Valentin K. answered 03/22/24
Expert PhD tutor in Calculus, Statistics, and Physics
Exact solution:
P(at least one of 5 defective) = 1 - P(none of 5 defective)
Use combinations to calculate the probabilities.
Total ways to select 5 out of 4000: 4000C5
Ways to select 5 out of 4000 -170 = 3830 not defective: 3830C5
P(none of 5 defective) = favorable outcomes / total outcomes = 3830C5 / 4000C5 = 0.805
P(at least one of 5 defective) = 1 - 0.805 = 0.195 = 19.5%
Approximate solution:
You can use Binomial distribution because when you take out a unit for testing, its probability to be defective stays approximately constant due to the large population of size 4000 and the large group of defective units of size 170.
So use Binomial probability:
n = 5 trials
p = 170/4000 probability for a unit to be defective
P(X ≥ 1) = 0.195 with any Binomial calculator, giving the same answer to the third digit as before.