There are some red balls and some black balls in a bag.
You reach in and grab two balls at random.
The probability that you picked one ball of each color is exactly 0.5.
Which of these numbers is a possible choice for the number of red balls that were originally in the bag?
Clarification: "All of them" and "None of them" refer only to the numerical answers provided, not to each other! (No this isn't a logic question in disguise! ;) )
More probability questions
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Why do m and n have to be consecutive triangular numbers?
If we let n be the number of balls in the bag and r be the number of red balls we have:
n r × n − 1 n − r + n n − r × n − 1 r = 0 . 5
n ( n − 1 ) 2 r ( n − r ) = 0 . 5
4 r n − 4 r 2 = n 2 − n
n 2 − ( 4 r + 1 ) n + 4 r 2 = 0
Using the quadratic formula we get:
n = 2 4 r + 1 ± ( 4 r + 1 ) 2 − 1 6 r 2
n = 2 4 r + 1 ± 8 r + 1
Hence it follows that 8 r + 1 is a perfect square.Quickly checking the options shows the only suitable value of r is r = 2 1 0 .
r = 2 1 0 , n = 4 4 1 or 4 0 0
What does the condition that 8 r + 1 has to be a perfect square tell us? How can we classify all possible values of ( n , r ) that are solutions?
Nice write up, @Sam Bealing !
What does the condition that 8 r + 1 has to be a perfect square tell us? How can we classify all possible values of ( n , r ) that are solutions?
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If you start with m red balls and n black balls, then the probability that you pick two different balls is given by:
P ( m , n ) = ( 2 m + n ) m × n
This only equals 0 . 5 only if m and n are consecutive triangular numbers, i.e. T i and T i + 1 where T i = 1 + 2 + . . . + i
The only triangular number in the list is 2 1 0