Question

Of the 58 plays attributed to a playwright, 20 are comedies, 20 are tragedies, and 18 are histories. If one play is selected at random, find the odds in favor of selecting a comedy.The odds in favor of selecting a comedy are ?

Answer 1

To find the odds in favor of selecting a comedy, you calculate the ratio of comedies to non-comedies. With 20 comedies out of 58 total plays, the odds are 20 to 38, which may be simplified further.

Step-by-step explanation:

The odds in favor of selecting a comedy from the 58 plays attributed to a playwright, given that there are 20 comedies, 20 tragedies, and 18 histories, can be calculated by the ratio of the number of favorable outcomes (comedies) to the number of unfavorable outcomes (non-comedies).

The number of favorable outcomes (comedies) is 20. The number of unfavorable outcomes is the total plays minus the comedies, which is 58 - 20 = 38 (this includes both tragedies and histories).

The odds in favor of selecting a comedy are therefore 20 to 38, which can be simplified by dividing both numbers by their greatest common divisor.