Thomas, Jenna, and Maria are playing a game. They have a bag that contains 37 white tiles and 5 red tiles. Each player takes turns picking a tile at random and does not return the tiles to the bag. The player who draws a red tile first is the winner. In the first round, Thomas goes first, then Jenna, and then Maria, and none of them draws a red tile. What is the probability that Thomas will win the game on his second turn?
a 5/42
b 5/37
c 5/32
d 5/39

Question

Thomas, Jenna, and Maria are playing a game. They have a bag that contains 37 white tiles and 5 red tiles. Each player takes turns picking a tile at random and does not return the tiles to the bag. The player who draws a red tile first is the winner. In the first round, Thomas goes first, then Jenna, and then Maria, and none of them draws a red tile. What is the probability that Thomas will win the game on his second turn?
a 5/42
b 5/37
c 5/32
d 5/39

thesmartone · Answer

So in all there is 42 tiles and 3 of them have been taken out. The 3 that have been taken out are white because if they were red then who ever pulled it out would have won. So the chances for Thomas to win is 5/39
The 39 is from 42-3