Combinatorics and Probability Drill

Warm-up Problems

Problem 1
A number is randomly chosen from a list of 10 consecutive positive integers.
What is the probability that the number is greater than the mean?

A) 3/10
B) 2/5
C) 1/2
D) 4/5
E) 7/10

Problem 2
A number is randomly chosen from the first 100 positive integers. What is the
probability that it is a multiple of 3?

A) 32/100
B) 33/100
C) 1/3
D) 34/100
E) 2/3

Problem 3
A menu at a Spanish restaurant has several options for tacos. There are 3 types of
shells, 4 types of meat, 3 types of cheese, and 5 types of salsa. How many distinct tacos
can be ordered assuming your order contains exactly one of each of the above choices?

Problem 4
At the BurgerTown drive-in the menu offers you many options for your custom
burger. There are 3 types of meats and a slew of condiments: lettuce, tomatoes, pickles,
onions, ketchup, mustard, and special sauce. Your burger must include meat, but you
may include as many or as few condiments as you desire. How many different burgers
can you order?

A) 8!
B) (3)(7!)
C) (3)(8!)
D) (8)(27)
 E) (3)(27)

Problem 5
How many distinct 4 letter words can be made from the name “CHRISTYNA”?

Problem 6
A history exam features 5 questions. 3 of the questions are multiple-choice with
four options each. The other two questions are true or false. If you answer every question,
how many different ways can you answer the exam?

Problem 7
A certain company places a six-symbol code on each of their products. The first
two symbols are one of the letters A-E and the last four symbols are digits. If repeats are
allowed on both letters and numbers, how many such codes are possible?

Problem 8
How many five digit numbers can be formed using the digits 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0?

A) 64
B) 120
C) 240
D) 600
E) 720

Problem 9
How many 10 digit numbers can be formed using only the digits 2 and 5?

A) 210
B) (22)(5!)
C) (5!)(5!)
D) 10! / 2
E) 10!

Problem 10
 A pair of standard 6-sided dice is rolled. What is the probability that the sum of
the two dice is equal to 8?

A) 1/9
B) 1/8
C) 5/36
D) 1/6
E) 7/36

Problem 11
A fair coin is flipped and a 6-sided standard die is rolled. What is the probability
of turning up a heads and a 6?

Problem 12
An integer is randomly chosen from 2 to 20 inclusive. What is the probability that
the number is prime?

Problem 13
Five students in a classroom are lining up one behind the other for recess. How
many lines are possible?

Problem 14
An Italian restaurant boasts 320 distinct pasta dishes. Each dish contains exactly
one pasta, one meat, and one sauce. If there are 8 pastas and 4 meats available, how many
sauces are there to choose from?

Problem 15
A bag contains 3 red, 2 blue, and 7 white marbles. If a marble is randomly chosen
from the bag, what is the probability that it is NOT blue?

Problem 16
A fair coin is flipped 5 times. How many distinct outcomes are possible if the last
flip must be heads? Outcomes are distinct if they do not contain exactly the same results
in exactly the same order.
Problem 17
Bob has a 24-sided die with an integer from 1-24 on each face. Every number is
featured exactly once. When he rolls, what is the probability that the number showing is a
factor of 24?

Problem 18
A man has 3 different suits, 4 different shirts, 2 different pairs of socks, and 5
different pairs of shoes. In how many ways can the man dress himself if he must wear a
suit, a shirt, a pair of socks, and a pair of shoes?

Problem 19
A basketball league has 8 teams. If there are no ties, in how many different ways
can the teams be ranked from 1st place to 8th place? Express your answer using factorial
notation.

Problem 20
A 10-student class is to choose a president, vice president, and secretary from the
group. Assuming that no person can occupy more than one post, in how many ways can
this be accomplished?
Medium Problems

Problem 21
A computer is made to generate a 3-letter “word” randomly from the letters of the
word “MATHCOURSE” without repeats (a “word” is any arrangement of letters
regardless of whether it is in the dictionary). What is the probability that this “word”
contains at least one vowel?

A) 1/6
B) 1/3
C) 1/2
D) 2/3
E) 5/6

Problem 22
A group of 12 people who have never met are in a classroom. How many formal
handshakes are exchanged if every pair shakes hands exactly once?

A) 12
B) 22
C) 66
D) 132
E) 244

Problem 23
A classroom has 12 girls and 20 boys. One quarter of the girls in the class have
blue eyes. If a child is selected at random from the class, what is the probability that
he/she is a girl who does not have blue eyes?

A) 3/32
B) 9/32
C) 3/8
D) 23/32
E) 29/32

Problem 24
A fair coin is flipped three times. What is the probability of flipping 2 tails and 1
head?

A) 1/8
 B) 1/3
C) 3/8
D) 5/8
E) 2/3

Problem 25
A card is randomly chosen from a standard 52-card deck (4 suits of 13 cards each
– A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K). What is the probability that it is a heart or a king?

A) 1/4
B) 2/13
C) 4/13
D) 17/52
E) 1/2

Problem 26
Two standard 6-sided dice are rolled. What is the probability that at least one of
the dice shows a number higher than 4?

A) 2/9
B) 1/3
C) 4/9
D) 5/9
E) 2/3

Problem 27
You are dealt 2 cards from a standard 52-card deck (4 suits of 13 cards each – A,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K). What is the probability that the two cards you are dealt
are a pair (the same number or the same rank of face card)?

A) 1/26
B) 1/17
C) 1/13
D) 4/51
E) 1/4

Problem 28
 Tiles are covered with the integers from 1 to 100 inclusive. If two are chosen at
random with replacement what is the probability that the product of these two is odd?

A) 1/8
B) 1/4
C) 1/3
D) 1/2
E) 3/4

Problem 29
Jack is playing a game in which he rolls a standard 6-sided die until the sum of all
of his rolls is even, at which time he stops. What is the probability that Jack will need to
roll the die more than 2 times?

A) 1/8
B) 1/4
C) 3/8
D) 1/2
E) 3/4

Problem 30
Jan is in a classroom with 5 other children. The principal of the school walks in
and chooses two children at random. What is the probability that Jan is chosen?

A) 4/5
B) 1/3
C) 2/5
D) 7/15
E) 1/2
Challenge Problems

Problem 31
Bag A contains 3 white and 3 red marbles. Bag B contains 6 white and 3 red
marbles. One of the two bags will be chosen at random, and then two marbles will be
drawn from that bag at random without replacement. What is the probability that the two
marbles drawn will be the same color?

A) 7/20
B) 9/10
C) 9/20
D) 11/20
E) 13/20

Problem 32
How many positive four-digit integers contain the digit grouping “62” at least
once? For instance, 2628 and 6244 are two such integers to include, but 2268 and 5602
do not meet the restrictions.

A) 180
B) 190
C) 279
D) 280
E) 360

Problem 33
A certain city has a 1/3 chance of rain on any given day. In any given 3-day
period, what is the probability that the city experiences rain?

A) 1/3
B) 8/27
C) 2/3
D) 19/27
E) 1

Problem 34
In a family of two children the parents know that the older child tells the truth
80% of the time and that the younger child lies 25% of the time. When the parents ask the
children about the same event, what is the probability that the two stories contradict each
other?
 A) 1/5
B) 3/20
C) 7/20
D) 1/2
E) 13/20

Problem 35
How many 5 digit numbers that are divisible by 9 can be formed using the digits
0,1,2,4,5,6 if repeats are not allowed?

A) 66
B) 120
C) 360
D) 488
E) 720

Problem 36
Five students are to be arranged in a line. How many such arrangements are
possible if Susan is not allowed to stand next to Dan?

A) 24
B) 48
C) 72
D) 96
E) 120

Problem 37
A polygon has 12 edges. How many diagonals does it have?

A) 54
B) 66
C) 108
D) 132
E) 144

Problem 38
 A man walks to his home from his current location on the rectangular grid shown.
If he may choose to walk north or east at any corner, but may never move south or west,
how many different paths can the man take to get home?

A) 12
B) 24
C) 32
D) 35
E) 64

Problem 39
A student council is to be chosen from a class of 12 students consisting of a
president, vice president, and 3 committee members. How many such councils are
possible?

12!
A)
7!5!
12!
B)
7!3!
12!
C)
5!3!
 12!
D)
7!
E) 12!

Problem 40
A bag contains 3 white, 4 black, and 2 red marbles, and two marbles are drawn
from the bag. What is the probability that the second ball drawn will be red if
replacement is NOT allowed?

A) 1/36
B) 1/12
C) 7/36
D) 2/9
E) 7/9
Problem 1 Solution: C

In a list of 10 consecutive integers, the mean will be the average of the 5th and 6th
numbers. Therefore, the 6th through 10th elements, which comes to exactly five
elements, will be larger than the mean. Since probability is determined by the number of
items you want divided by the total number of choices, the probability that the number
chosen is higher than mean is 5/10 = 1/2.
Another approach to this problem is to create a set of 10 consecutive integers; the
easiest such list contains the numbers {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}. The mean is one half
1 + 10
the sum of the first element plus the last element, or = 5.5 . Therefore, there are 5
2
numbers higher than the mean in the list: 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. Again, this gives probability
of choosing a number higher than the mean as 5/10 = 1/2.

Problem 2 Solution: B

The first 100 positive integers is the set of numbers containing the integers 1 to
100. Of these numbers, the only ones that are divisible by 3 are {3, 6, 9, … , 96, 99},
which is exactly 33 numbers. This can be determined in several ways. First, we can count
the numbers present in the list. This method is the most straightforward but also the most
time consuming. Second, we can compute 99/3 = 33 and realize that there are 33
multiples of 3 up to and including 99. Finally, we can use the “add one and you’re done
trick”, subtracting the first from the last element, dividing by 3 and then adding 1. This
gives (99-3)/3 +1 = 33. Therefore, since probability is determined by the number of
options you desire over the total number of options, the probability that the number
chosen is a multiple of 3 is 33/100.

Problem 3 Solution: 180

This problem utilizes the fundamental counting principle, which states that the
total number of choices is equal to the product of the independent choices. Therefore, the
total number of tacos is simply (3)(4)(3)(5) = 180 tacos.

Problem 4 Solution: E

This problem utilizes the fundamental counting principle, which states that the
total number of choices is equal to the product of the independent choices. The key to this
problem is realizing how many choices there are for each option. For the meat, there are
obviously 3 choices. For each of the condiments there are exactly two choices, on or off,
because the burger will be the same regardless of the order in which the condiments are
stacked. The only choice that we really have regarding each condiment is whether we
wish to include it. As there are 7 condiments, the fundamental counting principle gives a
total number of choices of (3)(2)(2)(2)(2)(2)(2)(2) = (3)(27) = 384.

Problem 5 Solution: 3024

Because all of the letters of the name “Christyna” are unique, we have 9 distinct
choices of letters to form our 4 letter word. We start by considering the first letter, for
which we have 9 total options. Similarly, for the second letter we have 8 options, because
one letter has already been chosen. Employing the same logic, we have 7 choices for the
3rd letter and 6 choices for the 4th letter. Using the fundamental counting principle, this
makes the total number of words (9)(8)(7)(6) = 3024 words.
Another way of approaching this problem is by using factorials. The total number
of ways to arrange all 9 letters is 9!. However, we are only concerned with words using
the first four of these letters, meaning we must exclude rearrangements of the last 5. The
number of ways in which we can order these 5 letters is 5!. Thus the total number of
9!
words with 4 letters than can be made from the name “Christyna” is = (9)(8)(7)(6) =
5!
3024 words.

Problem 6 Solution: 256

This question relies on the fundamental counting principle, which states that the
total number of options is the product of the independent choices. The five separate test
questions give us five independent choices. For the 3 multiple choices questions we have
four options each, whereas for the two true/false we have two options each. Multiplying
the independent choices yields (4)(4)(4)(2)(2) = 256 ways to answer the exam.

Problem 7 Solution: 250,000

This question relies on the fundamental counting principle, which states that the
total number of options is the product of the independent choices. There are 5 choices for
each of the letters at the beginning of the word (A, B, C, D, or E) and 10 choices for each
of the 4 digits at the end of the word (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9). Therefore, there are
(5)(5)(10)(10)(10)(10) = 250,000 possible codes.
Problem 8 Solution: D

This problem relies on the fundamental counting principle, which says that the
total number of ways for something to happen is the product of the number of options for
each individual choice. We wish to make a five digit number from the digits 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
and 0. For the first digit, we have only five options (5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) because a five digit
number must start with a non-zero integer. For the second digit we have 5 choices again,
because now we may use zero but one of the other numbers has been taken. For the third
number we have 4 choices, for the fourth we have 3 choices, and for the fifth number we
have 2 choices. Thus, the total number of choices is (5)(5)(4)(3)(2) = 600. Alternatively,
one can use the same logic and realize there are 5 choices for the first digit. Then, we can
simply order the next five digits and choose the first four to complete our number. The
number of ways in which was can do this is (5!) / (1!) = (5)(4)(3)(2). Thus, the total
number of choices is again equal to (5)(5)(4)(3)(2) = 600.

Problem 9 Solution: A

This problem relies on the fundamental counting principle, which says that the
total number of ways for something to happen is the product of the number of options for
each individual choice. For any digit of our ten digit number we have exactly two
options, a 2 or a 5. Thus, since there are two choices for each digit and it is a ten digit
number, there are (2)(2)(2)(2)(2)(2)(2)(2)(2)(2) = 210 total choices.

Problem 10 Solution: C

For this problem we use the definition of probability, which states that the
probability of any event is the number of ways to get the desired outcome over the total
number of ways for the event to happen. Starting with the denominator, we use the
fundamental counting principle to compute the total number of ways to roll a pair of dice.
There are 6 possibilities (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6) for the first die and six for the second, giving
a total of (6)(6) = 36 possibilities for the pair. For the numerator, we must compute how
many ways we may roll the dice to sum to 8. For this we have the set (2,6), (3,5), (4,4),
(5,3), and (6,2). Thus there are 5 ways to roll the dice that sum to 8, yielding a probability
of 5/36.

Problem 11 Solution: 1/12

The probability of independent events A AND B occurring is simply the product

of the probability of event A and the probability of event B. In this case, the probability
of flipping heads is 1/2 and the product of rolling a 6 is 1/6. Therefore, the probability of
heads AND a 6 is given by (1/2)(1/6) = 1/12. Alternatively, one could list all the possible
outcomes: 1H, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 6H, 1T, 2T, 3T, 4T, 5T, 6T and note that there are 12
total outcomes and only 1 with heads and a 6. Therefore, based on the definition of
probability, the probability of a heads and a 6 is 1/12.

Problem 12 Solution: 8/19

Among the integers 2 through 20 inclusive there are 8 primes: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13,
17, and 19. From 2 to 20 inclusive there are exactly 20-2+1 = 19 integers, where we must
remember to add one to include the endpoints. Another way to see this is that there are 20
integers from 1 to 20 inclusive, therefore there must be 19 integers from 2 to 20 inclusive.
Since probability is defined as the number of items you want divided by the total number
of choices, we have the probability that the number chosen is prime as 8/19.

Problem 13 Solution: 120

The first approach to this problem is to recognize that it’s an ordering problem.
The total number of ways to arrange n items in order is n!. Therefore, since there are 5
students and we’re arranging all of them in a line, the total number of possible orderings
is 5! = 120. Another approach to this problem is to think, “How many choices do I have
for each student in line?” Consider the first student. Since no students have been lined up,
we have 5 total choices. Similarly, for the second student we have 4 choices, because one
student has already been chosen to occupy the first spot. Applying the same logic, we
have 3 choices for the third student, 2 for the fourth, and 1 for the fifth. Using the
fundamental counting principle, this gives a total of (5)(4)(3)(2)(1) = 120 lines.

Problem 14 Solution: 10

This problem utilizes the fundamental counting principle, which states that the
total number of choices is equal to the product of the independent choices. Let the
number of sauces be represented by the variable S. Then the total number of pasta dishes
is the number of pastas times the number of meats times the number of sauces, which is
(8)(4)(S) = (32)S. But the total number of pasta dishes must be equal to 320, as given in
the problem statement. Equating these gives 32S = 320, and dividing both sides by 32
yields the answer S=10.
Problem 15 Solution: 5/6

In the bag of marbles, there are 3 red marbles and 7 white marbles, giving a total
of 10 marbles that are NOT blue. There are a total of 3+7+2 = 12 marbles in the bag.
Since probability is defined as the number of items you want divided by the total number
of choices, the probability that the marble chosen is not blue is 10/12 = 5/6.

Problem 16 Solution: 16

This problem utilizes the fundamental counting principle, which states that the
total number of choices is equal to the product of the independent choices. For the first
flip there are 2 options: heads or tails. Similarly, for the second flip there are 2 options,
for the third there are 2 options, for the fourth there are 2 options, and for the fifth there is
only one option because we restrict this flip to heads. Therefore, the total number of
outcomes is (2)(2)(2)(2)(1) = 16. A good rephrasing of this question is, “How many
different outcomes are there if we flip a fair coin 4 times?” The fifth flip, having being
restricted to heads, is irrelevant. Therefore, the total number of ways to flip the coin five
times with heads at the end is equal to the total number of ways to flip the coin 4 times,
or 16.

Problem 17 Solution: 1/3

Among the integers 1 through 24 there are 8 factors of 24: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, and
24. The total number of possibilities for rolling the die in this case is simply 24. Since
probability is defined as the number of items you want divided by the total number of
choices, the probability that the number chosen is a factor of 24 is 8/24 = 1/3.

Problem 18 Solution: 120

This problem utilizes the fundamental counting principle, which states that the
total number of choices is equal to the product of the independent choices. Since the man
can choose a suit, shirt, socks, and shoes, the total number of outfits is the number of
suits times the number of shirts times the number of socks times the number of shoes,
which is (3)(4)(2)(5) = 120.
Problem 19 Solution: 8!

The first approach to this problem is to recognize that it’s an ordering problem.
We are simply ordering these 8 teams from first to last. The total number of ways to
arrange n items in order is given by n!. Therefore, since there are 8 teams and we’re
arranging all of them in a line, the total number of possible orderings is 8!. Another
approach to this problem is to think, “How many choices do I have for each each place in
the order?” We start with first place. Since no teams have yet been assigned, we have 8
total choices. Similarly, for the second place team we have 7 options, because one team
has already been chosen for first place. Applying the same logic all the way down we
have 6 choices for third place, 5 for fourth, and so on. Using the fundamental counting
principle, which states that the total number of choices is equal to the product of the
individual choices, this gives a total number of (8)(7)(6)(5)(4)(3)(2)(1) = 8! possible
rankings.

Problem 20 Solution: 720

One approach to this problem is to think, “How many choices do I have for each
of the class positions?” We start by considering the president of the class. Since no one
has been chosen yet, we have 10 students from whom to choose. Then, for the vice
president we have 9 options because now one student has already been chosen as
president. Similarly, we have 8 choices for the secretary. Using the fundamental counting
principle, the total number of possible selections is (10)(9)(8) = 720. Another way of
approaching this problem is by using factorials. In this case order matters because we are
choosing people for specific positions. This problem is synonymous to asking, “How
many different ways can you line up 3 students as first, second, and third from a class of
10?” (It’s easy to see that you can make a match with the problem above. First is the
president, second is the vice president, and third is the secretary.) The number of ways to
arrange the entire class in line is 10!. However, we are only concerned with the first three
students in line, meaning we must exclude rearrangements of the last 7. The way in
which we can order these 7 students is 7!. Thus the total number of arrangements for 3
10!
students from a class of 10 is = (10)(9)(8) = 720 choices.
3!

Problem 21 Solution: E

The fastest way to do this problem is by using the 1-x trick, which states that the
probability of what we want is simply 1 – the probability of what we don’t want. In this
case, we have P(at least one vowel) = 1 – P(no vowels). If we know the probability of
having no vowels, then we can find the probability of having at least one vowel, since
these are the only two options for words. We begin by computing P(no vowels), which is
the total number of words with no vowels divided by the total number of words that can
be formed, based on the definition of probability. Because there are 10 distinct letters in
the word “MATHCOURSE”, the total number of words that can be formed is (10)(9)(8)
= 720, because there are 10 choices for the first letter, 9 for the second, and 8 for the
third. In contrast, a word containing no vowels must be chosen from the consonants
alone, of which there are 6. Therefore, employing the same logic, there are (6)(5)(4) =
120 words with no vowels. This gives P(no vowels) = 120/720 = 1/6. Considering P(at
least one vowel) = 1 – P(no vowels), we have P(at least one vowel) = 1 – 1/6 = 5/6. As a
longer solution method, we can count the ways in which we can form a word using 1 or
more vowels and divide that by the total number of ways to form a word. A word with
one or more vowels means that we can have 1 vowel OR 2 vowels OR 3 vowels, which
means we must add the number of options for each. In order to make a 3-letter word with
one vowel we choose the vowel (4 choices) and the two remaining consonants (6 × 5 = 30
choices) and then the position of the vowel within the word (3 choices). Thus, the total
number of 3 letter words with one vowel is (4)(30)(3) = 360. Similarly, a 3-letter word
with two vowels can be made by choosing the two vowels (4 × 3=12 choices), choosing
the consonant (6 choices), and choosing the position of the consonant within the word (3
choices), for a total of (12)(6)(3) = 216 words. Finally, the number of 3-letter words with
3 vowels is (4)(3)(2) = 24, since there are 4 choices for the first vowel, 3 for the second,
and 2 for the third. Therefore, there are a total of 360 + 216 + 24 = 600 ways to create a
3-letter word with one or more vowels. Thus, P(at least one vowel) = 600/720 = 5/6. You
can see how this method is significantly more complex and requires more computation
that the 1-x trick.

Problem 22 Solution: C

A good rephrasing of this problem is “How many different ways can 2 people be
chosen from a group of 12?” The key here is to realize that handshakes are independent
of order, i.e. it doesn’t matter if A shakes hands with B or if B shakes hands with A; it’s
the same scenario. Thus, we only care about how many pairs we can make. The first way
of viewing this problem is by using the anagram method. Instead of selecting two people,
we label two people with YES (those shaking hands) and the others with NO. That gives
us a set that looks like: YYNNNNNNNNNN. Now, the question is asking how many
distinct rearrangements of this word we can make. For instance, if we rearrange it to:
YNYNNNNNNNNN, then the first and third person are shaking hands as opposed to the
first and second above. The total number of rearrangements is simply the factorial of the
total number of letters divided by the product of the factorials of all the repeats. In this
12! 12 ⋅11
case we have = = 66 . In fact, any time we recognize a group of order-
2!10! 2
total !
independent items being selected from a larger set we can apply the formula to
in !out !
arrive at the total number of combinations.
Problem 23 Solution: B

The probability of any outcome is defined as the number of ways of achieving

that outcome over the total number of outcomes. We know the classroom has 12 girls and
20 boys. If one quarter of the girls have blue eyes, then there are (12)(1/4) = 3 girls with
blue eyes. This gives 12 – 3 = 9 girls who do NOT have blue eyes. The total number of
ways in which you could choose a child is simply the total number of children in the
class, namely 12 + 20 = 32. Therefore, the probability of choosing a girl who does not
have blue eyes is the number of girls without blue eyes divided by the total number of
children, which is 9/32.

Problem 24 Solution: C

The simplest way to do this problem is to use the basic definition of probability
and list all the possible outcomes: {HHH, HHT, HTH, THH, HTT, THT, TTH, TTT}. Of
these, three outcomes have one head and two tails and there are eight total outcomes, so
the probability of this event is 3/8. Alternatively, one can count the total number of ways
of getting one head without listing all the possibilities. If the coin is flipped three times
and you want only one head, then there are three possible positions for the single head:
the first, second, and third flips, and the other two positions must be tails. Since there are
2 possible outcomes for each flip, heads or tails, there are (2)(2)(2) = 8 total outcomes.
Again, the probability is 3/8. Finally, one can compute the probability directly. The
probability of the first flip being heads is 1/2, the probability of the second being tails is
1/2, and the probability of the third being tails is 1/2. Therefore, the probability of heads
in only the first position is (1/2)(1/2)(1/2) = 1/8, where we multiply because we want the
first flip heads AND the second flip tails AND the third flip tails. This is the probability
of heads being in position 1, and since there are three possible positions for the heads we
must multiple by 3 to get the total probability (3)(1/8) = 3/8.

Problem 25 Solution: C

The problem can be solved using the basic definition of probability, which is
defined as the number of ways to draw a heart or a king divided by the number of ways to
draw any card from the deck. The number of ways to draw any one card from the deck is
simply equal to the total number of cards, 52, since any one may be chosen. There are
exactly 13 hearts (since 1/4 of the 52 cards are hearts) and 4 kings, apparently leading to
17 hearts and kings. However, we must subtract 1 because we’ve double counted the king
of hearts. It was included in the counts of both the hearts and the kings and was thus
counted twice instead of only once. Therefore, the kings and hearts together make up
13+4-1 = 16 cards. Thus, the probability of drawing a king or heart is 16/52 = 4/13.
Another alternative is simply to list all the kings and hearts, i.e. {AH, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H,
6H, 7H, 8H, 9H, 10H, JH, QH, KH, KS, KC, KD} which is 16 total cards.
Problem 26 Solution: D

For this problem, we use the 1-x trick. The hint is the phrase “at least one.” The
probability that at least one of the dice shows a number higher than 4 is one minus the
probability that both of the dice show numbers 4 or lower. The probability that a die
shows a number 4 or lower is 4/6 = 2/3, because there are 6 total choices and the set {1,
2, 3, 4} is all the rolls 4 or lower. Thus, the probability that both dice show numbers 4 or
less is (2/3)(2/3) = 4/9. Therefore, the probability that at least one of the dice shows a
number higher than 4 is 1-(4/9) = 5/9. Alternatively, one can work from the standard
definition of probability. The total number of ways in which two dice can be rolled is
(6)(6) = 36. The number of ways in which you can roll at least one number higher than 4
is given by the set {51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 15, 25, 35, 45, 16, 26,
36, 46} which has 20 elements. Again, the probability of rolling at least one die showing
higher than 4 is 20/36 = 5/9.

Problem 27 Solution: B

The probability of getting a pair is the total number of ways to be dealt a pair over
the total number of ways to be dealt two cards. The total number of ways to be dealt 2
cards is order independent, meaning it doesn’t matter if we are dealt card A then card B
or card B then card A. In this situation there are 52 ways to be dealt the first card and 51
ways to be dealt the second card and 2 rearrangements of this same hand (first A then B
52 ⋅ 51
or first B then A). Thus, the total number of ways to be dealt two cards is = 1326 .
2
Another way of looking at this is by using the formula for order-independent
total !
choices, which states that the total number of options is . In this case we get
in !out !
52! 52 ⋅ 51
= = 1326 . The total number of ways to be dealt a pair can be found by first
50!2! 2
choosing any card, for which there are 52 options. Next we must choose a matching card.
Since we started with 4 cards of each type, we now have only 3 cards remaining to
complete the pair. Again, we must account for the fact that order does not matter and
52 ⋅ 3
divide the total number of options by 2. Therefore, there are = 78 ways of getting a
2
52 ⋅ 3
3 1
pair. This gives us 2 = = .
52 ⋅ 51 51 17
2
Problem 28 Solution: B

Within the set of tiles, there are 50 even numbers and 50 odd numbers. If we
choose one tile from the set we have a probability of 50/100 = 1/2 of getting an odd or an
even. In other words, in this set from 1 to 100, half of the integers will be odd and half of
them will be even. The only combination of tiles that will yield an odd product is if we
pull an odd as the first tile and an odd as the second tile. Since the probability of choosing
the first odd is (1/2) and the probability of the second odd is (1/2), the probability of the
first AND the second odd is (1/2)(1/2) = 1/4. Alternatively, one can recognize that there
are only 4 options for odd/even pairs if two tiles are chosen: OO, OE, EO, EE. The only
one of these combinations that yields an odd product is OO. Since all of these
combinations are equally likely, and since OO is exactly one out of the four possibilities,
the probability of choosing OO is 1/4.

Problem 29 Solution: B

Jack will only continue to roll the die if the sum of the individual rolls is odd. For
the first roll, this will only occur if the number itself is odd. For the second roll, in order
for the sum of the first and second to be odd, Jack must now roll an even. A good
rephrase for this question then becomes, “What is the probability that Jack rolls an odd
first and an even second?” We know that the probability of event A AND event B is P(A)
times P(B). Since the probability of odd = probability of even = 1/2, the probability of the
first number being odd AND the second number being even is (1/2)(1/2) = 1/4.

Problem 30 Solution: B

For this problem we use the definition of probability, which states that the
probability of any event is the number of ways to get the desired outcome over the total
number of outcomes. We start with the denominator, which is the total number of ways
that the principal can choose two children from the classroom. First, we note that there
are 6 children in the class, because we must remember to include Jan along with the other
five. There are a number of ways to compute the way to choose two children from a
group of 6. The first is the fundamental counting principle. There are 6 options for the
first child and 5 for the second, giving (6)(5) = 30 possibilities. However, we have double
6⋅5
counted, since the pair (1,2) is the same as (2,1), so the total number of pairs is = 15 .
2
The second is to remember that when choosing a set where the order doesn’t matter we
total ! 6!
may employ the formula . In this case, we have = 15 . Now we compute the
in !out ! 2!4!
numerator, which is the number of pairs of children that includes Jan. Since the pair only
includes two people and one is already decided (Jan), we have exactly 5 options for the
other person. Thus, there are 5 total pairs that include Jan: Jan with each of the other
students.
Alternatively, to find the number of pairs with Jan one can compute the number of
ways to choose a set that does not have Jan and subtract it from the total number of ways
to choose a set. In the classroom there are exactly five students who are NOT Jan.
Employing the same logic as we did for the denominator, we compute that there are
5⋅ 4
= 10 ways to choose a set that does not include Jan. Therefore, again, there are 15-
2
10 = 5 ways to choose a pair that includes Jan. Finally, the probability of choosing a pair
with Jan is 5/15 = 1/3.
As a final alternative, one may simply list all the pairs of students and count how
many of them include Jan. Let us label the students in the class as J, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5,
where J is Jan. Then all the pairs can be listed as (J1), (J2), (J3), (J4), (J5), (12), (13),
(14), (15), (23), (24), (25), (34), (35), and (45). There are 15 total elements in this list and
5 that include Jan, yielding a probability of 5/15 = 1/3.

Problem 31 Solution: C

There are four different outcomes that can yield us two balls of the same color:
Bag A with white, Bag A with red, Bag B with white, or Bag B with red. The first
decision that must be made is to choose a bag. Because the problem states that one of the
two bags will be chosen at random, we know that we no more likely to choose one bag
than the other. Therefore, the probability of choosing Bag A, P(A), and the probability of
choosing Bag B, P(B), must be the same, i.e. P(A) = P(B) = 1/2. If Bag A is chosen, what
is the probability of a matched pair? First, let us compute the probability of two whites.
The probability of the first white is 3/6 and the probability of the second white is 2/5, so
the probability of a first AND second white is (3/6)(2/5) = 1/5. Similarly, the probability
of two reds is (3/6)(2/5) = 1/5. If Bag A is chosen, we can obtain a match by either
grabbing a pair of white OR a pair of red, so we must add their probabilities to get the
total chance of a pair. This gives P(Bag A Pair) = 1/5 + 1/5 = 2/5. Similarly, if Bag B is
chosen the probability of a pair of white marbles is (6/9)(5/8) = 5/12 and the probability
of a pair of red marbles is (3/9)(2/8) = 1/12. Therefore, the probability of a pair is P(Bag
B pair) = 5/12 + 1/12 = 6/12 = 1/2. The probability of choosing bag A AND a pair from
bag A is the product of the two events, (1/2)(2/5) = 1/5. Similarly, the probability of
choosing bag B AND a pair from B is (1/2)(1/2) = 1/4. The total probability of choosing
a pair will be the probability of choosing bag A and a pair from bag A OR choosing bag
B and a pair from bag B, meaning we must sum these two events. This gives: P(pair) =
1/5 + 1/4 = 4/20 + 5/20 = 9/20.
Problem 32 Solution: C

There are three different cases in which we must count: 62_ _, _62_, and _ _62. In
the case of 62_ _, any digits from 00 to 99 will work, which gives us 100 numbers. In the
case of _62_, we have 9 choices for the first digit as we are allowed to use any number
from 1-9 inclusive, but not zero because we must meet the requirement of using a four
digit positive integer. For the last digit we still allow any number from 0-9, which is 10
choices. Thus, by the fundamental counting principle, for _62_ we have (9)(10) = 90
choices. For the case of _ _62 we again have 1-9 inclusive for the first digit and 0-9
inclusive for the second digit for a total of 90 choices. However, in this case we are
double counting one number, since 6262 already appeared in the 62_ _ case. Therefore
there are only 89 new numbers that meet the criteria. Since we could create the case
62_ _ OR _62_ OR _ _62, we must add the number of possibilities together for each case
to achieve our total. This gives us 100 + 90 + 89 = 279.

Problem 33 Solution: D

Saying that a certain city has rain an average of 1 out of 3 days means the
probability of rain on any given day is 1/3. In essence, the question is asking us “What is
the probability that one or more days are rainy days?” since any single rainy day would
mean the city experiences rain. In this case, we employ the 1-x trick, where the
probability of rain on one or more days is equal to 1 – (probability of not raining). Since
the probability of rain is 1/3 on any given day, the probability of it not raining is 1 – 1/3 =
2/3. Therefore, the probability of it not raining on three consecutive days is
(2/3)(2/3)(2/3) = 8/27. Finally, we compute the probability of it raining on one or more
days: P(1 or more days) = 1 – P(no rain) = 1 – 8/27 = 19/27.

Problem 34 Solution: C

There are two ways that the stories can contradict each other: the older child can
tell the truth and the younger child can lie OR the older child can lie and the younger
child can tell the truth. To find the total probability we must find the probability of each
of these scenarios and add them together, because this is an OR problem. The probability
of the older child telling the truth is 80% = 4/5 and the probability of the younger child
lying is 25% = 1/4. Therefore, the probability of the older child telling the truth AND the
younger lying is (4/5)(1/4) = 1/5. Similarly, the chance of the older child lying is 1-4/5 =
1/5 and the probability of the younger telling the truth is 1-1/4 = 3/4. Therefore, the
probability of both happening is (1/5)(3/4) = 3/20. Thus, the total probability of a
contradiction is the sum of the two scenarios, which is 1/5 + 3/20 = 4/20 + 3/20 = 7/20.
Problem 35 Solution: B

In order for a number to be divisible by 9 the sum of the digits must be a multiple
of 9. The lowest number that can be made by summing 5 of the digits is given by
0+1+2+4+5 = 12 and the highest number that can be made is 1+2+4+5+6 = 18. The only
number in this range that sums to a multiple of 9 is 18, and thus the only possible
combination of numbers we can use is {1, 2, 4, 5, 6}. In other words, no combination of
numbers using the number 0 will ever yield a multiple of 9. The question can now be
rephrased as, “How many different 5 digit numbers can be made using the digits {1, 2, 4,
5, 6} without repetition?” as these numbers will always sum to 18 and thus will always
be divisible by 9. In this case, the answer is simply 5!, as there are 5 choices for the first
number, 4 for the second, 3 for the third, and so on. Thus, there are 5! = 120 possible 5
digit numbers that are divisible by 9.

Problem 36 Solution: C

The number of ways in which the students can be arranged with Susan and Dan
separated is equal to the total number of ways that the students can be arranged minus the
number of ways they can be arranged with Susan and Dan together. The total number of
ways to arrange 5 students in a line is 5! = 120. To compute the number of ways to
arrange 5 students such that Dan and Susan are together, consider the two students Dan
and Susan as one, since they must be lined up together. Then the problem becomes one of
lining up 4 students, which gives 4! possibilities. However, we must remember that we
actually have two options for the Dan and Susan combination: Dan then Susan or Susan
then Dan. Therefore, there are (4!)(2) = 48 total ways in which the students can be lined
up with Dan and Susan together. This gives 120 - 48 = 72 arrangements with Susan
separated from Dan.
Alternatively, we can compute the number of ways to arrange the students
directly by considering individual cases. In this case, let us investigate how many ways
there are to arrange the students if Susan occupies each spot in line and sum them to find
the total. If Susan is standing in the first spot in line, then there are 3 options for the
second spot (since Dan may not occupy this position), then 3 options for the next spot,
then 2 options, then 1 option. This yields (3)(3)(2) = 18 total possibilities if Susan is first.
If Susan is second, then there are 3 options for the first person (Dan cannot be this
person), 2 options for the third person (Dan cannot be this person either), 2 options for
the fourth person, and 1 for the fifth. This yields (3)(2)(2) = 12 possibilities. In fact, if
Susan is third or fourth in line we arrive at the same situation as when Susan is second.
Thus there will be 12 possible arrangements whether Susan is 2nd, 3rd, or 4th in line,
yielding 36 total arrangements for these 3 cases. Using similar logic, the situation in
which Susan is last in line is exactly equal to the situation where she is 1st in line. Thus,
we have (18)(2) = 36 possibilities where Susan is first or last. In total, this yields 36+36 =
72 possible outcomes when we consider all the possible placements for Susan.
Problem 37 Solution: A

A diagonal of a polygon is a line segment connecting any two unique vertices that
does not lie along an edge. Consider a polygon with 12 vertices. We may construct a
diagonal by choosing any two vertices and connecting them with a line. We must
remember that this is order independent; the line is the same regardless of which is the
starting vertex. Therefore, this is analogous to choosing any 2 elements from a set of 12,
12!
and can be written as = 66. However, this method over-counts the vertices
10!2!
connected to their adjacent vertices, which form edges instead of diagonals. In order to
account for this, we must subtract the number of edges on our polygon from the above
number. This gives 66 – 12 = 54.
We may also consider the problem in the following alternative way: If we choose
a random vertex of our 12-gon, then there are 12 – 1 = 11 lines that can be drawn to other
vertices since no line can be drawn from the vertex to itself. However, the lines from this
vertex to the two adjacent vertices will lie along the edges of the polygon and can
therefore not be included as diagonals (see the figure of a pentagon below for clarity).
Thus, there are 12 – 1 – 2 = 9 diagonals for any given vertex. Since there are 12 vertices,
one might think that the total number of diagonals is equal to (12)(9) = 108. However,
using this scheme we have counted each diagonal twice, using each side of the diagonal
once as the starting point. Therefore, there are half this many diagonals, giving 108/2 =
54.
Another alternative solution is to try to create a pattern for the number of sides of
a polygon by drawing them out. A triangle is the polygon with the smallest number of
sides and has 0 diagonals. A quadrilateral has exactly 2 diagonals. A pentagon has
exactly 5 diagonals. A hexagon has exactly 9 diagonals. Writing these numbers out gives
0,2,5,9, etc, which exhibits the pattern of adding 2 to the first number, adding 3 to the
second number, adding 4 to the third number, and so on. Therefore, continuing this list
yields: 0,2,5,9,14,20,27,35,44,54. We must remember that 0 corresponded to a polygon
with 3 sides and we were adding a side every time we recalculated the number of
diagonals. Therefore, 54 diagonals correspond to a polygon with 12 sides.
Problem 38 Solution: D

Given that the man can only move north and east, he must advance exactly 7
blocks from his current location to get home regardless of which path he takes. Of these 7
blocks, 4 must be moving east and 3 must be moving north. An example path is given
below:

The problem can then be rephrased as follows: “Of the 7 steps, when does the man
choose to go east and when does he choose to go north?” Labeling each step as N for
north and E for east, we see the problem as the number of unique rearrangements of
NNNEEEE (for example, this arrangement corresponds to going north 3 times and then
total ! 7!
east 4 times straight to home). This is given by = = 35.
repeats ! 3!4!

Problem 39 Solution: B

The first way in which we can approach this problem is by using the anagram
method. Instead of selecting a president, vice president, and committee, we line up the
people in the class and label one person with P (president), one person with V (vice
president), 3 people with C (committee), and the others with N (not included). That gives
us a set that looks like: P V CCC NNNNNNN. Now, a rephrasing of this question would
be, “How many distinct anagrams of this word are possible?” For instance, in the above
rearrangement the first person in line is president, the second is vice president, the third
through fifth are the committee, and everyone else is left out. Using the anagram method,
the total number of rearrangements is given by the factorial of the total number of letters
divided by the product of the factorials of all the repeats. Since we have 1 P, 1 V, 3 Cs,
12! 12!
and 7 Ns, in this case we have = total councils.
1!1!3!7! 7!3!
Another way we may approach this problem is to consider each independent
choice and then use the fundamental counting principle to calculate the total number of
possibilities. Let us start by choosing the president, for which we have 12 total options.
Then, for the vice president, we have 11 options. Finally, we must choose our committee
of 3 from the remaining 10 students. The way in which we choose 3 students from 10 is
10!
. However, our committee is order independent, and we are therefore overcounting
7!
(as one example, committee ABC is the same as committee ACB and BCA). Here we
have overcounted by a factor of 3!, which is the number of ways we can arrange our
committee of 3. Therefore, we must divide by 3! to get the number of distinct
10!
committees, which is now . Then, using the fundamental counting principle, the
7!3!
total number of ways to choose a president, vice president, and committee of 3 is
10! 12!
12 ⋅11 ⋅ = .
7!3! 7!3!

Problem 40 Solution: D

Let us denote red as R, white as W, and black as B. There are exactly three ways
in which the selections may occur where we get red as the second marble, either RR,
WR, or BR. Since we may have any of these options the problem is an OR, so we
calculate the probability of each event and then add them together. First, for RR, we have
the probability of the first red as (2/9) and the second red as (1/8), yielding a probability
of red AND red as (2/9)(1/8) = 1/36. Similarly, the probability of first white AND second
red is (3/9)(2/8) = 1/12. Finally, the probability of first black and second red is (4/9)(2/8)
= 1/9. Thus, the total probability of the second marble being red is P(RR) + P(WR) +
P(BR) = 1/36 + 1/12 + 1/9 = 1/36 + 3/36 + 4/36 = 8/36 = 2/9. Of course, an easier way to
solve this problem is to consider that the first draw is completely irrelevant, so we may
consider the second draw alone. For the second draw, there are 2 red marbles out of a
total of 9 marbles, giving us 2/9. Keep in mind that even though there are often difficult
solution methods, sometimes a clever insight can greatly simplify the problem.