PHOENIX – Level 2 Permutations & Combinations

Questions
1− 3p 1+ 4 p 1+ p
1. If , and are the probabilities of three mutually exclusive and exhaustive events,
2 3 6
then the set of all values of p
 1 1  1
(a) [0, 1] (b)  − ,  (c)  0,  (d) (0, )
 4 3  3

2. The probabilities that a student passes in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry are m, p and c
respectively. On these subjects, the student has a 75% chance of passing in at least one, a 50% chance
of passing in at least two and a 40% chance of passing in exactly two. Which of the following
relations are true (Multiple Correct)
19 27 1 1
(a) p + m + c = (b) p + m + c = (c) pmc = (d) pmc =
20 20 10 4
3. A bag contains a white and b black balls. Two players A and B alternately draw a ball from the bag
replacing the ball each time after the draw till one of them draws a white ball and wins the game. A
begins the game. If the probability of A winning the game is three times that of B, then
(a) a = b (b) 2a = b (c) a = 2b (d) 2a = 3b

4. A bag contains a large number of white and black marbles in equal proportions. Two samples of 5
marbles are selected at random (Replacing the balls after taking first sample). The probability that
the first sample contains exactly 1 black marble, and the second sample contains exactly 3 black
marbles, is
25 15 15 35
(a) (b) (c) (d)
512 32 1024 256

5. Two numbers x and y are chosen at random (without replacement) from amongst the numbers
1, 2, 3, . . . ., 2007. The Probability that x3 + y3 is divisible by 3 is
1 2 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
3 3 6 4
6. Let Ec denote the complement of an event E. Let E, F, G be pairwise independent events with
P(G) > 0 and P(E ∩ F ∩ G) = 0. Then P(Ec ∩ Fc | G) equals
(a) P(Ec) + P(Fc) (b) P(Ec) - P(Fc) (c) P(Ec) - P(F) (d) P(E) - P(Fc)

7. If m things are distributed among ‘a’ men and ‘b’ women, then the probability that the number
of things received by men is odd, is

1  ( b + a ) + ( b − a )   ( b − a )m − ( b + a )m 
m m

(a)   (b)  
(b + a ) (b + a )
m m
2    
1  ( b + a ) − ( b − a )   ( b + a ) − ( b − a ) 
m m m m

(c)   (d)  
(b + a ) (b + a )
m m
2    
PHOENIX – Level 2 Permutations & Combinations

1 1 1
8. Let E, F and G be three events having probabilities P ( E ) = , P ( F ) = and P ( G ) = ,
8 6 4
1
and let P ( E  F  G ) = . For any event H, if HC denotes its complement, then which of the
10
following statement is(are) TRUE? (Multiple Correct)
1 1
(a) P ( E  F  G C )  (b) P ( E C  F  G ) 
40 15
13 5
(c) P ( E  F  G )  (d) P ( E C  F C  G C ) 
24 12
9. The probability that a missile hits a target successfully is 0.75. In order to destroy the target
completely, at least three successful hits are required. Then the minimum number of missiles that have
to be fired so that the probability of completely destroying the target is NOT less than 0.95, is_____

10. There are four six faced dice such that each of two dice bears the number 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and the
other two dice are ordinary dice bearing numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. If all the four dice are thrown,
5a
If the probability that the total of number coming up on all the dice is 10, is , then a + b + c is
2b3c
(a) 11 (b) 12 (c) 13 (d) 14

 x2 y 2 
11. Let X = ( x, y)  Z  Z : +  1 and y 2  5 x  . Three distinct points P, Q and R are randomly
 8 20 
chosen from X. Then the probability that P, Q and R form a triangle whose area is a positive integer,
is equal to :
71 73 79 83
(a) (b) (c) (d)
220 220 220 220
12. Let X be the set of all five-digit numbers formed using 1, 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 0. For example, 22240 is in X
while 02244 and 44422 are not in X. Suppose that each element of X has an equal chance of being
chosen. Let p be the conditional probability that an element chosen at random is a multiple of 20
given that it is a multiple of 5. Then the value of 38p is equal to _________.

13. Let C1 and C2 be two biased coins such that the probabilities of getting head in a single toss are 2/3
and 1/3 respectively. Suppose 𝞪 is the number of heads that appear when C1 is tossed twice,
independently, and suppose β is the number of heads that appear when C2 is tossed twice,
independently. Then the probability that the roots of the quadratic polynomial x2 - 𝞪x + β are real
and equal, is
40 1 1 20
(a) (b) (c) (d)
81 2 4 81
14. Three randomly chosen non-negative integers x, y, and z are found to satisfy the equation
x + y + z = 10. Then the probability that z is even , is
1 36 6 5
(a) (b) (c) (d)
2 55 11 11
15. Two points are selected at random on a line AB of length a so as to lie on the opposite sides of its
midpoint. Then the probability that the distance between them is less than a/3 is
1 1 4 2
(a) (b) (c) (d)
3 9 9 9
PHOENIX – Level 2 Permutations & Combinations

16. A four-digit number (numbered from 0000 to 9999) is said to be lucky if sum of its first two digits
is equal to the sum of its last two digits. If a four-digit number is picked up at random, then find the
probability that it is lucky number.

17. A and B are two independent witness (i.e. there is no collusion between them) in a case. The
probability that A will speak the truth is x and the probability that B will speak the truth is y. A and
B agree in a certain statement. The probability that the statement is true is
x− y xy x− y xy
(a) (b) (c) (d)
x+ y 1 + x + y + xy 1 − x − y + 2 xy 1 − x − y + 2 xy

18. A bag contains some white and some black balls, all combinations of balls being equally likely. The
total number of balls in the bag is 10. If three balls are drawn at random without replacement and all
of them are found to be black, the probability that the bag contains 1 white and 9 black balls is
14 12 2 22
(a) (b) (c) (d)
55 55 11 55
19. There are 3 bags. Bag 1 contain 2 red and a2 – 4a + 8 black balls, bag 2 contains 1 red and
a2 – 4a + 9 black balls and bag 3 contains 3 red and a2 – 4a + 7 black balls. A ball is draw at random
from at random chosen bag. Then maximum value of probability that it is a red ball is
1 1 2 4
(a) (b) (c) (d)
3 2 9 9
20. If n (X) = (k + 1), then the probability of selecting 2 subsets A and B of the set ‘X’ such that B = Ac
1
is equal to m−1 , then m – k is equal to ____
2
21. A positive integer n is randomly guessed. Let the probability that xn + 1 – xn + 1 is divisible by
x2 – x + 1 be P. Then the value of 12P is ______.
22. There are four seats numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 in a room and four persons having tickets corresponding to
these seats (one person having one ticket). Now the person having the ticket number 1, enters the
room and sits on any of the seat at random. Then the person having the ticket number 2, enters in
room. If his seat is empty, then he sits on his seat otherwise he sits on any of the empty seat at
random. Similarly, the other persons sit. Probability that the person having ticket numbered 4 gets
the seat number 4 is ______.
1 1 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
16 2 4 8
23. 'A' tosses a fair coin. If it shows a tail ' A' is asked to roll a fair die and A' s score is the number that
die shows. If the coin shows a head, 'A' is asked to toss five more coins and A' s score is total number
of heads shown (including the first coin). If ' A' tells you that his score is only 3 then the probability
that 'A' rolls a die is
23 1 8 7
(a) (b) (c) (d)
96 6 23 44
2 n
24. If three numbers are chosen randomly from the set {1, 3, 3 , . . ., 3 } without replacement, then the
probability that they form an increasing geometric progression is (Multiple Correct)
3 3
(a) if n is odd (b) if n is even
2n 2n
3n 3n
(c) if n is even (d) if n is odd
2(n − 1)
2
2(n 2 − 1)
PHOENIX – Level 2 Permutations & Combinations

1 3 8
25. Let ‘A’ and ‘B’ be independent events such that P( A)  , P( A  B ) = and P(A  B) = . Then
2 25 25
which of the following is/are correct ? (Multiple Correct)
(a) ( P( A)) 2 + P(( B )) 2 = 1 (b) P( A) satisfies 25 x 2 − 20 x + 3 = 0
(c) P ( A) satisfies 5 x 2 − 20 x + 3 = 0 (d) ( P ( A)) 2 + P (( B )) 2 = 2

26. During a power blackout, 100 persons are arrested on suspect of looting. Each is given a polygraph
test. From past experience it is known that the polygraph is 90% reliable when administered to a
guilty person and 98% reliable when given to someone who is innocent. Suppose that of the 100
persons taken into custody, only 12 were actually involved in any wrongdoing. If the probability that
a given suspect is innocent given that the polygraph says he is guilty is a/b where a and b are
relatively prime, find the value of (a + b).
27. 3 coins are thrown at one time and we remove those coins which show tails. Then we throw the
remaining coins at one time and we remove those coins which show tails. This is done repeatedly
until all of coins are removed. If the probability that the trials are ended in the 2nd round is P, then
the value of [10P] is _____ (where [.] denotes the greatest integer function).

28. Four people sit round a circular table, and each person will roll a normal six-sided die once. The
N
probability that no two people sitting next to each other will roll the same number is . Then
1296
the value of N is _______.

29. Two soldiers X and Y shoot each other. Shooting is over when one or both are hit. If they both shoot
and miss, then they repeat the process. Suppose the results of shots are independent and that each
shot of X will hit Y with probability 2/5 and each shot of Y will hit X with probability 1/5. Then
(Multiple correct)
(a) The probability that X is not hit is 8/13 (b) The probability that X is not hit is 8/25
(c) The probability that both are hit is 2/25 (d) The probability that both are hit is 2/13

30. The sum of two natural numbers n1 and n2 is known to be equal to 100. The probability that their
product being greater than 1600, is equal to:
20 58 13 59
(a) (b) (c) (d)
33 99 33 99
PHOENIX – Level 2 Permutations & Combinations

Answer Key
1. (b) 2. (b), (c) 3. (c) 4. (a)

5. (a) 6. (c) 7. (c) 8. (a), (b), (c)

9. 6 10. (c) 11. (b) 12. 31

13. (d) 14. (c) 15. (d) 16. 0.067

17. (d) 18. (a) 19. (a) 20. 2

21. 2 22. (a) 23. (c) 24. (a), (c)

25. (a), (b) 26. 179 27. 2 28. 630

29. (a), (d) 30. (d)

Solutions
1.
Since events are mutually exclusive and exhaustive
1− 3 p 1+ 4 p 1+ p
 + + =1
2 3 6
1− 3p 1+ 4 p
Also 0   1 and 0  1
2 3
1+ p
and 0   1.
6
1+ 3p  1 1
0  1  p  − , 
2  3 3
1+ 4 p  1 1
0  1  p  − , 
3  4 2
1+ p
0  1  p   −1, 5
6
 1 1
Hence the set of value satisfying all the above inequalities are  − ,  .
 4 3
2.
Let M , P and C be the events of passing in mathematics, physics and chemistry respectively.
75 3
P( M  P  C ) = =
100 4
50 1
P( M  P) + P( P  C ) + P( M  C ) − 2 P( M  P  C ) = =
100 2
40 2
P( M  P) + P( P  C ) + P( M  C ) − 2 P( M  P  C ) = =
100 5
3
 m(1 − p)(1 − c) + p(1 − m)(1 − c) + c(1 − m)(1 − p) + mp(1 − c) + mc(1 − p) + pc(1 − m) + mpc =
4
3
 m + p + c − mc − mp − pc + mpc = .....(i)
4
1
Similarly, mp(1 − c) + pc(1 − m) + mc(1 − p) + mpc =
2
1
 mp + pc + mc − 2mpc = .....(ii)
2
2
mp(1 − c) + pc(1 − m) + mc(1 − p) =
5
2
 mp + pc + mc − 3mpc = .....(iii)
5
From (ii) to (iii),
1 2 1
mpc = − =
2 5 10
From (i) and (ii),
3 1
m + p + c − mpc = +
4 2
3 1 1 15 + 10 + 2 27
 m+ p+c = + + = = .
4 2 10 20 20
PHOENIX – Level 2 Permutations & Combinations

3.
Let W denote the event of drawing a white ball at any draw and B that for a black ball.
a b
Then P(W ) = , P( B) =
a+b a+b
P( A wins the game) = P(W or BBW or BBBBW or .......)
= P(W ) + P( B) P( B) P(W ) + P( B) P( B) P( B) P( B) P(W ) + ......
a
P (W ) a+b
= =
1 − P( B) 2
b2
1−
( a + b) 2
a ( a + b) ( a + b)
= 2 =
a + 2ab a + 2b
a+b b
Also P( B wins the game) = 1 − =
a + 2b a + 2b
According to the given condition,
a+b b
= 3.
a + 2b a + 2b
 a = 2b
4.

5.
PHOENIX – Level 2 Permutations & Combinations

6.

7.

8.
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30.