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counting and probability intermediate
Problem
A bag contains 4 balls. Each ball is a single color, and 3 distinct colors are represented in the bag. What is the probability that the first 2 balls selected without replacement are the same color? Express your answer as a common fraction.
Solution
There are exactly pairs of balls that we can choose. Since there are only 4 balls, and 3 different colors, there is exactly one pair of same-colored balls. So, the probability of drawing this exact pair is .
Final answer
\frac{1}{6}