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How do you calculate theoretical probability?

Answer 1

Kennedy Adams

Theoretical Probability

Assume that each outcome is equally likely to occur.

Let #S# be a sample space (the set of all outcomes), and let #E# be an event (a subset of #S#).

The probability of the event #E# can be found by

#P(E)={n(E)}/{n(S)}#,

where #n(E)# and #n(S)# denote the number of outcomes in #E# and the number of outcomes in #S#, respectively.

Example

What is the probability of rolling a multiple of 3 when you roll a standard die once?

Since all outcomes are 1 through 6, we have the sample space

#S={1,2,3,4,5}#

Since all multiple of 3 are 3 and 6, we have the event

#E={3,6}#

Hence, the probability of rolling a multiple of 3 is

#P(E)={n(E)}/{n(S)}=2/6=1/3#

I hope that this was helpful.

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Answer 2

Hazel Anglin

To calculate theoretical probability, you divide the number of favorable outcomes by the total number of possible outcomes. This can be represented as:

Theoretical Probability = Number of Favorable Outcomes / Total Number of Possible Outcomes.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.