[Math] Two Urns Probability

probability

Question: Suppose there is a room filled with urns of two types. Type I urns contain 5 blue balls and 5 red balls. Type II urns contain 2 red balls and 8 blue balls. There are 700 Type I urns and 300 Type II urns in the room. They are distributed randomly and look alike. An urn is selected at random from the room and a ball is drawn from it.

A) What is the probability that the urn is Type I?

So that will be: total type 1 urns/total urns $= 700/1000 = 0.7$

B) What is the probability that the ball drawn is red?

I'm confused with this part of the question. My answer is:

(type 1 red balls) $\times$ (type 2 red balls)

(5 red balls/10 total balls) $\times$ (2 red balls/10 total balls) $= 1/10$

Is $1/10$ the probability to draw a red ball correct?

Best Answer

Type 1 Urn:

700 Total Urns (70%) 50% Chance Red

Type 2 Urn:

300 Total Urns (30%) 20% Chance Red


The Urns are indistinguishable, as are the balls. Therefore, when selecting a ball, there is a 70% chance the urn is Type 1 with a 50% chance of leading to a Red. There is a 30% chance the urn is Type 2 with a 20% chance of being a Red.

To find the total probability of drawing a red ball, you can take 70% $\times$ 50% $+$ 30% $\times$ 20%

$0.35+.06=0.41$ or 41%


700 Urns x 5 Red balls per urn = 3500 Red 300 Urns x 2 Red balls per urn = 600 Red

4100 Red 10,000 Total

$\frac{4100}{10000} = 0.41$ or 41%

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