Difference between revisions of "2018 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 6"

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== Problem ==
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A box contains <math>5</math> chips, numbered <math>1</math>, <math>2</math>, <math>3</math>, <math>4</math>, and <math>5</math>. Chips are drawn randomly one at a time without replacement until the sum of the values drawn exceeds <math>4</math>. What is the probability that <math>3</math> draws are required?
 
A box contains <math>5</math> chips, numbered <math>1</math>, <math>2</math>, <math>3</math>, <math>4</math>, and <math>5</math>. Chips are drawn randomly one at a time without replacement until the sum of the values drawn exceeds <math>4</math>. What is the probability that <math>3</math> draws are required?
  

Revision as of 01:20, 5 December 2019

Problem

A box contains $5$ chips, numbered $1$, $2$, $3$, $4$, and $5$. Chips are drawn randomly one at a time without replacement until the sum of the values drawn exceeds $4$. What is the probability that $3$ draws are required?

$\textbf{(A)} \frac{1}{15} \qquad \textbf{(B)} \frac{1}{10} \qquad \textbf{(C)} \frac{1}{6} \qquad \textbf{(D)} \frac{1}{5} \qquad \textbf{(E)} \frac{1}{4}$

Solution 1

Notice that the only four ways such that no less than $2$ draws are required are $1,2$; $1,3$; $2,1$; and $3,1$. Notice that each of those cases has a $\frac{1}{5} \cdot \frac{1}{4}$ chance, so the answer is $\frac{1}{5} \cdot \frac{1}{4} \cdot 4 = \frac{1}{5}$, or $\boxed{D}$.

Solution 2

Notice that only the first two draws are important, it doesn't matter what number we get third because no matter what combination of $3$ numbers is picked, the sum will always be greater than 5. Also, note that it is necessary to draw a $1$ in order to have 3 draws, otherwise $5$ will be attainable in two or less draws. So the probability of getting a $1$ is $\frac{1}{5}$. It is necessary to pull either a $2$ or $3$ on the next draw and the probability of that is $\frac{1}{2}$. But, the order of the draws can be switched so we get:

$\frac{1}{5} \cdot \frac{1}{2} \cdot 2 = \frac{1}{5}$, or $\boxed {D}$

By: Soccer_JAMS

See Also

2018 AMC 10B (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 5
Followed by
Problem 7
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 10 Problems and Solutions

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