Ben is greeting customers at a music store. Of the first 20 people he sees enter the store, 13 are wearing jackets and 7 are not. What is the experimental probability that the next person to enter the store will be wearing a jacket?

Question

13-wearing jackets
7-not wearing jackets

13/20 & 7/20

I am confused though on what the experimental probability would be that the next person to enter the store will be wearing a jacket can you please explain?

Answer 1

there is actual probability, which is difficult to know. But we can observe prior acts (experiment), and get a good estimate of the actual probabiliy by calculating the "experimental" probability we observed. You have to be careful in real life, however, take this example: did it get warmer or cooler during the day? That changes the experiment, so sometimes experimental probabilities are poor estimates of actual.

Answer 2

Hello Mr. Pursley. I understand your explanation on experimental probability however I am somewhat confused on my answer:

Is it 13/20 or 14/20?

Answer 3

13/20 is what you measured during the experiment.