Hi, I have a Benchmark test tomorrow and I don't understand how to calculate the probability of this problem. A fair coin is tossed and the spinner is spun. All outcomes on the spinner is equally likely. Find the probability of getting heads or landing on C.
coin outcomes are 1/2 each
If the spinner has n areas, then each has a 1/n chance of being hit
So, P(H,C) = 1/2 * 1/n
To calculate the probability of getting heads or landing on C, you need to determine the number of favorable outcomes and the total number of possible outcomes.
Step 1: Determine the favorable outcomes
In this problem, there are two ways to have a favorable outcome: getting heads or landing on C.
For getting heads, there is only one favorable outcome, which is heads.
For landing on C, we need to know how many options are on the spinner. If there are, for example, 6 options on the spinner and one of them is C, then there is one favorable outcome for landing on C.
Step 2: Determine the total number of possible outcomes
To find the total number of possible outcomes, you need to consider both the coin toss and the spinner.
For the coin toss, there are two possible outcomes: heads or tails.
For the spinner, you need to know how many options there are. Let's assume there are 8 options on the spinner. So, there are 8 possible outcomes for the spinner.
To find the total number of possible outcomes, you need to multiply the number of outcomes for the coin toss (2) by the number of outcomes for the spinner (8). In this case, there are 2 × 8 = 16 possible outcomes.
Step 3: Calculate the probability
The probability is the ratio of the favorable outcomes to the total possible outcomes.
The number of favorable outcomes is 1 (getting heads) + 1 (landing on C) = 2.
The total number of possible outcomes is 16.
Therefore, the probability of getting heads or landing on C is 2/16, which can be simplified to 1/8.
So, the final answer is 1/8.