Question: Individual A has a circle of five close friends (B, C, D, E, and F). A has heard a certain rumor from outside the circle

Individual A has a circle of five close friends (B, C, D, E, and F). A has heard a certain rumor from outside the circle and has invited the five friends to a party to circulate the rumor. To begin, A selects one of the five at random and tells the rumor to the chosen individual. That individual then selects at random one of the four remaining individuals and repeats the rumor. Continuing, a new individual is selected from those not already having heard the rumor by the individual who has just heard it, until everyone has been told.

a. What is the probability that the rumor is repeated in the order B, C, D, E, and F?

b. What is the probability that F is the third person at the party to be told the rumor?

c. What is the probability that F is the last person to hear the rumor?

d. If at each stage the person who currently "has" the rumor does not know who has already heard it and selects the next recipient at random from all five possible individuals, what is the probability that F has still not heard the rumor after it has been told ten times at the party?

Step by Step Solution

3.44 Rating (163 Votes )

There are 3 Steps involved in it

1 Expert Approved Answer
Step: 1 Unlock

a There are 5 120 possible orderings so PBCDEF 1120 0833 b The number of orderings in w... View full answer

blur-text-image
Question Has Been Solved by an Expert!

Get step-by-step solutions from verified subject matter experts

Step: 2 Unlock
Step: 3 Unlock

Document Format (1 attachment)

Word file Icon

1172-M-S-P(10441).docx

120 KBs Word File

Students Have Also Explored These Related Statistics Questions!