Syllabus Edition

First teaching 2021

Last exams 2024

|

Basic Probability (CIE IGCSE Maths: Core)

Exam Questions

1 hour30 questions
1
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1 mark

Jian has a fair spinner in the shape of a regular hexagon.
The spinner is numbered 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5.

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Jian spins the spinner.
Find the probability that the spinner lands on

i)
an even number,
[1]
ii)
a number less than 6,
[1]
iii)
the number 1.
[1]

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2
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4 marks

Paul has a set of 8 cards, each with a number written on it.
The numbers on the cards are 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5.
One card is taken at random.

Write down the probability that the number on the card is

i)
1,
[1]
ii)
an odd number,
[1]
iii)
a prime number,
[1]
iv)
a number less than 6.
[1]

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3
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3 marks

Joel spins a fair five-sided spinner numbered 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Write down the probability that the spinner lands on

i)
an odd number,
[1]
ii)
a prime number,
[1]
iii)
the number 7.
[1]

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4a
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1 mark

Rui has a bag containing 5 black pens, 8 red pens and 3 blue pens only.
He takes a pen out of the bag at random.

Draw an arrow (downwards arrow) on the probability scale to show the probability that Rui takes

a red pen,

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4b
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1 mark

a red pen or a blue pen.

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5a
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1 mark

A bag contains 3 green balls, 4 red balls and 1 blue ball only.
Matt takes a ball from the bag at random.

Some probabilities are marked on the probability scale.

qp5-0580-12-paper-1-oct-nov-2019-cie-igcse-maths

Write down the letter that shows the probability that

Matt takes a red ball,

5b
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1 mark

Matt does not take a blue ball.

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6a
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1 mark

A bag contains 6 red balls and 10 blue balls only.

On the probability scale, draw an arrow ( downwards arrow) to show the probability that a ball taken at random is

blue,

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6b
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1 mark

red or blue.

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7a
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1 mark

A bag contains green balls and red balls only.
A ball is taken at random from the bag.
The probability of taking a green ball is 0.38.

Write down the probability of taking

a red ball,

7b
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1 mark

A bag contains green balls and red balls only.
A ball is taken at random from the bag.
The probability of taking a green ball is 0.38 .

a blue ball.

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8
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1 mark

A box contains 22 coloured pencils.
6 pencils are pink, 9 pencils are blue and 7 pencils are yellow.

A pencil is taken at random from the box.

Write down the probability that this pencil is green.

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9
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1 mark

The probability that Alex wins a prize is 0.27 .

Find the probability that Alex does not win a prize.

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10
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1 mark

The probability that it will be sunny tomorrow is 0.97.

Work out the probability that it will not be sunny tomorrow.

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11
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3 marks

Soraya makes 30 flags.
11 flags are pink, 7 are yellow, 5 are blue, 4 are silver and 3 are green.
Soraya takes a flag at random.

Find the probability that the flag she takes is

i)
pink,
[1]
ii)
not blue,
[1]
iii)
red.
[1]

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1
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1 mark

A bag contains 20 balls.
5 of these balls are red.
A ball is picked at random from the bag.

On the probability scale, draw an arrow (downwards arrow ) to show the probability that this ball is red.

qp4-0580-12-paper-1-nov-2020-cie-igcse-maths

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2a
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1 mark

COMMONWEALTH

Lindon picks a letter at random from this word.
Explain why the probability that he picks a letter M is not 1 over 10.

2b
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2 marks

Tickets for athletics or swimming or hockey or diving are placed in a box.
A ticket is picked at random from the box.

Sport Athletics Swimming Hockey Diving
Probability 0.12   0.09 0.4

Complete the table.

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3a
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1 mark

On any day, the probability that Marcus will get a seat on the school bus is 0.93 .

Write down the probability that he will not get a seat on the school bus today.

3b
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1 mark

There are 200 school days in a year.

Work out the expected number of days in a year that Marcus will not get a seat.

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4a
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1 mark

Dan either walks or cycles to school.
The probability that he cycles to school is 1 fifth.

Write down the probability that Dan walks to school.

4b
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1 mark

There are 200 days in a school year.

Work out the expected number of days that Dan cycles to school in a school year.

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5
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2 marks

The probability that a sweet made in a factory is the wrong shape is 0.0028 .
One day, the factory makes 25000 sweets.

Calculate the number of sweets that are expected to be the wrong shape.

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6a
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1 mark

A bag contains 50 counters.
10 of the counters are red.
One of the counters is taken from the bag at random.

Draw an arrow (downwards arrow) on the scale to show the probability that this counter is red.

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6b
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1 mark

Find the probability that the counter is not red.

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7
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3 marks

A bag contains 20 bulbs.
8 are yellow, 5 are red, 4 are white and 3 are pink.
Sam takes one bulb at random.

Find the probability that the bulb he takes is

i)
white,

[1]

ii)
blue,

[1]

iii)
not pink.
[1]

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8
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1 mark

The probability that it rains tomorrow is 0.35 .

Work out the probability that it does not rain tomorrow.

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9a
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2 marks

The diagram shows a fair 8-sided spinner.

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The numbers on the spinner are 3, 4, 4, 7, 7, 7, 8 and 9.

The spinner is spun once.

Write down the probability that the spinner lands on

i)
the number 7,
[1]
ii)
a number greater than 2.
[1]
9b
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1 mark

The spinner is spun 160 times.

Work out the expected number of times the spinner lands on the number 7.

................................................. [1]

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10
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2 marks

Marco has ropes of four different colours.
He takes a rope at random.

Colour Brown White Red Green
Probability 0.35   0.04 0.2

Complete the table.

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11a
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2 marks

A bag contains 6 blue counters and 2 red counters only.
A counter is taken from the bag at random.

Draw an arrow (↓) on the probability scale to show the probability of taking

i)
a blue counter,

q11ai-058012-octnov2018-cie-igcse-maths-core

[1]

ii)
a yellow counter.

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[1]

11b
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1 mark

Another bag contains green counters and black counters only.
A counter is taken from the bag at random.
The probability of taking a green counter is 0.64.

Work out the probability of taking a black counter.

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12
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1 mark

Records show that 3 over 14 of all mullet caught are underweight.

In one day, 168 mullet are caught.

Work out the expected number of mullet that are underweight.

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1
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4 marks

Mei has two fair square spinners, A and B.
Spinner A is numbered 1, 2, 2, 4 and spinner B is numbered 3, 3, 4, 5.

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She spins both spinners and adds the two numbers.

i)
Complete the table to show all the possible outcomes.
qp2bi-0580-31-paper-3-nov-2020-cie-igcse-maths
Use the table to write down the probability that the total is
iia)
5,
[1]
iib)
more than 5.
[1]

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2
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2 marks

A bag contains 7 red discs, 5 green discs and 2 pink discs.

Helen takes one disc at random, records the colour and replaces it in the bag.
She does this 140 times.

Find how many times she expects to take a green disc.

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3
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1 mark

The probability that Tommy has his calculator for his mathematics lesson is 0.4 .
There are 120 mathematics lessons in one year.

Work out an estimate of the number of mathematics lessons in one year that Tommy has his calculator.

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4
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2 marks

Ethan has a box of toys.
He takes a toy at random.

Toy Car Train Bus Other
Probability 0.2 0.45   0.08

Complete the table.

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5a
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1 mark

A box contains 3 blue pens, 4 red pens and 8 green pens only.
A pen is chosen at random from the box.

Find the probability that this pen is green.

5b
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1 mark

A cube has only one of its six faces painted yellow.
This cube is rolled 240 times.

Work out the expected number of times that it lands on the yellow face.

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6
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2 marks

The probability that Kim wins a game is 0.72 .
In one year Kim will play 225 games.

Work out an estimate of the number of games Kim will win.

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7
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3 marks

A bag contains 6 green balls, 5 red balls and 3 blue balls only.
A ball is taken from the bag at random.

Find the probability that the ball is

i)
green,

[1]

ii)
green or red,
[1]
iii)
yellow.
[1]

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