White and green left after the last black marble
Question
An urn holds black, white and green marbles, which are removed one at a time at random without replacement. What is the probability that, at the moment the final black marble is removed, the urn still contains at least one white marble and at least one green marble?
Short answer
. The very last marble must be white () or green (). If it is green, we also need the last of the black-or-white marbles to be white (); if it is white, the last black-or-green must be green (). So .
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
- Conditional Probability, Total Probability, and Bayes' Rule
- Worked Examples — Probability Trees, Monty Hall, and Bayesian Updating
- Sample Spaces, Events, and the Probability Axioms
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