Question

A bag contains 3 red balls, 3 green balls, 4 yellow balls, and 2 blue balls. A ball is picked at random, the color recorded, and the ball returned to the bag. This process is repeated 4 times. What is the probability of each outcome?

a) Probability of picking a red ball on the first draw
b) Probability of picking a green ball on the second draw
c) Probability of picking a yellow ball on the third draw
d) Probability of picking a blue ball on the fourth draw

Answer 1

The probability of picking a specific color ball from the bag on each draw can be calculated by dividing the number of balls of that color by the total number of balls in the bag.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the probabilities of each outcome, we need to first calculate the total number of balls in the bag, which is 3 + 3 + 4 + 2 = 12. Since each ball is returned to the bag after it is picked, the total number of balls remains the same for each draw. Therefore, the probability of picking a specific color ball on any draw is equal to the number of balls of that color divided by the total number of balls.

a) Probability of picking a red ball on the first draw: 3 red balls / 12 total balls = 1/4

b) Probability of picking a green ball on the second draw: 3 green balls / 12 total balls = 1/4

c) Probability of picking a yellow ball on the third draw: 4 yellow balls / 12 total balls = 1/3

d) Probability of picking a blue ball on the fourth draw: 2 blue balls / 12 total balls = 1/6