223k views
5 votes
Find the probability that when a couple has two children, at least one of them is a boy. (Assume that boys and girls are equally likely.)

The probability is _____ that at least one of the two children is a boy. (Simplify your answer. Do not round.)

1 Answer

4 votes

Final answer:

The probability that a couple with two children will have at least one boy is 0.75 or 75%, which is calculated as the complement of the event that both children are girls.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the probability that when a couple has two children, at least one is a boy, we must consider all possible combinations of two children: BB (both are boys), BG (first is a boy, second is a girl), GB (first is a girl, second is a boy), and GG (both are girls), assuming boys and girls are equally likely.

Since the probability for each event is the same (1/4 for each combination), we can say that the chance of having no boys (GG) is 1/4. Therefore, the probability of having at least one boy is the complement of having no boys (1 - probability of no boys). This is calculated as:

Probability of at least one boy = 1 - Probability of GG = 1 - 1/4 = 3/4 or 0.75.

Hence, the probability that at least one of the two children is a boy is 0.75 or 75%.

User Sauce McBoss
by
8.5k points

No related questions found

Welcome to QAmmunity.org, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of our community.

9.4m questions

12.2m answers

Categories