JEE Main & Advanced

Statistics & Probability

Complete Summary • Measures of Central Tendency • Dispersion • Basic Probability

High Weightage • 4–8 Questions Every Year

Measures of Central Tendency

Arithmetic Mean (AM)
Ungrouped: ¯x = (Σxᵢ)/n Frequency Dist.: ¯x = (Σfᵢxᵢ)/(Σfᵢ) = (Σfᵢxᵢ)/N
Geometric Mean (GM)
G = (x₁ x₂ … xₙ)1/n
Harmonic Mean (HM)
Ungrouped: H = n / Σ(1/xᵢ) Frequency Dist.: H = N / Σ(fᵢ/xᵢ)
Mode (Grouped Data)
Mode = l + [(f − f₁)/((2f − f₁ − f₂))] × h l = lower limit of modal class, h = class width
Median
Ungrouped: n odd → ((n+1)/2)th term
n even → average of (n/2)th & ((n/2)+1)th terms
Grouped → Use cumulative frequency table
Empirical Relation (Most Important for JEE)
  • Mode = 3 Median − 2 Mean
  • Measures of Dispersion

    Mean Deviation about A
    M.D. = (1/N) Σ fᵢ |xᵢ − A| (A can be mean, median or mode)
    Standard Deviation (σ) & Variance
    σ = √[ (1/N) Σ fᵢ (xᵢ − ¯x)² ]
    Variance = σ²
    Coefficient of Variation (CV)
  • CV = (σ / ¯x) × 100
  • Higher CV ⇒ more variable (less consistent)
  • Basic Probability Concepts

    Random Experiment → Sample Space S → Event (subset of S)

    Verbal DescriptionSet Notation
    Not AAᶜ
    A or B (at least one)A ∪ B
    A and BA ∩ B
    A but not BA ∩ Bᶜ
    Exactly one of A, B(A ∩ Bᶜ) ∪ (Aᶜ ∩ B)
    Classical Definition (Equally Likely Outcomes)
    P(A) = n(A) / n(S)
    Axioms of Probability
  • 0 ≤ P(A) ≤ 1
  • P(S) = 1
  • If A ∩ B = φ ⇒ P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B)
  • Important Probability Theorems

    Complement Rule
    P(Aᶜ) = 1 − P(A)
    Addition Theorem (Total Probability)
    P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B) − P(A ∩ B)
    For three events
    P(A ∪ B ∪ C) = P(A) + P(B) + P(C) − P(A∩B) − P(B∩C) − P(C∩A) + P(A∩B∩C)
    Mutually Exclusive Events
  • A ∩ B = φ ⇒ P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B)
  • Exhaustive Events
  • A₁ ∪ A₂ ∪ … ∪ Aₙ = S ⇒ P(A₁ ∪ A₂ ∪ …) = 1
  • Odds in favour of A = P(A)/P(Aᶜ)
    Odds against A = P(Aᶜ)/P(A)

    JEE Must-Know Highlights

    Frequently Asked & High-Weightage Topics:
  • Mode formula for grouped data
  • Empirical relation: Mode = 3Median − 2Mean
  • Standard deviation and variance formulas
  • Coefficient of variation comparison
  • Probability of complementary events
  • Addition theorem: P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B) − P(A ∩ B)
  • Mutually exclusive vs exhaustive events
  • Odds in favour/against