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jmc

counting and probability senior

Problem

Ryan has 3 red lava lamps and 3 blue lava lamps. He arranges them in a row on a shelf randomly, and then randomly turns 3 of them on. What is the probability that the leftmost lamp is blue and off, and the rightmost lamp is red and on?
Solution
There are ways to choose where the red lamps go, and ways to choose which lamps are on. If the left lamp is blue and off, and the right lamp is red and on, there are ways to choose which of the remaining lamps are red, and ways to choose which of the remaining lamps are on. Therefore, the probability is .
Final answer
\dfrac{9}{100}