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Compound probability word problems worksheets

Two coins, or one coin twice, or two marbles out of a bag that is not refilled — 7.SP.C.8 is three questions that look alike and are not. These free printable worksheets say in as many words whether the first is put back, because that clause is the whole difference.

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Compound probability word problems
Compound probability word problems worksheet — Two events, with and without replacement, free printable with answer key

The answer key prints on a separate page.

What's on this sheet

Three readings. Two separate devices used once each, where the chances simply multiply. One device used twice, which is the same multiplication with the same fraction twice. And two draws from a bag where the first is kept — there the second fraction has a smaller top and a smaller bottom, and a child who read past the clause gets a wrong answer that looks right.

Why this sheet works

Every device has equally likely outcomes and an outcome a child can name: heads, a 6, the red section, an even number. Bags always hold at least two of the wanted colour, so drawing two of them is possible and the question is never a trick with an answer of zero.

How this one works

One question off this sheet, worked a step at a time — with a sentence saying what just happened and why.

Compound probability word problems, step by step

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