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There are 8 Magazines Lying on a Table; 4 are Fashion Magazines GMAT Problem Solving

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Sayantani Barman

Experta en el extranjero | Updated On - Jan 19, 2023

Question: There are 8 magazines lying on a table; 4 are fashion magazines and the other 4 are sports magazines. If 3 magazines are to be selected at random from the 8 magazines, what is the probability that at least one of the fashion magazines will be selected?

  1. 1/2
  2. 2/3
  3. 32/35
  4. 11/12
  5. 13/14

Correct Answer: E
Solution and Explanation:
Approach Solution 1:

Finding the complement is the ideal way to answer "at least 1" queries; for example, I would find the probability of choosing no fashion magazine and remove it from 1 to get the probability of choosing at least 1 fashion magazine.

What is the likelihood of choosing three sports periodicals, I wonder.

The likelihood of choosing a sports magazine is 50% because 4 out of the 8 are sports magazines.
Picking a second sports magazine now has a 3/7 chance. (because there are only 3 remaining)
The likelihood of choosing a third sports magazine drops to 2/6. There are now only 2 sports magazines left.
Probability of choosing three sports magazines is therefore 1/2 x 3/7 x 2x6 = 1/14.

Consequently, the odds of selecting at least one fashion magazine are 1 - 1/14 = 13/14.

E is the correct answer.

Approach Solution 2:

P(Event A taking place) = 1 - P (Event A not happening)
Thus, we have: P (obtaining at least 1 fashion publication) = 1 - P (not getting at least 1 fashion magazine)
What does it mean to not subscribe to even one fashion publication? It entails not receiving any fashion publications.
So all three of the periodicals that were chosen are sports magazines.

so that we can write: P

(obtaining at least 1 fashion publication) = 1 - P (all 3 selections are sports magazines)

P(all 3 picks are sports mags) (all 3 selections are sports magazines)
P (all 3 choices are sports magazines) = P (first choice is a sports magazine AND second choice is a sports magazine AND third choice is a sports magazine) = P (first choice is a sports magazine) x P (second choice is a sports magazine) x P (third choice is a sports magazine) = 4/8 x 3/7 x 2/6 = 1/2 x 3/7 x 1/3 = 3/42 = 1/14

Consequently, P(obtaining at least 1 fashion magazine) = 1 - P(all 3 choices are sports magazines) = 1 - 1/14 = 13/14.
E is the correct choice.

“There are 8 magazines lying on a table; 4 are fashion magazines and th" - is a topic of the GMAT Quantitative reasoning section of GMAT. This question has been borrowed from the book “GMAT Official Guide Quantitative Review”.

To understand GMAT Problem Solving questions, applicants must possess fundamental qualitative skills. Quant tests a candidate's aptitude in reasoning and mathematics. The GMAT Quantitative test's problem-solving phase consists of a question and a list of possible responses. By using mathematics to answer the question, the candidate must select the appropriate response. The problem-solving section of the GMAT Quant topic is made up of very complicated math problems that must be solved by using the right math facts.

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*The article might have information for the previous academic years, please refer the official website of the exam.

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