Question

John has 5 pairs of formal shoes, 2 pairs of traditional shoes, and 4 pairs of casual shoes. What is the probability that John selects a pair of formal shoes??? Write the answer as a fraction in the simplest form.

Answer 1

5/11

Explanation:

probability = # of favorable outcomes / # of total outcomes

favorable outcome = selecting a pair of formal shoes.

There are 5 pairs of formal shoes so # of favorable outcomes = 5

The total number of outcomes = sum of different pairs of shoes. There are 5 pairs of formal shoes, 2 pairs of traditional shoes, and 4 pairs of casual shoes, so total there are 5 + 2 + 4 = 11 pairs of shoes

so we have probability = # of favorable outcomes / # of total outcomes

and # of favorable outcomes = 5 and total # of outcomes = 11 so probability of selecting a pair of formal shoes is 5/11