Step 1 :This is a binomial probability problem. We have a fixed number of trials (10 students), each trial is independent (one student's response doesn't affect another's), there are only two possible outcomes (the student uses credit cards for rewards or not), and the probability of success (the student uses credit cards for rewards) is constant (21%).
Step 2 :We can use the binomial probability formula to solve this problem: \(P(X=k) = C(n, k) * (p^k) * ((1-p)^(n-k))\) where: \(P(X=k)\) is the probability we want to find, \(C(n, k)\) is the combination of n items taken k at a time, p is the probability of success, n is the number of trials, and k is the number of successes we want.
Step 3 :For part (a), we want to find the probability that exactly 2 students use credit cards for rewards, so k=2.
Step 4 :Given that n = 10, k = 2, p = 0.21, and the combination of n items taken k at a time is 45, we can substitute these values into the binomial probability formula.
Step 5 :The probability is calculated as \(P(2) = C(10, 2) * (0.21^2) * ((1-0.21)^(10-2)) = 0.3010702433259571\).
Step 6 :Rounding to the nearest thousandth, the final answer is \(P(2)=\boxed{0.301}\).