Question

a bag contains 8 letter tiles of the same size. the tiles are labeled either m, n, o, p, q, or r. three of the tiles are labeled o. if corey selects 1 tile from the bag without looking, is the selection of letters fair? explain.

choose the correct answer below.

a. no, because there are not equally as many tiles labeled with each letter. there are fewer tiles labeled with o than any other letter.

b. yes, because there are equally as many tiles labeled with each letter.

c. yes, because there are more tiles labeled with o than any other letter.

d. no, because there are not equally as many tiles labeled with each letter. there are more tiles labeled with o than any other letter.

Explanation:

A fair selection requires equal probability for each outcome, meaning equal numbers of each letter tile. There are 3 O tiles and 8 total tiles; the remaining 5 tiles are split among 5 other letters (M, N, P, Q, R), so each of these has 1 tile. Since O has more tiles than the others, the selection is not fair. Option D correctly states this.

Answer:

D. No, because there are not equally as many tiles labeled with each letter. There are more tiles labeled with O than any other letter.