A librarian has a box of books on four subjects: science, math, history, and reading. She conducts a probability experiment in which for each event, she randomly picks one book from the box, records the subject, and then replaces it. The results are shown in the table.

Subject Frequency
Science 40
Math 16
History 20
Reading 36

Based on the probability model, how many books of each subject does she likely have if she has 28 books in the box?
A.
10 science books, 4 math books, 5 history books, and 9 reading books
B.
5 science books, 3 math books, 5 history books, and 9 reading books
C.
7 science books, 7 math books, 7 history books, and 7 reading books
D.
10 science books, 4 math books, 9 history books, and 5 reading books

1 answer

To find out how many books of each subject the librarian likely has based on the frequency of each subject and the total number of books (28), we first need to determine the total frequency and then the probability of selecting each subject.

  1. Calculate the total frequency: \[ \text{Total Frequency} = 40 + 16 + 20 + 36 = 112 \]

  2. Calculate the probability for each subject:

  • Science: \[ P(\text{Science}) = \frac{40}{112} \]
  • Math: \[ P(\text{Math}) = \frac{16}{112} \]
  • History: \[ P(\text{History}) = \frac{20}{112} \]
  • Reading: \[ P(\text{Reading}) = \frac{36}{112} \]
  1. Normalize the probabilities for simplicity (as fractions):
  • Science: \[ P(\text{Science}) = \frac{40}{112} = \frac{10}{28} \]
  • Math: \[ P(\text{Math}) = \frac{16}{112} = \frac{4}{28} \]
  • History: \[ P(\text{History}) = \frac{20}{112} = \frac{5}{28} \]
  • Reading: \[ P(\text{Reading}) = \frac{36}{112} = \frac{9}{28} \]
  1. Use these probabilities to calculate the expected number of books for each subject in a total of 28 books:
  • Science: \[ N_{\text{Science}} = 28 \times \frac{10}{28} = 10 \]
  • Math: \[ N_{\text{Math}} = 28 \times \frac{4}{28} = 4 \]
  • History: \[ N_{\text{History}} = 28 \times \frac{5}{28} = 5 \]
  • Reading: \[ N_{\text{Reading}} = 28 \times \frac{9}{28} = 9 \]

From the calculations, we find that the likely number of books for each subject is:

  • Science: 10
  • Math: 4
  • History: 5
  • Reading: 9

This matches with option A: 10 science books, 4 math books, 5 history books, and 9 reading books.