Ask Dr. Math

High School Archive

Browse High School Probability
Stars indicate particularly interesting answers or good places to begin browsing.

Selected answers to common questions:
    Coin tossing.
    Odds vs. probability.
    Poker probabilities.
    Rolling dice.

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Why Do We Multiply the Probabilities of Independent Events? [10/15/2009]

We learned the probability formula P(A and B) = P(A) x P(B). Why do we multiply the two probabilities rather than adding them?

Why Learn about Probability and Statistics? [04/17/2002]

Why is probability so important to learn? When will we use it in the real world?

Why Study Sequences and Series? [02/26/1999]

What are some applications of arithmetic sequences and series?

Winning the Game [09/21/2000]

In an equitable game of coin tossing, I have x dollars and my friend has y dollars... What is the probability that my friend will win all of my x dollars before I can win his y dollars?

Winning the Lottery [01/30/1997]

Can you find a formula that predicts the outcome of the lottery?

Working Out Betting Odds [06/27/2001]

I am doing a horse racing night in a local pub, and as part of the committee I have been asked to try to find out how to work out the betting odds for each horse...

The World Series [10/22/2000]

What is the probability of the Yankees and the Mets playing each other in the World Series?

Yahtzee Probabilities and a State Matrix [12/30/1998]

In Yahtzee, what are the odds of rolling 5 of a kind within 3 rolls of the dice? What if you reroll all 5 dice each time? Does this involve transition matrices?

Years That Start on Sunday [10/02/2000]

What is the probability that a randomly chosen year will start on a Sunday?

Zero Probability vs. Practically Improbable [02/09/2014]

An adult has doubts that rare events remain possible, however unlikely. With examples that build off his own, as well as one drawn from a common stock-picking fraud, Doctor George shows how much practical considerations bias our grasp of probability.

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