Question

Within a given population, 22 percent of the people are smokers, 57 percent of the people are males, and 12 percent are males who smoke. if a person is chosen at random from the population, what is the probability that the selected person is either a male or a smoker?

Answer 1

One important thing to note when dealing with probability problems is to look for the words 'or' or 'and'. If you encountered 'or', you'll have to add the probabilities. If you encounter 'and', you'll have to multiply them.

In this problem, you'll have to add the probability for the males and the probability for the smokers. Thus,

Probabilty = 22 + 57 = 79%