A money envelope contains $10 bills, $20 bills, and 15 $50 bills. Sandra randomly selects two bills without returning the first bill. What is the probability of getting a $10 bill then a $50 bill? Write your answer in the simplest form of fraction. (1 point)

1 answer

To find the probability of Sandra first selecting a $10 bill and then a $50 bill without replacement, we first need to determine the total number of bills and the distribution of bills.

Let's denote the number of each type of bill:

  • Let \( x \) be the number of $10 bills.
  • Let \( y \) be the number of $20 bills.
  • We know there are 15 $50 bills.

So, the total number of bills in the envelope is:

\[ \text{Total Bills} = x + y + 15 \]

Step 1: Calculate the probability of selecting a $10 bill first.

The probability of selecting a $10 bill first is given by the ratio of the number of $10 bills to the total number of bills:

\[ P(\text{10 first}) = \frac{x}{x + y + 15} \]

Step 2: Calculate the probability of selecting a $50 bill second.

After selecting the first bill (which was a $10 bill), we do not return it. Thus, we now have one less total bill and the same number of $50 bills.

The new total number of bills is:

\[ \text{New Total} = x + y + 15 - 1 = x + y + 14 \]

The probability of selecting a $50 bill after selecting a $10 bill is given by the ratio of the number of $50 bills to the new total number of bills:

\[ P(\text{50 second | 10 first}) = \frac{15}{x + y + 14} \]

Step 3: Calculate the joint probability.

The joint probability of both events occurring (selecting a $10 bill first and then a $50 bill) is the product of the probabilities of the individual events:

\[ P(\text{10 then 50}) = P(\text{10 first}) \times P(\text{50 second | 10 first}) = \frac{x}{x + y + 15} \times \frac{15}{x + y + 14} \]

So, the final expression for the probability of getting a $10 bill and then a $50 bill is:

\[ P(\text{10 then 50}) = \frac{x \cdot 15}{(x + y + 15)(x + y + 14)} \]

However, we cannot simplify this further without knowing the values of \( x \) and \( y \). Therefore, the answer is:

\[ \text{Probability} = \frac{15x}{(x + y + 15)(x + y + 14)} \]

If \( x \) and \( y \) values are known, we can compute a numerical answer. In absence of explicit values, we have the theoretical framework.