Questions: There are 9 acts in a talent show. A comedian, a dancer, a guitarist, a juggler, a magician, a pianist, a singer, a violinist, and a whistler. A talent show host randomly schedules the 9 acts.
Compute the probability of each of the following events. Event A: The comedian is first, the pianist is second, and the juggler is third. Event B: The first three acts are the violinist, the magician, and the singer, in any order. Write your answers as fractions in simplest form.
P(A)=
P(B)=
Transcript text: There are 9 acts in a talent show. A comedian, a dancer, a guitarist, a juggler, a magician, a pianist, a singer, a violinist, and a whistler. A talent show host randomly schedules the 9 acts.
Compute the probability of each of the following events. Event A: The comedian is first, the pianist is second, and the juggler is third. Event B: The first three acts are the violinist, the magician, and the singer, in any order. Write your answers as fractions in simplest form.
\[
\begin{array}{l}
P(A)= \\
P(B)=
\end{array}
\]
Solution
Solution Steps
Step 1: Calculate Total Permutations
The total number of ways to arrange 9 acts is given by \( 9! \):
\[
9! = 362880
\]
Step 2: Calculate Probability of Event A
For Event A, where the comedian is first, the pianist is second, and the juggler is third, there is only 1 favorable outcome. Thus, the probability \( P(A) \) is:
\[
P(A) = \frac{1}{362880}
\]
Step 3: Calculate Probability of Event B
For Event B, where the first three acts are the violinist, the magician, and the singer in any order, there are \( 3! = 6 \) favorable outcomes. Therefore, the probability \( P(B) \) is:
\[
P(B) = \frac{6}{362880} = \frac{1}{60480}
\]