Calculate the probability of different types of events
Find the conditional probability of an event
You’ve seen before that learning mathematics is similar to learning a new language — it takes repetition and practice to obtain new vocabulary and symbols. Probability is no different. The set of vocabulary and symbols used in probability will likely be completely unfamiliar to you unless you’ve studied probability before. Remember to read the text with your pencil, write out the terms, definitions, and practice problems multiple times in order to learn them. You’ll need to spend time with these new ways of thinking to make them your own.
Understanding probability involves grasping the concepts of events and outcomes within the framework of experiments. These fundamental ideas help us quantify the likelihood of various occurrences and are crucial for making predictions based on statistical evidence.
events and outcomes
The result of an experiment is called an outcome.
An event is any particular outcome or group of outcomes.
A simple event is an event that cannot be broken down further
A compound event is a combination of two or more simple events
The sample space is the set of all possible simple events.
If we roll a standard [latex]6[/latex]-sided die, describe the sample space and some simple events.
The sample space is the set of all possible simple events: [latex]{1,2,3,4,5,6}[/latex]. Some examples of simple events: