Question

An animal cage is holding 5 black cats and 8 white cats. None of them want to be in there. The cage door is opened slightly and two cats escape. What is the probability that one of each color escapes?

Answer 1

`\[(1)/(40)\]`

Explanation:

The animal cage contains 5 black cats and 8 white cats.

So the probability of 1 out of 5 black cats escaping can be expressed as
`\[(1)/(5)\]`

The probability of 1 out of 8 white cats escaping can be expressed as
`\[(1)/(8)\]`

The combined probability of 1 black cat and 1 white cat escaping can be expressed as a product of the above two probabilities.

In other words, the combined probability is
`\[(1)/(5) * (1)/(8)\]`

`\[= (1)/(40)\]`