Probability Laws

Contents: Objective Basic Principles Examples Exercises

^ Objective

This module shows how the laws of probability are used to compute probabilities of compound and conditional events.

^ Basic Principles

We collect sample data to make statements about the parent population. Statements about the population, based on information in the data, are necessarily uncertain. We use probability to measure the degree of uncertainty. This module examines the basic concepts of probabilty.

^ Example

Example #1 demonstrates how to calculate the following probabilities involving the events A and B:

P(A); P(A and B); P(A or B); P(A | B).

^ Exercises

Exercise #1 requires you to use the basic laws of probability to compute the probabilities of certain card-drawing events.

Exercise #2 requires you to use the basic laws of probability to compute the probabilities of accident-related events.

Exercise #3 requires you to use the basic laws of probability to compute the probabilities of cancer-related events.

Exercise #4 requires you to use the basic laws of probability to compute the probabilities of voter events.