Question

Michael is going to watch a movie in his collection. He has 3 action movies, 4 comedies, and 5 dramas.
He will randomly select one movie. What is the probability that the movie he selects is not a comedy?
Write your answer as a fraction in simplest form.

Answer 1

To find the probability that the movie Michael selects is not a comedy, we first need to determine the total number of movies he has and then how many of those are not comedies.

Michael has:
- 3 action movies
- 4 comedies
- 5 dramas

First, let's calculate the total number of movies:

\[
\text{Total movies} = 3 + 4 + 5 = 12
\]

Next, we find the number of movies that are not comedies. Since there are 4 comedies, the number of non-comedy movies is:

\[
\text{Non-comedy movies} = \text{Total movies} - \text{Comedies} = 12 - 4 = 8
\]

Now, we can calculate the probability that the movie Michael selects is not a comedy:

\[
\text{Probability (not a comedy)} = \frac{\text{Non-comedy movies}}{\text{Total movies}} = \frac{8}{12}
\]

To express this probability in simplest form, we can simplify the fraction \( \frac{8}{12} \):

\[
\frac{8}{12} = \frac{2}{3}
\]

Thus, the probability that the movie Michael selects is not a comedy is:

\[
\boxed{\frac{2}{3}}
\]