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The probability that something will happen is the number of times that that something can occur divided by the number of times that anything can occur.

An example would be to consider a standard deck of 52 cards. There are 4 sevens in the deck, so the probability of drawing a seven is 4 in 52, or 1 in 13, or about 0.0769.

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Q: Define the probability of something happening?
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Continue Learning about Statistics

If the probability that an event will happen is .25 or 25 percent what is the probability that it will not happen?

The total probability of something happening plus the probability of that same thing not happening is 1, or 100 % → probability of not happening = 1 - 0.25 = 0.75 or 100 % - 25 % = 75 %


What is the probability of not tossing three heads with three fair coins?

The probability of something NOT happening is the complement of the probability of something happening. Since the probability that you DO have 3 heads is 1/8 (that is, 1/2 cubed), the complement is 1 - 1/8 = 7/8.


Why cannot a probability not be less than 0?

0 means there is no chance of something happening. You cannot have less than no chance of something happening. So a probability cannot be less than 0.


What does it mean to find the compliment of the probability of an event?

The complement (not compliment) of the probability of event A is 1 minus the probability of A: that is, it is the probability of A not happening or "not-A" happening.The complement (not compliment) of the probability of event A is 1 minus the probability of A: that is, it is the probability of A not happening or "not-A" happening.The complement (not compliment) of the probability of event A is 1 minus the probability of A: that is, it is the probability of A not happening or "not-A" happening.The complement (not compliment) of the probability of event A is 1 minus the probability of A: that is, it is the probability of A not happening or "not-A" happening.


Can a probability be more than 1 or less than 0?

No. A probability of 1 means something will definitely happen. There cannot be a greater certainty than that, so probability cannot be greater than 1. 0 means there is no chance of something happening. You cannot have less than no chance of something happening. So a probability cannot be less than 0.