Probability & Statistics

Problem Set 2

Problem 1: A box contains 2 red and 3 blue marbles. Find the probability that if two
marbles are drawn at random (without replacement)
a) both are blue;
b) both are red;
c) one is red and one is blue.

Problem 2: Find the probability of drawing 3 aces at random from a deck of 52

Problem 3: If at least one child in a family with 2 children is a boy, what is the
probability that both children are boys?

Problem 4: Box I contains 3 red and 5 white balls, while Box II contains 4 red and 2
white balls. A ball is chosen at random from the first box and placed in the second
box without observing its color. Then a ball is drawn from the second box. Find the
probability that it is white.

Problem 5: A box contains 3 blue and 2 red marbles while another box contains 2
blue and 5 red marbles. A marble drawn at random from one of the boxes turns out to
be blue. What is the probability that it came from the first box?

Problem 6: Each of three identical jewelry boxes has two drawers. In each drawer of
the first box there is a gold watch. In each drawer of the second box there is a silver
watch. In one drawer of the third box there is a gold watch while in the other there is a
silver watch. If we select a box at random, open one of the drawers and find it to
contain a silver watch, what is the probability that the other drawer has the gold
watch?

Problem 7: Urn I has 2 white and 3 black balls; Urn II, 4 white and 1 black; and Urn
III, 3 white and 4 black. An urn is selected at random and a ball drawn at random is
found to be white. Find the probability that Urn I was selected.

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Problem 8: The probability that a man will hit is . If he shoots at the target until he
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hits it for the first time, find the probability that it will take him 5 shots to hit the
target.

Problem 9: A box contains r red balls and b blue balls. One ball is selected at
random and its color is observed. The ball is then returned to the box and k additional
balls of the same color are also put into the box. A second ball is then selected at
random, its color is observed, and it is returned to the box together with k additional
balls of the same color. Each time another ball is selected, the process is repeated. If
four balls are selected, what is the probability that the first three balls will be red and
the fourth ball will be blue?

Problem 10: Consider an experiment in which a fair coin is tossed until a head is
obtained for the first time. If this experiment is performed three times, what is the
probability that exactly the same number of tosses will be required for each of the
three performances?

Problem 11: A class in advanced physics is composed of 10 juniors, 30 seniors, and

Problem 12: Suppose that the probability that the control system used in a spaceship
will mal- function on a given flight is 0.001. Suppose further that a duplicate, but
completely independent, control system is also installed in the spaceship to take control
in case the first system malfunctions. Determine the probability that the spaceship will
be under the control of either the original system or the duplicate system on a given
flight.

Problem 13: Police plan to enforce speed limits by using radar traps at four different
locations within the city limits. The radar traps at each of the locations L1, L2, L3,
and L4 will be operated 40%, 30%, 20%, and 30% of the time. If a person who is
speeding on her way to work has probabilities of 0.2, 0.1, 0.5, and 0.2, respectively, of
passing through these locations, what is the probability that she will receive a
speeding ticket?

Problem 14: In a certain city, 30 percent of the people are Conservatives, 50 percent
are Liberals, and 20 percent are Independents. Records show that in a particular
election, 65 per- cent of the Conservatives voted, 82 percent of the Liberals voted, and
50 percent of the Independents voted. If a person in the city is selected at random and
it is learned that she did not vote in the last election, what is the probability that she is
a Liberal?

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Problem 15: The probabilities that a service station will pump gas into 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5
or more cars during a certain 30-minute period are 0.03, 0.18, 0.24, 0.28, 0.10, and
0.17, respectively. Find the probability that in this 30-minute period
a) more than 2 cars receive gas;
b) at most 4 cars receive gas;
c) 4 or more cars receive gas.

Problem 16: The probability that a patient recovers from a delicate heart operation is
0.8. What is the probability that
a) exactly 2 of the next 3 patients who have this operation survive?
b) all of the next 3 patients who have this operation survive?

Problem 17: Suppose that in a senior college class of 500 students it is found that
210 smoke, 258 drink alcoholic beverages, 216 eat between meals, 122 smoke and
drink alcoholic bev- erages, 83 eat between meals and drink alcoholic beverages, 97
smoke and eat between meals,and 52 engage in all three of these bad health practices.
If a member of this senior class is selected at random, find the probability that the
student
a) smokes but does not drink alcoholic beverages;
b) eats between meals and drinks alcoholic beverages but does not smoke;
c) neither smokes nor eats between meals.

Problem 18: A box contains 20 red balls, 30 white balls, and 50 blue balls. Suppose
that 10 balls are selected at random one at a time, with replacement; that is, each
selected ball is replaced in the box before the next selection is made. Determine the
probability that at least one color will be missing from the 10 selected balls.

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References
[1] WALPOLE, R. E., MYERS, R. H., MYERS, S. L. AND YE, K., Probability &
Statistics for Engineers & Scientists, 9th ed., MA, USA: Prentice-Hall, 2012.
[2] DEGROOT, M. H. AND SCHERvish, M. J., Probability and Statistics, 4th ed., MA,
USA: Pearson Education, Inc., 2012.
[3] MURRAy, R. S., JOHN, J. S. AND R, A. SRINIVASAN, Probability and Statistics, 3rd
ed., USA: McGraw-Hill, 2009.