Question

A bag of coins contains 2 quarters, 5 dimes, 3 nickels, and 4 pennies. If 2 coins are randomly chosen from the bag, one after the other, and not replaced, and if the total value of the chosen coins is 26 cents, what is the probability that a third coin randomly chosen from the bag will be a penny?

Answer 1

B

Explanation:

The 2 coins that have a combined value of 26 cents are a quarter and a penny. That means that 1 quarter and 1 penny must have already been removed from the bag. For this reason, the bag now contains 1 quarter, 5 dimes, 3 nickels, and 3 pennies. Therefore, the probability that a third coin randomly chosen from the bag will be a penny is

3

1 + 5 +3 + 3

=

3

12

=

1

4

.

Answer 2

The two coins chosen have to be a quarter and a penny. That leaves you with three pennies. You originally had 14 coins. You took out two you now have 12.

3/12 = 1/4