Tree Diagrams
An experiment with several stages (choosing a box and then taking something out of it, passing one round and then another, getting to school by bus or on foot and then arriving on time or late) has too many combinations to keep in your head. The tree diagram organizes them all: each stage is a level and each possibility is a branch. By the end of this section you will be able to answer questions like: if a package arrived late, which route was it most likely to have taken?
Building a tree: one branch for each step
On a shelf in a teenager's bedroom there are two shoe boxes. Box A contains $3$ pairs of white sneakers and $2$ pairs of black sneakers. Box B contains $2$ pairs of…
On a shelf in a teenager's bedroom there are two shoe boxes. Box A contains $3$ pairs of white sneakers and $2$ pairs of black sneakers. Box B contains $2$ pairs of white sneakers and $4$ pairs of black sneakers. A student chooses a box at random (with equal probability) and, without looking, draws a pair of sneakers.
- a) Draw the tree diagram representing this situation, showing the probabilities on each branch.
- b) Calculate the probability that the chosen sneakers are white.
In an e-sports tournament, a player has to pass two stages. In Stage 1, the probability of success is $0.8$. If they pass the first, they move on to Stage 2, where the…
In an e-sports tournament, a player has to pass two stages. In Stage 1, the probability of success is $0.8$. If they pass the first, they move on to Stage 2, where the probability of success is $0.6$. If they do not pass the first stage, they are eliminated directly.
- a) Draw the corresponding tree diagram.
- b) Calculate the probability that the player successfully completes both stages of the tournament.
Multiplying along the branches: the probability of a complete path
A 2nd-year Bachillerato student has prepared $60 \%$ of the topics for a Geography exam. The exam consists of drawing a topic at random from a bag. If the topic drawn is…
A 2nd-year Bachillerato student has prepared $60 \%$ of the topics for a Geography exam. The exam consists of drawing a topic at random from a bag. If the topic drawn is one of those he has studied, the probability of passing is $0.9$. If the topic is one of those he has not studied, the probability of passing drops to $0.2$.
- a) Draw a tree diagram with the data from the problem, indicating the probability on each branch.
- b) What is the total probability that the student passes the exam?
In an E-sports tournament, a player must choose between two characters: "Warrior" or "Mage". The probability of choosing the Warrior is $60\,\%$. If he chooses the…
In an E-sports tournament, a player must choose between two characters: "Warrior" or "Mage". The probability of choosing the Warrior is $60\,\%$. If he chooses the Warrior, he has a probability of winning the match of $0.7$. If he chooses the Mage, his probability of winning rises to $0.85$.
- a) Draw the tree diagram associated with the experiment, indicating the probability on each branch.
- b) Calculate the probability that the player wins the match.
- c) If the player has lost the match, what is the probability that he had chosen the Warrior?
You can do it on paper and send a photo with your answer.
With and without replacement: when the branches change
An urn contains $4$ red balls and $6$ blue balls. We draw two balls successively without replacement (without returning the first ball to the urn). a) Represent the…
An urn contains $4$ red balls and $6$ blue balls. We draw two balls successively without replacement (without returning the first ball to the urn).
- a) Represent the process using a tree diagram showing the probabilities on each branch. Take into account that the contents of the urn change after the first draw.
- b) What is the probability that the two drawn balls are the same color?
In a digital urn in a game of chance there are 10 spheres: 6 blue and 4 white. The experiment consists of drawing two spheres successively and without replacement. a)…
In a digital urn in a game of chance there are 10 spheres: 6 blue and 4 white. The experiment consists of drawing two spheres successively and without replacement.
- a) Draw the tree diagram detailing the probabilities on each branch.
- b) Calculate the probability that both spheres are the same color.
- c) Calculate the probability that the first sphere is blue given that the second was white.
A Year 13 student has prepared 18 of the 25 topics for a History exam. The exam consists of choosing one topic out of two drawn at random by the teacher. a) What is the…
A Year 13 student has prepared 18 of the 25 topics for a History exam. The exam consists of choosing one topic out of two drawn at random by the teacher.
- a) What is the probability that the student knows both topics drawn?
- b) What is the probability that the student passes the exam (that is, knows at least one of the two topics)?
- c) If the student has passed the exam, what is the probability that they knew only one of the two topics drawn?
Adding final branches: when the event arrives by several paths
A TikTok content creator observes that $70 \%$ of their videos are comedy videos and $30 \%$ are challenge videos. The probability of a comedy video going viral is…
A TikTok content creator observes that $70 \%$ of their videos are comedy videos and $30 \%$ are challenge videos. The probability of a comedy video going viral is $0.1$, whereas for challenge videos that probability rises to $0.4$.
- a) Represent the situation using a tree diagram.
- b) If we choose a video at random from their profile, what is the probability that it is a viral video?
On a music streaming platform, $40 \%$ of users have a "Premium" account and $60 \%$ have a "Free" account. It is known that $80 \%$ of Premium users listen to music…
On a music streaming platform, $40 \%$ of users have a "Premium" account and $60 \%$ have a "Free" account. It is known that $80 \%$ of Premium users listen to music daily, while only $30 \%$ of free account users do so. A user is chosen at random:
- a) Calculate the probability that they listen to music daily.
- b) Given that the chosen user is Premium, what is the probability that they do not listen to music daily?
To get to school, a teenager takes the bus on $80 \%$ of days and walks the rest of the time. When taking the bus, they arrive late $5 \%$ of the time. However, when…
To get to school, a teenager takes the bus on $80 \%$ of days and walks the rest of the time. When taking the bus, they arrive late $5 \%$ of the time. However, when walking, they arrive late $15 \%$ of the time because they get distracted along the way.
- a) Construct the tree diagram.
- b) Calculate the probability that on any given day they arrive on time at school.
You can do it on paper and send a photo with your answer.
A sportswear shop receives sweatshirts from two factories. Factory 1 supplies $60 \%$ of the stock and Factory 2 the remaining $40 \%$. $2 \%$ of the sweatshirts from…
A sportswear shop receives sweatshirts from two factories. Factory 1 supplies $60 \%$ of the stock and Factory 2 the remaining $40 \%$. $2 \%$ of the sweatshirts from Factory 1 have some stitching defect, whereas in Factory 2 the percentage of defects is $5 \%$.
- a) Represent the situation with a probability tree (draw it yourself: first the factory of origin and then whether or not the sweatshirt has a defect, indicating the probability of each branch).
- b) Calculate the probability that a randomly chosen sweatshirt has no defect at all.
A popular video game streamer* broadcasts content on three different platforms: Twitch, YouTube and TikTok Live. According to his statistics, $45\,\%$ of his followers…
A popular video game streamer broadcasts content on three different platforms: Twitch, YouTube and TikTok Live. According to his statistics, $45\,\%$ of his followers watch his live streams on Twitch, $35\,\%$ on YouTube and the remaining $20\,\%$ on TikTok. It is known that the percentage of followers who interact in the chat is $12\,\%$ on Twitch, $8\,\%$ on YouTube and $25\,\%$ on TikTok.
If we choose a follower of this streamer at random:
- a) Represent the situation using a tree diagram.
- b) Calculate the probability that the chosen follower interacts in the chat.
- c) If we know that the chosen follower does not interact in the chat, what is the probability that they are a YouTube follower?
A technology company produces processors in three plants: P1 (produces 50%), P2 (30%) and P3 (20%). The percentage of processors exceeding a speed of 4 GHz is 80% in P1,…
A technology company produces processors in three plants: P1 (produces 50%), P2 (30%) and P3 (20%). The percentage of processors exceeding a speed of 4 GHz is 80% in P1, 70% in P2 and 60% in P3. Processors that do not exceed this speed undergo an optimisation process that results in 40% of them ultimately exceeding it.
- a) Using a tree diagram, calculate the probability that a processor chosen at random from total production ultimately exceeds 4 GHz.
- b) If a processor does not exceed 4 GHz after the whole process, what is the probability that it comes from plant P1 or P2?
From the outcome to the cause: conditional probability with the tree
Many exercises end with a question in reverse: "if the package arrived late, which delivery service did it go through?" You already know the outcome and you are looking for the branch it came from. The tree solves it with a fraction.
A health app uses a smart sensor to detect whether a user is performing intense aerobic exercise. The sensor is able to correctly detect the activity $98\,\%$ of the…
A health app uses a smart sensor to detect whether a user is performing intense aerobic exercise. The sensor is able to correctly detect the activity $98\,\%$ of the time. However, when the user is at rest or walking slowly, the sensor gives a "false positive" (erroneously indicating that they are doing intense exercise) in $3\,\%$ of cases. According to user community data, it is estimated that users spend $15\,\%$ of their time performing intense activity.
- a) What is the probability that, at a moment chosen at random, the app indicates that the user is performing intense exercise?
- b) If the app indicates that the user is performing intense exercise, calculate the probability that they are actually at rest or walking slowly.
In a high school, $40\,\%$ of the students are Science students and $60\,\%$ are Social Sciences students. $75\,\%$ of the Science students use school transportation,…
In a high school, $40\,\%$ of the students are Science students and $60\,\%$ are Social Sciences students. $75\,\%$ of the Science students use school transportation, whereas only $30\,\%$ of the Social Sciences students do so.
- a) If we choose a student at random, what is the probability that they do not use school transportation?
- b) If we select a student who uses school transportation, what is the probability that they are a Social Sciences student?
A wireless headphone factory produces two models: "Basic" and "Pro". $65\,\%$ of production corresponds to the Basic model. Quality control detects that $2\,\%$ of Basic…
A wireless headphone factory produces two models: "Basic" and "Pro". $65\,\%$ of production corresponds to the Basic model. Quality control detects that $2\,\%$ of Basic headphones are defective, whereas for the Pro model the percentage of defective units is $1\,\%$.
- a) Calculate the probability that a pair of headphones chosen at random is defective.
- b) If a pair of headphones is defective, which model is it more likely to be? Justify your answer by calculating the posterior probabilities.
On an e-sports platform, players are classified according to their rank into: Bronze (50%), Silver (30%) and Gold (20%). It has been observed that the probability of a…
On an e-sports platform, players are classified according to their rank into: Bronze (50%), Silver (30%) and Gold (20%). It has been observed that the probability of a player cheating (using banned software) depends on their rank: in Bronze it is 2%, in Silver 5% and in Gold 10%. The FairPlay security system correctly detects a cheater 98% of the time, but gives a "false positive" (accuses a clean player) in 1% of cases.
- a) Draw the tree diagram representing the situation of a player chosen at random undergoing the security check.
- b) Calculate the probability that the FairPlay system issues a "cheating player" alert.
- c) If the system has issued an alert, what is the probability that the player is actually innocent and of Gold rank?
You can do it on paper and send a photo with your answer.
Trees with more than two stages
When the experiment has three or more stages, or one stage depends on the result of the previous one (a second test, a coin that decides whether to draw again), the procedure is the same. The tree just gets longer.
A courier company uses three routes to deliver packages in a difficult city. Route A (used 40% of the time) has a 15% probability of delay. Route B (used 35% of the…
A courier company uses three routes to deliver packages in a difficult city. Route A (used 40% of the time) has a 15% probability of delay. Route B (used 35% of the time) has a 10% probability of delay. Route C is used the rest of the time and has a 20% probability of delay. If a package arrives late, an audit protocol is applied to it. This protocol fails and does not detect the real reason for the delay in 5% of cases for route A, in 8% for route B and in 12% for route C.
- a) Represent using a tree diagram the probability that a package chosen at random experiences a delay and its audit fails.
- b) Calculate the probability that a package selected at random has a failed audit due to a delay.
- c) Given that the audit has failed, what is the probability that the package did not travel via route A?
A study on sleep habits among teenagers reveals that 25% sleep less than 6 hours, 60% sleep between 6 and 8 hours, and the rest sleep more than 8 hours. The probability…
A study on sleep habits among teenagers reveals that 25% sleep less than 6 hours, 60% sleep between 6 and 8 hours, and the rest sleep more than 8 hours. The probability of lacking concentration in the first class of the morning is 0.8 for the first group, 0.3 for the second and 0.1 for the third. Furthermore, if a student lacks concentration, the probability that they forget to hand in their homework is 0.7, whereas if they are focused, that probability drops to 0.05.
- a) Calculate the probability that a student chosen at random forgets to hand in their homework.
- b) If a student has handed in their homework correctly, what is the probability that they belong to the group that sleeps more than 8 hours?
In a wind turbine factory, 1% of blades have structural microcracks. An ultrasound scanning system is used that detects a crack with a probability of 0.99. However, the…
In a wind turbine factory, 1% of blades have structural microcracks. An ultrasound scanning system is used that detects a crack with a probability of 0.99. However, the scanner has a 0.03 probability of indicating a crack when the blade is undamaged. To ensure quality control, if the scanner indicates a "crack", a second independent manual test is performed that detects an actual crack with a probability of 0.95 and has a 1% margin of error on undamaged blades.
- a) Calculate the probability that a blade undergoes both tests and is declared "defective".
- b) If a blade has been declared "defective" after both tests, what is the probability that it actually has no microcracks?
Three urns are available with the following composition of coloured balls: Urn $U_1$: 5 white, 3 black and 2 red. Urn $U_2$: 4 white and 6 black. Urn $U_3$: 2 white, 5…
Three urns are available with the following composition of coloured balls:
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Urn $U_1$: 5 white, 3 black and 2 red.
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Urn $U_2$: 4 white and 6 black.
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Urn $U_3$: 2 white, 5 black and 3 red.
The experiment consists of rolling a fair die. If a prime number is rolled, a ball is drawn from $U_1$. If a composite number is rolled, a ball is drawn from $U_2$. In any other case, it is drawn from $U_3$. After the draw, the ball is placed into the urn from which it was not drawn that has the most white balls at that moment (in the event of a tie, $U_3$ is chosen). Finally, a second ball is drawn from that last urn.
- a) Construct the detailed tree diagram of the two draws.
- b) What is the probability that the second ball drawn is red?
- c) If the second ball was red, what is the probability that the first ball was white?
You can do it on paper and send a photo with your answer.
Three friends, Hugo, Silvia and Clara, play a turn-based strategy game. The probability of Hugo winning is $P(H) = 0.2$, Silvia's is $P(S) = 0.5$ and Clara's is…
Three friends, Hugo, Silvia and Clara, play a turn-based strategy game. The probability of Hugo winning is $P(H) = 0.2$, Silvia's is $P(S) = 0.5$ and Clara's is $P(C) = 0.3$. After winning a game, the probability of the same player winning the next one increases by 20% relative to their initial probability (subtracting that difference proportionally from the other two players).
- a) If Silvia wins the first game, construct the probability tree for the second game.
- b) Calculate the probability that Silvia wins the first two games.
- c) Given that Silvia won the second game, what is the probability that Clara won the first game?
There is a box containing 10 smartphones, 3 of which have a defective screen. Two phones are drawn at random, one after another and without replacement. If the first…
There is a box containing 10 smartphones, 3 of which have a defective screen. Two phones are drawn at random, one after another and without replacement.
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If the first phone drawn is defective, a biased coin is tossed where the probability of heads is 0.7. If it lands on heads, a third phone is drawn from the box.
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If the first phone drawn is not defective, a fair die is rolled. If a number greater than 4 is rolled, a third phone is drawn.
- a) Calculate the probability that the total number of defective phones drawn is exactly 2.
- b) Given that at the end of the experiment exactly 2 defective phones have been drawn, what is the probability that the first phone drawn was non-defective?
Back to the beginning: if the package arrived late, the most likely route is found by comparing the weight of each path that ends in a delay and dividing by their sum.