FINAMAT

Problem Set 1

General Instruction: Solve the items with a complete solution. If necessary, encircle or box the
final answer.

1. A survey in a local high school shows that of the 4000 students in the school,
2000 take French (F)
3000 take Spanish (S)
500 take Latin (L)
1500 take both French and Spanish
300 take both French and Latin
200 take Spanish and Latin
50 take all three languages

List the elements of the following sets:

a. L ∩ (F ∪ S)
L = {500, 300, 200, 50}
F ∪ S = {2000, 3000, 1500, 300, 200, 50}
L ∩ (F ∪ S) = {300, 200, 50}

b. (L ∪ F ∪ S)’
L ∪ F = {2000, 500, 1500, 300, 200, 50}
F ∪ S = {2000, 3000, 1500, 300, 200, 50}
(L ∪ F ∪ S)’ = ∅ (empty set since L, F, and S have all common elements).

c. L’
L = {500, 300, 200, 50}
L’ = {2000, 3000, 1500}

d. L ∪ S ∪ F’
L ∪ S = {3000, 500, 1500, 300, 200, 50}
F’ = {3000, 500, 200}
L ∪ S ∪ F’ = {3000, 500, 1500, 500, 300, 200, 50}

e. F ∩ S’ ∩ L’
F = {2000, 1500, 300, 50}
S’ = {2000, 500, 300}
F ∩ S’ = {2000, 300}
L’ = {2000, 3000, 1500}
F ∩ S’ ∩ L’ = {2000}
2. A brokerage house regularly reports the behavior of a group of 20 stocks, each stock
being reported as “up”, “down” or “unchanged”. How many different reports can show
seven stocks up, five stocks down and eight stocks unchanged.

nCr = 20C7
20C7 = 20! / (20-7)! 7! = 20! / 13! 7!
20C7 = 10 x 19 x 3 x 17 x 4 x 3 x 2 / 3 x 1
20C7 = 10 x 19 x 3 x 17 x 4 x 3 x 2 / 3 x 1 = 77,520
13C5 = 13! / (13-5)! 5! = 13! / 8! 5!
13C5 = 13 x 3 x 11 x 2 x 3 / 2 x 1
13C5 = 13 x 3 x 11 x 2 x 3 / 2 x 1 = 1287
Total = 77,520 x 1287 x 1 = 99,768,240 reports

3. A family has 12 members. In how many ways can six family members be seated in a row
so that their ages increase from left to right?

nPr = 12P6
12P6 = 12! / (12-6)!
12P6 = 12! / 6!
12P6 = 12x 11 x 10 x 9 x 8 x 7
12P6 = 665,280 ways

4. A dice is rolled six times. What is the probability of obtaining two 5’s?

nCr = 6C2
6C2 = 6! /(6-2)! 2!
6C2 = 6! / 4! 2!
6C2 = .15 or 15%

5. A man, a woman, and their three children randomly stand in a row for a family picture.
What is the probability that the parents will be standing next to each other?

= 5! = 120
= 2! * (5 - 1)! = 2! * 4! = 48
= 48/120 = 2/5 or 40%

6. Prior to taking the exam, students are given 10 questions to prepare. Six of the ten will
appear on the exam. Taylor Shift, one of the students, decided to prepare only eight of
the questions. Assume that the questions are equally likely to be chosen by the
professor.
a. What is the probability that Taylor Shift has prepared every question appearing
on the text?

nCr = 10C6
 10C6 = 10!/ (10-6)! 6!
10C6 = 10!/ 4! 6!
10C6 = 210

8C6 = 8!/ (8-6)! 6!

8C6 = 8!/ (4! 6!
8C6 = 28

Probability = 28/210
Probability = 0.13 or 13%

b. What is the probability that both questions that Taylor Shift did not prepare
appear on the test?

2C2*8C4 = 70
10C6 = 210
Probability = 70/210
Probability = 1/3 or 33%

7. Explain why two independent events with nonzero probabilities cannot be mutually
exclusive.

The concept of mutually exclusive means that the events stand alone and cannot
happen at the same time. An example of two independent events with nonzero probabilities is
the drawing of a black card and the drawing of a face card. Observing the two events, drawing a
black card (clubs and spades) could possibly satisfy the condition of the other event, which is
drawing a face card (jack, queen, king). In simpler terms, these events cannot be mutually
exclusive because it is possible for both events to occur at the same time, just as black cards
could also be face cards.