Question

Malachi is practicing math fluency. He has 100 math operation flashcards with 42 addition problem cards, 56 subtraction cards, and 2 multiplication cards. He will time himself to see how fast he can solve the problems on two cards. He chooses his two cards and they are both multiplication cards. Is choosing two multiplication cards likely? Explain by running a simulation.

Answer 1

Answer: No, chosing two multiplication cards is not likely.

Step-by-step explanation:

We have 100 cards in total.

42 of addition problems.

56 subtraction problems

2 multiplication problems.

The probability of drawing at random a multiplication card is equal to the number of cards dividedd by the total number of cards, this is:

p1 = 2/100

Now, in a second drawing the probability is calculated in the same way, but before we drawed one multiplication card, so we now have 99 cards in the pile and only one of the card is a multiplication problem.

The probability is p2 = 1/99.

Now, the joint probability of these two events is:

P = p1*p2 = (2/100)*(1/99) = 2/9900  = 1/4500 = 0.0002

The probability is really small, so this event is not likely.