Question

A survey asks adults to report their marital status. Suppose that in the city which the survey is conducted, 54% of adults are married, 15% are single, 22% are divorced, and 9% are widowed. Find the probabilities of each of the following events:

A. The adult is single =
B. The adult is not divorced =
C. The adult is either widowed or divorced =

Answer 1

The probabilities of each event are: A. 15% B. 78% C. 31%

Step-by-step explanation:

Probabilities represent the likelihood or chance of an event occurring. In probability theory, a probability is a numerical value between 0 and 1, where 0 indicates an impossible event, 1 indicates a certain event, and values in between represent the likelihood of an event occurring. The sum of probabilities for all possible outcomes in a sample space is always equal to 1.

To find the probabilities of each event, we can simply use the given percentages.

A. The probability that an adult is single is 15%.

B. The probability that an adult is not divorced is the complement of the probability that an adult is divorced. So it would be 100% - 22% = 78%.

C. The probability that an adult is either widowed or divorced is the sum of the probabilities of being widowed and divorced, which is 9% + 22% = 31%.