Outcomes of Events
Sometimes, we want to find the likelihood that an event will occur or happen. The concept in Mathematics that helps us to determine this chance of an event happening is called Probability.
In this lesson, we will learn about events, types of events, that is certain events, uncertain or impossible events and possible events.
Events
An event is a cause, happening or experiment that produces an outcome or a number of outcomes. For instance, when a coin is tossed, the outcome is either a Head (H) or a Tail (T).
Examples of events are:
1. The event of tossing a coin.
2. The event of tossing a dice.
3. The event of playing a football game.
4. The event that it will rain.
5. The event that you will go to school tomorrow.
Certain Events
A certain event is an event that will always, or definitely, occur. We therefore say that certain events have a probability of 1.
Examples of certain events are:
1. The event that Ghana will continue to be an African country tomorrow.
2. The event that the number 2 will still be called a prime number in two weeks time.
3. The event of throwing a die and getting a number between 1 and 6.
Using the examples above, think of more examples of certain events and ask your friends to come up with some other examples as well.
Now let's take a look at impossible events.
Impossible Events
An impossible event is an event that cannot occur. We say that it has a zero (0) probability of happening.
Examples of impossible events are:
1. The event that a dog will fly tomorrow.
2. The event of throwing a die and getting a number greater than 6.
3. The event that a new born baby will be able to run the next day.
4. The event that when a coin is tossed, neither a head nor a tail appears.
Possible Events
Possible events on the other hand are events that may or may not occur. Their probability lies between 0 (impossible) and 1 (certain). For this reason, they are mostly expressed as fractions \((\frac{a}{b})\).
Remember, that fractions can also be expressed as decimals, percentages and/or ratios.
Examples of possible events are:
1. Throwing a die and getting an even number.
2. The event that, a coin, when tossed lands heads side up.
3. The event that it will rain tomorrow.
4. The event that Manchester United will beat Real Madrid in a cup final.