Girls joining a ring of boys
Question
Fourteen boys, Charlie among them, stand in a circle. Ten girls then join, each taking a spot in one of the gaps between neighbouring boys, with at most one girl per gap; all such placements are equally likely. What is the probability that Charlie still has a boy on both sides?
Short answer
. There are gaps and the girls occupy of them, so equally likely choices. Charlie keeps two boy neighbours only if both gaps beside him stay empty, so the girls must use 10 of the other 12 gaps: .
Adapted from QuantQuestions.io; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.
See the hint and the full worked solution in the question bank (free account).
Open the worked solutionLessons behind this question
- Counting and Combinatorics
- Sample Spaces, Events, and the Probability Axioms
- Conditional Probability, Total Probability, and Bayes' Rule
Start with a free lesson: Probability Fundamentals is part of a free topic. Create a free account, no card needed, to read it in full with worked solutions.
Read it free