MATH PROBLEM SET NO.

2
COMBINATORICS AND PROBABILITY ONLY

1. In a workshop there are 4 kinds of beds, 3 kinds of

closets, 2 kinds of shelves and 7 kinds of chairs. In how
many ways can a person decorate his room if he wants to
buy in the workshop one shelf, one bed and one of the
following: a chair or a closet?

a) 168.
b) 16.
c) 80.
d) 48.
e) 56.

2. In a workshop there are 4 kinds of beds, 3 kinds of

closets, 2 kinds of shelves and 7 kinds of chairs. In how
many ways can a person decorate his room if he wants to
buy in the workshop one shelf, one bed and one of the
following: a chair or a closet?

a) 168.
b) 16.
c) 80.
d) 48.
e) 56.

3. Three people are to be seated on a bench. How many

different sitting arrangements are possible if Erik must
sit next to Joe?

a) 2.
b) 4.
c) 6.
d) 8.
e) 10.

4. How many 3-digit numbers satisfy the following

conditions: The first digit is different from zero and
the other digits are all different from each other?

a) 648.
b) 504.
c) 576.
d) 810.
e) 672.
5. Barbara has 8 shirts and 9 pants. How many clothing
combinations does Barbara have, if she doesn’t wear 2
specific shirts with 3 specific pants?

a) 41.
b) 66.
c) 36.
d) 70.
e) 56.
6. A credit card number has 5 digits (between 1 to 9).
The first two digits are 12 in that order, the third
digit is bigger than 6, the forth is divisible by 3 and
the fifth digit is 3 times the sixth. How many different
credit card numbers exist?

a) 27.
b) 36.
c) 72.
d) 112.
e) 422.

7. In jar A there are 3 white balls and 2 green ones, in

jar B there is one white ball and three green ones. A jar
is randomly picked, what is the probability of picking up
a white ball out of jar A?

a) 2/5.
b) 3/5.
c) 3/10.
d) 3/4
e) 2/3.

8. Out of a box that contains 4 black and 6 white mice,

three are randomly chosen. What is the probability that
all three will be black?

a) 8/125.
b) 1/30.
c) 2/5.
d) 1/720.
e) 3/10.

9. The probability of pulling a black ball out of a glass

jar is 1/X. The probability of pulling a black ball out
of a glass jar and breaking the jar is 1/Y. What is the
probability of breaking the jar?

a) 1/(XY).
b) X/Y.
c) Y/X.
d) 1/(X+Y).
 e) 1/(X-Y).

10. Danny, Doris and Dolly flipped a coin 5 times and

each time the coin landed on “heads”. Dolly bet that on
the sixth time the coin will land on “tails”, what is the
probability that she’s right?

a) 1.
b) ½.
c) ¾.
d) ¼.
e) 1/3.

11. In a deck of cards there are 52 cards numbered from 1

to 13. There are 4 cards of each number in the deck. If
you insert 12 more cards with the number 10 on them and
you shuffle the deck really good, what is the probability
to pull out a card with a number 10 on it?

a) 1/4.
b) 4/17.
c) 5/29.
d) 4/13.
e) 1/3.

12. There are 18 balls in a jar. You take out 3 blue

balls without putting them back inside, and now the
probability of pulling out a blue ball is 1/5. How many
blue balls were there in the beginning?

a) 9.
b) 8.
c) 7.
d) 12.
e) 6.

13. In a box there are A green balls, 3A + 6 red balls

and 2 yellow ones.
If there are no other colors, what is the probability of
taking out a green or a yellow ball?

a) 1/5.
b) 1/2.
c) 1/3.
d) 1/4.
e) 2/3.

14. The probability of Sam passing the exam is 1/4. The

probability of Sam passing the exam and Michael passing
the driving test is 1/6.
What is the probability of Michael passing his driving
test?

a) 1/24.
b) 1/2.
c) 1/3.
d) 2/3.
e) 2/5

15. In a blue jar there are red, white and green balls.
The probability of drawing a red ball is 1/5. The
probability of drawing a red ball, returning it, and then
drawing a white ball is 1/10. What is the probability of
drawing a white ball?

a) 1/5.
b) ½.
c) 1/3.
d) 3/10.
e) ¼.

16. Out of a classroom of 6 boys and 4 girls the teacher

picks a president for the student board, a vice president
and a secretary. What is the probability that only girls
will be elected?

a) 8/125.
b) 2/5.
c) 1/30.
d) 1/720.
e) 13/48.

17. Two dice are rolled. What is the probability the sum
will be greater than 10?

a) 1/9.
b) 1/12.
c) 5/36.
d) 1/6.
e) 1/5.

18. The probability of having a girl is identical to the

probability of having a boy. In a family with three
children, what is the probability that all the children
are of the same gender?

a) 1/8.
b) 1/6.
c) 1/3.
d) 1/5.
e) ¼.
19. On one side of a coin there is the number 0 and on
the other side the number 1. What is the probability that
the sum of three coin tosses will be 2?

a) 1/8.
b) ½.
c) 1/5.
d) 3/8.
e) 1/3.

20. In a flower shop, there are 5 different types of

flowers. Two of the flowers are blue, two are red and one
is yellow. In how many different combinations of
different colors can a 3-flower garland be made?

a) 4.
b) 20.
c) 3.
d) 5.
e) 6.

21. In a jar there are balls in different colors: blue,

red, green and yellow.
The probability of drawing a blue ball is 1/8.
The probability of drawing a red ball is 1/5.
The probability of drawing a green ball is 1/10.
If a jar cannot contain more than 50 balls, how many
yellow balls are in the Jar?

a) 23.
b) 20.
c) 24.
d) 17.
e) 25.

22. In a jar there are 3 red balls and 2 blue balls. What
is the probability of drawing at least one red ball when
drawing two consecutive balls randomly?

a) 9/10
b) 16/20
c) 2/5
d) 3/5
e) ½

23. In Rwanda, the chance for rain on any given day is

50%. What is the probability that it rains on 4 out of 7
consecutive days in Rwanda?
 a) 4/7
b) 3/7
c) 35/128
d) 4/28
e) 28/135

24. A Four digit safe code does not contain the digits 1
and 4 at all. What is the probability that it has at
least one even digit?

a) ¼
b) ½
c) ¾
d) 15/16
e) 1/16

25. John wrote a phone number on a note that was later

lost. John can remember that the number had 7 digits, the
digit 1 appeared in the last three places and 0 did not
appear at all. What is the probability that the phone
number contains at least two prime digits?

a) 15/16
b) 11/16
c) 11/12
d) ½
e) 5/8

26. What is the probability for a family with three

children to have a boy and two girls (assuming the
probability of having a boy or a girl is equal)?

a) 1/8
b) ¼
c) ½
d) 3/8
e) 5/8

27. In how many ways can you sit 8 people on a bench if 3

of them must sit together?

a) 720
b) 2,160
c) 2,400
d) 4,320
e) 40,320

28. In how many ways can you sit 7 people on a bench if

Suzan won’t sit on the middle seat or on either end?
 a) 720
b) 1,720
c) 2,880
d) 5,040
e) 10,080

29. In a jar there are 15 white balls, 25 red balls, 10

blue balls and 20 green balls. How many balls must be
taken out in order to make sure we took out 8 of the same
color?

a) 8
b) 23
c) 29
d) 32
e) 53

30. In a jar there are 21 white balls, 24 green balls and

32 blue balls. How many balls must be taken out in order
to make sure we have 23 balls of the same color?

a) 23
b) 46
c) 57
d) 66
e) 67

31. What is the probability of getting a sum of 12 when

rolling 3 dice simultaneously?

a) 10/216
b) 12/216
c) 21/216
d) 23/216
e) 25/216

32. How many diagonals does a polygon with 21 sides have,

if one of its vertices does not connect to any diagonal?

a) 21
b) 170
c) 340
d) 357
e) 420
33. How many diagonals does a polygon with 18 sides have
if three of its vertices do not send any diagonal? Use
the formula: number of diagonals: n (n-3)/2 where n is
the number of sides. Each vertex sends of n-3 diagonals.

a) 90
b) 126
c) 210
d) 264
e) 306

34. What is the probability of getting a sum of 8 or 14

when rolling 3 dice simultaneously? Use the formula:
number of diagonals: n (n-3)/2 where n is the number of
sides. Each vertex sends of n-3 diagonals.

a) 1/6
b) ¼
c) ½
d) 21/216
e) 32/216

35. The telephone company wants to add an area code

composed of 2 letters to every phone number. In order to
do so, the company chose a special sign language
containing 124 different signs. If the company used 122
of the signs fully and two remained unused, how many
additional area codes can be created if the company uses
all 124 signs?

a) 246
b) 248
c) 492
d) 15,128
e) 30,256

36. How many 8-letter words can be created using computer

language (0/1 only)?

a) 16
b) 64
c) 128
d) 256
e) 512

37. How many 5 digit numbers can be created if the

following terms apply: the leftmost digit is even, the
second is odd, the third is a non even prime and the
fourth and fifth are two random digits not used before in
the number?

a) 2520
b) 3150
c) 3360
d) 6000
e) 7500

38. A drawer holds 4 red hats and 4 blue hats. What is

the probability of getting exactly three red hats or
exactly three blue hats when taking out 4 hats randomly
out of the drawer and returning each hat before taking
out the next one? (Tricky)

a) 1/8
b) ¼
c) ½
d) 3/8
e) 7/12

39. Ruth wants to choose 4 books to take with her on a

camping trip. If Ruth has a total of 11 books to choose
from, how many different book quartets are possible?

a) 28
b) 44
c) 110
d) 210
e) 330

40. A computer game has five difficulty levels. In each

level you can choose among four different scenarios
except for the first level, where you can choose among
three scenarios only. How many different games are
possible?

a) 18
b) 19
c) 20
d) 21
e) None of the above

41. How many four-digit numbers that do not contain the

digits 3 or 6 are there?

a) 2401
 b) 3584
c) 4096
d) 5040
e) 7200

42. How many five-digit numbers are there, if the two

leftmost digits are even, the other digits are odd and
the digit 4 cannot appear more than once in the number?

a) 1875
b) 2000
c) 2375
d) 2500
e) 3875

43. In a department store prize box, 40% of the notes

give the winner a dreamy vacation; the other notes are
blank. What is the approximate probability that 3 out of
5 people that draw the notes one after the other, and
immediately return their note into the box get a dreamy
vacation?

a) 0.12
b) 0.23
c) 0.35
d) 0.45
e) 0.65

44.The probability of having a girl is identical to the

probability of having a boy. In a family with three
children, what is the probability that all the children
are of the same gender?
a) 1/8.

b) 1/6.

c) 1/3.

d) 1/5.

e) E) ¼

45. A buyer buys 3 different items out of the newly

introduced 10 different items. If two items were to be
selected at random, what is the probability that the
buyer does not have both the chosen items?

46. A community of 3 people is to be selected from 5

married couples, such that the community does not include
two people who are married to each other. How many such
communities are possible?

47. There are three secretaries who work for four

departments. If each of the four departments has one
report to be typed out, and the reports are randomly
assigned to a secretary, what is the probability that all
three secretaries are assigned at least one report?

48. Jerome wrote each of the integers 1 through 20,

inclusive, on a separate index card. He placed the cards
in a box, and then drew cards one at a time randomly from
the box, without returning the cards he had already drawn
to the box. In order to ensure that the sum of all cards
he drew was even, how many cards did Jerome have to draw?

49. From (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), one number is picked out and

replaced and one number is picked out again. If the sum
of the 2 numbers is 8, what is the probability that the 2
numbers included the number 5?

50. Each participant in a certain study was assigned a

sequence of 3 different letters from the set {A, B, C, D,
E, F, G, H}. If no sequence was assigned to more than one
participant and if 36 of the possible sequences were not
assigned, what was the number of participants in the
study? (Note, for example, that the sequence A, B, C is
different from the sequence C, B, A.)

51. In how many ways can 11 # signs and 8* signs be

arranged in a row so that no two * signs come together?

52. A bag of 10 marbles contains 3 red marbles and 7 blue

marbles. If two marbles are selected at random, what is
the probability that at least one marble is blue?

A. 21/50

B. 3/13

C. 47/50

D. 14/15

E. 1/5
53. A certain deck of cards contains 2 blue cards, 2 red
cards, 2 yellow cards, and 2 green cards. If two cards
are randomly drawn from the deck, what is the probability
that they will both are not blue?
A. 15/28

B. 1/4

C. 9/16

D. 1/32

E. 1/16

54. There are 5 red marbles, 3 blue marbles, and 2 green

marbles. If a user chooses two marbles, what is the
probability that the two marbles will be a different
color?

55. A bag contains six marbles: two red, two blue, and
two green. If two marbles are drawn at random, what is
the probability that they are the same color?