Problem:
Abe holds green and red jelly bean in his hand. Bea holds green, yellow, and red jelly beans in her hand. Each randomly picks a jelly bean to show the other. What is the probability that the colors match?
Answer Choices:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Solution:
Denote Abe's jelly beans by and . Denote Bea's jelly beans by , and . There are equally likely pairings: , , and . Only , and match, so the probability that the colors match is .
Answer: .
The problems on this page are the property of the MAA's American Mathematics Competitions