Question

Assume we want to pick people from the United States randomly. We know that approximately 10 percent of the United States population is left handed and approximately 90 percent of the United States is right handed. Write your answers as decimals rounded to four places. Assume you pick two people. What is the probability that both people are left handed?

Answer 1

The probability that both picked persons from the United States population are left-handed is 0.01, or 1%.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the probability that both people picked randomly from the United States population are left-handed, we use the rule of the product for independent events. Since the events are independent (one person's handedness does not affect the other's), we multiply the probability of the first event by the probability of the second event.

The probability a randomly picked person is left-handed is 0.10 (or 10%). Therefore, the probability that the first person is left-handed is 0.10. Assuming we have a very large population and the choice of one person hardly affects the probability for the second, the probability that the second person is also left-handed is also 0.10.

Now let's multiply these probabilities:

Probability that both are left-handed = 0.10 × 0.10 = 0.01

So, the probability that both picked persons are left-handed is 0.01, which is equivalent to 1% when expressed as a percentage.