Question

What is sample space

Answer 1

When dealing with any type of probability question, the sample space represents the set or collection of all possible outcomes. In other words, it is a list of every possible result when running the experiment just once. For example, in one roll of a die, a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 could come up. Each of these are considered outcomes and together they make up a sample space.

Sample spaces are usually written using set notation. This means that each possibility is listed only once within curly brackets. For example, if there were three possibilities we would write the sample space as:

S={outcome 1,outcome 2,outcome 3}S={outcome 1,outcome 2,outcome 3}

Many times, the outcomes will be written in some kind of shorthand. It is not necessary to use shorthand when writing out the possibilities, but if you do, make sure that the shorthand is easy to follow. For example, suppose we flipped a coin. The possibilities are “heads” and “tails” which could be written as “H” and “T”. Using this, the sample space would be:

S={H,T}