110k views
5 votes
What is the probability of choosing a card that is not a spade (spades)?

A) P(spades)
B) P(not spades)
C) P(diamonds)
D) P(clubs)

User Vtrubnikov
by
7.7k points

1 Answer

2 votes

Final answer:

The probability of choosing a card that is not a spade is the complement of the probability of choosing a spade, which is 3/4 or 75%. Thus, the correct answer is B) P(not spades).

Step-by-step explanation:

The probability of choosing a card that is not a spade from a standard deck of playing cards can be calculated as follows:

There are 13 cards in each suit (hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds), and a total of 52 cards in the deck. Since the events of choosing a heart (H) or a spade (S) are mutually exclusive (a card cannot be both a heart and a spade), the probability of drawing a spade is 13/52 or 1/4. Therefore, the probability of not drawing a spade would be the complement of the probability of drawing a spade, which is 1 - P(spades) = 1 - 1/4 = 3/4.

The correct answer to the student's question is B) P(not spades) since we are looking for the probability of an event that is the complement of drawing a spade. In other words, we're interested in the chance of selecting any card that is not a spade, which includes hearts, diamonds, and clubs.

User Nightlyop
by
8.4k points
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