Probabilities of Simple Events

T.i.P.S.

Students will find the probabilities of a simple event and its complement and describe the relationship between the two. A complement to a simple event is the probability of the non-occurrence of a desired outcome such as the probability of selecting any card but a face card from a deck of cards. The complement can be addressed by determining the probability of an event and subtracting that probability from 1 or by using the sample space to eliminate the possible outcomes of a given event and determining the probability of the remaining outcomes of the given event. 

Example

Mary is developing a game for a project and was calculating the probability of landing on the yellow section using the spinner below.

Mary stated that the probability of landing on yellow was 1/5 and its complement was 4/5. Is Mary correct? Explain her thinking.

Hint
Possible Solution

TEKS

Supporting Standard

(6) Proportionality. The student applies mathematical process standards to use probability and statistics to describe or solve problems involving proportional relationships. The student is expected to:

(E) find the probabilities of a simple event and its complement and describe the relationship between the two

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