Problema Solution

22% the cameras sold in the United States are made in Japan. If a store

sells 20 cameras in one day, what is the probability that 15 were not made in Japan?

Answer provided by our tutors

we assume an unlimited supply of cameras, so that the probability of buying a camera made in Japan is 22% for any single purchase throughout the entire day


1/0.22 = 4.545


there are 1 in 4.545 ways to buy a camera from Japan


there are 20! different iterations in which 20 different cameras can be purchased


we calculate the different iterations, 'p', for which up to 5 Japanese cameras could be purchased (hence, 15 not made in Japan were purchased):

p = 20*0.4545 + 20*19*4.545^2 + 20*19*18*4.545^3 + 20*19*18*17*4.545^4 + 20*19*18*17*16*4.545^5


(p)/(20! * 0.4545^20) = 0.0106


the probability is approximately 0.0106, or about a 1% probability