On a shelf there are 60 novels and 20 poetry books. What is the probability that Person A chooses a novel and walks away with it and then Person B walks up shortly after and picks another novel?
The probability that Person A chooses a novel on the first attempt is 60/80 (since there are 60 novels and 80 total books). Once Person A has taken a novel, there will be 59 novels left out of a total of 79 books. Therefore, the probability that Person B chooses another novel is 59/79.
To find the probability of both events happening (A selecting a novel AND B selecting a novel), you must multiply the probability of each event.
(60/80) x (59/79) = 0.44 or 44%
Therefore, the probability that Person A chooses a novel and Person B chooses another novel is 44%.