Positive integers , , and are randomly and independently selected with replacement from the set . What is the probability that is divisible by ?
This section requires Javascript.
You are seeing this because something didn't load right. We suggest you, (a) try
refreshing the page, (b) enabling javascript if it is disabled on your browser and,
finally, (c)
loading the
non-javascript version of this page
. We're sorry about the hassle.
We want to investigate a ( b ( c + 1 ) + 1 ) = a b c + a b + a ≡ 0 ( m o d 3 ) Therefore, either a ≡ 0 ( m o d 3 ) or b ( c + 1 ) ≡ 2 ( m o d 3 ) ⟺ ( b , c ) ≡ ( 1 , 1 ) , ( 2 , 0 ) ( m o d 3 )
Now, there are 3 2 0 1 0 = 6 7 0 elements in the set { 1 , 2 , … , 2 0 1 0 } corresponding to each residue, so we see that each residue has an equal probability of being chosen. It follows that Prob ( a ≡ 0 ) = 3 1 Prob ( ( b , c ) ≡ ( 1 , 1 ) , ( 2 , 0 ) ) = 9 2 Prob ( a ≡ 0 and ( b , c ) ≡ ( 1 , 1 ) , ( 2 , 0 ) ) = 2 7 2 so that Prob ( a ≡ 0 or ( b , c ) ≡ ( 1 , 1 ) , ( 2 , 0 ) ) = 3 1 + 9 2 − 2 7 2 = 2 7 1 3