MTTC 103 Elementary Practice

To determine the probability of Robbie selecting a piece of taffy from his bag of treats, it is important to follow the steps for calculating probability. First, you need to identify the total number of treats in the bag. Robbie has 5 pieces of gum, 7 pieces of taffy, and 8 pieces of chocolate.

Adding these together gives:

5 (gum) + 7 (taffy) + 8 (chocolate) = 20 total pieces of treats.

The probability of an event is calculated by taking the number of favorable outcomes over the total number of possible outcomes. In this case, the number of pieces of taffy, which represents the favorable outcomes, is 7. The total number of treats, as calculated, is 20.

Thus, the probability of Robbie picking a piece of taffy is given by the formula:

Probability = (Number of favorable outcomes) / (Total number of outcomes) = 7/20.

This calculation shows that the correct answer reflects the proportion of taffy treats to the total treats, providing a clear understanding of the likelihood of that event occurring.