A box contains 4 plain pencils and 4 pens. A second box contains 1 color pencil and 9 crayons. One item from each box is chosen at random. What is the probability that a plain pencil from the first box and a color pencil from the second box are selected?
Write your answer as a fraction in simplest form.
The probability of selecting a plain pencil from the first box is 4/8 = 1/2.
The probability of selecting a color pencil from the second box is 1/10.
Therefore, the probability of selecting a plain pencil from the first box and a color pencil from the second box is (1/2) x (1/10) = 1/20.
So the answer is 1/20.