The table below shows the students in an Algebra 1 class. What is the probability that a randomly chosen student will be a girl? (If your fraction can be reduced, reduce it.)

\begin{tabular}{|l|l|l|l|}
\hline & \begin{tabular}{l}
Own a \\
graphing \\
calculator
\end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{l}
Do not own a \\
graphing \\
calculator
\end{tabular} & Totals \\
\hline Girls & 12 & 6 & 18 \\
\hline Boys & 5 & 7 & 12 \\
\hline Totals & 17 & 13 & 30 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}



Answer :

To determine the probability that a randomly chosen student in the Algebra 1 class will be a girl, we can follow these steps:

1. Identify Total Number of Students:
From the provided table, we see the grand total of students in the class is 30.

2. Identify Number of Girls in the Class:
The table indicates there are a total of 18 girls in the class.

3. Calculate the Probability:
The probability of selecting a girl from the class is the ratio of the number of girls to the total number of students. This can be expressed as:
[tex]\[ \text{Probability} = \frac{\text{Number of Girls}}{\text{Total Number of Students}} = \frac{18}{30} \][/tex]

4. Simplify the Fraction:
To express the probability in its simplest form, we reduce the fraction [tex]\(\frac{18}{30}\)[/tex] by finding the greatest common divisor (GCD) of 18 and 30, which is 6:
[tex]\[ \frac{18 \div 6}{30 \div 6} = \frac{3}{5} \][/tex]

5. Convert to Decimal (optional):
For additional clarity, the fraction [tex]\(\frac{3}{5}\)[/tex] can be converted to a decimal by performing the division [tex]\(3 \div 5\)[/tex], which equals 0.6.

Thus, the probability that a randomly chosen student from the class will be a girl is [tex]\(\frac{3}{5}\)[/tex] or 0.6, which means there is a 60% chance that a randomly selected student will be a girl.