Question

Suppose Erica selects a paper clip without looking, keeps it, and then selects another one. Which expression represents the probability that the first paper clip is yellow and the second is purple?

a) P(Yellow) * P(Purple)
b) P(Yellow) + P(Purple)
c) P(Yellow) / P(Purple)
d) P(Yellow) - P(Purple)

Answer 1

The probability that the first paper clip is yellow and the second is purple is represented by the product of their individual probabilities: P(Yellow) * P(Purple).

Step-by-step explanation:

The expression that represents the probability that the first paper clip is yellow and the second is purple is P(Yellow) * P(Purple). This is because if the events are independent, the probability of both events occurring is the product of their individual probabilities. Thus, the correct choice is (a). To compute the actual probabilities, we would need additional information about how many paper clips there are in total and how many are of each color.