GED Math: Probability

Hey, GED-studiers… I got some more important GED math to know. I’m talkin’ about probability… or as I say, odds. If you been to Vegas, you know a thing or two about probability… or maybe not, if you came away broke. Probability is how likely somethin’ is to happen.

There’s a few ways to write a probability. Let’s take a dice. Odds of rolling any number on a dice, let’s say 3, is 1 in 6. You can say “1 in 6″ or “1:6″ or “1/6.” They all mean the same thing. Out of 6 rolls of a die, odds are you’ll get a 3 one time. Pretty simple, right?

Let’s take it a step further. You got 2 dice. What’s the odds you’ll get 2 threes on one roll? The way you figure it out is multiplying the odds of each: 1/6 x 1/6 = 1/36. You’ve got one-in-thirty-six odds of rolling 2 threes.

But what are your odds of rolling a total of 6? There are five possible dice combinations that will give you a total of 6:

1 and 5

5 and 1

2 and 4

4 and 2

3 and 3

So, what are the odds of rolling a total of 6 on two dice?

1) 5/12

2) 3/36

3) 5/36

4) 1/6

5) 1/12

What’d'ya think? It’s pretty straightforward. There are 36 possible combinations, total, when rolling two six-sided dice. That’s why you got a 1 in 36 odds of rolling 2 threes. So, if there’s 5 possible combinations to get a total of 6, that’s 5 possibilities out of 36. The odds are 5/36. Not great!

Probability is pretty easy once you get the hang of it… and I bet you’ll see it on the test!

Good luck with that GED!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.