Consider a jar that has 20 marbles. There are 4 red, 4 blue, 4 green, 4 yellow, and 4 purple marbles. What is the probability of selecting a yellow marble without replacing it and then selecting a purple marble?

A. 4/95
B. 10/25
C. 39/95
D. 1/25

1 answer

To find the probability of selecting a yellow marble and then a purple marble without replacement, we can follow these steps:

  1. Calculate the probability of selecting a yellow marble first.
    There are 4 yellow marbles out of a total of 20 marbles.

    \[ P(\text{Yellow}) = \frac{4}{20} = \frac{1}{5} \]

  2. Calculate the probability of selecting a purple marble second.
    After selecting a yellow marble, there are now 19 marbles left in the jar (20 - 1 = 19). The number of purple marbles remains the same, which is still 4.

    \[ P(\text{Purple | Yellow}) = \frac{4}{19} \]

  3. Combine the probabilities.
    The probability of both events occurring (selecting a yellow marble first and then a purple marble) can be found by multiplying the two probabilities together:

    \[ P(\text{Yellow and then Purple}) = P(\text{Yellow}) \times P(\text{Purple | Yellow}) = \frac{1}{5} \times \frac{4}{19} = \frac{4}{95} \]

Thus, the probability of selecting a yellow marble without replacement and then selecting a purple marble is

\[ \boxed{\frac{4}{95}} \]

The correct answer is A. 4/95.