Question

In a new school $40$ percent of the students are freshmen, $30$ percent are sophomores, $20$ percent are juniors, and $10$ percent are seniors. All freshmen are required to take Latin, and $80$ percent of the sophomores, $50$ percent of the juniors, and $20$ percent of the seniors elect to take Latin. The probability that a randomly chosen Latin student is a sophomore is $\frac{m}{n},$ where $m$ and $n$ are relatively prime positive integers. Find $m + n.$

Answer

Answer: 25

Concepts:conditional probability percentage

Difficulty rating: 1750

Solution:

Assume the school has $100$ students. The Latin students are then $40$ freshmen, $30(0.8) = 24$ sophomores, $20(0.5) = 10$ juniors, and $10(0.2) = 2$ seniors, for a total of $76.$

The probability that a random Latin student is a sophomore is $\frac{24}{76} = \frac{6}{19},$ so $m + n = 6 + 19 = 25.$

2015 AIME II Problem 2

Answer: 25

Difficulty rating: 1750

Solution:

Problem 2 in Other Years