If we took the 26 letters of the alphabet and placed them in a hat and then asked you to choose one without looking, the theoretical probability of choosing each letter would be 1 out of 26 or about 3.8%. However, if we choose a letter at random out of a book or other written material, does each letter still have an equal probability of being chosen? Explain.

Question

If we took the 26 letters of the alphabet and placed them in a hat and then asked you to choose one without looking, the theoretical probability of choosing each letter would be 1 out of 26 or about 3.8%.  However, if we choose a letter at random out of a book or other written material, does each letter still have an equal probability of being chosen? Explain.

anonymous · Answer

No, because there is only one of each letter in the hat but in a written material letters can repeat several times, earning the letters repeat most the highest probability.

anonymous · Answer

Well, my opinon is that (based on cryptography) that certain letters appears more than others, for example the vowels, a,e,i,o,u, appear more than other letters. So, equally in a book, I would expect the vowels to appear more often than the other letters