<span>There are 16 sweatshirts in total. 7 of which are cotton. There are 4 friends. Say they all choose cotton sweatshirts, First friend: (7/16) Second friend: (6/15) Third friend: (5/14) Fourth friend: (4/13)
As you can see, there is a deduction in total number of sweatshirts available to be chosen and also in the total number of cotton sweatshirts available to be chosen.
Multiply these together = </span><span>(7/16)*(6/15)*(5/14)*(4/13) = </span><span>0.01923076923 = 1.92%
1.92% is the probability all friends order cotton sweatshirts</span>
If you wanna estimate the probability of an event to happen, you have to multiply the probability of success of all the situations involved.
- Probability to get the first sweatshirt made of cotton: 7 of 16. - Probability for the second one: 6 of 15, because there's one shirt less, and one cotton less. - Prob for the third: 5 of 14 - Prob for the fourth: 4 of 13
So the probability to get four cotton shirts is: 7/16·6/15·5/14·4/13 = 0'019, something that could be rounded to 2%.