Marijuana Use The percent distribution of the last marijuana use (either medical or nonmedical) for a sample of 13,373 college students is shown in the pie chart. Find the
probability of each event. (Source: American College Health Association)
a. Randomly selecting a student who never used marijuana

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the problem. The goal is to find the probability of randomly selecting a student who has never used marijuana. The pie chart provides the percent distribution of marijuana use among college students.
2. Step 2: Identify the relevant data from the pie chart. The section labeled 'Never' corresponds to students who have never used marijuana, and its percentage is 58.7%.
3. Step 3: Recall that probability is calculated as the proportion of the desired outcome relative to the total population. In this case, the probability of selecting a student who has never used marijuana is equal to the percentage of students in the 'Never' category divided by 100.
4. Step 4: Convert the percentage into a decimal form for probability calculation. To do this, divide 58.7 by 100. This gives the probability in decimal form.
5. Step 5: Interpret the result. The probability represents the likelihood of randomly selecting a student who has never used marijuana from the sample of 13,373 college students.

Key Concepts

Probability

Probability is a measure of the likelihood that a particular event will occur, expressed as a number between 0 and 1. In this context, it refers to the chance of randomly selecting a student from the sample who has never used marijuana. The probability can be calculated by dividing the number of students in a specific category by the total number of students surveyed.

Percent Distribution

Percent distribution is a way of representing data in terms of percentages, showing how a total is divided among different categories. In the pie chart provided, each segment represents the percentage of students based on their last marijuana use, allowing for a visual comparison of the different categories, including those who have never used marijuana.

Sample Size

Sample size refers to the number of observations or data points collected in a study. In this case, the sample size is 13,373 college students, which is significant for ensuring that the results are reliable and can be generalized to a larger population. A larger sample size typically leads to more accurate estimates of probabilities and distributions.