set 31/4/3 · 1 mark
A card is drawn from a well shuffled deck of 52 cards. The probability that it is not a diamond card is:
CBSE 2026 · Set 31/4/3 · 3 marks
Two dice are rolled together. Find the probability that (i) in the obtained outcomes one number is twice the another. (ii) both the numbers obtained are greater than 4.
CBSE 2026 · Set 31/5/1 · 1 mark
The probability of getting sum greater than 10, when two dice are rolled together, is
CBSE 2026 · Set 31/5/1 · 1 mark
A bag contains some red and some white balls. A ball is drawn at random from the bag. If the probability of getting a red ball is 2/7, then the probability of getting a white ball is
CBSE 2026 · Set 31/5/1 · 1 mark
A card is drawn from a well-shuffled deck of 52 playing cards. The probability of getting a queen of spade is
CBSE 2026 · Set 31/5/1 · 2 marks
Find the probability that a number selected at random from the numbers 30, 31, 32, 33, ....., 60 is (i) a prime number (ii) a multiple of 6.
See all 108 board PYQs for this chapter — open PYQ tab →
Every formula from all 14 chapters on one page, checked against the NCERT textbook and the CBSE 2026-27 syllabus. Free PDF download.
All 1107 CBSE board questions from 2022–2026, sorted by chapter and question type. Free PDF download.
You've seen the free preview. Open the full interactive study kit — mind map, instant-graded quiz, progress tracking — free, no sign-in required.
Open Full Study Kit — Free →Premium unlocks the full Question Bank, Daily Practice Papers, Chapter Quiz and Full Mock Papers for every chapter.