Question

The probability of choosing a penny from the 1980s from the bag of pennies without looking is StartFraction 3 over 40 EndFraction. Which term best describes this probability?
impossible
unlikely
likely
certain

Answer 1

The probability of choosing a penny from the 1980s from the bag is given as \( \frac{3}{40} \). This means there is a chance, but not a very high one, of selecting a penny from that decade.

To categorize this probability:
- **Impossible** means a probability of 0 (which is not the case here).
- **Unlikely** typically refers to probabilities less than 0.5 (which fits here because \( \frac{3}{40} = 0.075 \)).
- **Likely** refers to probabilities greater than 0.5, which does not apply.
- **Certain** refers to a probability of 1, which is also not the case here.

Given that \( \frac{3}{40} \) is less than 0.5, the best term to describe this probability is:

**unlikely**.