A bag contains 3 white, 6 red, 5 blue identical balls. A ball is picked at random from bag. What is the probability that is either white or blue?
Answer Details
There are a total of 3+6+5=14 balls in the bag. The probability of selecting a white ball is 3/14 since there are 3 white balls in the bag. Similarly, the probability of selecting a blue ball is 5/14 since there are 5 blue balls in the bag.
To find the probability of selecting either a white or a blue ball, we add the probabilities of selecting a white ball and a blue ball. However, we need to subtract the probability of selecting a ball that is both white and blue since we cannot count it twice. Since there are no balls that are both white and blue, we don't need to subtract anything. Therefore, the probability of selecting either a white or a blue ball is:
3/14 + 5/14 = 8/14 = 4/7
So, the answer is 4/7.