Using the hypergeometric distribution, the probabilities are given as follows:
a) 0.2 = 20%.
b) 0.5539 = 55.39%.
The formula is:
[tex]P(X = x) = h(x,N,n,k) = \frac{C_{k,x}C_{N-k,n-x}}{C_{N,n}}[/tex]
[tex]C_{n,x} = \frac{n!}{x!(n-x)!}[/tex]
The parameters are:
Researching this problem on the internet, it is found that the council has 15 members, of which 7 are Democrats and 8 are Republicans.
Item a:
The parameters are:
N = 15, n = 2, k = 7.
The probability is P(X = 2), hence:
[tex]P(X = x) = h(x,N,n,k) = \frac{C_{k,x}C_{N-k,n-x}}{C_{N,n}}[/tex]
[tex]P(X = 2) = h(2,15,2,7) = \frac{C_{7,2}C_{8,0}}{C_{15,2}} = 0.2[/tex]
Item b:
At most one Democrat, with n = 3, hence:
[tex]P(X \leq 1) = P(X = 0) + P(X = 1)[/tex]
In which:
[tex]P(X = 0) = h(0,15,3,7) = \frac{C_{3,0}C_{8,3}}{C_{15,3}} = 0.1231[/tex]
[tex]P(X = 1) = h(1,15,3,7) = \frac{C_{3,1}C_{8,2}}{C_{15,3}} = 0.4308[/tex]
Then:
[tex]P(X \leq 1) = P(X = 0) + P(X = 1) = 0.1231 + 0.4308 = 0.5539[/tex]
More can be learned about the hypergeometric distribution at https://brainly.com/question/24826394
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