Ten students are in a room. 3 of them come from class A, 2 of them from class B and the others from class C. Three students are drawn without replacement. Find the probability that the third student is from class B.
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1 Answer

There is an ambiguity in the question. It’s not clear whether a student from class B can be first or second as well as third, so both cases will be given.

There are 8 possible outcomes, 4 with a class B student only in third place and 4 with the other class B student placed first or second as well as third.

AAB (3/10)(2/9)(2/8)=1/60

ACB (3/10)(5/9)(2/8)=1/24

CAB (5/10)(3/9)(2/8)=1/24

CCB (5/10)(4/9)(2/8)=1/18

ABB (3/10)(2/9)(1/8)=1/120

BAB (2/10)(3/9)(1/8)=1/120

BCB (2/10)(5/9)(1/8)=1/72

CBB (5/10)(2/9)(1/8)=1/72

If we take the sum of the first 4 probabilities we get 7/45.

The sum of the last 4 probabilities is 2/45.

The total is 9/45=1/5.

If we want the probability of the third student being from class B without the other student from the same class already being picked then the probability is 7/45 (15.56%).

Otherwise the probability is 1/5 (20%), meaning that the other student from class B may or may not have already been picked.

by Top Rated User (1.1m points)

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