In a class of 325 juniors, 190 take Algebra 2 and 165 take Chemistry. There are 40 students who take neither. What is the probability that a student chosen randomly from the junior class takes Algebra 2 AND Chemistry?

Question 3 options:

14/65

8/73

71/65

63/65

1 answer

To find the probability that a randomly chosen student takes both Algebra 2 and Chemistry, we can use the principle of inclusion-exclusion to find the number of students who take at least one of the subjects.

  1. Total number of students: 325
  2. Students taking Algebra 2: 190
  3. Students taking Chemistry: 165
  4. Students taking neither: 40

First, we find the number of students who take at least one of the subjects:

\[ \text{Students taking at least one subject} = \text{Total students} - \text{Students taking neither} \]

\[ = 325 - 40 = 285 \]

Now, using the principle of inclusion-exclusion, we can express the number of students taking at least one subject:

\[ n(A \cup B) = n(A) + n(B) - n(A \cap B) \]

where:

  • \( n(A) \) is the number of students taking Algebra 2 (190)
  • \( n(B) \) is the number of students taking Chemistry (165)
  • \( n(A \cup B) \) is the number of students taking at least one of the subjects (285)
  • \( n(A \cap B) \) is the number of students taking both subjects (which we want to find)

Substituting the known values into the inclusion-exclusion formula gives us:

\[ 285 = 190 + 165 - n(A \cap B) \]

Simplifying this:

\[ 285 = 355 - n(A \cap B) \]

Rearranging gives:

\[ n(A \cap B) = 355 - 285 = 70 \]

So, 70 students take both Algebra 2 and Chemistry.

Finally, we want to find the probability that a randomly chosen student takes both subjects:

\[ P(A \cap B) = \frac{n(A \cap B)}{\text{Total students}} = \frac{70}{325} \]

Now, we simplify \( \frac{70}{325} \):

Both 70 and 325 can be divided by 5:

\[ \frac{70 \div 5}{325 \div 5} = \frac{14}{65} \]

Thus, the probability that a student chosen randomly from the junior class takes both Algebra 2 and Chemistry is:

\[ \boxed{\frac{14}{65}} \]