Question

Historical data show that a well-trained sniper can hit a target located at ½ mile 4 out of 5 times.

1. What is the probability that he is going to hit a target on his second shot?

1. 0.9           b) 0.8                      c) 0.7                         d) 0.16

2. What is the probability that it takes to him 3 trials to hit the target twice?

1. 0.032       b) 0.36                     c) 0.64             d) 0.288

Answer 1

a) Probability that he is going to hit a target on his second shot is computed here as:

= 0.8 as he may or may not hit the target on the first shot. We are not given here whether he hits it first time on the second shot.

Therefore b) 0.8 is the required probability here.

b) Probability that it takes to him 3 trials to hit the target twice is computed here as:

= 1 - Probability that he hit it on the first two trials

= 1 - 0.8² = 1 - 0.64 = 0.36

Therefore 0.36 is the required probability here.