Free, step-by-step Class 12 Maths NCERT Solutions for Chapter 13 Ex 13.3 — all 14 questions solved, using the theorem of total probability and Bayes' theorem to work backwards from an observed outcome to its most likely cause.
Questions 1–12 apply Bayes' theorem across a wide variety of real-world settings — urns and bags of balls, a multiple-choice test where a student either knows the answer or guesses, a medical test with a false-positive rate, a two-headed coin mixed in with fair and biased ones, insured drivers split by vehicle type, two factory machines, two groups competing for a board seat, a girl who throws a die before deciding how to toss a coin, three machine operators with different defect rates, and a lost playing card. The method stays the same throughout: identify the partition of hypotheses (which bag, which machine, which operator), find each hypothesis's prior probability and the probability of the observed event given that hypothesis, then combine them with Bayes' theorem to get the posterior probability of the hypothesis being asked about. The exercise closes with two MCQs — a direct reverse-probability calculation about a coin toss, and a question on how P(A|B) compares with P(A) when A is a subset of B.
Let R_1: first ball drawn is red, B_1: first ball drawn is black. P(R_1)=\dfrac{5}{10}=\dfrac12, P(B_1)=\dfrac12.
If the first ball was red, the urn now has 7 red and 5 black (12 total), so P(\text{2nd red}|R_1)=\dfrac{7}{12}. If the first ball was black, the urn now has 5 red and 7 black (12 total), so P(\text{2nd red}|B_1)=\dfrac{5}{12}.
By the theorem of total probability, P(\text{2nd red})=\dfrac12\times\dfrac{7}{12}+\dfrac12\times\dfrac{5}{12}=\dfrac{7}{24}+\dfrac{5}{24}=\dfrac{12}{24}=\dfrac12.
Let E_1: bag I is chosen, E_2: bag II is chosen, both with P(E_1)=P(E_2)=\dfrac12. Let A: the ball drawn is red.
P(A|E_1)=\dfrac48=\dfrac12 and P(A|E_2)=\dfrac28=\dfrac14.
By Bayes' theorem, P(E_1|A)=\dfrac{P(E_1)P(A|E_1)}{P(E_1)P(A|E_1)+P(E_2)P(A|E_2)}=\dfrac{\frac12\times\frac12}{\frac12\times\frac12+\frac12\times\frac14}=\dfrac{1/4}{1/4+1/8}=\dfrac{1/4}{3/8}=\dfrac23.
Let E_1: student is a hosteller, E_2: student is a day scholar. P(E_1)=0.6, P(E_2)=0.4.
Let A: student attains an A grade, with P(A|E_1)=0.3 and P(A|E_2)=0.2.
By Bayes' theorem, P(E_1|A)=\dfrac{0.6\times0.3}{0.6\times0.3+0.4\times0.2}=\dfrac{0.18}{0.18+0.08}=\dfrac{0.18}{0.26}=\dfrac{9}{13}.
Let E_1: student knows the answer, E_2: student guesses. P(E_1)=\dfrac34, P(E_2)=\dfrac14.
Let A: the answer is correct, with P(A|E_1)=1 (a student who knows answers correctly) and P(A|E_2)=\dfrac14.
By Bayes' theorem, P(E_1|A)=\dfrac{\frac34\times1}{\frac34\times1+\frac14\times\frac14}=\dfrac{3/4}{3/4+1/16}=\dfrac{3/4}{13/16}=\dfrac34\times\dfrac{16}{13}=\dfrac{12}{13}.
Let E: the person has the disease, so P(E)=0.001 and P(E')=0.999. Let A: the test is positive, with P(A|E)=0.99 and P(A|E')=0.005.
By Bayes' theorem, P(E|A)=\dfrac{0.001\times0.99}{0.001\times0.99+0.999\times0.005}=\dfrac{0.00099}{0.00099+0.004995}=\dfrac{0.00099}{0.005985}.
This simplifies to \dfrac{22}{133}\approx0.166 — even with a highly accurate test, the disease is so rare that a positive result still only makes actually having it about 16.6% likely.
Let E_1,E_2,E_3 be the events of choosing the two-headed, biased, and unbiased coin respectively, each with prior P(E_i)=\dfrac13.
Let A: the coin shows heads, with P(A|E_1)=1, P(A|E_2)=0.75, P(A|E_3)=0.5.
By Bayes' theorem, P(E_1|A)=\dfrac{\frac13\times1}{\frac13\times1+\frac13\times0.75+\frac13\times0.5}=\dfrac{1}{1+0.75+0.5}=\dfrac{1}{2.25}=\dfrac49.
Out of 2000+4000+6000=12000 insured drivers, P(\text{scooter})=\dfrac16, P(\text{car})=\dfrac13, P(\text{truck})=\dfrac12.
The accident probabilities given each type are 0.01, 0.03 and 0.15 respectively.
By Bayes' theorem, P(\text{scooter}|\text{accident})=\dfrac{\frac16\times0.01}{\frac16\times0.01+\frac13\times0.03+\frac12\times0.15}.
Using a common denominator of 600: the numerator is \dfrac{1}{600}, and the denominator sums to \dfrac{1}{600}+\dfrac{6}{600}+\dfrac{45}{600}=\dfrac{52}{600}. So the probability is \dfrac{1}{52}.
Let E_1: item made by A, E_2: item made by B. P(E_1)=0.6, P(E_2)=0.4. Let D: item is defective, with P(D|E_1)=0.02 and P(D|E_2)=0.01.
By Bayes' theorem, P(E_2|D)=\dfrac{0.4\times0.01}{0.6\times0.02+0.4\times0.01}=\dfrac{0.004}{0.012+0.004}=\dfrac{0.004}{0.016}=0.25.
Let E_1: first group wins, E_2: second group wins. P(E_1)=0.6, P(E_2)=0.4.
Let A: a new product is introduced, with P(A|E_1)=0.7 and P(A|E_2)=0.3.
By Bayes' theorem, P(E_2|A)=\dfrac{0.4\times0.3}{0.6\times0.7+0.4\times0.3}=\dfrac{0.12}{0.42+0.12}=\dfrac{0.12}{0.54}=\dfrac29.
Let E_1: die shows 5 or 6 (leading to three coin tosses), E_2: die shows 1, 2, 3 or 4 (leading to one coin toss). P(E_1)=\dfrac13, P(E_2)=\dfrac23.
Let A: exactly one head is obtained. In three tosses, P(A|E_1)=\binom31\left(\dfrac12\right)^3=\dfrac38. In one toss, "exactly one head" simply means the coin shows heads, so P(A|E_2)=\dfrac12.
By Bayes' theorem, P(E_2|A)=\dfrac{\frac23\times\frac12}{\frac13\times\frac38+\frac23\times\frac12}=\dfrac{1/3}{1/8+1/3}=\dfrac{1/3}{3/24+8/24}=\dfrac{1/3}{11/24}=\dfrac13\times\dfrac{24}{11}=\dfrac{8}{11}.
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Let E_1,E_2,E_3 be the events "item produced by A, B, C" with priors P(E_1)=0.5, P(E_2)=0.3, P(E_3)=0.2.
Let D: item is defective, with P(D|E_1)=0.01, P(D|E_2)=0.05, P(D|E_3)=0.07.
P(D)=0.5\times0.01+0.3\times0.05+0.2\times0.07=0.005+0.015+0.014=0.034.
By Bayes' theorem, P(E_1|D)=\dfrac{0.005}{0.034}=\dfrac{5}{34}.
Let D: the lost card is a diamond, so P(D)=\dfrac{13}{52}=\dfrac14 and P(D')=\dfrac34. Let A: both cards drawn from the remaining 51 are diamonds.
If the lost card was a diamond, 12 diamonds remain among 51 cards, so P(A|D)=\dfrac{12}{51}\times\dfrac{11}{50}=\dfrac{132}{2550}. If not, 13 diamonds remain among 51, so P(A|D')=\dfrac{13}{51}\times\dfrac{12}{50}=\dfrac{156}{2550}.
By Bayes' theorem, P(D|A)=\dfrac{\frac14\times\frac{132}{2550}}{\frac14\times\frac{132}{2550}+\frac34\times\frac{156}{2550}}=\dfrac{132}{132+3\times156}=\dfrac{132}{132+468}=\dfrac{132}{600}=\dfrac{11}{50}.
Let H: a head actually occurred, so P(H)=P(H')=\dfrac12. Let R: A reports a head.
If a head occurred, A truthfully reports it with probability \dfrac45; if a tail occurred, A would report a head only by lying, with probability \dfrac15.
By Bayes' theorem, P(H|R)=\dfrac{\frac12\times\frac45}{\frac12\times\frac45+\frac12\times\frac15}=\dfrac{4/10}{4/10+1/10}=\dfrac{4}{5}.
Since A\subset B, every outcome of A is also in B, so A\cap B=A, giving P(A|B)=\dfrac{P(A\cap B)}{P(B)}=\dfrac{P(A)}{P(B)}.
Since 0 \lt P(B)\le1, dividing P(A) by P(B) can only keep it the same (if P(B)=1) or make it larger (if P(B) \lt 1). So P(A|B)\ge P(A) always.
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