| Solution to September 2000 brain teaser | |||||||||
| In each case below the base unit is 100 observations: | |||||||||
| If the car was black, the number of witnesses saying the car was black = | 80.0000 | ||||||||
| If the car was green, the number of witnesses saying the car was black = | (40/90)*20= | 8.8889 | |||||||
| If the car was red, the number of witnesses saying the car was black = | (40/70)*20= | 11.4286 | |||||||
| If the car was white, the number of witnesses saying the car was black = | (40/80)*20= | 10.0000 | |||||||
| Total number of replies saying the car was black | = | 110.3175 | |||||||
| Therefore the probability that the witness actually did see a black car = | (80/110.3175)= | 72.52% | |||||||