Question

Two boys and three girls are auditioning to play the piano for a school production. Two students will be chosen, one as the pianist, the other as the alternate. What is the probability that the pianist will be a boy and the alternate will be a girl? Express your answer as a percent.

Answer 1

the answer is 30 percent

Answer 2

The answer is 0.24

To calculate this, a multiplication rule is used. The multiplication rule calculates the probability that both of two events will occur. In this method, the probabilities of each event are multiplied. Here we have two events:

1. The probability that the pianist will be a boy,

2. The probability that the alternate will be a girl.

So, let's calculate these probabilities:

There are in total 5 children:

2 boys + 3 girls = 5 children.

1. The probability that the pianist will be a boy is 2 boys out of 5 children, which is 2/5.

2. The probability that the alternate will be a girl is 3 girls out of 5 children, which is 3/5.

The probability that the pianist will be a boy and the alternate will be a girl is:

2/5 × 3/5 = 6/25

6/25 × 4/4 = 24/100 = 0.24