Problems

Age
Difficulty
Found: 101

On each of four cards there is written a natural number. Take two cards at random and add the numbers on them. With equal probability, this amount can be less than 9, equal to 9 or more 9. What numbers can be written on the cards?

There are two symmetrical cubes. Is it possible to write some numbers on their faces so that the sum of the points when throwing these cubes on the upwards facing face on landing takes the values 1, 2, ..., 36 with equal probabilities?

There are fewer than 30 people in a class. The probability that at random a selected girl is an excellent student is \(3/13\), and the probability that at random a chosen boy is an excellent pupil is \(4/11\). How many excellent students are there in the class?

Three tired cowboys went into a bar, and hung their hats on the buffalo horn at the entrance. When the cowboys left at night, they were unable to distinguish one hat from another and therefore took the three hats at random. Find the likelihood that none of them took their own hat.

A die is thrown over and over again. Let \(P_n\) denote the probability that, at some point, the sum of the points, taken from the numbers that came out on the top face of the die, from all the rolls made, is \(n\). Prove that for \(n \geq 7\) the equality \(P_n = 1/6 (P_{n-1} + P_{n-2} + \dots + P_{n-6})\) is true.

On a roulette, any number from 0 to 2007 can be determined with the same probability. The roulette is spun time after time. Let \(P_k\) denote the probability that at some point the sum of the numbers that are determined by a ball being thrown on the roulette is \(k\). Which number is larger: \(P_{2007}\) or \(P_{2008}\)?

The figure shows the scheme of a go-karting route. The start and finish are at point \(A\), and the driver can go along the route as many times as he wants by going to point \(A\) and then back onto the circle.

It takes Fred one minute to get from \(A\) to \(B\) or from \(B\) to \(A\). It also takes one minute for Fred to go around the ring and he can travel along the ring in an anti-clockwise direction (the arrows in the image indicate the possible direction of movement). Fred does not turn back halfway along the route nor does not stop. He is allowed to be on the track for 10 minutes. Find the number of possible different routes (i.e. sequences of possible routes).

On the occasion of the beginning of the winter holidays all of the boys from class 8B went to the shooting range. It is known that there are \(n\) boys in 8B. There are \(n\) targets at the shooting range which the class attended. Each of the boys randomly chooses a target, while some of the boys could choose the same target. After this, all of the boys simultaneously attempt to shoot their target. It is known that each of the boys hits their target. The target is considered to be affected if at least one boy has hit it.

a) Find the average number of affected targets.

b) Can the average number of affected targets be less than \(n/2\)?

\(A\) and \(B\) shoot in a shooting gallery, but they only have one six-shot revolver with one cartridge. Therefore, they agreed in turn to randomly rotate the drum and shoot. \(A\) goes first. Find the probability that the shot will occur when \(A\) has the revolver.