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Combinatorics

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by jerryragland » Tue Apr 06, 2010 7:22 pm
Anthony and Michael sit on the six-member board of directors for company X. If the board is to be split up into 2 three-person subcommittees, what percent of all the possible subcommittees that include Michael also include Anthony?

This is my approach -

Since order does not matter, I choose combinations
All possible committees = 6C3 = 20
Committees which would have both Michael and Anthony - M, H, 3rd person ; M, H, 4th person ; M, H, 5th person ; M, H, 6th person - 4 committees.

x/100(20) = 4 ====> 20%

But the answer says 40%

could any one please explain...
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Source: — Problem Solving |

by 4GMAT_Mumbai » Tue Apr 06, 2010 7:51 pm
Denominator = Subcommittees with Michael in it = 5C2 = 10

Numerator = Subcommittees with both Michael and Antony = 4C1 = 4

% = 4 * 100 / 10 = 40%

The 'whole' in this case is not all subcommittees ... It is only those that include Michael ...

Hope this helps.
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by eaakbari » Tue Apr 06, 2010 8:17 pm
jerryragland wrote:Anthony and Michael sit on the six-member board of directors for company X. If the board is to be split up into 2 three-person subcommittees, what percent of all the possible subcommittees that include Michael also include Anthony?

This is my approach -

Since order does not matter, I choose combinations
All possible committees = 6C3 = 20
Committees which would have both Michael and Anthony - M, H, 3rd person ; M, H, 4th person ; M, H, 5th person ; M, H, 6th person - 4 committees.

x/100(20) = 4 ====> 20%

But the answer says 40%

could any one please explain...



Good question, You have to get past the wording and the answer is simple.

This is a conditional probability question. The formula is

P(A/M) = P(A^M)/P(M)

What you found out is P(A/M). If we find probability of P(M) it is 1/2

When substituted answer is 40%
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by jerryragland » Wed Apr 07, 2010 6:40 am
Thanks, guys.. I get it now
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