Which Probability is It?

Experimental Probability is...

• what will happen 
• what actually happens
• what should happen
• what I think happens

Theoretical Probability is...

• what should happen
• what does happen
• what will happen
• what I want to happen

Read through the question below and decided if it is asking you for the theoretical or experimental probability.

The bar graph shows the results of Mrs. Zygmunt's class spinning the spinner 200 times. The spinner has equal sections labeled 1-5. What is the theoretical probability of landing on a 4 ?

• Theoretical

• Experimental

Read the problem below and decide if the question is asking for theoretical or experimental probability.

Neil tossed a 6-sided number cube 90 times. The results of his tosses are recorded in the table below. Based on the data which number has probability of 13/90?

• Theoretical

• Experimental

Read the problem below and decide if the question is asking for theoretical or experimental probability.

What is the probability of spinning red?

• Theoretical

• Experimental

Read the problem below and decide if the question is asking for theoretical or experimental probability.

Shannon has a bag of jelly beans. She removed one jelly bean, recording the color, and then replaced it. She repeated the process 44 times and record her results of the experiment in the table. What is the theoretical probability of her selecting a red jelly bean?

• Theoretical

• Experimental

Read the problem below and decide if the question is asking for theoretical or experimental probability.

You have three sticks. Each stick has one red side and one blue side. You throw the sticks 10 times and record the results.

Use the table to find the probability of tossing 3 blue.

• Theoretical

• Experimental

Read the problem below and decide if the question is asking for theoretical or experimental probability.

A bag contains 30 pieces of candy. There are 15 grape, 7 cherry, 3 lemon, 5 strawberry. What is the probability of drawing a lemon?

• Theoretical

• Experimental

Read the problem below and decide if the question is asking for theoretical or experimental probability.

Bella spun a spinner with three sections. Using her results, find the likelihood that Bella lands on a red or yellow on her next spin.

• Theoretical

• Experimental

Read the problem below and decide if the question is asking for theoretical or experimental probability.

The table shows the number of votes for different school mascots. Based on the information in the table, what is the most reasonable prediction of the number of votes for eagle out of the next 25 votes?

• Theoretical

• Experimental