Five random intervals sharing a common point
Question
Each of five intervals is produced by drawing two independent points and using the smaller as the left end and the larger as the right end. The probability that all five intervals have a point in common is in lowest terms. Find .
Short answer
. Only the relative order of the ten endpoints matters. The intervals share a point exactly when every left end precedes every right end; that happens with probability , so .
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- Counting and Combinatorics
- Continuous Random Variables and Probability Density Functions
- Cumulative Distribution Functions
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