Chances Are… You can do it! Activity #5
Five baseball players threw their caps into a sports bag after a ball game. What is the probability that each person will pick his or her own hat when starting the next game?
The probability that the first person will get the right hat is 1/5. Now there are four people and four hats so the probability that the second person gets their own hat is…? HINT 1/4
The total probability of everyone getting his/her own hat is found by multiplying all the possibilities together. (1/5) x (1/4) x (1/3) x (1/2) x1 = 1/(5x4x3x2x1) =
So the probability that each person will pick his or her own hat is... 1/120 Would each person picking their own hat be a certainty? impossible? Or a possibility? Justify your answer in your journal. End of Activity