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Problem-Solving and Data Analysis Difficulty: Easy

$negative 13$ , $4$ , $23$

A data set of three numbers is shown. If a number from this data set is selected at random, what is the probability of selecting a negative number?

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Explanation

Choice B is correct. If a number from the data set is selected at random, the probability of selecting a negative number is the count of negative numbers in the data set divided by the total count of numbers in the data set. It's given that a data set of three numbers is shown. It follows that the total count of numbers in the data set is $3$ . In the data set shown, $negative 13$ is the only negative number. It follows that the count of negative numbers in the data set is $1$ . Therefore, if a number from the data set is selected at random, the probability of selecting a negative number is $\frac{1}{3}$ .

Choice A is incorrect. This is the probability of selecting a negative number from a data set that doesn’t contain any negative numbers.

Choice C is incorrect. This is the probability of selecting a positive number, not a negative number, from the data set.

Choice D is incorrect. This is the probability of selecting a negative number from a data set that contains only negative numbers.