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public-notes/Choosing Stuff.md
2025-12-25 21:13:43 -08:00

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#Math #Probability
# Problem
Given $m$ items of one type and $n$ items of another type, what is the probability of choosing $l$ items of type one and $o$ items of type two if you pick $l + o$ items?
# Solution
Total ways to choose the items not considering types:
$$
{m + n} \choose {l + o}
$$
Total ways to choose $l$ items of type one:
$$
m \choose l
$$
Total ways to choose $o$ items of type two:
$$
n \choose o
$$
Multiply the ways to choose both items to get the number of ways to choose $l$ items of type one and $o$ items of type two, divide by total number of combinations:
$$
\frac {{m \choose l} {n \choose o}} {{m + n} \choose {l + o}}
$$