A bag of five apples contains three ripe apples and two rotten apples. If a ripe apple is selected first, what is the probability that a second apple selected is rotten?
1/2
That assumes that the ripe apple is not put back in the bag.
2/5
To find the probability of selecting a rotten apple as the second selection, we can use the concept of conditional probability. Conditional probability calculates the chances of an event occurring given that another event has already occurred.
In this case, we want to find the probability of selecting a rotten apple (the second event) given that a ripe apple was selected first (the first event).
Let's break down the problem step by step:
Step 1: Determine the probability of selecting a ripe apple first.
There are a total of 5 apples in the bag, and 3 of them are ripe. Therefore, the probability of selecting a ripe apple first is 3/5.
Step 2: Determine the probability of selecting a rotten apple as the second selection, given that a ripe apple was selected first.
After the first selection, there are 4 apples left in the bag, and 2 of them are rotten. Therefore, the probability of selecting a rotten apple as the second selection is 2/4.
So, the probability of selecting a rotten apple as the second selection, given that a ripe apple was selected first, is 2/4 or simplifying it, 1/2.
Therefore, the probability that the second apple selected is rotten is 1/2.