Conditional probability
A conditional probability is the probability that some event A occurs given that a different event B has already occurred. This is written P(A|B) (often read as "the probability of A given B"). The conditional probability satisfies the equation
<math> P(A|B)=P(AB)/P(B) </math>
where P(AB) is the probability of both events A and B occurring and P(B) is the probability of event B occurring.
Example
A bag has 5 red balls and 3 green balls inside it. You pick out a ball and do not replace it in the bag afterwards.
Q. What is the probability of removing a red ball?
A. 5/8
Q. What is the probability of removing a red ball, given that you have already removed a red ball?
A. There are now 4 red balls and 3 greens, so: 4/7
In the second case, the question requires a conditional probability: P(red|red).