High School

Suppose a jar contains 12 red marbles and 20 blue marbles. If you reach into the jar and pull out 2 marbles at random at the same time, find the probability that both marbles are red.

Answer :

To find the probability that both marbles pulled from the jar are red, we can use the following steps:

1. Calculate the Total Number of Marbles:
- There are 12 red marbles and 20 blue marbles in the jar.
- Total marbles = 12 red + 20 blue = 32 marbles.

2. Probability of Drawing the First Red Marble:
- The probability that the first marble you draw is red is the number of red marbles divided by the total number of marbles.
- Probability of first red marble = 12 red / 32 total = 0.375.

3. Probability of Drawing the Second Red Marble:
- Once you've drawn a red marble, there are now 11 red marbles left.
- The total number of marbles decreases by 1, so now there are 31 marbles left in total.
- Probability of second red marble = 11 red / 31 total = approximately 0.3548.

4. Calculate the Probability That Both Marbles are Red:
- To find the probability that both marbles are red, multiply the probability of the first marble being red by the probability of the second marble being red.
- Probability both are red = 0.375 * 0.3548 = approximately 0.133.

Therefore, the probability that both marbles drawn from the jar are red is approximately 0.133.