Skip to content

Swimmer 2 second and swimmer 5 among the medals

Question

Six equally matched swimmers, numbered 11 to 66, race each other, so every finishing order is equally likely. What is the probability that swimmer 22 takes second place and swimmer 55 finishes somewhere in the top three?

Short answer

115\tfrac{1}{15}. Swimmer 22 is second with probability 16\tfrac16. Given that, swimmer 55 is equally likely to occupy any of the five other places, two of which are in the top three, giving 16⋅25=115\tfrac16\cdot\tfrac25=\tfrac1{15}.

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 solution

Lessons behind this question

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