Statistics And Probability Question 252

Question: A letter is known to have come either from LONDON or CLIFTON; on the postmark only the two consecutive letters ON are legible. The probability that it came from LONDON is

Options:

A) $ \frac{5}{17} $

B) $ \frac{12}{17} $

C) $ \frac{17}{30} $

D) $ \frac{3}{5} $

Show Answer

Answer:

Correct Answer: B

Solution:

  •         We define the following events :             $ A_1: $  Selecting a pair of consecutive letter from the word LONDON.             $ A_2: $  Selecting a pair of consecutive letters from the word CLIFTON.            E : Selecting a pair of letters ?ON?.            Then  $ P(A_1\cap E)=\frac{2}{5}; $  as there are 5 pairs of consecutive letters out of which 2 are ON.             $ P(A_2\cap E)=\frac{1}{6}; $  as there are 6 pairs of consecutive letters of which one is ON.            \ The required probability is                  $ P( \frac{A_1}{E} ) $  $ =\frac{P(A_1\cap E)}{P(A_1\cap E)+P(A_2\cap E)}=\frac{\frac{2}{5}}{\frac{2}{5}+\frac{1}{6}}=\frac{12}{17}. $