SOLUTIONS TO SELF-QUIZZES AND SELF-TESTS

CHAPTER 2

FUNDAMENTALS
OF PROBABILITY
WITH STOCHASTIC PROCESSES

FOURTH EDITION

SAEED GHAHRAMANI
Western New England University
Springfield, Massachusetts, USA

A CHAPMAN & HALL BOOK

 Chapter 2 Solutions to Self-Quiz Problems 2

SOLUTIONS TO SELF-QUIZ PROBLEMS

Section 2.2

1. There are 365 × 365 × 365 possibilities for the birth dates of three randomly selected
people. Of all these possibilities only in 365 cases all three have the same birthday.
So the desired probability is
365 1
= ≈ 0.0000075.
365 × 365 × 365 133, 225
That is, the odd is 1 in 133,225 that these three randomly selected professors have the
same birthday.

2. For each member of the board, there are three possibilities: he or she will not attend,
will attend alone, and will attend with his or her spouse. so the answer is 3 12 =
531, 441.

3. Clearly, whatever the birthdays of the first five people in line, does not affect the
probability we are interested in. The problem is equivalent to finding the probability
that, of three randomly selected people, at least two have the same birthday. The
solution is
365 × 364 × 363
1 − P (no two have the same birthday) = 1 − ≈ 0.0082.
365 × 365 × 365

278
4. The answer is ≈ 0.252.
288

Section 2.3

1. There are 104 choices for the last four digits of the faculty member’s phone number.
We are interested in the event that the remaining 4 digits of his or her phone number
be distinct digits from {0, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9}; so the desired probability is

7 P4 7!/3! 21
4 = = ≈ 0.084.
10 104 250

2. In 135 ways those people can think of 5 hearts. In

13 P5 ways no two of the cards are
P
13 5 13 P5
the same. So the answer to (a) is 5
≈ 0.416. The answer to (b) is 1 − ≈
13 135
0.584.
55 P6 · 15
3. The answer is ≈ 0.0518
70 P7
 Chapter 2 Solutions to Self-Quiz Problems 3

7!
4. (a) 7 P4 = = 840.
(7 − 4)!
4 P2 · 5 P2 2
(b) = = 0.286
P
7 4 7

Section 2.4

 5
12
1. = 311, 620, 419, 551, 232.
5

1 1
2. The answer to (a) is   = ≈ 0.029.
7 35
4
  
3 3
3 1 3
The answer to (b) is   = ≈ 0.086.
7 35
4

3. Suppose that passengers occupied the seats randomly. Let O stand for an occupied
chair and − for an empty chair. Since only in two cases, O−O−O−O− and O−O−
O−O, the four passengers couldtake seats next to empty ones, the probability of what
 8
the sociologist observed is 2 ≈ 0.029. Based on this very small probability,
4
the sociologist can conclude that passengers avoid taking seats next to occupied ones
when possible.

4. The answer is:

        
16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 16!
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2! 2! 2! 2! 2! 2! 2! 2!
=
8! 8!
16!
= = 2, 027, 025,
8! (2!)8

where the division by 8! is necessary since the order at which the individuals are
divided into 8 groups is immaterial.
 Chapter 2 Solutions to Self-Test Problems 4

SOLUTIONS TO SELF-TEST PROBLEMS

 
23
1. There are choices for the two students we want to share a birthday, and 365
2
possibilities for they shared birthday. For the remaining 21 students, since no two
364!
have the same birthday, the number pf possible birthdays is 364 P21 = =
(364 − 21)!
364!
. So the answer is
343!
 
23 23
· 365 · 364 P21
2 · 365 · 364!
23
= 2 23 ≈ 0.363.
365 365 · 343!
 
6
· 23 · 1
3 160
2. The solution is 7 = ≈ 0.073.
3 2187
     
52 26 4 48
3. In ways the cards can be dealt among the two teams. In of
26 26   3  23
4 48
these possibilities, three aces are in the hands of one team and in of them
3 23
three aces are in the hands of the other team. So the desired probability is
  
4 48
2·
3 23 416
   = ≈ 0.499.
52 26 833
26 26

4. There are 26 + 26 + 10 = 62 possible letters and numbers for each element of a

62! 62!
string. Since order matters, the sample space has 62 P6 = = points.
(62 − 6)! 56!
Now we count the number of possible passwords; that is, the number of strings that
have 2 digits, 2 capital letters, and 2 small letters. The set of all such passwords can
be constructed by first choosing 2 digits, 2 capital letters, and 2 small letters, and then
writing down all 6! permutations
   of theselected digits and letters. So the number of
10 26 26
elements of this set is · 6! and hence the desired probability is
2 2 2
   
10 26 26
· 6!
2 2 2
≈ 0.077.
62 P6
 
100
5. (a) There are possibilities for choosing a committee of 12 senators. To
12
count the number of possibilities in which there are no two senators from the same
 Chapter 2 Solutions to Self-Test Problems 5

state, first we choose 12 states, 

and 
then from each state we choose one senator. The
50
total number of possibilities is · 212 . So the answer to part (a) is
12
 
50
· 212
12
  ≈ 0.473.
100
12
(b) For this part, first we choose 6 senior senators and note their states. Then we
choose 6 senators from the list of the junior senators of the remaining 44 states. The
answer is    
50 44
·
6 6
  ≈ 0.107.
100
12

6. In 11 ways 5 adjacent trees can be infected: trees 1 through 2 through 6, . . . , 11

 5, 
15
through 15. If the disease strikes randomly, then there are ways for 5 trees to
5
be striken by the disease. So the probability of 5 adjacent trees becoming infected by
the fungal disease is
11
  ≈ 0.0037.
15
5
This probability is small enough for the arborist to conclude that what has happened
is an evidence in favor of the assumption that the fungus spread from one tree to next
through root-to-root contact.

7. Suppose that from a group of n people we want to form a committee of k members

and then a chair for the committee. The left side of the relation is the number of
ways that we can first choose a committee of k members and then a chair. The right
side is the number of ways we can first choose a chair for the committee and then the
remaining k − 1 members from the remaining n − 1 people  left in
 the
 group. The
k n
second relation follows from the first by noting that = k and = n.
1 1
   
48 32 16 48!
8. (a) There are = ways to divide 48 students randomly
16 16 16 16! 16! 16!
among 3 classes, 16 students per class. To count the number of cases in which the
three visually impaired students each end up in a different class, noter that there are
3! ways for these students to be randomly assigned each to a different class. For each
45!
of these ways, there are ways for the remaining 45 students to be divided
15! 15! 15!
randomly between the three classes, 15 students per class. So the desired probability
is
  
45! 48! 3! · 16 · 16 · 16 256
3! · = = ≈ 0.237.
15! 15! 15! 16! 16! 16! 48 · 47 · 46 1081
 Chapter 2 Solutions to Self-Test Problems 6

(b) In only 3 ways the three visually impaired students can end up in the same class.
So the desired probability is
  
45! 48! 3 · 16 · 16 · 16 128
3· = = ≈ 0.118.
15! 15! 15! 16! 16! 16! 48 · 47 · 46 1081
   
n n−k
9. Clearly, the answer to (a) is . The answer to (b) is , and the answer
m m−k
k   
k n−k
to (c) is , where ? must be determined. Note that i must be at
i m−i
i=?
least , and we must have m − i ≤ n − k or, equivalently, i ≥ m + k − n. So
i ≥ max(, m + k − n), and hence the answer is
k
   
k n−k
.
i m−i
i = max(, m + k − n)

Note that  < k is given and m+k−n = k+(m−n) < k. So max(, m+k−n) < k.

10. Let A1 , A2 , A3, and A4 be the events that there is no professor, no associate professor,
no assistant professor, and no instructor in the committee, respectively. The desired
probability is

P (Ac1 Ac2 Ac3 Ac4 ) = 1 − P (A1 ∪ A2 ∪ A3 ∪ A4 ),

where P (A1 ∪ A2 ∪ A3 ∪ A4 ) is calculated using the inclusion-exclusion principle:

P (A1 ∪ A2 ∪ A3 ∪ A4 ) = P (A1 ) + P (A2 ) + P (A3 ) + P (A4 )

− P (A1 A2 ) − P (A1 A3 ) − P (A1 A4 ) − P (A2 A3 ) − P (A2 A4 ) − P (A3 A4 )
+ P (A1 A2 A3 ) + P (A1 A3 A4 ) + P (A1 A2 A4 ) + P (A2 A3 A4 )
− P (A1 A2 A3 A4 )
 
       
34 28 28 24 22
= 1 + + +
6 6 6 6 6
           
22 18 16 18 16 12
− − − − − −
6 6 6 6 6 6
       
12 6 10 6
+ + + +
6 6 6 6

− 0 = 0.621.

Therefore, the desired probability equals 1 − 0.621 = 0.379.