Scribd
Upload
22 views

Tutorial 1

The document is a tutorial on combinatorial probability from a university department of statistics. It covers topics like selection of objects with and without replacement, partition of objects into groups, binomial series theorem, and definitions of sample space and probability. Exercises include finding the number of integer solutions to equations, selecting teams from a class, probability of letters being together or separated in a word, drawing balls from a bag without replacement, and the probability of numbers summing to 30.

Uploaded by

ching chau
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
22 views

Tutorial 1

The document is a tutorial on combinatorial probability from a university department of statistics. It covers topics like selection of objects with and without replacement, partition of objects into groups, binomial series theorem, and definitions of sample space and probability. Exercises include finding the number of integer solutions to equations, selecting teams from a class, probability of letters being together or separated in a word, drawing balls from a bag without replacement, and the probability of numbers summing to 30.

Uploaded by

ching chau
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS AND ACTUARIAL SCIENCE

STAT2901 Probability and Statistics: Foundations of Actuarial Science

Tutorial 1

Combinatorial Probability
1. Selection of r from n distinguishable objects
With replacement Without replacement
n!
Ordered nr
(n − r)!
   
n+r−1 (n + r − 1)! n n!
Unordered = =
r r!(n − 1)! r r!(n − r)!

2. Partition n distinguishable objects into k groups of size n1 , n2 , . . . , nk respectively, with


n1 + n2 + · · · + nk = n. The number of ways is given by the multinomial coefficient
 
n n!
= .
n1 , n2 , . . . , nk n1 !n2 ! . . . nk !

3. Binomial Series Theorem


The binomial series is the Taylor series for f (x) = (1 + x)α , where |x| < 1 and α ∈ R,
i.e.
α(α − 1) 2 α(α − 1)(α − 2) 3
(1 + x)α = 1 + αx + x + x + ··· .
2! 3!
Special cases:

(a) Binomial series (when α is a positive integer n):


n  
n
X n
(1 + x) = xr .
r=0
r

(b) Negative binomial series:


∞  
−n
X n+r−1
(1 − x) = xr .
r=0
r

1
(c) Multinomial series:
 
X n
n
(x1 + x2 + · · · + xk ) = xn1 xn2 . . . xnk k .
n1 , n2 , . . . , nk 1 2
(n1 ,...,nk )
n1 +···+nk =n

4. Combinatorial Probability
The sample space Ω is defined to be the set of all possible outcomes from an experiment.
Let A be a subset of Ω, which is called an event. Assume that Ω is a finite set and each
outcome ω in Ω has equal chance of occurring, i.e. for any ω ∈ Ω,
1
P ({ω}) = .
number of outcomes in Ω
Then, the probability of an event A is defined by
number of outcomes in A
P (A) = .
number of outcomes in Ω

Exercises
1. Find the number of integer solutions to the following equations.

(a) x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 + x5 + x6 = 22 where xi ’s are positive.


(b) x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 + x5 + x6 = 20 where xi ’s are non-negative.
(c) x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 + x5 + x6 < 24 where xi ’s are positive.
(d) x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 + x5 + x6 = 26 where xi ’s are positive with x2 > 3 and 3 ≤ x5 < 6.

2. Find the number of ways to select an 11-member soccer team and a 5-member basketball
team from a class of 30 students if

(a) nobody can be on both teams;


(b) any number of students can be on both teams;
(c) at most n students can be on both teams.

3. Consider the letter arrangements of the word CALENDAR. Determine the probability
that C and A are together and N and D are separated.

2
4. Use the algebraic method to solve the following problems.

(a) There are 3 green balls, 2 blue balls, 1 red ball and 17 yellow balls in a bag. All the
balls are identical apart from their colours. Suppose 4 balls are randomly drawn
without replacement from the bag. Find the number of distinct combinations of
these 4 balls.

(b) Five numbers are randomly drawn from {1, 2, . . . , 9} with replacement. Determine
the probability that the sum of these five numbers is equal to 30.

5. Recall: How many ways can we split 8 into a sum of positive integers?

You might also like