Final answer:
Benford's law states that lower digits are more likely to appear as the first digit of numbers in natural data sets. Consequently, the first digit is less likely to be a 9 than an 8, making the student's statement false.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student's question pertains to Benford's law, which is a mathematical concept related to the frequency distribution of leading digits in many real-life sets of numerical data. According to Benford's law, the first digit d of natural sets of numbers occurs with a probability of log(1 + 1/d), meaning lower digits are statistically more likely to occur as the first digit than higher ones. Therefore, the statement is False: The first digit of natural sets of numbers will begin with a 9 less often than with an 8, or any other digit aside from 1, which is the most common leading digit according to this law.