Question

The distribution of blood type in the US is roughly 38% type A, 12% type B, 3% type AB, 47% type O. An individual is brought into an emergency room and is to be blood-typed. What is the probability that the type will be A, AB, or O?

(a) 0.25
(b) 0.88
(c) 0.75
(d) 0.54

Answer 1

The probability that an individual's blood type will be A, AB, or O is the sum of the individual probabilities for those blood types, which is 88% or 0.88.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the probability that an individual's blood type is A, AB, or O, we add the probabilities for each of those blood types based on the given distribution in the US population. Given that the probability of type A is 38%, the probability of type AB is 3%, and the probability of type O is 47%, the combined probability is the sum of these individual probabilities.

Probability (A or AB or O) = P(A) + P(AB) + P(O) = 38% + 3% + 47% = 88%.

Therefore, the correct answer to this question is (b) 0.88.