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Difference between revisions of "2003 AMC 12B Problems/Problem 19"

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Revision as of 10:27, 4 July 2013

Problem

Let $S$ be the set of permutations of the sequence $1,2,3,4,5$ for which the first term is not $1$. A permutation is chosen randomly from $S$. The probability that the second term is $2$, in lowest terms, is $a/b$. What is $a+b$?

$\mathrm{(A)}\ 5 \qquad\mathrm{(B)}\ 6 \qquad\mathrm{(C)}\ 11 \qquad\mathrm{(D)}\ 16 \qquad\mathrm{(E)}\ 19$

Solution

There are $4$ choices for the first element of $S$, and for each of these choices there are $4!$ ways to arrange the remaining elements. If the second element must be $2$, then there are only $3$ choices for the first element and $3!$ ways to arrange the remaining elements. Hence the answer is $\frac{3 \cdot 3!}{4 \cdot 4!} = \frac {18}{96} = \frac{3}{16}$, and $a+b=19 \Rightarrow \mathrm{(E)}$.

See also

2003 AMC 12B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by
Problem 18 		Followed by
Problem 20
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25
All AMC 12 Problems and Solutions

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