Probability Vocabulary – Module 6

July 27, 2010 at 3:25 am (math, vocabulary)

Probability is “the chance that something will happen.” It is often measured by a fraction, decimal or percentage. Common words used when discussing probability include: possibility, chance, odds, likely, certain, unlikely and not possible.

http://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/probability.html

Other resources for Probability include:

http://www.mathgoodies.com/lessons/vol6/intro_probability.html

http://jmathpage.com/JIMSProbabilitypage.html

Pascal’s Triangle is a number triangle full of mathematical patterns including counting numbers, triangular numbers, tetrahedral numbers, odds and evens and horizontal sums.

http://www.mathsisfun.com/pascals-triangle.html

http://ptri1.tripod.com/

source: http://www2.norwalk-city.k12.oh.us/wordpress/halgii0910/2009/12/

A Tree Diagram assists by showing a visual representation of all possible events. You can determine the probability of each ‘branch’ as it expands.A Tree Diagram begins at a single point and then expands with each option within the process. It is helpful in decision making processes as well as determining the probability of a result.

http://www.onlinemathlearning.com/probability-tree-diagrams.html

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tree_diagram.asp

The following Tree Diagram shows the probability of 3 coin tosses.

source: http://www.mathsonline.co.uk/nonmembers/resource/plans/tree_plan.html

Binomial Probability is the probability in a situation in which there are two possible outcomes, such as in flipping a coin (heads/tails) or winning or losing a game.

http://www.regentsprep.org/Regents/math/algtrig/ATS7/BLesson.htm

The Fundamental Counting Principle helps to determine how many possibilities or results there are, given a number of choices/options. In the example below, we see 2 options of pans in the first branch and 3 options of shirts in the 2nd branch. So we can multiply 2 x 3 = 6 and know that we have 6 possible outfits to choose from these 5 items of clothing. One could also count the number of branches but as your number of options and branches expand, that is harder to do and the FCP is more efficient.

Source: http://www.basic-mathematics.com/fundamental-counting-principle.html