All Common Core: 7th Grade Math Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Finding Experimental Probability
Kelly spun a spinner, which is pictured below, times. She recorded her results in the table provided. Is the experimental probability of landing on yellow more likely, less likely, or equally likely in comparison to the theoretical probability?
Equally likely
Results can't be found based on the data provided
More likely
Less likely
Less likely
The theoretical probability is what should happen. In this case, we have spaces and of those spaces is yellow; thus, the theoretical probability of the spinner landing on yellow should always be or
The experimental probability is what actually happened in an experiment. In this case, Kelly spun the spinner times, and she landed on yellow times; thus, our experimental probability is
In order to compare the theoretical probability and the experimental probability let's convert the fractions into decimals so we can put them on a number line:
A probability closer to means that an event is more likely to occur. In this case, is closer to ; thus, the experimental probability is less likely than the theoretical probability.
Example Question #2 : Finding Experimental Probability
Kelly spun a spinner, which is pictured below, times. She recorded her results in the table provided. Is the experimental probability of landing on green more likely, less likely, or equally likely in comparison to the theoretical probability?
Results can't be found based on the data provided
Less likely
More likely
Equally likely
Less likely
The theoretical probability is what should happen. In this case, we have spaces and of those spaces is green; thus, the theoretical probability of the spinner landing on green should always be
The experimental probability is what actually happened in an experiment. In this case, Kelly spun the spinner times, and she landed on green times; thus, our experimental probability is
In order to compare the theoretical probability and the experimental probability let's convert the fractions into decimals so we can put them on a number line:
A probability closer to means that an event is more likely to occur. In this case, is closer to ; thus, the experimental probability is less likely than the theoretical probability.