Carcass wrote:
A certain school has 50 students assigned randomly to 5 distinct classes, and each student is assigned to only one class. If the quantities of students in the 5 classes are consecutive numbers, what is the probability that a given student is in one of the two largest classes?
A. 48%
B. 46%
C. 42%
D. 38%
E. 34%
The quantities of students in the 5 classes are consecutive numbersLet x = number of students in smallest class
So, x+1 = number of students in next class
x+2 = number of students in middle-sized class
x+3 = number of students in second biggest class
x+4 = number of students in biggest class
We can write: x + x+1 + x+2 + x+3 + x+4 = 50
Simplify: 5x + 10 = 50
So 5x = 40
Solve: x = 40/5 = 8
So, there are 8 students in the smallest class
9 students in the next class
10 students in middle-sized class
11 students in second biggest class
12 students in biggest class
11 + 12 = 23So,
23 of the 50 students are in the 2 largest classes.
So, P(given student is in one of the two largest classes?) =
23/50 = 0.46
Answer: B
Cheers,
Brent