SSAT Elementary Level Math : Probability

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SSAT Elementary Level Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #17 : Data Analysis And Probability

Jenny buys two dozen donuts from the bakery. If 12 donuts are glazed, 6 donuts are jelly, 4 donuts are powdered and 2 donuts are plain, what is the chance that she will randomly pick a powdered donut from the box?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the probability of picking a powdered donut from the box of donuts, we need to set up a fraction like this: . The problem tells us that we have 4 powdered donuts, so we can put that on the top of the fraction. The total number of donuts is 2 dozen, which is equal to 24 donuts (which goes on the bottom of the fraction). That gives Jenny a  chance of picking a powdered donut from the box!

Example Question #18 : Data Analysis And Probability

Mikey has a box of chocolates. 5 chocolates have a caramel filling, 6 chocolates have an almond filling, 3 chocolates have no filling, and 1 chocolate has a cherry filling. If Mikey selects a chocolate from the box at random, what is the chance that he selects a chocolate with a filling?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the probability of Mikey selecting a piece of chocolate with a filling from the box of chocolates, we need to set up a fraction like this: .

The problem tells us that we have 5 chocolates with a caramel filling, 6 chocolates with an almond filling, and 1 chocolate with a cherry filling. We need to add them all together to find out how many chocolates have any type of filling, and place that number on top of the above fraction.

 

Now, we need to add 3 more to the above number because the box has 3 chocolates with no filling, and then use that new number as our denominator (on the bottom of the fraction). 

That gives Mikey a 12/15 chance of picking a filled chocolate from the box of chocolates!

Example Question #19 : Data Analysis And Probability

Niall has a box of 6 scarves. 3 scarves are purple, 2 scarves are blue, and 1 scarf is white. What is the chance that Niall will randomly pick a blue scarf from the box?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the probability of picking a blue scarf from the box, we need to set up a fraction like this: . The problem tells us that Niall has 2 blue scarves, so we can put that on the top of the fraction. The problem also tells us that Niall has a total of 6 scarves, so we can put that on the bottom of the fraction. That gives Niall a  chance of picking a blue scarf from the box!

Example Question #20 : Data Analysis And Probability

Harvey has a bouquet of 12 flowers: 5 are lilacs, 3 are roses, 2 are orchids, and 2 are dandelions. What is the chance that Harvey randomly selects a rose from the bouquet?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the probability of Harvey picking a rose from the bouquet of flowers, we need to set up a fraction like this: 

The problem tells us that Harvey has 3 roses, so we can put that on the top of the fraction. The problem also tells us that Harvey has 12 total flowers, so we can put that on the bottom of the fraction. That gives Harvey a  chance of picking a rose from the bouquet! 

Since  is not an answer choice, we need to reduce the fraction. To reduce a fraction means to divide the top (numerator) and the bottom (denominator) by a common factor that both numbers share. The numbers 3 and 12 both have a common factor of 3, so we can divide the top and the bottom by 3 to get the correct answer of .

Example Question #11 : Probability

There are 10 marbles in a bag:

7 red

2 blue

1 yellow

What is the probability of choosing a red ball out of the bag?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the probability of an outcome, set up a fraction:

Since there are 7 red marbles (part) out of 10 marbles in all (total possible) the fraction looks like this: 

 

Example Question #12 : Data Analysis And Probability

Joey has 10 shirts on his bed. 4 shirts are blue, 3 shirts are purple, 2 shirts are green, and 1 shirt is white. What is the chance that Joey randomly picks a purple shirt from the shirts on his bed?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the probability of picking a purple shirt from the pile of shirts on Joey's bed, we need to set up a fraction like this:

The problem tells us that Joey has 3 purple shirts, so we can put that in the numerator. We are also told that the total number of shirts on Joey's bed is 10, so 10 goes on the bottom of the fraction. Therefore, Joey has a  chance of picking a purple shirt.

Example Question #13 : Data Analysis And Probability

Express the probability as a fraction.

Nija has 7 marbles. There are 2 red, 3 blue, and 2 yellow. What is the probablilty that Nija will choose a red marble?

Possible Answers:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Correct answer:

 

 

Explanation:

Probability can be expressed as a fraction:

Our fraction is .

 

Since there are 2 red marbles out of 7 total marbles, the probability of choosing a red marble is .

Example Question #14 : Data Analysis And Probability

In a restaurant there are two managers, three workers, and twelve guests. What is the probability that a person chosen at random is a worker?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The total number of people in the room is the sum of all the different types of people:

The probability of choosing a worker is the number of workers divided by the total number of people. There are three workers and seventeen people in total:

 

Example Question #15 : Data Analysis And Probability

A ring toss game has 25 bottles, 5 of which are yellow. If you toss a ring around a yellow bottle, you win the grand prize. What is the probability of winning the grand prize? (Give the fraction in simplest form.)

Possible Answers:

  

  

Correct answer:

  

Explanation:

To find the probability of an outcome, set up a fraction.

Since there are 5 yellow (part) out of 25 bottles (total possible) the fraction looks like this: .

Reduce the fraction by dividing the top and bottom by 5:

This is the probability of winning the grand prize.

Example Question #16 : Data Analysis And Probability

Mary has a bag with  cookies.  cookies are chocolate chip,  cookies are sugar, and  cookies are oatmeal raisin. What is the chance that Mary randomly selects a sugar cookie from the bag?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the probability of Mary picking a sugar cookie from the bag of cookies, we need to set up a fraction like this: .

The problem tells us that Mary has  sugar cookies, so we can put that on the top of the fraction. The problem also tells us that Mary has  total cookies, so we can put that on the bottom of the fraction. That gives Mary a  chance of picking a sugar cookie.

Since  is not an answer choice, we need to reduce the fraction. To reduce a fraction means to divide the top (numerator) and the bottom (denominator) by a common factor that both numbers share. The numbers  and  both have a common factor of , so we can divide the top and the bottom by  to get the correct answer of .

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