Question 648874: The chance of rain today is 80 percent. which of the best explains this statement?
(a) It will rain 80 percent of the day today
(b) It will rain in 80 percent of the area to which this forecast applies today
(c) In the past, weather conditions of this sort have produced rain in this area 80 percent of the time
Please answer this, thanks
Answer by swincher4391(1107)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! c)
Let's use the definition of probability.
Consider your sample space to be all weather productions in the past with similar conditions. Then 80% of all of those times, it has rained. Using this knowledge, weather forecasters can predict that there's an 80% chance of rain.
Let's see why A and B doesn't makes sense.
a) There is an 80% chance of rain. Chance doesn't imply duration. In other words, if this statement were true, we're saying that it's going to rain 24*.80 = 19.2 hours of the day. These statements are not the same.
b) Chance also doesn't imply area in this case. Let's say the area you live in is 10sq mi. Then .80*10 sq mi, says that it's going to rain in 8/10 square miles of the city. This is not the same as saying there's an 80% chance it's going to rain.
By direct definition or process of elimination, we still get the answer C.
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