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Date November 2018 Marks available 7 Reference code 18N.1.SL.TZ0.S_9
Level Standard Level Paper Paper 1 Time zone Time zone 0
Command term Find Question number S_9 Adapted from N/A

Question

A bag contains n marbles, two of which are blue. Hayley plays a game in which she randomly draws marbles out of the bag, one after another, without replacement. The game ends when Hayley draws a blue marble.

 Let n = 5. Find the probability that the game will end on her

Find the probability, in terms of n , that the game will end on her first draw.

[1]
a.i.

Find the probability, in terms of n , that the game will end on her second draw.

[3]
a.ii.

third draw.

[2]
b.i.

fourth draw.

[2]
b.ii.

Hayley plays the game when n = 5. She pays $20 to play and can earn money back depending on the number of draws it takes to obtain a blue marble. She earns no money back if she obtains a blue marble on her first draw. Let M be the amount of money that she earns back playing the game. This information is shown in the following table.

Find the value of k so that this is a fair game.

[7]
c.

Markscheme

2 n      A1 N1

 

[1 mark]

a.i.

correct probability for one of the draws      A1

eg   P(not blue first) = n 2 n ,   blue second =  2 n 1

valid approach      (M1)

eg   recognizing loss on first in order to win on second, P(B' then B),  P(B') × P(B | B'),  tree diagram

correct expression in terms of n       A1 N3

eg    n 2 n × 2 n 1 2 n 4 n 2 n ,   2 ( n 2 ) n ( n 1 )

 

[3 marks]

a.ii.

correct working      (A1)

eg    3 5 × 2 4 × 2 3

12 60 ( = 1 5 )      A1  N2

 

[2 marks]

b.i.

correct working      (A1)

eg  3 5 × 2 4 × 1 3 × 2 2

6 60 ( = 1 10 )     A1  N2

 

[2 marks]

b.ii.

correct probabilities (seen anywhere)      (A1)(A1)

eg    P ( 1 ) = 2 5 ,   P ( 2 ) = 6 20   (may be seen on tree diagram)

valid approach to find E (M) or expected winnings using their probabilities      (M1)

eg    P ( 1 ) × ( 0 ) + P ( 2 ) × ( 20 ) + P ( 3 ) × ( 8 k ) + P ( 4 ) × ( 12 k ) ,

P ( 1 ) × ( 20 ) + P ( 2 ) × ( 0 ) + P ( 3 ) × ( 8 k 20 ) + P ( 4 ) × ( 12 k 20 )

correct working to find E (M) or expected winnings      (A1)

eg    2 5 ( 0 ) + 3 10 ( 20 ) + 1 5 ( 8 k ) + 1 10 ( 12 k ) ,

2 5 ( 20 ) + 3 10 ( 0 ) + 1 5 ( 8 k 20 ) + 1 10 ( 12 k 20 )

correct equation for fair game      A1

eg    3 10 ( 20 ) + 1 5 ( 8 k ) + 1 10 ( 12 k ) = 20 2 5 ( 20 ) + 1 5 ( 8 k 20 ) + 1 10 ( 12 k 20 ) = 0

correct working to combine terms in k       (A1)

eg    8 + 14 5 k 4 2 = 0 ,   6 + 14 5 k = 20 ,   14 5 k = 14

k = 5    A1 N0

Note: Do not award the final A1 if the candidate’s FT probabilities do not sum to 1.

 

[7 marks]

c.

Examiners report

[N/A]
a.i.
[N/A]
a.ii.
[N/A]
b.i.
[N/A]
b.ii.
[N/A]
c.

Syllabus sections

Topic 4—Statistics and probability » SL 4.5—Probability concepts, expected numbers
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Topic 4—Statistics and probability » SL 4.6—Combined, mutually exclusive, conditional, independence, prob diagrams
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Topic 4—Statistics and probability

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