Question

6. Paul sat on a bench by the river and 30

counted the passing boats. He counted
24 speed boats, 5 sail boats, and 1
rowboat. What is the experimental
probability that the next boat he sees
will be a sailboat

Answer 1

The experimental probability of an event is defined as the ratio of the number of times the event occurs to the total number of trials or observations.

In this case, Paul observed a total of 24 + 5 + 1 = 30 boats, of which 5 were sailboats.

Therefore, the experimental probability that the next boat Paul sees will be a sailboat is:

Experimental probability = number of sailboats / total number of boats

Experimental probability = 5 / 30

Experimental probability = 1/6

So the experimental probability of seeing a sailboat next is 1/6 or approximately 0.167.

Answer 2

The total number of boats Paul counted is 24 speed boats + 5 sail boats + 1 rowboat = 30 boats.

So, the experimental probability that the next boat he sees will be a sailboat is 5 sail boats / 30 boats = 1/6.