One card is drawn at random from a standard pack of 52 playing cards, with each card equally likely to be chosen. What is the probability that the card drawn is red?

Introduction / Context:
This problem checks your familiarity with the structure of a standard deck of playing cards and simple probability. You need to recall how many cards are red and then compare that count to the total size of the deck. It is a classic single event probability question that appears frequently in aptitude and competitive exams.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• A standard deck has 52 cards.
• There are 4 suits: hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades.
• Hearts and diamonds are red suits.
• Clubs and spades are black suits.
• One card is drawn at random and each card is equally likely to be drawn.
• We want the probability that the card is red.

Concept / Approach:
For a simple probability event, the probability of an outcome is given by: Probability = (Number of favorable outcomes) / (Total number of possible outcomes). Here, favorable outcomes are all red cards. The total possible outcomes are all cards in the deck. Because the selection is random and each card is equally likely, we can safely use this basic ratio formula.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: In a standard deck, hearts and diamonds are red suits. Step 2: Each suit contains 13 cards. Step 3: Total number of red cards = 13 hearts + 13 diamonds = 26 cards. Step 4: Total number of cards in the deck = 52. Step 5: Apply probability formula: Probability of drawing a red card = 26 / 52. Step 6: Simplify the fraction 26 / 52 by dividing numerator and denominator by 26 to get 1 / 2.

Verification / Alternative check:
You can also think of the deck as evenly split between red and black. There are 2 red suits and 2 black suits, each with 13 cards. Hence exactly half of the deck is red and half is black. Therefore, before any card is drawn, the probability of getting a red card is exactly 1 out of 2, which again confirms the answer 1/2.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option 1/4 would be correct only if there were 13 red cards in a 52 card deck, which is not true. Option 1/3 does not correspond to any natural split of the deck. Option 3/4 would mean that most cards in the deck are red, which contradicts the equal division between red and black suits. Option 2/13 is much smaller than the real probability and does not match the actual card distribution.

Common Pitfalls:
A common mistake is to forget that there are two red suits and to count only one of them. Another error is to confuse the number of suits with the number of cards in a suit. Always verify how many cards are in each suit and how many suits share the property you care about. Remember that probability must lie between 0 and 1, and for a balanced deck, many events like red or black will have probability 1/2.

Final Answer:
The probability that the card drawn is red is 1/2.