Question 4.43

4.43 Equally likely events.

For each of the following situations, explain why you think that the events are equally likely or not.

  1. The outcome of the next tennis match for Victoria Azarenka is either a win or a loss. (You might want to check the Internet for information about this tennis player.)
  2. You draw a king or a two from a shuffled deck of 52 cards.
  3. You are observing turns at an intersection. You classify each turn as a right turn or a left turn.
  4. For college basketball games, you record the times that the home team wins and the number of times that the home team loses.

4.43

(a) Not equally likely: she wins more than 70% of her matches. (b) Equally likely: there are equal number of kings and twos in the deck. (c) Equally likely: theoretically, a person should be equally likely to turn right or left. (d) Not equally likely: home teams win more than half their games.