Final answer:
To calculate the probability of an event, we divide the number of favorable outcomes by the total number of possible outcomes. For instance, to find the probability of a senior taking a gap year, we determine how many seniors are taking a gap year and divide that by the total number of seniors.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question provided requires an understanding of probabilities and how to calculate them given a set of data about a specific population. In problems such as these, the probability of selecting a junior from a group of math/science majors or the probability that a senior is taking a gap year can be calculated using basic probability formulas. For probability calculation, one divides the number of favorable outcomes (e.g., the number of juniors, and seniors taking a gap year) by the total number of outcomes in the sample space.
For example, if we are considering the probability of selecting a junior from the math/science majors, we would need to know the total number of math/science majors and how many of them are juniors. The probability would then be the number of juniors divided by the total number of math/science majors.
Similarly, to calculate the probability that a senior is taking a gap year, as provided in the information, we have 200 seniors of whom 140 will be going to college, 40 will be going directly to work, and the remainder are taking a gap year. We would calculate the number of seniors taking a gap year and divide it by the total number of seniors (200) to get the probability.