Question

In basketball, Shaquille makes 40% of his free throw attempts. He goes to the free throw line to shoot one-and-one (if he makes the first shot, he gets to shoot one more). He scores 1 point per free throw. What is the expected value of the number of points he will score? 0. 064 0. 24 0. 56 0. 80.

Answer 1

Shaqquille's expected value is 0.56 points.

Explanation:

Situations:

1) he makes 1st shot + he makes 2nd shot

P(A) = 0.4 · 0.4 = 0.16 ( 16 % )

2) he makes 1 st shot + he misses 2nd shot

P(B) = 0.4 · 0.6 = 0.24 ( 24 % )

3) he misses 1st shot and he has no more attempts

P (C) = 0.6 ( 60 %)

0.16 · 2 + 0.24 · 1 + 0.6 · 0 = 0.32 + 0.34 = 0.56

The expected value is 0.56 points.