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Family size making two gender events independent

Question

A family has n≥2n\ge2 children, each independently a boy or a girl with probability 12\tfrac12. Let AA be the event that both sexes are represented among the children, and let BB be the event that there is no more than one girl. For which single value of nn are AA and BB independent?

Short answer

n=3n=3. P(A)=1−21−nP(A)=1-2^{1-n}, P(B)=n+12nP(B)=\tfrac{n+1}{2^n}, and A∩BA\cap B means exactly one girl, P=n2nP=\tfrac n{2^n}. Independence requires n=(n+1)(1−21−n)n=(n+1)(1-2^{1-n}), i.e. 2n−1=n+12^{n-1}=n+1, whose only solution is n=3n=3.

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