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Pan holding the 206 gram weight tipping down

Question

Six weights of 201,202,203,204,205201, 202, 203, 204, 205 and 206206 grams are split at random into two groups of three, one group on each pan of a balance. What is the probability that the pan carrying the 206206-gram weight is the heavier one?

Short answer

45\tfrac45. Subtract 200200 from each weight; the masses become 11 to 66 with total 2121, and the pan with 66 is heavier when its two partners sum to at least 55. Of the (52)=10\binom52=10 equally likely partner pairs, only {1,2}\{1,2\} and {1,3}\{1,3\} fail.

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