Question

osiah conducts an experiment that has 4 possible outcomes. Sally conducts an experiment that has 10 possible outcomes. The students conduct 50 trials each. Which statement best compares the two experiments?
Josiah’s results are more likely to be close to the predicted results because he had a smaller number of possible outcomes.
Sally’s results are more likely to be close to the predicted results because she had a larger number of possible outcomes.
Josiah and Sally have the same likelihood of the experimental results being close to the predicted results because they used the same number of trials.
Josiah and Sally have the same likelihood of the experimental results being close to the predicted results because the outcome of either experiment is unrelated to the outcome of the other experiment.

Answer 1

The statement that best compares the two experiments is:

**Josiah’s results are more likely to be close to the predicted results because he had a smaller number of possible outcomes.**

This is because with fewer possible outcomes (4 for Josiah vs. 10 for Sally), the results from Josiah's experiment can be expected to converge more closely to the predicted results over repeated trials. With more outcomes, the variability and spread of possible results increase, which can lead to a wider range of experimental outcomes for Sally compared to Josiah.

While both students conducted the same number of trials (50), the number of possible outcomes significantly affects the likelihood that their results will closely match the predicted values.