A bag contains 15 identically sized chips. The chips are either red or blue. If the probability of randomly selecting a red chip from the bag is 3/5, how many blue chips are in the bag?

Rationale

There are 6 blue chips in the bag.

Given that the probability of selecting a red chip is 3/5, we can determine the number of red chips in the bag. If there are 15 chips total, the number of red chips is (3/5) * 15 = 9. Therefore, the remaining chips, which are blue, amount to 15 - 9 = 6.

A (2) YOUR ANSWER

If there were only 2 blue chips, that would imply there are 15 - 2 = 13 red chips. The probability of selecting a red chip would then be 13/15, which is greater than 3/5. This does not match the given probability, making this choice incorrect.

B (3) YOUR ANSWER

With 3 blue chips, the number of red chips would be 15 - 3 = 12. The probability of selecting a red chip would be 12/15, which simplifies to 4/5. This is also greater than 3/5, indicating that this option does not satisfy the given probability.

C (6) CORRECT

This option is correct as explained above. With 6 blue chips, there are 9 red chips, resulting in a probability of selecting a red chip equal to 9/15, which simplifies to 3/5. This matches the information provided in the question.

D (9) YOUR ANSWER

If there were 9 blue chips, then the number of red chips would be 15 - 9 = 6, leading to a probability of 6/15 or 2/5 for selecting a red chip. This is less than 3/5, making this choice incorrect.

E (12) YOUR ANSWER

Having 12 blue chips means that there are 15 - 12 = 3 red chips. The probability of selecting a red chip would then be 3/15 or 1/5, which is significantly less than the provided probability of 3/5. Thus, this option is also incorrect.

Conclusion

The problem requires calculating the number of blue chips based on the given probability of selecting a red chip. With 15 total chips and a probability of 3/5 for red chips, the correct number of blue chips is determined to be 6. This ensures the calculations align with the provided probability, making it the only valid answer among the options.

A bag contains 15 identically sized chips. The chips are either red or blue. If the probability of randomly selecting a red chip from the bag is 3/5, how many blue chips are in the bag?

There are 6 blue chips in the bag.

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