Question

A bag contains 11 counters, 5 of the counters are white. A counter is taken from the bag at random and not replaced. A second counter is taken out of the bag at random. Calculate the probability that ONLY one of the counters is white. Give the answer as a tion.

a) 1/11

b) 5/11

c) 5/22

d) 1/22

Answer 1

To calculate the probability that only one of the counters is white, we need to determine the total number of possible outcomes and the number of favorable outcomes. The probability is the ratio of favorable outcomes to total outcomes.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the probability that only one of the counters is white, we first need to determine the total number of possible outcomes. Since there are 11 counters in total, there are 11 possible outcomes for the first pick. After the first pick, there are 10 counters remaining, so there are 10 possible outcomes for the second pick.

We also need to determine the number of favorable outcomes, which is the number of ways to select one white counter and one non-white counter. There are 5 white counters and 6 non-white counters, so there are 5 * 6 = 30 favorable outcomes.

Therefore, the probability that only one of the counters is white is 30 / (11 * 10) = 3 / 22.