Fortune magazine publishes an annual list of the 500 largest

Fortune magazine publishes an annual list of the 500 largest companies in the United States. The corporate headquarters for the 500 companies are located in 38 different states. The following table shows the 8 states with the largest number of Fortune 500 companies (Money/CNN website, May 12, 2012).

Suppose one of the 500 companies is selected at random for a follow-up questionnaire.
a. What is the probability that the company selected has its corporate headquarters in California?
b. What is the probability that the company selected has its corporate headquarters in California, New York, or Texas?
c. What is the probability that the company selected has its corporate headquarters in one of the 8 states listedabove?

Solution

Number of companies =500

a.) probability that the company selected has its corporate headquarters in California =53/500=0.106

b.) probability that the company selected has its corporate headquarters in California, New York, or Texas is

53+50+52=155

so, p=155/500=0.31

c.) the probability that the company selected has its corporate headquarters in one of the 8 states listed above is

=283/500=0.566