Difference between revisions of "2017 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 9"

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Case 1: They guess all three right. This can only happen <math>\frac{1}{3} * \frac{1}{3} * \frac{1}{3} = \frac{1}{27}</math> of the time.
 
Case 1: They guess all three right. This can only happen <math>\frac{1}{3} * \frac{1}{3} * \frac{1}{3} = \frac{1}{27}</math> of the time.
  
Case 2: They guess only two right. We pick one of the questions to get wrong, <math>3</math>, and this can happen <math>\frac{1}{3} * \frac{1}{3} * \frac{2}/3</math> of the time. Thus, <math>\frac{2}{27} * \frac{3}{1}</math> = <math>\frac{6}{27}</math>.
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Case 2: They guess only two right. We pick one of the questions to get wrong, <math>3</math>, and this can happen <math>\frac{1}{3} * \frac{1}{3} * \frac{2}{3}</math> of the time. Thus, <math>\frac{2}{27} * \frac{3}{1}</math> = <math>\frac{6}{27}</math>.
  
 
So, in total the two cases combined equals <math>\frac{1}{27} + \frac{6}{27}</math> = <math>\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ \frac{7}{27}}</math>.
 
So, in total the two cases combined equals <math>\frac{1}{27} + \frac{6}{27}</math> = <math>\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ \frac{7}{27}}</math>.

Revision as of 15:19, 16 February 2017

Problem

A radio program has a quiz consisting of $3$ multiple-choice questions, each with $3$ choices. A contestant wins if he or she gets $2$ or more of the questions right. The contestant answers randomly to each question. What is the probability of winning?

$\textbf{(A)}\ \frac{1}{27}\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ \frac{1}{9}\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ \frac{2}{9}\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ \frac{7}{27}\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ \frac{1}{2}$

Solution

There are two ways that the contestant can win.

Case 1: They guess all three right. This can only happen $\frac{1}{3} * \frac{1}{3} * \frac{1}{3} = \frac{1}{27}$ of the time.

Case 2: They guess only two right. We pick one of the questions to get wrong, $3$, and this can happen $\frac{1}{3} * \frac{1}{3} * \frac{2}{3}$ of the time. Thus, $\frac{2}{27} * \frac{3}{1}$ = $\frac{6}{27}$.

So, in total the two cases combined equals $\frac{1}{27} + \frac{6}{27}$ = $\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ \frac{7}{27}}$.

See Also

2017 AMC 10B (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 8
Followed by
Problem 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
All AMC 10 Problems and Solutions

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