Bunuel wrote:
A fair die with sides numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 is to be rolled until a number greater than 4 first appears. What is the probability that a number greater than 4 will first appear on the third or fourth roll?
A. 8/81
B. 4/27
C. 16/27
D. 2/9
E. 20/81
Official Solution:
A fair die with sides numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 is to be rolled until a number greater than 4 first appears. What is the probability that a number greater than 4 will first appear on the third or fourth roll?
A. \(\frac{8}{81}\)
B. \(\frac{4}{27}\)
C. \(\frac{16}{27}\)
D. \(\frac{2}{9}\)
E. \(\frac{20}{81}\)
The numbers greater than 4 on a die are 5 and 6. The probability of getting a number greater than 4 (so 5 or 6) is \(\frac{2}{6} = \frac{1}{3}\) and the probability of getting 4 or less is therefore, \(1- \frac{1}{3}= \frac{2}{3}\)
We need to find the probability that a number greater than 4 will
first appear on the third or fourth roll.
The probability of a number greater than 4 first appearing on third roll \(= P(4 \ or \ less; \ 4 \ or \ less; \ more \ than \ 4) = \frac{2}{3}* \frac{2}{3}* \frac{1}{3}=\frac{4}{27}\)
The probability of a number greater than 4 first appearing on fourth roll \(= P(4 \ or \ less; \ 4 \ or \ less; \ 4 \ or \ less; \ more \ than \ 4) = \frac{2}{3}* \frac{2}{3}*\frac{2}{3}* \frac{1}{3}=\frac{8}{81}\)
Thus, the probability that a number greater than 4 will
first appear on the third or fourth roll \(= \frac{4}{27} + \frac{8}{81}=\frac{20}{81}\)
Answer: E
Hi Bunuel why did we not multiply the 2 probabilities by 3C2 and the second by 4C3?I am a bit confused