Maths Olympiad Prep

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Combinatorics Difficulty 1.6 Junior Find the answer Canada

The results of asking 50 students if they participate in music or
sports are shown in the Venn diagram.

Figure 0

What percentage of the 50 students do not participate in music and do
not participate in sports?

Pick one

Solution

Solution 1

When a standard fair coin is tossed three times, there are 8 possible
outcomes.

If H represents head and T represents tail, these 8 outcomes are: HHH,
HHT, HTH, THH, HTT, THT, TTH, and TTT.

Of these 8 outcomes, there are exactly 2 whose outcomes are all the same
(HHH and TTT).

Therefore, the probability that the three outcomes are all the same is
28=14\frac28=\frac14. Solution 2 The three outcomes are all the same exactly when each of the three tosses is a head or when each of the three tosses is a tail. When a coin is tossed, the probability that the coin shows a head is 12\frac12 and the probability that the coin shows a tail is also 12\frac12 (there are two possible outcomes and each is equally probable). Thus, the probability that each of the three tosses is a head is 12×12×12=18\frac12\times\frac12\times\frac12=\frac18. Similarly, the probability that each of the three tosses is a tail is 12×12×12=18\frac12\times\frac12\times\frac12=\frac18. Therefore, the probability that the three outcomes are all the same is 18+18=28=14\frac18+\frac18=\frac28=\frac14.

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Source: CEMC, University of Waterloo, licensed CC-BY-NC-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.