Question
The following probability model shows the distribution of the most-popular-selling Girl Scout Cookies ® . Cookie...
The following probability model shows the distribution of the most-popular-selling Girl Scout Cookies ® .
Cookie Type | Probability |
Thin Mints | 0.27 |
Samoas/Caramel deLites | 0.21 |
Peanut Butter Patties/Tagalongs | 0.17 |
Peanut Butter Sandwiches/ Do-is-dos | 0.15 |
Shortbread/Trefoils | 0.12 |
Other varieties | 0.08 |
(a) Verify that this is a probability model. If a girl scout is selling cookies to people who randomly enter a shopping mall, what is the probability that the next box sold will be Peanut Butter Patties ® / Tagalongs™ or Peanut Butter Sandwich/Do-si-dos™?
(b) If a girl scout is selling cookies to people who randomly enter a shopping mall, what is the probability that the next box sold will be Thin Mints, Samoas ® /Caramel deLites™, or Shortbread/Trefoils?
(c) What is the probability that the next box sold will not be Thin Mints?
Answers
a) To verify that this is a probability model,
- the sum of all probabilities should be equal to 1
- and each probability should be positive and less than or equal to 1
We can see that
- the sum of all probabilities is equal to 1
- the probabilities are positive and less than 1
Hence, this is a probability model
Let
A: event that next box sold is Peanut Butter Patties ® / Tagalongs™
B: event that next box sold is Peanut Butter Sandwich/Do-si-dos™
From the given probabilities
P(A) = 0.17
P(B) = 0.15
To find P(next box sold will be Peanut Butter Patties ® / Tagalongs™ or Peanut Butter Sandwich/Do-si-dos™)
that is to find P(A OR B)
Since next box sold is 1 box it can be only one of the given types
Hence A and B are mutually exclusive
Hence,
P(A OR B) = P(A) + P(B)
= 0.17 + 0.15
= 0.32
P(next box sold will be Peanut Butter Patties ® / Tagalongs™ or Peanut Butter Sandwich/Do-si-dos™) = 0.32
b) Let
A: event that next box sold is Thin Mints
B: event that next box sold is Samoas/Caramel deLites
C: event that next box sold is Shortbread/Trefoils
From the given probabilities
P(A) = 0.27
P(B) = 0.21
P(C ) = 0.12
To find P(next box sold will be Thin Mints, Samoas ® /Caramel deLites™, or Shortbread/Trefoils)
that is to find P(A OR B OR C)
Since next box sold is 1 box it can be only one of the given types
Hence A, B and C are mutually exclusive
Hence,
P(A OR B OR C) = P(A) + P(B) + P(C )
= 0.27 + 0.21 + 0.12
= 0.6
P(next box sold will be Thin Mints, Samoas ® /Caramel deLites™, or Shortbread/Trefoils) = 0.6
c) Let
A: event that next box sold is Thin Mints
A' : event that next box sold is not Thin Mints
From the given probabilities
P(A) = 0.27
Hence,
P(A') = 1 - 0.27
= 0.73
P(next box sold will not be Thin Mints) = 0.73Cookie Type Thin Mints Samoas/Caramel delites Peanut Butter Patties/Tagalongs Peanut Butter Sandwiches/ Do-is-dos Shortbread/Trefoils Other varieties Probability 0.27 0.21 0.17 0.15 0.12 0.08 Total