Question

A jar contains 5 blue marbles, 8 red marbles, 4 white marbles, and 3 purple marbles. Suppose you pick a marble at random without looking. Find P (red)
Write your answer as a fraction in simplest form.



Choose the best answer from the options below:
A 3 / 5
B 8 / 20
C 3 / 10
D 2 / 5

Answer 1

To find the probability of picking a red marble, we first need to determine the total number of marbles in the jar.

The total number of marbles is:
- Blue: 5
- Red: 8
- White: 4
- Purple: 3

Total = 5 + 8 + 4 + 3 = 20 marbles

Now, the probability of picking a red marble (P(red)) can be calculated using the formula:

\[
P(\text{red}) = \frac{\text{Number of red marbles}}{\text{Total number of marbles}} = \frac{8}{20}
\]

Next, we simplify the fraction:

\[
\frac{8}{20} = \frac{2}{5}
\]

Thus, the probability of picking a red marble is:

\[
P(\text{red}) = \frac{2}{5}
\]

The correct answer is:
**D 2 / 5**