Question

Question 2) [4 Points]

The U.S. Coast Guard maintains a database of the number, source,
and location of oil spills in the U.S. navigable and territorial waters.
The following is a probability distribution for location of oil spill
events. [Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States.]
If an oil spill is selected at random from the database, what is the
probability:
●
●
The oil spill occurred in an ocean?
The oil spill occurred in a lake or harbor?
The oil spill did not occur in a an ocean, gulf, or lake??
Location
Atlantic Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Gulf of Mexico
Great Lakes
Other Lakes
Rivers and canals
Bays and sounds
Harbors
Other
Probability
0.008
0.037
0.233
0.020
0.002
0.366
0.146
0.161
0.027

Answer 1

Explanation:

To find the probabilities, we simply look up the probabilities given in the table.

Let O = event that the oil spill occurred in an ocean

Let L = event that the oil spill occurred in a lake or harbor

P(O) = Probability that the oil spill occurred in an ocean = 0.008 + 0.037 = 0.045

P(L) = Probability that the oil spill occurred in a lake or harbor = 0.020 + 0.002 + 0.146 + 0.161 = 0.329

P(not(O U L)) = Probability that the oil spill did not occur in an ocean, gulf, or lake = 1 - (P(O) + 0.233 + 0.020) = 1 - 0.298 = 0.702

Therefore, the answers to the questions are:

The probability that the oil spill occurred in an ocean is 0.045.

The probability that the oil spill occurred in a lake or harbor is 0.329.

The probability that the oil spill did not occur in an ocean, gulf, or lake is 0.702.