Three golf balls are in a bag.
You do the following six times:
In the end, the probability that each ball receives two coats of paint is b a where a and b are coprime positive integers.
What is a + b ?
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There are 3 6 = 7 2 9 ways to choose the balls.
Of these, there are 2 ! ⋅ 2 ! ⋅ 2 ! 6 ! = 9 0 arrangements of AABBCC.
7 2 9 9 0 = 8 1 1 0 , so the solution is 1 0 + 8 1 = 9 1
Number the balls 1, 2, and 3. The probability of choosing ball 1 twice is ( 2 6 ) ( 3 1 ) 2 ( 3 2 ) 4 = 1 5 × 9 1 × 8 1 1 6 = 2 4 3 8 0
Of the remaining two balls, the probability of choosing ball 2 twice is then ( 2 4 ) ( 2 1 ) 2 ( 2 1 ) 2 = 6 × 4 1 × 4 1 = 8 3
The probability of both these events happening is 2 4 3 8 0 × 8 3 = 8 1 1 0
1 0 + 8 1 = 9 1
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There are 3 6 ways the balls could have been chosen for painting (taking order into account)
Of these there are ( 2 6 ) ways that one of them could have received 2 coats of paint. And the remaining two could have received 2 coats in ( 2 4 ) ways.
So, the total probability of all three receiving 2 coats of paint is:
P = 3 6 ( 2 6 ) ⋅ ( 2 4 ) = 8 1 1 0
1 0 + 8 1 = 9 1