A case of 24 cans contains one can that is contaminated Thre

A case of 24 cans contains one can that is contaminated. Three cans are to be chosen randomly for testing. a. How many different combinations of three cans could be selected? b. What is the probability that the contaminated can is selected for testing?

Solution

a)

There are 24C3 = 2024 ways to select 3 cans. [ANSWER, 2024]

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b)

If the contaminated can is selected, then there are 23C2 = 253 ways to select the two other cans.

Thus, the probability is

P = 253/2024 = 0.125 [answer]