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assuming that every question in this 20-question test has only 1 right answer and you choose to answer each question randomly, what is the chance that you're so bad that you only get 4 questions right or less?

User Geet
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Final answer:

The chance of getting 4 or fewer answers correct on a 20-question test by guessing, one would sum the binomial probabilities for getting 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 questions correct. The probability of guessing a question correctly is 1/4, assuming 4 answer choices per question. A calculator or software is needed to calculate the probabilities.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the chance of a student answering 4 or fewer questions correctly on a 20-question test, with each question having only one correct answer, we can use the binomial probability formula, which is P(x) = (n choose x) * p^x * (1-p)^(n-x), where n is the number of trials (questions), x is the number of successes (correct answers), and p is the probability of success on any given trial.


Since the student is guessing randomly, the probability of getting a question right, p, is assumed to be 1/total number of answer choices for each question. Assuming there are 4 choices for each question, p would be 1/4 or 0.25. To get the total probability for 4 or fewer correct answers, we would sum the probabilities for 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 correct answers:

  • P(0 correct) + P(1 correct) + P(2 correct) + P(3 correct) + P(4 correct)

Each of these probabilities can be calculated using the binomial formula. The calculation would likely require a calculator or software capable of computing binomial probabilities.

A higher percentile generally indicates a better performance. However, getting 4 or fewer questions right typically places a student well below average and not in a higher percentile.

User Vakiliy
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