Question

Elspeth’s family participates in a holiday gift exchange. The names of all five family members are placed in a hat. Each person draws a name. When someone draws their own name, they ignore it and try again. If Elspeth draws first, what is the probability that she will draw her own name and have to try again?

A. 0.2
B. 0.25
C. 0.4
D. 0.5

Answer 1

The probability that Elspeth will draw her own name from the hat is 1 out of 5 possible outcomes, which is 0.2 or 20%. The correct answer to the question is A. 0.2.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question is about determining the probability that Elspeth will draw her own name from a hat containing the names of all five family members during a holiday gift exchange. Since there are five names and she cannot draw a name that is not her own, there are four possible outcomes that are not her name and one outcome that is her name. The probability is therefore the number of favorable outcomes (drawing her own name) divided by the total number of possible outcomes (five names).

The calculation is as follows:

• Number of favorable outcomes (drawing her own name): 1
• Total number of possible outcomes: 5

So, the probability (P) is:

P = Number of favorable outcomes / Total number of possible outcomes

P = 1/5

When converted to decimal form, 1/5 is 0.2.

Therefore, the correct answer to the question is:

• A. 0.2