Carcass wrote:
The retirement plan for a company allows employees to invest in 10 different mutual funds. Six of the 10 funds grew by at least 10% over the last year. If Sam randomly selected 4 of the 10 funds, what is the probability that at least 3 of Sam’s 4 funds grew by at least 10% over the last year?
(A) \(\frac{6C_3}{10C_4}\)
(B) \(\frac{6C_3*4C_1}{10C_4}\)
(C) \(\frac{6C_3*4C_1+6C_4}{10P_4}\)
(D) \(\frac{6P_3*4P_1}{10C_4}\)
(E) \(\frac{6C_3*4C_1 + 6C_4}{10C_4}\)
There are 6 winning funds that grew more than 10%, and 4 losing funds that grew less than 10%.
The problem can be split into 3 sub-problems:1) Sam has to choose 3 winning funds. This can be done in \(6C_3\) ways.
2) Sam has to choose 1 losing fund. This can be done in \(4C_1\) ways.
3) Sam has to choose all 4 funds to be winning funds. This can be done in \(6C_4\) ways.
This is how Sam chooses at least 3 winning funds. Hence, the total number of ways of choosing at least 3 winning funds is \(6C_3\)*\(4C_1\) + \(6C_4\)
If there were no restrictions (such as choosing at least 3 winning funds), Sam would have chosen funds in \(10C_4\) ways.
Hence, the probability that
at least 3 of Sam’s 4 funds grew by at least 10% over the last year is \(\frac{6C_3*4C_1 + 6C_4}{10C_4}\)