Question

According to an article, there were 795,325 associate degrees awarded by U.S. community colleges in a certain academic year. A total of 485,142 of these degrees were awarded to women. (Round your answers to three decimal places.)

(a) If a person who received a degree in this year was selected at random, what is the probability that the selected student will be female?
(b) What is the probability that the selected student will be male?

Answer 1

(a) 0.610 or 61%

(b) 0.390 or 39%

Explanation:

(a) The total number of people who received a degree in this year to choose from is 795,325; the number of women within the total population is 485,142. Therefore, the probability that the chosen person is female is:

`P(F)=(485,142)/(795,325)=0.610\ or\ 61\%`

(b) Assuming that students are either male or female, the probability of the selected student being male is:

`P(M) = 1- P(F)=1-0.610=0.390\ or\ 39\%`