How likely is something to happen? Probability is a branch of mathematics that gives us a way to measure the chance or likelihood of an event. It's a powerful tool for making predictions and understanding situations involving uncertainty.
The probability of a single event happening is a ratio of the number of ways that event can occur to the total number of possible outcomes.
Probability(Event) = (Number of Favorable Outcomes) / (Total Number of Possible Outcomes)
Probability is always a number between 0 and 1.
Example: What is the probability of drawing a Queen from a standard 52-card deck?
The complement of an event is the chance that the event does not happen. The probability of an event and the probability of its complement always add up to 1.
P(Event does not happen) = 1 - P(Event happens)
Example: What is the probability of not drawing a Queen?
Probability and odds are related, but they are not the same thing. They are two different ways of expressing the likelihood of an event.
Odds in Favor(Event) = (Number of Favorable Outcomes) : (Number of Unfavorable Outcomes)
Example: Let's find the probability and odds of rolling a 2 on a standard six-sided die.
Odds are commonly used in sports betting and games of chance.
A bag contains 5 red marbles, 3 blue marbles, and 2 green marbles. What is the probability of randomly drawing a blue marble?
The probability of rain tomorrow is 40%. What is the probability that it will not rain?
What are the odds in favor of rolling an even number on a standard six-sided die?