AlgebraDifficulty 4.3AIMEFind the answerUnited States
Problem: You have infinitely many boxes, and you randomly put 3 balls into them. The boxes are labeled 1,2,…. Each ball has probability 1/2n of being put into box n. The balls are placed independently of each other. What is the probability that some box will contain at least 2 balls?
A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.
Solution
Solution: 75 Notice that the answer is the sum of the probabilities that boxes 1,2,…, respectively, contain at least 2 balls, since those events are mutually exclusive. For box n, the probability of having at least 2 balls is 3[(1/2n)2(1−1/2n)]+(1/2n)3=22n3−23n2=4n3−8n2 Summing to infinity using the geometric series formula, we get the answer 1−1/43/4−1−1/82/8, which is equal to 75.
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