Question

Find the odds of each outcome if a computer randomly picks a letter in the name THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

The letter A.

Short answer

The odds of getting letter A is $\frac{1}{8}$.

Step-by-step solution

Step 1. Apply the basic formula for probability.

The probability of an event is given by the following formula:

$\mathrm{Probability}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{an}\mathrm{outcome}=\frac{\mathrm{number}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{favorite}\mathrm{outcome}}{\mathrm{totalo}\mathrm{utcome}}$

Step 2. Write the given information.

From the given information it can be seen that there are 24 letters in the given name, and the desired outcome that is letter A is twice in the name.

Hence the number of favorite outcome is 2 and total outcomes are 24.

Step 3. DESCRIPTION OF STEP.

Substitute the number of favorite outcomes and total outcomes in the formula.

$$\begin{gathered} P\left(\text{letterA}\right)=\frac{3}{24} \\ =\frac{1}{8} \end{gathered}$$

Thus, the odds of getting letter A is $\frac{1}{8}$.