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Mapping All Possibilities
Mapping All Possibilities
When you play a board game and roll two dice, how many different combinations can you get? When you flip three coins, what are all the possible outcomes? Understanding sample spaces helps us systematically list all possible outcomes before calculating probabilities.
Sample spaces are like creating a complete map of all possibilities - ensuring we don't miss any outcomes when solving probability problems.
What is an outcome?: A single result from an experiment
Mathematics glossary
- What is an outcome?
- A single result from an experiment
- What is a sample space?
- The set of all possible outcomes of an experiment
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Exam Tips
- Be systematic - use a method to ensure you don't miss outcomes
- Check your count - use the multiplication principle to verify
- Use clear notation - (H,T) for ordered pairs, {H,T} for sets
- Consider order - (1,2) is different from (2,1) in most experiments
- List completely - show all outcomes in the sample space when asked
- Define events clearly - specify which outcomes satisfy the condition
Now try it yourself
Quiz · Question 1 of 11
A fair coin is flipped and a fair die (numbered 1 to 6) is rolled. How many possible outcomes are there in total?
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This topic in real past papers
Every real exam question we've found on sample spaces, with a full worked answer.