Question 3 - End-of-Chapter Exercises - Chapter 7 - The Mathematics of Maybe: Introduction to Probability

Transcript

Question 3 (i) Which of the following experiments have equally likely outcomes? Explain. (i) A driver attempts to start a car. The car starts or does not start. The question is asked about equally likely outcomes – i.e. all outcomes have the same probability Now, in this question A car starting is not random chance; it depends on the mechanical condition of the car Thus, the answer is not equally likely Question 3 (ii) Which of the following experiments have equally likely outcomes? Explain. (ii) Tossing a fair coin once. Since the coin is symmetrical, giving Heads and Tails the exact same physical chance Thus, this experiment has equally like outcome Question 3 (iii) Which of the following experiments have equally likely outcomes? Explain. (iii) Rolling a fair 6-sided die. The die is a perfect cube, so no face is favored over another Thus, this experiment has equally like outcome Question 3 (iv) Which of the following experiments have equally likely outcomes? Explain. (iv) Choosing a marble randomly from a bag that contains 3 red marbles and 7 blue marbles. There are more blue marbles, so you are much more likely to pick blue. Thus, the answer is not equally likely Question 3 (v) Which of the following experiments have equally likely outcomes? Explain. (v) A baby is born. It is a boy or a girl. In pure mathematical probability, we treat these two outcomes as having an even 50/50 chance Thus, this experiment has equally like outcome