Elements of Probability

This chapter focuses on the study of basic concepts of probability. Many problems in probability involve infinite sample spaces, that is, sample spaces containing an infinitely large number of elements that are not countable. In probability theory, performing a repetitive operation that results in one of the possible outcomes is said to be performing a random experiment. An interesting version of the conditional probability formula comes from the work of the Reverend Thomas Bayes. The problem of computing probabilities of events in finite sample spaces where equal probabilities are assigned to the elements reduces to the operation of counting the elements that make up the events in the given sample space. A tree diagram is a tool that is useful not only in describing the sample points but also in listing them in a systematic way.