Final answer:
The probability of randomly selecting a yellow chip from the urn is 4/17, the probability of selecting a white chip is 8/17, and the probability of selecting a black chip is 5/17.
Step-by-step explanation:
The problem statement tells us that an urn contains 4 yellow chips, 8 white chips, and 5 black chips, each with a unique number label. The total number of chips is therefore 4 + 8 + 5 = 17 chips. When you select one chip randomly from the urn, each chip has an equal chance of being selected.
To find the probability of selecting a yellow chip, we use the formula for probability, which is P(event) = Number of favorable outcomes / Total number of possible outcomes. There are 4 yellow chips, which are the number of favorable outcomes for drawing a yellow chip, and there are 17 chips in total.
The probability of drawing a yellow chip is therefore P(yellow chip) = 4/17, as reduced fractions.
To find the probability of selecting a white chip, we apply the same formula. There are 8 white chips, so the probability is P(white chip) = 8/17.
Similarly, for a black chip, there are 5 black chips, so the probability is P(black chip) = 5/17.
If you were looking for the probability of selecting a chip of a certain number, the process would be similar, but you would need to count the total number of chips with that number label across all colors.