A botanist has developed a new hybrid cotton plant that can withstand insects better than other cotton plants. However, there is some concern about the germination of seeds from the new plant. To estimate the probability that a seed from the new plant will germinate, a random sample of 3000 seeds was planted in warm, moist soil. Of these seeds, 2430 germinated.
(a) Use relative frequencies to estimate the probability that a seed will germinate. What is your estimate?
(b) Use relative frequencies to estimate the probability that a seed will not germinate. What is your estimate?
(c) Either a seed germinates or it does not. What is the sample space in this problem? Do the probabilities assigned to the sample space add up to 1? Should they add up to 1? Explain.
(d) Are the outcomes in the sample space from part (c) equally likely?