Applications of Probability

Description: This quiz is designed to assess your understanding of the applications of probability in various fields.
Number of Questions: 14
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Tags: probability applications statistics mathematics
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In a standard deck of 52 cards, what is the probability of drawing a red card?

  1. 1/2

  2. 1/4

  3. 1/3

  4. 1/5


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

There are 26 red cards in a standard deck of 52 cards. Therefore, the probability of drawing a red card is 26/52 = 1/2.

A coin is tossed three times. What is the probability of getting exactly two heads?

  1. 1/4

  2. 1/8

  3. 3/8

  4. 1/2


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

There are 8 possible outcomes when a coin is tossed three times: HHH, HHT, HTH, THH, THT, TTH, HTT, TTT. There are 3 outcomes with exactly two heads: HHT, HTH, THH. Therefore, the probability of getting exactly two heads is 3/8.

A bag contains 10 red balls, 15 blue balls, and 20 green balls. If a ball is randomly selected from the bag, what is the probability that it is not a red ball?

  1. 1/2

  2. 2/5

  3. 3/5

  4. 4/5


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

There are a total of 10 + 15 + 20 = 45 balls in the bag. The probability of selecting a red ball is 10/45. Therefore, the probability of selecting a ball that is not red is 1 - 10/45 = 4/5.

A survey of 100 people found that 60 people like chocolate, 40 people like vanilla, and 20 people like both chocolate and vanilla. What is the probability that a randomly selected person from the survey likes chocolate or vanilla?

  1. 0.8

  2. 0.6

  3. 0.4

  4. 0.2


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Let C be the event that a person likes chocolate and V be the event that a person likes vanilla. Then, P(C or V) = P(C) + P(V) - P(C and V) = 60/100 + 40/100 - 20/100 = 80/100 = 0.8.

A company has a 10% chance of winning a contract. If the company submits 10 bids, what is the probability that they will win at least one contract?

  1. 0.63

  2. 0.74

  3. 0.85

  4. 0.95


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

The probability of the company winning at least one contract is 1 - the probability of the company winning no contracts. The probability of the company winning no contracts is (0.9)^10 = 0.3487. Therefore, the probability of the company winning at least one contract is 1 - 0.3487 = 0.95.

A machine produces defective items with a probability of 0.05. If 100 items are produced, what is the probability that exactly 5 items are defective?

  1. 0.074

  2. 0.135

  3. 0.201

  4. 0.268


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

This is a binomial distribution problem. The probability of exactly 5 defective items is given by the formula P(X = 5) = (100 choose 5) * (0.05)^5 * (0.95)^95 = 0.201.

A box contains 100 light bulbs, of which 10 are defective. If 10 light bulbs are randomly selected from the box, what is the probability that exactly 2 of them are defective?

  1. 0.252

  2. 0.308

  3. 0.364

  4. 0.420


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

This is a hypergeometric distribution problem. The probability of exactly 2 defective light bulbs is given by the formula P(X = 2) = (10 choose 2) * (10/100)^2 * (90/100)^8 = 0.308.

A population has a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. If a sample of 100 people is randomly selected from the population, what is the probability that the sample mean will be between 95 and 105?

  1. 0.682

  2. 0.764

  3. 0.841

  4. 0.910


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The sample mean follows a normal distribution with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15/sqrt(100) = 1.5. Therefore, the probability that the sample mean will be between 95 and 105 is P(95 < X < 105) = P((95 - 100)/1.5 < Z < (105 - 100)/1.5) = P(-3.33 < Z < 3.33) = 0.841.

A company claims that their product will last for at least 100 hours. If the product actually lasts for an average of 120 hours with a standard deviation of 10 hours, what is the probability that a randomly selected product will last for less than 100 hours?

  1. 0.023

  2. 0.067

  3. 0.111

  4. 0.159


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

The product lifetime follows a normal distribution with a mean of 120 hours and a standard deviation of 10 hours. Therefore, the probability that a randomly selected product will last for less than 100 hours is P(X < 100) = P((100 - 120)/10 < Z) = P(Z < -2) = 0.023.

A survey found that 60% of people prefer coffee, 30% prefer tea, and 10% prefer both coffee and tea. If a person is randomly selected from the survey, what is the probability that they prefer coffee or tea?

  1. 0.7

  2. 0.8

  3. 0.9

  4. 1.0


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

Let C be the event that a person prefers coffee and T be the event that a person prefers tea. Then, P(C or T) = P(C) + P(T) - P(C and T) = 0.6 + 0.3 - 0.1 = 0.8.

A company has a policy that employees must take at least 10 days of vacation per year. If an employee takes an average of 12 days of vacation per year with a standard deviation of 2 days, what is the probability that an employee will take less than 10 days of vacation in a given year?

  1. 0.159

  2. 0.067

  3. 0.023

  4. 0.001


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The employee's vacation days follow a normal distribution with a mean of 12 days and a standard deviation of 2 days. Therefore, the probability that an employee will take less than 10 days of vacation in a given year is P(X < 10) = P((10 - 12)/2 < Z) = P(Z < -1) = 0.023.

A machine produces defective items with a probability of 0.01. If 1000 items are produced, what is the probability that the number of defective items is between 5 and 10?

  1. 0.242

  2. 0.383

  3. 0.524

  4. 0.665


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

This is a binomial distribution problem. The probability of between 5 and 10 defective items is given by the formula P(5 ≤ X ≤ 10) = P(X = 5) + P(X = 6) + P(X = 7) + P(X = 8) + P(X = 9) + P(X = 10) = 0.383.

A survey found that 40% of people prefer dogs, 30% prefer cats, and 20% prefer both dogs and cats. If a person is randomly selected from the survey, what is the probability that they prefer dogs or cats?

  1. 0.7

  2. 0.8

  3. 0.9

  4. 1.0


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

Let D be the event that a person prefers dogs and C be the event that a person prefers cats. Then, P(D or C) = P(D) + P(C) - P(D and C) = 0.4 + 0.3 - 0.2 = 0.9.

A company has a policy that employees must take at least 10 days of vacation per year. If an employee takes an average of 12 days of vacation per year with a standard deviation of 2 days, what is the probability that an employee will take more than 15 days of vacation in a given year?

  1. 0.159

  2. 0.067

  3. 0.023

  4. 0.001


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

The employee's vacation days follow a normal distribution with a mean of 12 days and a standard deviation of 2 days. Therefore, the probability that an employee will take more than 15 days of vacation in a given year is P(X > 15) = P((15 - 12)/2 < Z) = P(Z > 1.5) = 0.067.

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