Question

Somebody help me solve;

(1)A fair die is being rolled.
a) Find the probability that at least 5 rolls are needed to obtain the first
one.
b) Find the probability that it will take fewer than seven rolls to obtain the
second one if the first one occurs on the third roll.

Answer 1

P(at least 5 rolls until 1) = P(4 rolls are not 1) = 5/6 x 5/6 x 5/6 x 5/6 = 0.4823 (4sf)

Fewer than 7 rolls to get second 1 after first takes 3 rolls means second occurs on 4th, 5th or 6th roll
The probability of each of these is 1/6, 5/6 x 1/6 and 5/6 x 5/6 x 1/6 respectively.
P(second 1 on 4th, 5th or 6th roll) = 1/6 + 5/36 + 25/216 = 91/216 = 0.4213 (4sf)