132k views
0 votes
Several students are unprepared for a multiple-choice quiz with 45 questions, and all their answers are guesses. Each question has five possible answers, and only one of them is correct.

Find the mean number of correct answers for such students.

1 Answer

5 votes

Answer and Step-by-step explanation: To find the mean number of correct answers for students who are guessing on a multiple-choice quiz with 45 questions, each having five possible answers and only one correct answer, we can use the concept of probability.

1. The probability of guessing the correct answer for each question is 1 out of 5, since there is only one correct answer out of five possible choices.

2. Since each question is independent of each other, we can calculate the probability of guessing the correct answer for all 45 questions by multiplying the probabilities together:

(1/5) * (1/5) * (1/5) * ... * (1/5) (45 times)

3. Simplifying this expression, we get:

(1/5)^45

4. Now, to find the mean number of correct answers, we multiply the probability of guessing the correct answer for all questions by the total number of questions:

(1/5)^45 * 45

5. Calculating this value, we get the mean number of correct answers for such students.

It's important to note that the value obtained from this calculation represents the average number of correct answers over a large number of students who are guessing on the quiz. Individual students may have different results, but on average, this is the expected mean number of correct answers

User Adam Bittlingmayer
by
7.5k points