Question

Jim has 4 New York quarters, 3 Pennsylvania quarters, and 3 Virginia quarters in his pocket. What is the probability that he will get a Pennsylvania quarter followed by a Virginia quarter when he pulls two quarters out of his pocket? ​

Answer 1

Answer:

1/10 or 10%

Step-by-step explanation:

First, you add up all the quarters to get the total amount of possibilities for the first quarter that gets pulled out.

4 NY + 3 PA + 3 VI = 10 total quarters.

So the total number of quarters becomes the denominator for the first probability, and the total number  of PA quarters becomes the numerator.

So the probability of Jim pulling out a PA quarter first is 3/10.

Now you have to find the probability of drawing a VI quarter as the second quarter. Since it's known that Jim would have already pulled 1 quarter out, that means the total number of quarters he could draw is now 9, so 9 would be the denominator of the second probability. Since there should be 3 VI quarters left still in his pocket, the numerator for the second probability is 3.

So the probability of Jim pulling out a VI quarter second is 3/9.

Now to get the final probability of Jim pulling out both a PA quarter and a VI quarter in the correct order, all you have to do is multiply the two probabilities together and then you should get the probability of the correct quarters being pulled out inn the correct order.

The first probability, 3/10, times the second probability, 3/9 equals the total probability of 9/90, and it simplifies to 1/10 or 10%