Chance What is chance When we talk about

Chance

What is chance? When we talk about chance we are talking about how likely it is that something will happen. This can also be called the probability of something happening. You will find some of the language that we will use when talking about chance.

Language of chance Impossible Never Unlikely Even chance (50/50) Uncertain Possible Likely Certain Always Definite

Never/Always We use the word never when we are completely certain that something can not happen in any way. Thursday will never come after Monday because we know that Tuesday always comes after Monday. We use the word always when we are absolutely certain that something will happen. We say that January will always come before February because we know that February is always the month after January.

Possible/Impossible We use the word possible when something can happen. It does not mean that it will definitely happen, just that it could happen. It is possible that I will win the race next year. We use the word impossible when something can not happen. It is impossible for us to walk to America.

Certain/Definite/Uncertain We use the word certain when we We use the word uncertain when are sure that something will we are not sure if something will happen. We can also say that it is happen. definitely going to happen. I am certain that we will have no school on Saturday. The sun will definitely set today. I am uncertain if it will be cloudy tomorrow.

Unlikely/Likely We use likely and unlikely when we are pretty sure something will or will not happen but we can not be fully certain. What are the chances that it will snow in July? We say the chance of this is unlikely because July is in summer and we usually do not see snow in the summer. What are the chances that it will rain in December? We say the chance of this is likely because December is in winter and it often rains in winter.

Even Chance (50/50) We say there is an even chance or a fifty/fifty chance of something happening if there is an equal chance of one of two results occurring. There is an even chance or a 50/50 chance of the coin landing on heads when it is flipped.

Choose the most appropriate word to answer these?

What are the chances that I will win at the game ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’? Likely Unlikely Certain Possible

What are the chances that our school tour will be in Africa next year? Likely Unlikely Certain Impossible

If I pull a card from a deck of cards, what are the chances that I will pull a king? Possible Certain Unlikely 50/50

If there are 3 footballs and 3 basketballs in a box, what are the chances that I will pick a football? Certain Impossible Even Chance (50/50) Unlikely

More/Less Likely If there are 6 blue cubes, 4 red cubes and 1 yellow cube in a bag, I am more likely to pull a blue cube, I am less likely to pull a yellow cube.

We can also use number to show chance. In a bag there are 6 marbles. 3 of them are red, 2 of them are green and 1 of them is blue. You have to close your eyes and pick a marble. What are the chances of pulling a red marble? There are 3 red marbles out of 6 so you have a 3 in 6 chance of pulling a red marble. What are the chances of pulling a blue marble? There is 1 blue marble so you have a 1 in 6 chance of pulling a blue marble.