The probability of rolling 3 dice twice and getting the same configuration on both rolls

combinatoricsdiceprobability

Case A) The dice are distinguishable.
Case B) The dice are not distinguishable.
This exercise is solven on my text book but I dont understand why the B) case is solved like it is. It use permutations and variations to get the favorable cases and then they divide by te variation of 6 elements taken 6 by 6.

$$
p2 = \frac{V_{6,3}\cdot P_{3} + V_{6,2}\cdot RP_{3}^{2,1,0}\cdot RP_{3}^{1,2,0} + V_{6,1}\cdot RP_{3}^{3,0,0}}{RV_{6,6}}
$$

That is the answer they give, and the solution is 83/3888. Can someone explain me why should I solve this this way and what is the real diference between the case A and case B?

Best Answer

I don't understand the notation, but I can tell you how to solve the problem.

There are $6^3=216$ possible rolls. In $6$ rolls, all three dice show the same number. There are $6\cdot5\cdot3=90$ rolls where two of the dice are the same and the third different and $6\cdot5\cdot4=120$ rolls where all three numbers are different.

The probability that the second person rolls the same as the first is $$\frac6{216}\frac1{216}+\frac{90}{216}\frac3{216}+\frac{120}{216}\frac{6}{216}=\frac{996}{216^2}=\frac{83}{3888}$$

In each term, the first factor is the probability that the first player rolls a result of a particular type, and the second factor is the probability that the second player matches the roll.

Does this make sense? Feel free to ask if it doesn't.

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