At a clockmaker's shop, the purchases for one month are recorded in the table below:

| | Remodel | Repair | New Purchase |
|----------|---------|--------|--------------|
| Watch | 73 | 47 | 19 |
| Clock | 61 | 59 | 11 |
| Alarm Clock | 83 | 41 | 17 |

If we choose a customer at random, what is the probability that they have purchased an alarm clock or made a new purchase?

[tex]\[ P(\text{Alarm Clock or New Purchase}) = \underline{\hspace{3cm}} \][/tex]

Give your answer in simplest form.



Answer :

To solve for the probability that a randomly chosen customer has either purchased an alarm clock or made a new purchase, we can follow these steps:

1. Calculate the Total Purchases for Each Category:

- Watches:
- Remodel: 73
- Repair: 47
- New Purchase: 19

- Clocks:
- Remodel: 61
- Repair: 59
- New Purchase: 11

- Alarm Clocks:
- Remodel: 83
- Repair: 41
- New Purchase: 17

2. Find the Total Purchases for Alarm Clocks:
[tex]\[ \text{Total Alarm Clock Purchases} = 83 + 41 + 17 = 141 \][/tex]

3. Find the Total Purchases for New Purchases Regardless of Category:
[tex]\[ \text{Total New Purchases} = 19 + 11 + 17 = 47 \][/tex]

4. Find the Total Purchases Overall:
[tex]\[ \text{Total Purchases} = (73 + 47 + 19) + (61 + 59 + 11) + (83 + 41 + 17) = 411 \][/tex]

5. Use the Principle of Inclusion and Exclusion:

We need to add the number of Alarm Clock purchases to the number of New Purchases and then subtract the number of instances where a purchase falls into both categories (i.e., new purchases of alarm clocks), to avoid double-counting those:
[tex]\[ \text{Purchases of Alarm Clocks or New Purchases} = 141 + 47 - 17 = 171 \][/tex]

6. Calculate the Probability:

The probability is then the number of purchases of either an alarm clock or a new purchase divided by the total number of purchases:
[tex]\[ P(\text{Alarm Clock or New Purchase}) = \frac{171}{411} \][/tex]

7. Simplify the Fraction:

Simplify the fraction to the greatest extent possible. However, as calculated:
[tex]\[ \frac{171}{411} \approx 0.41605839416058393 \][/tex]

So, the probability that a randomly chosen customer has purchased an alarm clock or made a new purchase is approximately [tex]\( 0.416 \)[/tex].