Solving Experimental Probability Problems

Solving Experimental Probability Problems

By Jessica Farrow

Multiple Choice

In a class, 18 students each toss a coin 10 times. They record how many times the results is heads. Based on these results, what is the probability of getting more than 5 heads?

• $$\frac{1}{3}$$  

• $$\frac{7}{18}$$  

• $$\frac{2}{3}$$  

• $$\frac{2}{5}$$  

Multiple Choice

Soledad has a spinner with a red, a blue, and a white section. She spins the spinner 20 times. Based on her results, what is the probability of the spinner landing on each color?

• red: $$\frac{1}{4}$$  

  blue: $$\frac{1}{2}$$  

  white: $$\frac{6}{20}$$  

• red: $$\frac{5}{20}$$  

  blue: $$\frac{3}{10}$$  

  white: $$\frac{9}{20}$$  

• red: $$\frac{9}{20}$$  

  blue: $$\frac{3}{7}$$  

  white: $$\frac{3}{10}$$  

• red: $$\frac{1}{4}$$  

  blue: $$\frac{9}{20}$$  

  white: $$\frac{3}{10}$$  

Multiple Choice

Cheryl runs an experiment. She selects a tile at random from a bag of lettered tiles, record the letter, and replaces the tile. Her results are shown below.

A, D, E, B, F, C, F, D, E, B, A, B

Based on the results, what is the probability of selecting a vowel?

• $$\frac{2}{3}$$  

• $$\frac{1}{3}$$  

• $$\frac{1}{4}$$  

• $$\frac{5}{12}$$  

Multiple Choice

Last season, Erik made 21 of the 35 free throws he attempted. Suppose he attempts 50 free throws this season. What is the most reasonable prediction of the number of free throws he will miss?

• 28

• 20

• 11

• 30

Fill in the Blanks

A floor is covered with black tiles and green tiles that alternate. Daria rolls marbles on the floor. All of the marbles stop on a black tile, a green tile, or in a groove between the tiles. Daria finds that 30 stop on a black tile, 35 on a green tile, and 55 in a groove. Suppose Daria rolls 20 more marbles. Predict the number of those marbles that will stop on a black tile.

Fill in the Blanks

A taco stand lets the first customer every Monday, select the type of taco that will be discounted on Tuesday. The table shows the number of times each type of taco has been discounted so far. Based on these results, predict about how many times carne asada tacos will be discounted in the next 10 weeks. Round to the nearest whole number.