The probability of an event tells us what the chances are that this event will happen. Let's think about a few examples.
Weather
In the daily weather forecast, we are told the chance of rain as a percentage. Let's take a look at an example forecast.
Since we are given that the probability of rain is more than 70 %, we should probably choose an appropriate outfit and take an umbrella with us. This is the decision that we made based on the probability information given to us.
Games of Chance
Next, let's imagine that there are two ways to win a prize at the school carnival — landing on heads when flipping a coin or rolling a 6 on a die.
We would like to choose the strategy that is more likely for us to win. Let's compare the probabilities to help us decide! The number of possible outcomes when flipping a coin is 2 and when rolling a die is 6. The number of favorable outcomes, in both situations, is 1.
P(flipping heads) & = 1/2 =50 % [0.7em]
P(rolling6) & = 1/6 ≈ 16.7 %
Since the probability of landing on heads is 3 times higher than the probability of rolling a 6, we should choose the first game. Probabilities can support us in making reasonable decisions and also can be used to solve a problem.
