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course Mth152

zxzƓymxсwŃ{assignment #008

008. Conditional probabilities, more probabilities

Liberal Arts Mathematics II

09-30-2008

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19:58:48

`q001. Note that there are 7 questions in this assignment.

Suppose that a card is dealt from a well-shuffled deck, and that you can tell by the reflection in your opponent's reading glasses that the card is a red face card. However you can't tell any more than that.

What is the probability that the card is the Jack or the Queen of Diamonds?

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RESPONSE -->

In a deck of 52 cards there would be 6 possible red face cards. The J,Q & K of Hearts and the J,Q & K of diamonds so the possibility of the card being the jack or queen of diamonds would be 2out of 6 or 2/6.

confidence assessment: 2

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19:59:07

In this case your knowledge that the card is a red face card limits the possibilities to six: The Jack of Hearts or Diamonds, the Queen of Hearts or Diamonds, or the King of Hearts or Diamonds. The probability that the card is one of the two specified cards is therefore 2 / 6 = 1/3.

Note that without any limits on the possibilities, the probability that the card is the Jack or Queen of Diamonds is only 2 / 52 = 1 / 26. Note also that the probability that a card is a red face card is 6 / 52 = 3/26. If we divide the first probability by the second we get 1/26 / ( 3/26) = 1/26 * 26/3 = 1/3.

Thus the probability that a card is the Jack or Queen of Diamonds, given that it is a red face card, is equal to the probability that it is the Jack or Queen of Diamonds (and a face card), divided by the probability that it is a red face card.

This statement has the form 'The probability of B, given A, is equal to the probability of A ^ B divided by the probability of A'. This statement is abbreviated to the form

P(B | A) = P(A ^ B) / P(A).

This is the formula for Conditional Probability. In this problem the outcome was Jack or Queen of Diamonds, and the condition was that we have a red face card.

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RESPONSE -->

o.k.

self critique assessment: 3

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20:01:19

`q002. Suppose that a face card is the first card dealt from a full deck of well-shuffled cards. What is the probability that the next card dealt (without replacement) will also be a face card?

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RESPONSE -->

There are a total of 12 face cards on a deck. If the first one chosen is a face card then there would be 11 face cards left out of the 51 cards left in the deck so it would be 11/51

confidence assessment: 3

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20:01:30

We know that after the first card is dealt there are 11 face cards left out of the original 12, and 51 cards left in the deck. The probability is therefore obviously 11/51.

We can also analyze this situation as a conditional probability. B stands for 'a face card is dealt on the second card' while A stands for 'a face card is dealt on the first card'. So the event A ^ B stands for 'a face card is dealt on the first card and on the second', with probability 12/52 * 11/51. A stands for 'a face card is dealt on the first card', with probability 12 / 52. So P(B | A) stands for 'a face card is deal on the second card given that a face card is dealt on the first'.

By the formula we have P(B | A) = P ( A ^ B ) / P(A) = [ 12 / 52 * 11 / 51 ] / [ 12 / 52 ] = 11 / 51, which of course we already knew from direct analysis.

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RESPONSE -->

o.k.

self critique assessment: 3

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20:22:40

`q003. Given that the first clip of a coin is Heads, what is the probability that a five-flip sequence will result in exactly four Heads?

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RESPONSE -->

For 5 flips there would be 2x2x2x2x2=32 possible ways.

There would be 32/2 = 16 possibilities of heads on the first flip.

Four flips out of the 16 have exactlly 4 heads so the probability would be 4/16

confidence assessment: 2

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20:22:48

If we were to list the 2^5 = 32 possible outcomes for five flips, we would find that 16 of them have 'heads' on the first flip, and that of these 16 there are 4 outcomes with exactly four 'heads'. The probability therefore looks like 4 / 16 = 1/4, which is correct.

To verify this by the formula P( B | A ) = P( A ^ B) / P(A), we let B stand for the desired event of exactly four 'heads' and A for the 'given' event of 'heads' on the first flip. On five flips, P(A) = 16 / 32 = 1/2 (probability of 'heads' on the first flip), which P(B ^ A) = 4 / 32 (four of the 32 possible outcomes have 'heads' on the first flip and exactly four 'heads').

The formula therefore gives us P( B | A ) = P( A ^ B) / P(A) = (4/32) / (2/1) = (4 / 32) * (2 / 1) = 4 / 16 = 1/4.

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RESPONSE -->

o.k.

self critique assessment: 3

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20:28:34

`q004. Given that the first of two dice comes up even, what is the probability that the total on the two dice will be greater than 9? How does this compare with the unconditional probability that the total of two fair dice will be greater than 9?

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RESPONSE -->

1 2 3 4 5 6

1

2 2,1 2,2 2,3 2,4 2,5 2,6

3

4 4,1 4,2 4,3 4,4 4,5 4,6

5

6 6,1 6,2 6,3 6,4 6,5 6,6

There are 18 possibilities

4 are greater than 9

4/18 or2/9

confidence assessment: 3

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20:28:43

We can list the sample space of dice possibilities for which the first number is even. The sample space is { (2,1), (2,2), (2,3), (2,4), (2,5), (2,6), (4,1), (4,2), (4,3), (4,4), (4,5), (4,6), (6,1), (6,2), (6,3), (6,4), (6,5), (6,6) }. We note that there are 18 elements in the sample space.

We then find the corresponding totals, which are

3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

Of these 18 totals, 4 are greater than 9. Thus the probability that the total of two dice will be greater than 9, given that the first is even, is 4/18 = 2/9.

To verify this by the formula P( B | A ) = P( A ^ B) / P(A), we let B stand for the set of all dice pairs which give a total greater than 9, and A for the set of all dice pairs where the first die shows an even number. We have seen that A = { (2,1), (2,2), (2,3), (2,4), (2,5), (2,6), (4,1), (4,2), (4,3), (4,4), (4,5), (4,6), (6,1), (6,2), (6,3), (6,4), (6,5), (6,6) }.

Listing the elements in B we find that B = { (4, 6), (6, 4), (5, 5), (6, 5), (5, 6), (6, 6) }. There are 6 elements in this set.

A ^ B consists of the set of elements common to both A and B, or { (4, 6), (6, 4), (6,5), (6, 6) }.

Since there are 4 elements in A ^ B, 18 elements in A, and 36 elements in the sample space for two dice, it follows that

P(A) = 18 / 36 = 1/2 and P(A ^ B) = 4 / 36 = 1/9.

Therefore the probability we are looking for, P(B | A), is given by

P(B | A) = P(A ^ B) / P(A) = (1/9) / (1/2) = (1/9) * (2/1) = 2/9.

This is in agreement with the previous result obtained by listing.

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RESPONSE -->

o.k.

self critique assessment: 3

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20:33:45

`q005. A spinner has numbers 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Given that the first number is odd, what is the probability that the sum of the results on two consecutive spins is even?

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RESPONSE -->

2, 3, 4, 5, 6

3 3,2 3,3 3,4 3,5 3,6

5 5,2 5,3 5,4 5,5 5,6

ten possibilities of the first number being odd. Out of the ten four of the sums are even.

4/10 or2/5

confidence assessment: 3

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20:33:54

The set of possibilities for which the first number is odd is { (3, 2), (3, 3), (3, 4), (3, 5), (3, 6), (5, 2), (5, 3), (5, 4), (5, 5), (5, 6) }. There are therefore 10 possibilities. Of these 4 add up to an even total, so the probability that the total is even, given that the first number is odd, is

Probability of B given A = 4/10 = 2/5.

To verify this by the formula P( B | A ) = P( A ^ B) / P(A), we let B stand for the set of all pairs that add up to an even number and A for the set of all pairs for which the first number is even. The sample space for two spins has 5 * 5 = 25 elements. Of these, only the four outcomes (3, 3), (3, 5), (5, 3) and (5, 5) for which both spinners land on odd numbers are in the set A ^ B. Thus

P(A | B) = 4/25.

The set A consists of the 10 pairs listed earlier. So

P(A) = 10/25 = 2/5.

Thus

P(B | A) = P(A ^ B) / P(A) = (4/25) / (2/5) = (4/25) * (5/2) = 2/5

in agreement with our previous result.

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RESPONSE -->

o.k.

self critique assessment: 3

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20:40:07

`q006. What is the probability that two consecutive cards dealt (without replacement) from a full deck will both be Hearts?

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RESPONSE -->

13 hearts in a deck of 52 cards when you take the first card

There would be 51 cards left and 12 hearts

13 x 12= 156 / 2

confidence assessment: 3

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20:40:21

When the first card is dealt there are 13 Hearts in a deck of 52. When the second card is dealt there are 12 Hearts left in the remaining 51 cards. The order in which the cards are dealt does not matter, and there are two possible orders for any 2-card 'hand'. The number of ways to get 2 Hearts is therefore C(13,2) = 13 * 12 / 2 = 156 / 2 = 78.

The number of possible 2-card 'hands' is C(52, 2) = 52 * 51 / 2 = 1326.

The probability of obtaining two Hearts is therefore 78 / 1326, which can be reduced or expressed as a decimal.

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RESPONSE -->

o.k.

self critique assessment: 3

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20:43:02

`q007. What is the probability that two consecutive cards dealt (without replacement) from a full deck will both be of the same suit?

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RESPONSE -->

13 cards in a suit

take the first pick and there are only 51 cards left in the deck and only 12 left in the suit that the first card belongs to. 12 out of 51 or 12/51

confidence assessment: 2

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20:43:10

A quick common-sense solution tells us that sense the first card can be anything, then since of the 51 remaining cards, there remain remain 12 cards that match the suit of the first the probability must be 12/51 = 4/17.

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RESPONSE -->

o.k.

self critique assessment: 3

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