Please Help, Probability Question, As soon as possible

[rgeer]

1)The first word on a page of a book is selected.
a) What is the prob. that the word contains at least one of the letters a,e,i,o,u,y?
b)What is the largest possible prob.
c)What is the prob. that the word does not contain at least one of the letters a,e,i,o,u,y?
d)What is the smallest prossible prob.

2)Explain why these statements are incorrect:
a)since there are 50 states, the prob. that a baby born in the US will be born in NJ is 1/50.
b)Since there are 12 months in a year, the prob. of being born in Sept. is 1/12.
c)A pin with a small head is tossed. Since the pin can fall either point up or point down, the prob. of falling point down is 1/2.
d)Since there are 7 days in a week, the prob. that a person attends religious services on a Wedensday is 1/7.

 

[stapel]

1-a) I think this requires that you have a table of frequencies for each of the letters. For instance, I think "e" is the most common vowel (in English -- is the book in English? can we assume that?), and "s" and "t" are among the most common consonants. What information have they given you?

1-b) The largest a probability can ever get is "1". But I don't see how that relates to part (a)...?

1-c) Find the probability that the word contains one (or more) of them, and subtract from "1".

1-d) Zero, but...?

2-a) Is the population evenly distributed? Is square-mileage evenly distributed?

2-b) Are the months all of the same length?

2-c) Um... ever watch a "Sprint" commercial...?

2-d) Do the various religions commonly hold meetings every day of the week? With equal frequency?

Eliz.

 

[Denis]

1)The first word on a page of a book is selected.
a) What is the prob. that the word contains at least one of the letters a,e,i,o,u,y?

Trick question?
Since all words have at least 1 vowel, then probability = 100% ?

Edit: well, proving myself wrong(!):
last line page p:
blah blah..............blah blah. Now, if we let
first line, page p+1:
x equal the number of.........

 

[stapel]

Since all words have at least 1 vowel...

Depends on the language, I think. Have you looked at Welsh? :shock:

Eliz.