When calculating an experimental probability, we are comparing the number of times the event occurs to the number of times the experiment is done.
P=Times the Event Occurs/Times the Experiment Is Done
This is very similar to the Probability Formula.
Below we can see the results of a survey of 100 randomly selected students at a 2000-student high school. Now we can find the experimental probability that a student selected at random plans to go to a four-year college.
Response
Number of Responses
Go to community college
24
Go to 4-year college
43
Take a year off before college
12
Go to trade school
15
Do not plan to go to college
6
In the table, there is a total of 24 students who plan to go to community college, 43 whose plan is going to a four-year college, 12 who plan taking a year off before college, 15 who plan going to trade school, and 6 who do not plan to go to college. The sum of these values is the number of possible outcomes.
24+43+12+15+6= 100
Out of these, 43 people plan to go to a 4-year college, so this is the number of favorable outcomes. Now we have enough information to calculate P(4-year college).
