Refer to the previous exercise. If at each stage the person who currently has the rumor does
Question:
Refer to the previous exercise. If at each stage the person who currently “has” the rumor does not know who has already heard it and selects the next recipient at random from all five possible individuals, what is the probability that F has still not heard the rumor after it has been told ten times at the party?
Data From Exercise 119
Individual A has a circle of five close friends (B, C, D, E, and F). A has heard a certain rumor from outside the circle and has invited the five friends to a party to circulate the rumor. To begin, A selects one of the five at random and tells the rumor to the chosen individual. That individual then selects at random one of the four remaining individuals and repeats the rumor. Continuing, a new individual is selected from those not already having heard the rumor by the individual who has just heard it, until everyone has been told.
a. What is the probability that the rumor is repeated in the order B, C, D, E, and F?
b. What is the probability that F is the third person at the party to be told the rumor?
c. What is the probability that F is the last person to hear the rumor?
Step by Step Answer:
Modern Mathematical Statistics With Applications
ISBN: 9783030551551
3rd Edition
Authors: Jay L. Devore, Kenneth N. Berk, Matthew A. Carlton