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Module 2 · Probability Foundations · Topic 1

What is Probability?

Probability. Probability is a number between 0 and 1 that measures how likely an event is to occur. A probability of 0 means impossible, and 1 means certain.

Three Approaches. Classical probability assumes equally likely outcomes (e.g., dice). Empirical (relative frequency) probability uses observed data. Subjective probability is based on personal judgment or expertise.

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Key formulas

Classical Probability

P(A) = number of favorable outcomes / total number of equally likely outcomes

From the Probability Foundations formula sheet

  • Conditional Probability: P(A | B) = P(A and B) / P(B) — Probability of A after restricting attention to cases where B occurred.
  • Bayes' Theorem: P(A | B) = P(B | A)P(A) / P(B) — Updates a prior probability after observing evidence.

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Worked example

Worked Example

Drawing a heart from a standard deck: P(heart) = 13 hearts / 52 cards = 1/4 = 0.25.

Related glossary terms

  • Independence: Two events are independent when one occurring does not change the probability of the other. Example: Two separate fair coin flips are independent.

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