Neel S. answered • 11/26/22
Expected MD in 2023, 8+ years tutoring experience
In a standard deck of 52 playing cards, there are 4 suits (hearts, spades, diamonds, clubs), each with 13 cards from Ace through King. This means that there are 4 of each possible card.
A) The probability of selecting an 8 is 4/52 since there are 4 total 8's available (8 of hearts/spades/diamonds/clubs) out of 52 cards. This simplifies to 1/13.
B) The probability of selecting a face card is 12/52 since there are 4 Jacks, 4 Queens, and 4 Kings. This simplifies to 3/13.
C) The probability of NOT selecting a face card is 40/52 since there are 4 of each card from Ace through 10 that are not face cards. This simplifies to 10/13. Another way to think about this problem is using the answer to part B. If the probability of selecting a face card is 3/13, then the probability of NOT selecting a face card has to be 1 - 3/13 = 13/13 - 3/13 = 10/13. Remember that the sum of the probability of all possible events has to add up to 1 or 100%, which is why you subtract from 1.
