Question the-ta

3.5 Probability & Conditional Probability - Simple probability
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The table gives the distribution of votes for a new school mascot and grade level for 80 students.

Mascot Grade level
Sixth Seventh Eighth Total
Badger 4 9 9 22
Lion 9 2 9 20
Longhorn 4 6 4 14
Tiger 6 9 9 24
Total 23 26 31 80

If one of these students is selected at random, what is the probability of selecting a student whose vote for new mascot was for a lion? 

A.

1 9

B.

1 5

C.

1 4

D.

2 3

The table gives the distribution of votes for a new school mascot and grade level for

Medium-difficulty · SAT Math · Probability & Conditional Probability — Simple probability. Read the question above, select your answer, and check the full explanation below to understand exactly why the correct choice works.

Answer explanation

Choice C is correct. If one of these students is selected at random, the probability of selecting a student whose vote for the new mascot was for a lion is given by the number of votes for a lion divided by the total number of votes. The given table indies that the number of votes for a lion is 20 votes, and the total number of votes is 80 votes. The table gives the distribution of votes for 80 students, and the table shows a total of 80 votes were counted. It follows that each of the 80 students voted exactly once. Thus, the probability of selecting a student whose vote for the new mascot was for a lion is 2080, or 14.

Choice A is incorrect and may result from conceptual or computational errors.

Choice B is incorrect and may result from conceptual or computational errors.

Choice D is incorrect and may result from conceptual or computational errors.