Question

Cathy is planning to take the Certified Public Accountant Examination (CPA exam). Records kept by the college of business from which she graduated indicate that 73% of students who graduated pass the CPA exam. Assume that the exam is changed each time it is given. Let n = 1, 2, 3, ... represent the number of times a person takes the CPA test until the first pass. (Assume the trials are independent).

(a) What is the probability that Cathy passes the CPA test on the first try?
(b) What is the probability that Cathy passes the CPA test on the second or third try?

Answer 1

The responses to these question can be defined as follows:

Explanation:

For point a:

`\to P(1) = 0.73`

For point b:

`\to P(2\ or\ 3) = P(2) + P(3)`

`= 0.27 * 0.73 + 0.27* 0.27*0.73\\\\=0.1971+0.1971* 0.27\\\\=0.1971+0.053217\\\\=0.250317`