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M&M plain candies come in various colors. According to the M&M/Mars Department o

ID: 3371319 • Letter: M

Question

M&M plain candies come in various colors. According to the M&M/Mars Department of Consumer Affairs, the distribution of colors for plain M&M candies is as follows.

Suppose you have a large bag of plain M&M candies and you choose one candy at random.

(a) Find P(green candy or blue candy).

Are these outcomes mutually exclusive? Why?

Yes. Choosing a green and blue M&M is not possible.

Yes. Choosing a green and blue M&M is possible.    

No. Choosing a green and blue M&M is possible.

No. Choosing a green and blue M&M is not possible.



(b) Find P(yellow candy or red candy).

Are these outcomes mutually exclusive? Why?

Yes. Choosing a yellow and red M&M is not possible.

Yes. Choosing a yellow and red M&M is possible.    

No. Choosing a yellow and red M&M is not possible.

No. Choosing a yellow and red M&M is possible.



(c) Find P(not purple candy).

Color Purple Yellow Red Orange Green Blue Brown Percentage 18% 21% 20% 8% 8% 10% 15%

Explanation / Answer

(a) P(green or blue) = 0.08+0.1 = 0.18.

Yes. these outcomes are mutually exclusive. Because, choosing green and blue M&M is not possible.

(b) P(yellow or red) = 0.21+0.2 = 0.41

Yes. these outcomes are mutually exclusive. Because, choosing yellow and red M&M is not possible.

(c) P(not purple) = 1 - P(purple) = 1 - 0.18 = 0.82