Question

At Rachelle's school an A counts $4$ points, a B $3$ points, a C $2$ points, and a D $1$ point. Her GPA on the four classes she is taking is computed as the total sum of points divided by $4.$ She is certain that she will get As in both Mathematics and Science, and at least a C in each of English and History. She thinks she has a $\dfrac16$ chance of getting an A in English, and a $\dfrac14$ chance of getting a B. In History, she has a $\dfrac14$ chance of getting an A, and a $\dfrac13$ chance of getting a B, independently of what she gets in English. What is the probability that Rachelle will get a GPA of at least $3.5?$

$\dfrac{11}{72}$

$\dfrac16$

$\dfrac{3}{16}$

$\dfrac{11}{24}$

$\dfrac12$

Solution:

Math and Science give $8$ points, so Rachelle needs at least $6$ more from English and History. The chance of a C is $1 - \dfrac16 - \dfrac14 = \dfrac{7}{12}$ in English and $1 - \dfrac14 - \dfrac13 = \dfrac{5}{12}$ in History.

Working over a denominator of $144:$ $8$ points has probability $\dfrac16\cdot\dfrac14 = \dfrac{6}{144};$ $7$ points has $\dfrac16\cdot\dfrac13 + \dfrac14\cdot\dfrac14 = \dfrac{17}{144};$ and $6$ points has $\dfrac16\cdot\dfrac{5}{12} + \dfrac14\cdot\dfrac13 + \dfrac{7}{12}\cdot\dfrac14 = \dfrac{43}{144}.$

The total is $\dfrac{6 + 17 + 43}{144} = \dfrac{66}{144} = \dfrac{11}{24}.$

Thus, the correct answer is D.

2015 AMC 12B Problem 15

Solution:

Problem 15 in Other Years