How many sweets were originally in the bag after the probability Tommy Tucker eating 2 red ones one after another was 1 over 8 when the bag contained 6 red and other assorted sweets showing work?

Answer 1

Let the number of sweets be n and use the rules of probability:-

If: 6/n times 5/n-1 = 1/8

Then: 30/n2-n = 1/8

Multiplying both sides by n2-n: 30 = n2-n/8

Multiplying both sides by 8: 240 = n2-n

Subtracting both sides by 240: 0 = n2-n-240

Solving the above quadratic equation: n = 16 or n = -15

Therefore it follows: n = 16 sweets

Note that n2 means n squared