Chapter 3.1, Problem 3.11ACB

Colors of M&M’s candies. When they were first produced in 1940, M&M’s Plain Chocolate Candies came in only a brown color. Today, M&M's in standard bags come in six colors: brown, yellow, red, blue, orange, and green. According to Mars Corporation, today 24% of all M&M's produced are blue, 20% are orange, 16% are green, 14% are yellow, 13% are brown, and 13% are red. Suppose you purchase a randomly selected bag of M&M's Plain Chocolate Candies and randomly select one of the M&M’s from the bag. The color of the selected M&M is of interest.

1. a. Identify the outcomes (sample points) of this experiment.
2. b. Assign reasonable probabilities to the outcomes, part a.
3. c. What is the probability that the selected M&M is brown (the original color)?
4. d. In 1960, the colors red, green, and yellow were added to brown M&Ms. What is the probability that the selected M&M is either red, green, or yellow?
5. e. In 1995, based on voting by American consumers, the color blue was added to the M&M mix. What is the probability that the selected M&M is not blue?