A math test consists of 17 multiple choice questions,
each with five possible answers (a, b, c, d, e), only one of which is correct.
Assume that a student takes the test and randomly answers the questions.
What is the probability that the student will get no questions correct?
4/5^17
To find the probability that the student will get no questions correct, we need to calculate the probability of getting each question wrong and then multiply them together, since each question is independent of the others.
Since each question has five possible answers, the probability of guessing the correct answer for one question is 1 out of 5, or 1/5. Similarly, the probability of guessing the wrong answer for one question is 4 out of 5, or 4/5.
Since there are 17 questions in total, the probability of getting no questions correct is:
(4/5) * (4/5) * (4/5) * ... (17 times)
To calculate this, we can use the formula:
probability = (4/5) ^ 17
Calculating this gives us:
probability ≈ 0.000393148
Therefore, the probability that the student will get no questions correct is approximately 0.000393148, or 0.0393148%.