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JEE Advanced 2007 · Probability (Class 12)

One Indian and four American men and their wives are to be seated randomly around a circular table. Then the conditional probability that the Indian man is seated adjacent to his wife given that each American man is seated adjacent to his wife is

Answer: C. 25\frac{2}{5}

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Written solution

5 couples (1 Indian+4 American)=10 people5 \text{ couples (1 Indian} + 4 \text{ American)} = 10 \text{ people}

seated randomly around a circular table\text{seated randomly around a circular table}

To find: P(Indian man beside wife∣each American man beside wife)\text{To find: } P(\text{Indian man beside wife} \mid \text{each American man beside wife})

Condition: each American couple is adjacent\text{Condition: each American couple is adjacent}

⇒ treat each American couple as ONE block\Rightarrow \text{ treat each American couple as ONE block}

4 American blocks+Indian man+Indian woman=6 objects4 \text{ American blocks} + \text{Indian man} + \text{Indian woman} = 6 \text{ objects}

want: the two Indian singles adjacent\text{want: the two Indian singles adjacent}

n distinct objects on a circle⇒(n−1)! arrangementsn \text{ distinct objects on a circle} \Rightarrow (n-1)! \text{ arrangements}

N=(6−1)!⋅24=5!⋅24N = (6-1)! \cdot 2^4 = 5! \cdot 2^4

N=120⋅16=1920N = 120 \cdot 16 = 1920

Indian couple together⇒5 blocks in a circle=4! ways\text{Indian couple together} \Rightarrow 5 \text{ blocks in a circle} = 4! \text{ ways}

M=4!⋅24⋅2M = 4! \cdot 2^4 \cdot 2

M=24⋅16⋅2=768M = 24 \cdot 16 \cdot 2 = 768

P=MN=7681920P = \dfrac{M}{N} = \dfrac{768}{1920}

P=4!⋅24⋅25!⋅24=4!⋅25!=24⋅2120=25P = \dfrac{4! \cdot 2^4 \cdot 2}{5! \cdot 2^4} = \dfrac{4! \cdot 2}{5!} = \dfrac{24 \cdot 2}{120} = \dfrac{2}{5}

P=25P = \dfrac{2}{5}

Answer: (3)  25\boxed{\text{Answer: (3)}\ \ \dfrac{2}{5}}

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