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A stick is broken at two points, chosen at random. If the length of the stick is 6 units, then what is the probablility that all three pieces are shorter than 5 units? 

 Thanks for the help!

 Apr 8, 2024
 #1
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Suppose X and Y are random variables which follow the continuous uniform distribution on [0, 6]. These random variables will represent the points where we break the stick at.

 

The probability in question is simply expressible as P(min(X,Y)5 and max(X,Y)1 and |XY|5).

 

Let S={(x,y):0x6,0y6} and P={(x,y)Smin(x,y)5 and max(X,Y)1 and |XY|5}. The required probability is Area(P)Area(S). The following is a graph of P:

 

 

Now, the probability is Area(P)Area(S)=(51)2(60)2=49.

 Apr 8, 2024
 #2
avatar+95 
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I think a slight problem to your solution is that you are saying our (X,Y) can be equal to 5 but the quesiton doesn't want our pieces to even equal to five. Would this change your solution? I haven't entered anything. I wanted to check before doing any submitting. 

 

Thanks for the help!

 Apr 8, 2024

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