There is a 10% chance that it won't snow all winter long. There is a 20% chance that schools will not be closed all winter long. What is the greatest possible probability that it will snow and schools will be closed during the winter?
(A) 55%
(B) 60%
(C) 70%
(D) 72%
(E) 80%
I have seen several explanations on this one and I cannot understand the point of intersection I guess...Has anyone seen similar problems they saw here (specifically with given probabilities) or perhaps I am looking for a parallel (gumballs, etc) to this problem.
There is one rule on dependent probability P(A) + P(B) - P(AB) but clearly this is not the case here. The dice are independent. With colored balls, we could calculate what happens after the balls taken away (when they are not replaced) and it makes sense. With this type of problem, I do not know what to precisely think of dependent probability
And what is up with solving probability with overlapping sets or the matrix?
And what exactly happens when we multiply 90% and 80% conceptually? I mean what does that presume and why it is not correct? Basically, a thorough breakdown of this problem would be very helpful.
Please remember that I have seen other explanations, and my questions are based on them. Probably the best of them are:
"The greatest possible probability will occur when b is dependent on a. Thus it will be their intersection set. Hence answer = 0.8"
"They're asking for the greatest possible probability. This will occur if whenever it snows, schools close. This is a causation problem. That means schools will close only if it snows, but not all the time it snows. So you don't have to multiply .9*.8, because each time .8 occurs, .9 will be in effect as well."
I do not understand exactly what they mean...Anyway, I hope you see where I am aiming.
implies there is a 90% chance that it will snow all winter long i.e. 9 out of 10 winters it will snow all winter long.
implies there is an 80% chance that schools will be closed all winter long i.e. 8 out of 10 winters school will be closed all winter long.
What is the greatest possible overlap between the two? The 8 winters when the school is closed, it should snow all winter long too. That's when the overlap will be maximum. So probability is 0.8