Chances of Student Getting Hot Chocolate at Dan's Office Hours

  • Context: MHB 
  • Thread starter Thread starter f666
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Chances Hot Student
Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The probability that a person in the coffee shop during Dan's office hours was a student who came in for office hours, given that they ordered hot chocolate, is 1/3. Out of 1000 people in the shop, 200 were students, with 40 of them ordering hot chocolate. In the larger group of 800 non-students, 80 also ordered hot chocolate. This results in a total of 120 people who ordered hot chocolate, leading to the conclusion that the chances are 40 out of 120.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of Bayes' Theorem
  • Basic probability concepts
  • Familiarity with conditional probability
  • Ability to interpret statistical data
NEXT STEPS
  • Study Bayes' Theorem applications in real-world scenarios
  • Learn about conditional probability and its implications
  • Explore statistical data interpretation techniques
  • Practice probability problems involving multiple groups
USEFUL FOR

Students, educators, and anyone interested in probability theory, particularly those studying statistics or mathematics in academic settings.

f666
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
30% of the students who came into a coffee shop talk to Dan's for his office hours. 20% of them got hot chocolate. 50% of them got nothing. Only 20% of the people in the shop during those two hours were students coming for Dan's office hours. Out of this larger group, 65% got coffee, 10% got hot chocolate, and 25% got nothing. What are the chances that someone in the shop during those two hours was a student who came in for office hours given that they got hot chocolate?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
This is seriously confusing! When you say "Out of this larger group" what "larger group" do you mean? Since you had just said " Only 20% of the people in the shop during those two hours were students coming for Dan's office hours." I presume that the "larger group" are those that are not "students coming for Dan's office hours". But you had already said "30% of the students who came into a coffee shop talk to Dan's for his office hours". So "students" are different from the general people who come to the coffee shop?

Imagine 1000 people in the coffee shop. 20% of them, 200, are "students coming for Dan's office hours" and the other 80%, 800, are not.

Of the 200 'students coming for Dan's office hours", 20%, 0.2(200)= 40 students, got hot chocolate, 50%, 0.5(200)= 100 students, got nothing, and I presume that the remaining 60 students got coffee.

Of the 800 people what are NOT "students coming from Dan's office hours", 65%, 0.65(800)= 520 people, got coffee, 10%, 0.10(800)= 80 people, got hot chocolate, and 25%, 0.25(800)= 200 people, got nothing. (That adds to 800 people so our assumption that "coffee", "hot chocolate", or "nothing" are the only options is valid.)

"What are the chances that someone in the shop during those two hours was a student who came in for office hours given that they got hot chocolate?"

From above, a total of 40+ 80= 120 people got hot chocolate. 40 of those were "a student who came in for officice hours" so the probability that "someone in the shop during those two hours was a student who came in for office hours given that they got hot chocolate" is 40/120= 1/3.
 
Hi,

Yeah the wording is confusing unfortunately, I didn't make up this problem. Yes, the larger group is assumed to be non-students (general public). This problem involves Bayes Theorem but I am having trouble with plugging in the numbers
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
4K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
3K
  • · Replies 14 ·
Replies
14
Views
4K
  • · Replies 18 ·
Replies
18
Views
14K
  • · Replies 56 ·
2
Replies
56
Views
10K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
Replies
8
Views
2K
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
3K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 54 ·
2
Replies
54
Views
7K