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jmc

counting and probability senior

Problem

Each day, two out of the three teams in a class are randomly selected to participate in a MATHCOUNTS trial competition. What is the probability that Team A is selected on at least two of the next three days? Express your answer as a common fraction.
Solution
We can compute this a few ways, but the numbers seem small enough that we can go ahead and just compute the probability of A being selected all three days, and the probability of A being selected exactly 2 of the three days. Team A is selected on any given day with probability , because there are possible pairs of teams, and 2 of them contain A. So, there is a chance of being selected all three days. Of being selected exactly twice, there is a chance. Adding these two yields .
Final answer
\frac{20}{27}