Exam-Style Problems

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Nov 2023 p53 q3
2545

Tim has two bags of marbles, A and B.

Bag A contains 8 white, 4 red and 3 yellow marbles.

Bag B contains 6 white, 7 red and 2 yellow marbles.

Tim also has an ordinary fair 6-sided dice. He rolls the dice. If he obtains a 1 or 2, he chooses two marbles at random from bag A, without replacement. If he obtains a 3, 4, 5 or 6, he chooses two marbles at random from bag B, without replacement.

Find the probability that both marbles are white.

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Nov 2018 p61 q7
2546

In a group of students, the numbers of boys and girls studying Art, Music and Drama are given in the following table. Each of these 160 students is studying exactly one of these subjects.

ArtMusicDrama
Boys244032
Girls151237

Three students are chosen at random. Find the probability that exactly 1 is studying Music and exactly 2 are boys.

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June 2017 p63 q1
2547

A biased die has faces numbered 1 to 6. The probabilities of the die landing on 1, 3 or 5 are each equal to 0.1. The probabilities of the die landing on 2 or 4 are each equal to 0.2. The die is thrown twice. Find the probability that the sum of the numbers it lands on is 9.

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June 2017 p62 q4
2548

Two identical biased triangular spinners with sides marked 1, 2 and 3 are spun. For each spinner, the probabilities of landing on the sides marked 1, 2 and 3 are \(p\), \(q\) and \(r\) respectively. The score is the sum of the numbers on the sides on which the spinners land. You are given that \(P(\text{score is } 6) = \frac{1}{36}\) and \(P(\text{score is } 5) = \frac{1}{9}\). Find the values of \(p, q\) and \(r\).

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Feb/Mar 2017 p62 q2
2549

A bag contains 10 pink balloons, 9 yellow balloons, 12 green balloons and 9 white balloons. 7 balloons are selected at random without replacement. Find the probability that exactly 3 of them are green.

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Nov 2015 p62 q3
2550

One plastic robot is given away free inside each packet of a certain brand of biscuits. There are four colours of plastic robot (red, yellow, blue and green) and each colour is equally likely to occur. Nick buys some packets of these biscuits. Find the probability that

  1. he gets a green robot on opening his first packet,
  2. he gets his first green robot on opening his fifth packet.

Nick’s friend Amos is also collecting robots.

  1. Find the probability that the first four packets Amos opens all contain different coloured robots.
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June 2015 p62 q5
2551

A box contains 5 discs, numbered 1, 2, 4, 6, 7. William takes 3 discs at random, without replacement, and notes the numbers on the discs.

Find the probability that the numbers on the 3 discs are two even numbers and one odd number.

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Nov 2014 p62 q4
2552

Sharik attempts a multiple choice revision question on-line. There are 3 suggested answers, one of which is correct. When Sharik chooses an answer the computer indicates whether the answer is right or wrong. Sharik first chooses one of the three suggested answers at random. If this answer is wrong, he has a second try, choosing an answer at random from the remaining 2. If this answer is also wrong, Sharik then chooses the remaining answer, which must be correct.

Draw a fully labelled tree diagram to illustrate the various choices that Sharik can make until the computer indicates that he has answered the question correctly.

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June 2014 p62 q3
2553

Roger and Andy play a tennis match in which the first person to win two sets wins the match. The probability that Roger wins the first set is 0.6. For sets after the first, the probability that Roger wins the set is 0.7 if he won the previous set, and is 0.25 if he lost the previous set. No set is drawn.

(i) Find the probability that there is a winner of the match after exactly two sets.

(ii) Find the probability that Andy wins the match given that there is a winner of the match after exactly two sets.

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June 2014 p61 q5
2554

Playground equipment consists of swings (S), roundabouts (R), climbing frames (C) and play-houses (P). The numbers of pieces of equipment in each of 3 playgrounds are as follows.

Playground XPlayground YPlayground Z
3S, 2R, 4P6S, 3R, 1C, 2P8S, 3R, 4C, 1P

Each day Nur takes her child to one of the playgrounds. The probability that she chooses playground X is \(\frac{1}{4}\). The probability that she chooses playground Y is \(\frac{1}{4}\). The probability that she chooses playground Z is \(\frac{1}{2}\). When she arrives at the playground, she chooses one piece of equipment at random.

Find the probability that Nur chooses a play-house.

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Nov 2013 p63 q7
2555

Dayo chooses two digits at random, without replacement, from the 9-digit number 113 333 555.

  1. Find the probability that the two digits chosen are equal.
  2. Find the probability that one digit is a 5 and one digit is not a 5.
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June 2023 p52 q2
2556

A sports event is taking place for 4 days, beginning on Sunday. The probability that it will rain on Sunday is 0.4. On any subsequent day, the probability that it will rain is 0.7 if it rained on the previous day and 0.2 if it did not rain on the previous day.

(a) Find the probability that it does not rain on any of the 4 days of the event.

(b) Find the probability that the first day on which it rains during the event is Tuesday.

(c) Find the probability that it rains on exactly one of the 4 days of the event.

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June 2013 p63 q5
2557

Jack has a pack of 15 cards. 10 cards have a picture of a robot on them and 5 cards have a picture of an aeroplane on them. Emma has a pack of cards. 7 cards have a picture of a robot on them and x - 3 cards have a picture of an aeroplane on them. One card is taken at random from Jack’s pack and one card is taken at random from Emma’s pack. The probability that both cards have pictures of robots on them is \(\frac{7}{18}\). Write down an equation in terms of x and hence find the value of x.

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June 2013 p63 q2
2558

The 12 houses on one side of a street are numbered with even numbers starting at 2 and going up to 24. A free newspaper is delivered on Monday to 3 different houses chosen at random from these 12. Find the probability that at least 2 of these newspapers are delivered to houses with numbers greater than 14.

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Nov 2012 p63 q6
2559

Helen has some black tiles, some white tiles and some grey tiles. She places a single row of 8 tiles above her washbasin. Each tile she places is equally likely to be black, white or grey. Find the probability that there are no tiles of the same colour next to each other.

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June 2012 p62 q6
2560

A box of biscuits contains 30 biscuits, some of which are wrapped in gold foil and some of which are unwrapped. Some of the biscuits are chocolate-covered. 12 biscuits are wrapped in gold foil, and of these biscuits, 7 are chocolate-covered. There are 17 chocolate-covered biscuits in total.

(i) Copy and complete the table below to show the number of biscuits in each category.

Wrapped in gold foilUnwrappedTotal
Chocolate-covered
Not chocolate-covered
Total30

A biscuit is selected at random from the box.

(ii) Find the probability that the biscuit is wrapped in gold foil.

The biscuit is returned to the box. An unwrapped biscuit is then selected at random from the box.

(iii) Find the probability that the biscuit is chocolate-covered.

The biscuit is returned to the box. A biscuit is then selected at random from the box.

(iv) Find the probability that the biscuit is unwrapped, given that it is chocolate-covered.

The biscuit is returned to the box. Nasir then takes 4 biscuits without replacement from the box.

(v) Find the probability that he takes exactly 2 wrapped biscuits.

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Nov 2011 p63 q3
2561

A factory makes a large number of ropes with lengths either 3 m or 5 m. There are four times as many ropes of length 3 m as there are ropes of length 5 m.

(ii) Two ropes are chosen at random. Find the probability that they have different lengths.

(iii) Three ropes are chosen at random. Find the probability that their total length is 11 m.

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Nov 2011 p62 q5
2562

A triangular spinner has one red side, one blue side and one green side. The red side is weighted so that the spinner is four times more likely to land on the red side than on the blue side. The green side is weighted so that the spinner is three times more likely to land on the green side than on the blue side.

(i) Show that the probability that the spinner lands on the blue side is \(\frac{1}{8}\).

(ii) The spinner is spun 3 times. Find the probability that it lands on a different coloured side each time.

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June 2011 p61 q7
2563

A bag contains 5 green balls and 3 yellow balls. Ronnie and Julie play a game in which they take turns to draw a ball from the bag at random without replacement. The winner of the game is the first person to draw a yellow ball. Julie draws the first ball. Find the probability that Ronnie wins the game.

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Nov 2010 p63 q6
2564

A small aeroplane has 14 seats for passengers. The seats are arranged in 4 rows of 3 seats and a back row of 2 seats (see diagram). 12 passengers board the aeroplane.

These 12 passengers consist of 2 married couples (Mr and Mrs Lin and Mr and Mrs Brown), 5 students and 3 business people.

If, instead, the 12 passengers are seated randomly, find the probability that Mrs Lin sits directly behind a student and Mrs Brown sits in the front row.

problem image 2564
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Nov 2010 p61 q5
2565

Three friends, Rick, Brenda and Ali, go to a football match but forget to say which entrance to the ground they will meet at. There are four entrances, A, B, C and D. Each friend chooses an entrance independently.

  • The probability that Rick chooses entrance A is \(\frac{1}{3}\). The probabilities that he chooses entrances B, C or D are all equal.
  • Brenda is equally likely to choose any of the four entrances.
  • The probability that Ali chooses entrance C is \(\frac{2}{7}\) and the probability that he chooses entrance D is \(\frac{3}{5}\). The probabilities that he chooses the other two entrances are equal.

(i) Find the probability that at least 2 friends will choose entrance B. [4]

(ii) Find the probability that the three friends will all choose the same entrance. [4]

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June 2010 p63 q3
2566

Christa takes her dog for a walk every day. The probability that they go to the park on any day is 0.6. If they go to the park there is a probability of 0.35 that the dog will bark. If they do not go to the park there is a probability of 0.75 that the dog will bark.

Find the probability that the dog barks on any particular day.

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Feb/Mar 2023 p52 q4
2567

The probability that it will rain on any given day is x. If it is raining, the probability that Aran wears a hat is 0.8 and if it is not raining, the probability that he wears a hat is 0.3. Whether it is raining or not, if Aran wears a hat, the probability that he wears a scarf is 0.4. If he does not wear a hat, the probability that he wears a scarf is 0.1. The probability that on a randomly chosen day it is not raining and Aran is not wearing a hat or a scarf is 0.36.

Find the value of x.

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June 2010 p63 q1
2568

A bottle of sweets contains 13 red sweets, 13 blue sweets, 13 green sweets, and 13 yellow sweets. 7 sweets are selected at random. Find the probability that exactly 3 of them are red.

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Nov 2009 p62 q2
2569

Two unbiased tetrahedral dice each have four faces numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4. The two dice are thrown together and the sum of the numbers on the faces on which they land is noted. Find the expected number of occasions on which this sum is 7 or more when the dice are thrown together 200 times.

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June 2007 p6 q7
2570

A vegetable basket contains 12 peppers, of which 3 are red, 4 are green and 5 are yellow. Three peppers are taken, at random and without replacement, from the basket.

  1. Find the probability that the three peppers are all different colours.
  2. Show that the probability that exactly 2 of the peppers taken are green is \(\frac{12}{55}\).
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June 2006 p6 q2
2571

The probability that Henk goes swimming on any day is 0.2. On a day when he goes swimming, the probability that Henk has burgers for supper is 0.75. On a day when he does not go swimming, the probability that he has burgers for supper is x. This information is shown on the following tree diagram.

The probability that Henk has burgers for supper on any day is 0.5.

(i) Find x.

(ii) Given that Henk has burgers for supper, find the probability that he went swimming that day.

problem image 2571
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Nov 2005 p6 q2
2572

Boxes of sweets contain toffees and chocolates. Box A contains 6 toffees and 4 chocolates, box B contains 5 toffees and 3 chocolates, and box C contains 3 toffees and 7 chocolates. One of the boxes is chosen at random and two sweets are taken out, one after the other, and eaten.

(i) Find the probability that they are both toffees.

(ii) Given that they are both toffees, find the probability that they both came from box A.

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Nov 2004 p6 q6
2573

A box contains five balls numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Three balls are drawn randomly at the same time from the box.

(i) By listing all possible outcomes (123, 124, etc.), find the probability that the sum of the three numbers drawn is an odd number.

The random variable \(L\) denotes the largest of the three numbers drawn.

(ii) Find the probability that \(L\) is 4.

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June 2003 p6 q2
2574

A box contains 10 pens of which 3 are new. A random sample of two pens is taken.

Show that the probability of getting exactly one new pen in the sample is \(\frac{7}{15}\).

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Nov 2002 p6 q2
2575

Ivan throws three fair dice.

  1. List all the possible scores on the three dice which give a total score of 5, and hence show that the probability of Ivan obtaining a total score of 5 is \(\frac{1}{36}\).
  2. Find the probability of Ivan obtaining a total score of 7.
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Nov 2020 p51 q2
2576

The probability that a student at a large music college plays in the band is 0.6. For a student who plays in the band, the probability that she also sings in the choir is 0.3. For a student who does not play in the band, the probability that she sings in the choir is x. The probability that a randomly chosen student from the college does not sing in the choir is 0.58.

(a) Find the value of x.

Two students from the college are chosen at random.

(b) Find the probability that both students play in the band and both sing in the choir.

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June 2020 p52 q2
2577

A total of 500 students were asked which one of four colleges they attended and whether they preferred soccer or hockey. The numbers of students in each category are shown in the following table.

SoccerHockeyTotal
Amos543286
Benn8472156
Canton225678
Devar12060180
Total280220500

Find the probability that a randomly chosen student is at Canton college and prefers hockey.

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Nov 2019 p61 q1
2578

When Shona goes to college she either catches the bus with probability 0.8 or she cycles with probability 0.2. If she catches the bus, the probability that she is late is 0.4. If she cycles, the probability that she is late is x. The probability that Shona is not late for college on a randomly chosen day is 0.63. Find the value of x.

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June 2019 p61 q2
2579

Jameel has 5 plums and 3 apricots in a box. Rosa has x plums and 6 apricots in a box. One fruit is chosen at random from Jameel’s box and one fruit is chosen at random from Rosa’s box. The probability that both fruits chosen are plums is \(\frac{1}{4}\). Write down an equation in x and hence find x.

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Nov 2018 p63 q4
2580

Out of a class of 8 boys and 4 girls, a group of 7 people is chosen at random.

  1. Find the probability that the group of 7 includes one particular boy.
  2. Find the probability that the group of 7 includes at least 2 girls.
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Nov 2018 p62 q3
2581

Kenny also attempts the puzzle every day. The probability that he will complete the puzzle on a Monday is 0.8. The probability that he will complete it on a Tuesday is 0.9 if he completed it on the previous day and 0.6 if he did not complete it on the previous day.

Find the probability that Kenny will complete the puzzle on at least one of the two days Monday and Tuesday in a randomly chosen week.

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