You have a bag containing 26 tiles, each imprinted with one letter of the alphabet. If you pick out 5 tiles, what is the probability that they are a, e, i, o, and u in that order?

Question

whpalmer4 · Answer

pretty darn small :-)

whpalmer4 · Answer

What is the probability that the first tile you draw is "a"?

whpalmer4 · Answer

The problem is a bit unclear on a very important point: after picking a tile, is it kept out of the bag, or returned to the bag, such that it might be chosen again?

anonymous · Answer

that's what the question was pointed to as smh

whpalmer4 · Answer

It doesn't mean we can't solve it, but you may have to make an assumption or interpretation of what it means.

anonymous · Answer

I think it would be 1/26

whpalmer4 · Answer

that's right.  Now, here's where the question comes up — if we put that tile back, the probability for each draw is again 1/26.  However, I think probably the question means that we draw 5 successive tiles without replacement, so the probability of drawing "e" for the second tile is 1/25, and so on, and they are dependent events.  How do you combine the probabilities for dependent events?

anonymous · Answer

I need help with that