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A coin is flipped seven times. What is the probability of getting heads six or fewer times?
Explanation
Since this problem deals with a probability with two potential outcomes, it is a binomial distribution, and so the probability of an event is given as:
Where is the number of events,
is the number of "successes" (in this case, a "heads" outcome), and
is the probability of success (in this case, fifty percent).
One approach is to calculate the probability of flipping no heads, one head, two heads, etc., all the way to six heads, and adding those probabilities together, but that would be time consuming. Rather, calculate the probability of flipping seven heads. The complement to that would then be the sum of all other flip probabilities, which is what the problem calls for:
Therefore, the probability of six or fewer heads is:
A coin is flipped four times. What is the probability of getting heads at least three times?
Explanation
Since this problem deals with a probability with two potential outcomes, it is a binomial distribution, and so the probability of an event is given as:
Where is the number of events,
is the number of "successes" (in this case, a "heads" outcome), and
is the probability of success (in this case, fifty percent).
Per the question, we're looking for the probability of at least three heads; three head flips or four head flips would satisfy this:
Thus the probability of three or more flips is:
A coin is flipped seven times. What is the probability of getting heads six or fewer times?
Explanation
Since this problem deals with a probability with two potential outcomes, it is a binomial distribution, and so the probability of an event is given as:
Where is the number of events,
is the number of "successes" (in this case, a "heads" outcome), and
is the probability of success (in this case, fifty percent).
One approach is to calculate the probability of flipping no heads, one head, two heads, etc., all the way to six heads, and adding those probabilities together, but that would be time consuming. Rather, calculate the probability of flipping seven heads. The complement to that would then be the sum of all other flip probabilities, which is what the problem calls for:
Therefore, the probability of six or fewer heads is:
A coin is flipped four times. What is the probability of getting heads at least three times?
Explanation
Since this problem deals with a probability with two potential outcomes, it is a binomial distribution, and so the probability of an event is given as:
Where is the number of events,
is the number of "successes" (in this case, a "heads" outcome), and
is the probability of success (in this case, fifty percent).
Per the question, we're looking for the probability of at least three heads; three head flips or four head flips would satisfy this:
Thus the probability of three or more flips is:
Presented with a deck of fifty-two cards (no jokers), what is the probability of drawing either a face card or a spade?
Explanation
A face card constitutes a Jack, Queen, or King, and there are twelve in a deck, so the probability of drawing a face card is .
There are thirteen spades in the deck, so the probability of drawing a spade is .
Keep in mind that there are also three cards that fit into both categories: the Jack, Queen, and King of Spades; the probability of drawing one is
Thus the probability of drawing a face card or a spade is:
Presented with a deck of fifty-two cards (no jokers), what is the probability of drawing either a face card or a spade?
Explanation
A face card constitutes a Jack, Queen, or King, and there are twelve in a deck, so the probability of drawing a face card is .
There are thirteen spades in the deck, so the probability of drawing a spade is .
Keep in mind that there are also three cards that fit into both categories: the Jack, Queen, and King of Spades; the probability of drawing one is
Thus the probability of drawing a face card or a spade is:
This semester, Mary had five quizzes that were each worth 10% of her grade. She scored 89, 74, 84, 92, and 90 on those five quizzes. Mary also scored a 92 on her midterm that was worth 25% of her grade, and a 91 on her final that was also worth 25% of her class grade. What was Mary's final grade in the class?
85
87
89
91
93
Explanation
To find her average grade for the class, we need to multiply Mary's test scores by their corresponding weights and then add them up.
The five quizzes were each worth 10%, or 0.1, of her grade, and the midterm and final were both worth 25%, or 0.25.
average = (0.1 * 89) + (0.1 * 74) + (0.1 * 84) + (0.1 * 92) + (0.1 * 90) + (0.25 * 92) + (0.25 * 91) = 88.95 = 89.
Looking at the answer choices, they are all spaced 2 percentage points apart, so clearly the closest answer choice to 88.95 is 89.
This semester, Mary had five quizzes that were each worth 10% of her grade. She scored 89, 74, 84, 92, and 90 on those five quizzes. Mary also scored a 92 on her midterm that was worth 25% of her grade, and a 91 on her final that was also worth 25% of her class grade. What was Mary's final grade in the class?
85
87
89
91
93
Explanation
To find her average grade for the class, we need to multiply Mary's test scores by their corresponding weights and then add them up.
The five quizzes were each worth 10%, or 0.1, of her grade, and the midterm and final were both worth 25%, or 0.25.
average = (0.1 * 89) + (0.1 * 74) + (0.1 * 84) + (0.1 * 92) + (0.1 * 90) + (0.25 * 92) + (0.25 * 91) = 88.95 = 89.
Looking at the answer choices, they are all spaced 2 percentage points apart, so clearly the closest answer choice to 88.95 is 89.
A police officer walked into a room full of suspects and turn out their pockets. The chart below shows the number of coins each man had.

The police claim the man with the amount of money closest to the arithmetic mean of the group is guilty. Who is it?
Suspect 2
Suspect 1
Suspect 3
Suspect 4
Suspect 6
Explanation

Summing total money and dividing by the number of suspects gives us an average of approximately $2.73. By comparing it to the amounts held by the suspects, we can see that Suspect #2 is guilty.
A police officer walked into a room full of suspects and turn out their pockets. The chart below shows the number of coins each man had.

The police claim the man with the amount of money closest to the arithmetic mean of the group is guilty. Who is it?
Suspect 2
Suspect 1
Suspect 3
Suspect 4
Suspect 6
Explanation

Summing total money and dividing by the number of suspects gives us an average of approximately $2.73. By comparing it to the amounts held by the suspects, we can see that Suspect #2 is guilty.