A bag contains 5 black balls and 3 red balls. Two balls are picked at random without replacement. What is the probability that a black ball and a red ball are picked?
A. 15 / 28 B. 13 / 28 C. 5 / 14 D. 11 / 12
Correct Answer: A
Explanation
No of black balls \(=5\) balls No of red balls \(=3\) balls Total balls \(=8\) balls \(\operatorname{Pr}(\) a black ball and a red ball) \(=\operatorname{Pr}\) ( 1 st ball red and \(2^{\text {nd }}\) ball black) Or \(\operatorname{Pr}(1\) s ball black and 2 nd ball red) \begin{aligned} &=\left(\frac{3}{8} \times \frac{5}{7}\right)+\left(\frac{5}{8} \times \frac{3}{7}\right) \\ \frac{15}{56}+\frac{15}{56} &=\frac{30}{56}=\frac{15}{28} \end{aligned}