In the United States, more male babies are born than female. In 2004, 2,104,661 males were born and 2,007,391 females were born. Determine the empirical probability of an individual being born

a) male.
b) female.

a) P(male) = 2,104,661/(2,104,661 + 2,007,391) = 0.512

b) P(female) = 1 - P(male) = 0.488

"Empirical" means "based upon observation"

To determine the empirical probability of an individual being born male or female, you need to calculate the ratio of the number of males or females born to the total number of births.

a) To find the empirical probability of an individual being born male, divide the number of males born (2,104,661) by the total number of births (2,104,661 + 2,007,391):

Probability(male) = Number of males born / Total number of births

Probability(male) = 2,104,661 / (2,104,661 + 2,007,391)

b) Similarly, to find the empirical probability of an individual being born female, divide the number of females born (2,007,391) by the total number of births:

Probability(female) = Number of females born / Total number of births

Probability(female) = 2,007,391 / (2,104,661 + 2,007,391)

Now, you can calculate the probabilities to get the answers.