Assume that each born child is equally likely to be a boy or a girl. If a family has two children, what is the conditional probability that both are girls given that (i) the youngest is a girl, (ii) at least one is a girl?
Let B denote boy and G denote girl.
Then, the sample space of the given experiment will be:
S = {GG, GB, BG, BB}
Let E be the event that ‘both are girls’.
⇒ E = {GG}
(i) Let F be the event that ‘the youngest is a girl’.
⇒ F = {GG, BG}
……….(I)
Now, E ∩ F = {GG}
……….(II)
Now, we know that
By definition of conditional probability,
[Using (I) and (II)]
(ii) Let H be the event that ‘at least one is a girl’.
⇒ H = {GG, GB, BG}
……….(III)
Now, E ∩ H = {GG}
……….(IV)
Now, we know that
By definition of conditional probability,
[Using (III) and (IV)]