Thread: Probability

I need some help with this problem....

Jane has two friends who do not know eachother. Each of them has heard the same rumor. The probability that each will tell Jane is 60%. What is the probability that Jane does not hear the rumor from either of these friends?

Originally Posted by rlwright

I need some help with this problem....

Jane has two friends who do not know eachother. Each of them has heard the same rumor. The probability that each will tell Jane is 60%. What is the probability that Jane does not hear the rumor from either of these friends?

The probability that they will not tell is 40% (In fact, it should be zero, because these teenager girls cannot keep secrets).

You need that the first one will not say and the second one will not say. Thus, (.4)(.4)=.16=16%