Instructor: Conrad Perez

Student: Jennifer Tofan

Course: Math 21 Online (52031) - Spring Assignment: 8.3
Date: 05/04/23
2023

If the letters b, o, o, k, k, e, e, p are chosen at​random, what is the probability that they spell the word “bookkeep”?

Let S be a sample space of equally likely​outcomes, and let event E be a subset of S. Then the probability that event E occurs is given by the
n(E)
formula ​P(E) = .
n(S)

One approach is to let​n(E) be the be the number of the number of distinguishable ways to arrange the letters to form the word ​"bookkeep​."
Then​n(S) is the total number of distinguishable ways to arrange the letters.

Find​n(E), the number of distinguishable ways to arrange the letters to form the word ​"bookkeep​."

n(E) = 1

Use distinguishable permutations to find​n(S), the total number of distinguishable ways to arrange the letters. The letter b appears​once, the
letters​o, k, and e each appear​twice, and the letter p appears once.

8!
n(S) =
1! • 2! • 2! • 2! • 1!

Simplify to find the value of​n(S).

8!
​n(S) =
1! • 2! • 2! • 2! • 1!
= 5040

Finally, the probability is equal to ​n(E) = ​1, the number of distinguishable ways the letters can be chosen to spell ​"bookkeep​" divided by​n(S).

1
The probability is equal to .
5040