Question

You pick a card at random. Without putting the first card back, you pick a second card at random. Card numbers are 2, 3, 4, and 5 What is the probability of picking a 2 and then picking a number greater than 3? (Write your answer as a fraction or whole number.)

Answer 1

1/6

Explanation:

When trying to calculate the probability of a sequence of events you need to multiply the probability of the first event happening by the probability of the second event happening. There are a total of 4 numbers (2,3,4,5) and only one is a 2. Therefore the probability of the first pick being a 2 is 1/4. Now there are only 3 cards left (3,4,5) and only 2 numbers are greater than 3 so the probability of picking one of these cards is 2/3. Now that we have both of these probabilities we simply multiply them together.

1/4 * 2/3 = 2/12 or 1/6

Therefore, the probability of picking a 2 and then picking a number greater than 3 is 1/6