Question

You are stuck at home watching people walk down the street. Assuming half the people are wearing black shoes, 1/3 are wearing white shows and 1/6 are wearing red shoes. What is the probability that you will see a person wearing black shoes before you see a person wearing white ones

Answer 1

The probability of seeing a person wearing black shoes before seeing a person wearing white ones = 60%

Explanation:

People watched walking down the street = 100%

People wearing black shoes = 1/2 = 50%

People wearing white shoes = 1/3 = 33.33%

People wearing red shoes = 1/6 = 16.67%

Probability of black shoes to white shoes = percentage of persons wearing black shoes/sum of the percentages of people wearing black and white shoes)

= 50% : 33.33%

= 60% (50%/83.33%)

When expressed in ratio terms, it means that you will see 1.5 (50%/33.33% or 1.5 : 1) persons wearing black shoes before you see a person wearing white shoes.