Six friends live in the city of Monrovia. There are four nat

For each attraction to get at least one vote we should have the following distributions of 6 votes: {3, 1, 1, 1} or {2, 2, 1, 1}.

A - B - C - D (attractions)
{3, 1, 1, 1} --> \(\frac{4!}{3!}*C^3_6*3!=480\), where:
\(\frac{4!}{3!}\) is the # assignments of {3, 1, 1, 1} to attractions (A gets 3, B gets 1, C gets 1, D gets 1; A gets 1, B gets 3, C gets 1, D gets 1; A gets 1, B gets 1, C gets 3, D gets 1; A gets 1, B gets 1, C gets 1, D gets 3);
\(C^3_6\) is selecting the 3 people who will vote for the attraction with 3 votes;
3! is the distribution of other 3 votes among the remaining attractions.

The same logic applies to {2, 2, 1, 1} case.

As for 4^6: each friend can vote in 4 ways (for waterfall, safari, lake or caves). So, the total number of ways in which the 6 friends can vote = 4*4*4*4*4*4 = 4^6.

Hope it's clear.

Veritas Prep Official Solution

Here, A, the event for which we want to find the probability is ‘each attraction gets at least one vote’.

P(A) = No of ways in which each attraction gets at least one vote /Total no. of ways in which the friends can vote.

Each attraction should get at least one vote. 6 votes can be divided among 4 attractions in the following ways: (1, 1, 1, 3) and (1, 1, 2, 2)

Case 1: (1, 1, 1, 3)

First, we select the attraction that will get 3 votes in 4 ways (= 4C1)

Now, we can select the 3 people who will vote for this attraction in 6*5*4/3! = 20 ways (= 6C3 )

The other 3 votes will be distributed among the other 3 attractions in 3! = 6 ways

The 6 people could vote for the 4 attractions in this case in 4*20*6 = 480 ways

Case 2: (1, 1, 2, 2)

Let’s select the two attractions that will get 2 votes each in 4*3/2! = 6 ways (= 4C2). Say we select caves and waterfall.

Now, we can select the 2 people who will vote for one of the selected attractions in 6*5/2! = 15 ways (= 6C2)

We can select the other 2 people who will vote for the other selected attraction in 4*3/2! = 6 ways (= 4C2)

The other 2 votes will be distributed among the other 2 attractions in 2! = 2 ways

The 6 people could vote for the 4 attractions in this case in 6*15*6*2 = 1080 ways

Total number of ways in which 6 votes can be distributed among 4 attractions such that each attraction gets at least one vote = 480 + 1080 = 1560 ways

As we saw in the questions above, the total no. of ways in which the friends can vote = 4^6

Therefore, P(A) = 1560/(4^6)

VeritasKarishma chetan2u Bunuel generis

I did it this way:
out of 6 friends lets select 4 friends who vote for the 4 different places: 6C4 ways.
These votes can be arranged in 4! ways..
For the remaining 2 votes each has 4 ways.
So the numerator becomes: 6C4*4!*4*4....
Denominator is obviously 4^6
Please tell me where am i wrong?
Thanks

You need the number of distinct voting patterns for the 6 friends: F1, F2, ..., F6
The voting patterns would be like WWWWWW, WLCLCW, SLLLLL, LCLCWS etc

Using your method, you are double counting some favourable cases.
Say you select F1, F2, F3 and F5. They vote for WSLC.
F4 votes for L and F6 votes for C so you get WSLLCC.

Now imagine the selected friends are F1, F2, F3 and F6. They vote for WSLC.
F4 votes for L and F5 votes for C so you get WSLLCC again.

But since you are selecting 4 friends in different ways, you are counting them as different voting patterns which is not correct.

I can't see the answer choices of this question?

Originally, the question did not have the options. Edited and added. Thank you!

Similar questions to practice:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/six-friends- ... 74961.html
https://gmatclub.com/forum/six-friends- ... 96609.html

Hope it helps.

Given: Six friends live in the city of Monrovia. There are four natural attractions around Monrovia – a waterfall, a safari, a lake and some caves. The friends decide to take a vacation together at one of these attractions. To select the attraction, each one of them votes for one of the attractions.

Asked: What is the probability that each attraction gets at least one vote?

Total ways = 4^6

Case 1: {3,1,1,1} : Number of ways = 6C3*3!*4!/3! = 480

Case 2: {2,2,1,1}: Number of ways = 4!/2!2! * 6C4 * 4C2* 2C1 = 1080

Favorable ways = 480 + 1080 = 1560

Probability that each attraction gets at least one vote = 1560/4^6

IMO D